Is This What Microsoft's Flagship Killer Will Look Like

Capacitive buttons are nowhere in sight, which means that the Microsoft Lumia 850, much like its predecessor, will treat users to onscreen navigation. 

Packed with new features like Cortana and Microsoft Edge, the new OS is an attempt from Microsoft to lure back consumers who gave up on Windows for mobile devices. It of course remains to be seen if their success with Surface can be replicated in the smartphone market, but it is clear that the same playbook is once again in action. 

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) have their phones focused on business people. 

Microsoft has previously stated it will update Windows Phones without carrier involvement, then retracted the statement later. The idea is to make sure that vulnerabilities and exposures get patched ASAP, and that upgrades and enhancements to the OS can be pushed out incrementally, rather than waiting for Service Pack level updates (or even the next upcoming "Update Tuesday" on the current calendar). 

We were also told that the phone can create this kind of connection wirelessly via Miracast which is included in certain TV's or added with a dongle. It also offers some quite interesting new features. 

This functionality is totally unique to the 950 and its bigger brother the 950 XL and lets you transform the phone into a desktop computer in a couple of easy steps. He thinks Microsoft will be able to counter this in the future by releasing its next generation of smartphones. Going through the training process on your supported device helps Cortana respond to you better when you say the "Hey Cortana" phrase. 

Lumia 950XL sports a bigger 5.7-inch display and 3,340mAh battery. It may also be built with metal chassis, possibly it will just have the common mobile phone look - or, a combination of both. Microsoft is taking its Windows 10 Mobile Insider program to the hardware level and it's bringing along some participants for the ride. 

It was reported that everything will be completed in the middle of 2016. 

Like the Surface line, Microsoft's target is Apple's lucrative margins and products. 

However, there is very limited information about its specs, as they haven't finalized its features and haven't disclosed its price range yet either.

Windows 10 mobile update delayed to 2016

Windows 10 Mobile build 10586.36 was released earlier this week for members of the Insider program, but it turns out that no major bug has been found and it can run very smoothly on Microsoft's new flagship phones. 

It remains unclear which existing Windows Phones will get the upgrade and which will not although if you purchased in the a year ago you are likely to have an upgradeable phone. 

Microsoft has silently starting shipping the latest version of Windows 10 Mobile to Lumia 950 and 950 XL devices, regardless of whether they are enrolled in the Windows Insider program or not. The update then would not be for all older Lumia smart phones, but only a select number of models would be up for update. The company has officially confirmed that the Microsoft Lumia 550 that is already selling in Europe and the U.S. is now coming to India. 

As announced, only the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950XL have Windows 10 Mobile for the Lumia line. $142). The Windows 10 phone will be available in Matte Black and Glassy White variants. 

The Lumia 550 does not support the Continuum feature that we've seen in the two top-end Lumia phones.

How to get Star Wars BB-8 ringtones onto your Windows 10 Mobile device

If you are a true Star Wars nerd like me, you can celebrate the theatrical release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens with these cool new BB-8 sounds that were just made available. BB-8, for those that didn’t know, is a new robot character in the saga. 

Here’s how you can get BB-8 ringtones onto your Windows 10 Mobile device, like the recently released Lumia 950 or Lumia 950 XL. First, head over here and download the ringtones. The ringtones are in .m4r format and will be converted once you transfer them over to your Windows 10 Mobile device. 

Plug in your Lumia device (in this example, we used the Lumia 950). Copy the ringtones into the ringtone folder via File Explorer (Open the phone in File Explorer, double click on Ringtones). Windows will ask you to convert the files before copying, select yes for each ringtone. 

Now that you have copied over the ringtones, head over to Settings on your phone. Tap on Personalization and then tap on Sounds. Under the Ringtone drop-down, select one of your new BB-8 sounds. 

You can also set one of these cool sounds as your default Messaging tone, simply scroll down until you see an option to “Manage App Sounds.” Tap on that and scroll down until you see the Messaging icon. Tap on that and you will be given the option to change your default sound for messaging notifications.

Windows 10 Mobile Update for old Microsoft Lumias delayed until 2016

The company has been on top of their game when it comes to most of their divisions, and have been performing quite well in the markets. However, that too, does not look quite apparent at the moment. "We continue to use the feedback we get from Windows Insiders to improve the upgrade experience and this update has some improvements to that experience", he said as he encouraged users to constantly check the Insider Hub for updates where they will start posting new announcements. Microsoft, which was expected to bring a new update for them in this month, has let down the users once again. 

Microsoft was planning to roll out the Windows 10 mobile upgrades to the Windows Phone 8.1 devices in December, but the users will need to wait until early 2016 to upgrade to the latest OS version. It has also not given out any list of the possible Lumia models that will upgrade to Windows 10 Mobile. 

The company has confirmed that the Lumia 550, unlike its high-end devices such as the Lumia 950 Dual SIM and Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM, will not support Windows 10 Continuum feature, which makes smartphones behave like computers with a desktop-style interface. Microsoft said in a statement. As you know, Windows 10 mobile came installed on the Lumia 950 and 950 XL devices that have been released in November and Microsoft has promised that soon enough, the rest of Windows Phone 8.1 devices will receive the upgrades. 

The unlocked Lumia 950 was briefly available for purchase at Microsoft Store US, but it now shows as out of stock and there's no telling when the next units will arrive.

Windows 10 Mobile news: Release of upgrade for users of older Windows phones delayed to early 2016

Patience would have to a be a virtue for owners of smartphones that use Windows Phone 8 or 8.1 as the release of Windows 10 for mobile has been delayed to early next year. 

According to a Windows Central report, the information came from an insider from Microsoft. 

"This November we introduced Windows 10 to phones including brand new features such as Continuum and Universal Windows Apps with the introduction of the Lumia 950 and 950 XL. The Windows 10 Mobile upgrade will begin rolling out early next year to select existing Windows 8 and 8.1 phones," the site quoted its source. 

This comes as a disappointment for owners of older smartphones who were expecting the upgrade to be available this month. 

Meanwhile, Microsoft Corporate Vice President for the Engineering Systems Team Gabe Aul posted on the official Windows blog that the company is releasing the Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 10586 through the Windows Insiders Fast and Slow ring. 

According to Aul, the update seeks to address issues reported to them by their users through Windows Insiders. He also said that the team also took into account the experiences of users of Windows 10 phones like Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL. 

The build, he said will be called 10586.36. 

"Windows Insiders have provided great feedback on the upgrade experience from Windows Phone 8.1. We continue to use the feedback we get from Windows Insiders to improve the upgrade experience and this update has some improvements to that experience," he said as he encouraged users to constantly check the Insider Hub for updates where they will start posting new announcements.

Microsoft Delays Windows 10 Upgrade For Mobile To Early 2016

Windows Phone users will have to once again wait a little more to get Windows 10 on their mobile as Microsoft announced that it has delayed its software release until early 2016. The tech company previously promised that it will begin to roll out the latest operating system to existing Windows 8 and 8.1 phones in December, but now that isn’t the case. 

When Microsoft first announced Windows 10, the company said that it would first arrive for PC users in July, and will eventually become available for mobile users in the fall. The release of the operating system on PCs made a lot of sense simply because of its much larger user base compared to its mobile counterpart. It was also expected that the rollout would be for select devices running Windows 8 and 8.1, and not everyone will be able to get it on day one especially if carriers are involved in providing the over-the-air update. Eventually, the company announced in October that the Windows 10 upgrade for Phones will start rolling out in December which of course delighted users. 

On Dec. 17 however, a Microsoft spokesperson released a statement declaring that Windows 10 for mobile has been delayed for a 2016 release. “The Windows 10 mobile upgrade will begin rolling out next year to select existing Windows 8 and 8.1 phones,” the statement read. What’s probably going to frustrate users is that the company didn’t give out an exact date. 

Usually, an “early 2016” phrase implies that it could be released in the first quarter of the year; meaning January, February or March. If it has been delayed for a March release, it would have been already eight months since the operating system’s release for the PC. Another problem with the recent announcement is that Microsoft still has not given out a list of devices that will first receive the upgrade. The company once stated that it was their ambition to deliver the upgrade to “majority of Lumia smartphones” which is still vague at best. 

As of now, the only ways to experience Windows 10 on mobile is to buy the new Lumia 950 or Lumia 950 XL or to be part of Microsoft’s Insiders Programme. Unfortunately, the broad number of users will have no choice but to continue using their Windows 8 or 8.1 phones and wait a lot longer than what they expected.

Hands-on with the Xiaomi Mi 4 running Windows 10 Mobile (video)

After some months of work the Windows 10 Mobile ROM for the Xiaomi Mi 4 is now available to download. WindowsPhoneApps.es managed to get a hands-on with the handset after the ROM was installed, and as can be seen in the video above the handset appears to be blazingly fast. 
The handset has a Snapdragon 801 processor, 3 GB RAM, a 13 megapixel camera and a 5 inch 1080P screen. 
WPA notes that the device does run somewhat hot, and that the ROM lacked features such as slow motion and apps like Extras and Infos, but that it seemed to make pretty good use of the Microsoft software, much like a native device. 
Do our readers see a future for Windows 10 Mobile running on Android hardware? I would certainly buy a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge if I could install Windows 10 on it. What do our readers think?

Available now for GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows OSes

The developers of the MPlayer-based MPV open-source and cross-platform video player software announced this past weekend the release and immediate availability for download of MPV 0.14.0. 

According to the internal changelog, which we've attached at the end of the article for reference, MPV 0.14.0 makes a few modifications in the build systems, such as support for installing scalable SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) icons, the addition of --enable-gpl3 for nnedi in vo_opengl, and the enablement of internal pthreads wrapper by default. 

Among the newly implemented features in MPV 0.14.0, we can mention experimental support for dxinterop backend, which was engineered to render with OpenGL and display via Direct3D, but it doesn't function with the Intel video drivers, initial support for ANGLE in vo_opengl, as well as the implementation of icc-profile-auto. 

For Windows OSes, MPV 0.14.0 removes support for the deprecated Windows XP operating system and adds support for the taskbar button progress indicator. For Linux users, the new MPV release drops support for PVR (Personal Video Recorder). Additionally, the old subtitle parser was removed, along with demux_libass, which was replaced with libavformat. 

New commands were added, numerous bugs were fixed 

In addition to the changes mentioned above, MPV 0.14.0 adds various commands, such as the estimated-display-fps and vsync-ratio properties, support for exporting various per-video-frame information, support for making the LOOKUP_TEXTURE_SIZE variable configurable, and an option that lets users set the VO MMCSS profile. 

On the other hand, the --sub-fix-timing was updated to support ASS subtitles, the vo-missed-frame-count property was renamed to vo-delayed-frame-count, there's now an option for disabling the OSD, the tscale=mitchell:tscale-clamp option was enabled by default, and the decoder format was made customizable. 

Last but not least, default bindings were added in the input.conf file to change window scaling, and interpolation without display-sync is now disabled by default in vo_opengl. As expected, numerous bugs reported by users since the previous release of the software were fixed. 

Download MPV 0.14.0 for GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows operating systems right now from Softpedia. For more details, do not hesitate to check out the changelog below.

Microsoft Lumia 550 Officially Launches As The Cheapest Windows 10 Smartphone [Video]

Microsoft finally launched its new Lumia 550, releasing the handset as the cheapest smartphone yet to run Windows 10 out of the box. 

The company may already have Windows 10 running on two flagship smartphones, the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL, but it didn't forget about the budget sector. While the flagships come with price tags to match, the new Lumia 550 comes at the affordable segment and is now available for just $139. 

The initial Lumia 550 launch, however, is just for a few select markets initially, with more to follow soon. 

"Sales of the new Microsoft Lumia 550, which offers the best of Microsoft to people who value affordability and uncompromised quality, begin today in Europe. Other regions around the globe will follow in the coming weeks," Microsoft announced in a new company blog post on Monday, Dec. 7. 

The latest Windows 10 OS will bring popular Microsoft apps and services to the Lumia 550, including the signature Office suite with Word, Excel and PowerPoint, the Cortana digital assistant, as well as Microsoft's OneDrive, Skype, Outlook Calendar and Outlook Mail. 

As expected from a budget device, the Lumia 550 doesn't come with extraordinary hardware on board. The handset packs modest specifications to accommodate its low price tag. 

More specifically, the Lumia 550 features a 4.7-inch HD display with a 16:9 aspect ratio, 1,280 x 720 pixel resolution and 315 ppi, and packs a 1.1GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 processor under the hood, paired with 1 GB of RAM. 

Other specs include 8 GB of internal storage, expandable up to 200 GB via microSD, a 5-megapixel main camera with LED flash, a 2-megapixel front shooter, and a 2,100 mAh removable battery. The 4G LTE connectivity of the Lumia 550 allows for download speeds of up to 150 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 50 Mbps, according to Microsoft. 

Glance Screen is also a notable software feature, as it allows Lumia 550 users to check out notifications, the time, or calendar entries at a glance, without unlocking or activating the phone. The new Microsoft Edge browser, meanwhile, will reportedly serve as a powerful tool for reading on-the-go or other browsing activities. 

The $139 Microsoft Lumia 550 comes in two color options - Glossy White and Matte Black. For more information, check out the presentation video below.

Video: Quick look at Windows 10 Redstone build 11082

Microsoft has released the first Redstone build of Windows 10 to Windows Insiders today. Build 11082 includes no noticeable new features on the surface, however it does include a number of under the hood changes that will benefit users in the near future. 

In todays video, I explain what OneCore is and what Microsoft has changed under the hood to improve the operating system. I also explain how Microsoft is planning to speed up the release of builds for the fast ring, as this was something insiders have been requesting for some time. 

Have you installed build 11082 yet? Let us know below!

See how a Bulgarian carrier is selling the Lumia 950 XL (video)

In some parts of Eastern Europe Windows Phones have a relatively high market share, meaning carriers have no problem marketing the handsets directly to consumers. 

In the above ad we have Bulgarian carrier Vivacom promoting Microsoft’s new flagships as something the young boy is clearly hinting at rather persistently, with the tag line which roughly translates into “This christmas, say clearly/exactly when you want – the new Lumias with windows 10...” 

Setting up Microsoft’s rather expensive new handsets as as extremely desirable seems to me to be a good marketing strategy for the premium devices. Do our readers agree?

Windows 10 in-depth: Groove Music (video)

For the last Windows 10 in-depth video of 2015 we’re rockin’ out to Groove Music. As we wrote recently, music on Microsoft is the best that it’s been for awhile and Groove Music is a big part of that. While there are features that people would like to see added, I think Groove is one of the best apps that Microsoft made in Windows 10. 

Groove lets you listen to music from your device, stream songs from your OneDrive, and if you have a Groove Music pass listen to online made radio stations and albums. The interface fits very will with Windows 10 and works well with touch or mouse and keyboard. 

If you prefer to listen to music you own, Groove does a good job of letting you play from your device or stream through OneDrive. If you prefer the subscription based model, Microsoft has a Groove Music pass which is similar to Spotify or Apple Music. 

Groove came in strong when it arrived with Windows 10 and it’s gotten better over time. It now has iHeartRadio integration on top of its other music options. There are features that people would like to see added but overall I think Groove Music is very impressive. 

Watch the video above and share your comments below! Would you like to see an in-depth series of Windows 10 Mobile?