Apple Inc. Now Accepting Android, Windows Phone Trade-Ins Towards iPhone

If you’re on the fence about ditching your Android device for an iPhone, Apple has one more incentive to sway your decision. On Monday, the company expanded its trade-in program to now take competitors’ phones in exchange for credit toward a new iPhone.

Select Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry smartphones will be accepted by Apple stores for credit toward the purchase of an iPhone 5C, 5S, 6 or 6 Plus, according to 9to5Mac. It echoes an Apple program launched in 2013 aimed at getting users to upgrade to the latest iPhone. Apple also uses its recycling and trade-in program to accept iPads, Macs and, more recently, PCs.

The new trade-in program will be available both online and in-store and accepts devices from Samsung, HTC, LG, Microsoft’s Nokia and BlackBerry.

The move is one of many that Apple has taken in recent months to boost sales while making it easier for users of other devices to switch sides. Last year, Apple also released a thorough guide to move data from Android devices to the iPhone to help the transition of users new to the company’s smartphones.

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Windows 10 Mobile on track for most Lumia phones

Microsoft's Operating Systems Group team has added code to the next test build of Windows 10 Mobile that will allow that release to work on the majority of Windows Phones.

When Microsoft released the first test build of Windows 10 Mobile in February, it was built to run only on a handful of Lumia devices, specifically the Lumia 630, 635, 636, 638, 730 and 830 phones. Microsoft execs attributed the small number of initially supported devices to the "very tight OS partitions" that left insufficient room for the installation process to update the OS in place.

But the second test build, which may not be available until the first week of April or so, will support the majority of existing Windows Phones. Microsoft officials went public with the list of Windows Phones that will likely be able to run the next test build in a March 27 blog post.

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Microsoft Vastly Expands Windows 10 Technical Preview To Dozens Of Smartphones

If there’s one mantra that Microsoft MSFT -0.58% seems to be chanting with the next release of Windows, it’s that the company wants feedback from its customer base on how to make it better, which is the primary goal behind its Windows Insider program. Never before have Windows customers been treated to the frequency of updates for beta releases, like Microsoft has been rolling out for Windows 10. The other mission statement with this Windows release is that the company is unifying the OS to work as one, across all platforms, from desktops and notebooks, to tablets, smartphones and even Xbox consoles. However, thus far, as my esteemed colleague pointed out, Microsoft’s Windows 10 Technical Preview roll-out for smartphones has been significantly more limited than desktop releases. It was surprising actually, because without question, Microsoft has historically kept tight reins on Windows Phone devices from a hardware platform standpoint, so much so that they decided to acquire Nokia's mobile division in an effort to drive the Lumia brand directly. With all of the hardware platforms out there for Windows Phone devices being so similar, it should make the migration to their next OS that much easier.

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Microsoft posts a list of Windows Phones getting the next Windows 10 Mobile Technical Preview–Lumia 930 not included

Microsoft’s Gabe Aul has posted an update regarding the status of the Windows 10 Mobile Technical Preview program.

The good news is that “partition stitching” is working well, meaning they will soon be able to proceed with the next wave of Windows 10 Mobile Technical Preview updates.

This has allowed Microsoft to vastly increase the number of supported handsets.

The very bad news (for me at least) is that amongst the many, many handsets supported, the Lumia 930, the current Windows Phone flagship, is not included, even while the Lumia Icon is.

Since I own and use a Lumia 930 as my daily driver I’m not too happy, but why not peruse the list below and see if you struck it lucky or not.

The list of handsets likely included in the next TP include.

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You may soon be able to use Android apps on your Windows Phone

Nearly five years following its debut, the beleaguered Windows Phone still suffers from a lack of apps. Recent, high-profile additions like WatchESPN have mitigated things, but the truth remains that the offerings on the Android and iOS app stores positively dwarf Microsoft’s own. The App Store and Play Store respectively boast an app catalog north of 1 million, while the Windows Phone Store just last November reached 187,000. Microsoft is acutely aware of this fact, and in response is reportedly experimenting with Android app emulation within the upcoming Windows Phone 10.

According to Neowin, the scope of the emulation is quite wide. As the software currently stands, most Android apps are compatible, and some builds even sport a working Google Play Store client. Of course, questions about the legality of the emulation’s implementation and its potential effects on native Windows Phone development have kept the project from being green-lit thus far.


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Windows Phone users to get WhatsApp calling feature soon

WhatsApp calling, the voice-over-data feature, was rolled out after a major testing by the developers, and the feature is now available to Android users. All you need is an updated version of WhatsApp and someone who has the calling feature on his phone to simply give you a call to enable your app. However, the feature is still under major test for various reasons.

Last week iPhone users have also been spotted using the calling feature, which means that the developers have started testing WhatsApp on the iOS platform too. And now, Windows Phone users can also rejoice as the voice-over-data feature will soon be available for them.

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Next Windows 10 beta should open up support for dozens of Lumia phones

The first Windows 10 preview build for phones was released over a month ago, but it disappointed some enthusiasts because it was only compatible with a few recent midrange Lumia phones. Owners of the Lumia 630, 635, 636, 638, 730, or 830 could install the update, but older hardware and flagships were excluded. The good news is that the next update will greatly expand the list of supported devices—according to a blog post from late yesterday, the vast majority of past and present Lumia phones should be able to install the new preview build when it lands.

The first preview build for phones didn't install on most of these Lumias because of the way their internal storage was partitioned. Newer phones had large enough partitions to install the update, but older phones apparently didn't. A "partition stitching" tool that can resize partitions without destroying the data on them was recently finalized, and it will let users of these phones install the update without completely wiping their phones.

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Opera Mini beta for Windows Phone gets a makeover in the form of an updated UI

For those looking for another browser to use on their Windows Phone handset, Opera Mini has been a choice since last September when a beta version of the app was made available. Websites go through Opera's servers first with Opera Mini, where they are compressed before being sent to your phone. This way, you are using less data when browsing, saving the sweet stuff for other things. According to Opera, the compression means that websites are sent to you at just 10% of their normal size. Looking at it another way, viewing a website on Opera Mini instead of most other mobile browsers will save you 90% of the data that you would have normally burned through to see a particular site.

More than 250 million people use Opera Mini and the app now supports a wide variety of platforms including Android, BlackBerry, Bada, iOS, Windows Phone and more. The Windows Phone version of Opera Mini is still in beta, but has received an update to version 8.0.0.6730. While there is no changelist, the update offers users a whole new UI that gives the browser a modern look. The updated UI also helps Opera Mini for Windows Phone run smoother than before. If you want to check out the new look, merely click on the slideshow below to view some screenshots.

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Windows Phone performance as of March 2015, budget-friendly devices continue to dominate

The folks at AdDuplex have released their latest figures for the month of March regarding the performance of Windows Phone platform as a whole, along with how well it's performing is different markets. There are no surprises in this months report, but it seems low-end devices continue to lead the charts worldwide.

Starting with the performance of Windows Phone devices globally, Lumia 520 continues to be the most popular Windows Phone handset with a 24.5 percent market share - a slight increase when compared to the February report when it had a 23.20 percent share. Furthermore, Lumia 630 continues to rise not just globally, but also in several markets. Other contenders in the top ten are mostly the entry-level devices such as the Lumia 625, Lumia 530, Lumia 635, Lumia 535 and a few more. As for the US, Lumia 635 saw an increase in its share from 17.2 percent to 23.4 percent. Lumia 635 is a very capable device, offering LTE connectivity at an extremely affordable price.

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How To Use Your Windows Phone With A Mac

Here's a few handy tips on getting your Apple MacBook or iMac to play nice with your Windows Phone handset

A friend of mine recently bought his first Mac after being a Windows user for his entire life. And while switching from PC to Mac can present some of its own unique challenges, the thing my friend really had trouble getting his head around was using his existing Windows Phone with his new Mac.

Put curtly: Apple wants you to use an iPhone if you use a Mac, or, at the very least, an iPad. But in reality this is not the case, as a lot of people quite like Macs but out-right despise iPhones and iOS in general. For these types of users (and there is a fair few of them out there), OS X can often feel a little unfriendly towards non-iOS-powered mobile devices. Can you get OS X and non-Apple mobile devices to play nice?

Sort of. But you do not get the level of features as iPhone and iPad users; that’s just the way Apple likes to do things, for better or worse. There are methods of getting stuff to link, however, so in this little feature we’re going to take a look at how you can sync your Windows Phone with your Mac and what you can and can’t do with the various data and services on each.

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Here are five moves Microsoft must make to resuscitate Windows phones

At one time, people considered Microsoft a true contender in the mobile space. Just four years ago, some analysts predicted that Windows Phone would leapfrog BlackBerry and iOS to claim the number two spot behind Android. Some researchers expected Microsoft’s market share to hit 20 percent, while others even predicted the company would edge past Android.

But we all know how that turned out.

Now, the company must execute a comeback. Microsoft has reinvigorated interest in Windows with the upcoming Windows 10, and revealed innovative surprises like HoloLens, a nod to its vision of the future. By many accounts, today’s Microsoft feels fresher and newer than the Microsoft of old.

But Microsoft’s mobile business languishes and still lacks any hint of a wow-factor that consumers and enterprise users have grown to expect from mobile leaders. Windows Phone owns but a sliver of the mobile OS market and Microsoft’s app ecosystem fails to woo developers and users.

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Don't bank on Windows Phone: Chase Bank app no longer works, either

So much for "until further notice".  This weekend, after announcing back in January that the end was near for Windows Phone users of Chase Bank's mobile app, the company did indeed pull the plug, and users are no longer able to use the app.  There's some question as to whether using mobile banking at m.chase.com works, although we were able to successfully log in here.

This hasn't been a good time for mobile banking for Windows Phone users.  Earlier this month, after Chase announced that it wouldn't continue supporting Windows Phone, Bank of America pulled the plug on their Windows Phone app.  There doesn't appear to be any specific technical reason why these banks would pull their apps, and it appears to be highly coincidental that both banks chose to pull support for the platform almost at the same time

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Lumia 430 May be the Most Budget Friendly Windows Phone Ever

Since entering the smartphone market, Microsoft has not missed the opportunity to cater to the budget-minded customer.

There have been affordable Windows Phone options available since the first but Microsoft is lowering the bar even more now.

The company is now introducing the Lumia 430 Dual Sim smartphone.

The device is unprecedented on several fronts. First of all, it retails for just $70. That makes it the most affordable Windows Phone available to date.

Secondly, this is the first Microsoft mobile device preloaded with Windows 8.1 that can be freely upgraded to Windows 10 when it’s released later this year, Mirosoft’s Lumia Conversations blog reports.

Small businesses that haven’t yet gone mobile or are looking for more affordable mobile options certainly may want to consider this entry-level Microsoft device.

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Lumia 830 helps business executive and tech blogger organize work and play

Microsoft has never prided itself on being the lusted after company of tech. Perhaps at one point in time, the company had far-off aspirations of being so, but the unfortunate reality is that there are far better-suited companies for that now. What Microsoft does offer the new technological frontier is the same thing they’ve been offering all along -- real world functionality. With more recent campaigns, it seems hopeful that Microsoft is beginning to realize that their best asset in competition is their unsung users.

Meet business exec, tech blogger, and family man Eric Chan. Eric, the executive of the a research and development arm of a major automotive company, believe it or not, uses Microsoft products to ‘Do more’. Eric uses Outlook email, Sharepoint, Office, and Lync to keep in contact with his research team and he does it all from a Lumia 830.

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Microsoft Targets Emerging Markets With Its Affordable Lumia 430 Windows Phone

Microsoft is giving Android one more reason to look behind its shoulder as it targets the emerging markets with its affordable Lumia 430 Windows phone priced at just $70.

The phone was unveiled on Thursday by Microsoft, and is seen as a part of the company’s plan to capture first-time smartphone buyers, according to Venturebeat. Countries and regions being targeted by Microsoft to benefit from the affordable Lumia 430 include; India, Asia-Pacific countries, Africa, the Middle East, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Belarus. The phone, which Microsoft described as the “most affordable Lumia to-date,” is expected to hit those places next month.

“With a price tag of 70 USD*, the Lumia 430 Dual SIM becomes the most affordable Lumia to-date, bringing smartphone experiences, the latest apps and signature Microsoft services to many more people, sometimes for the very first time,” the company said on Thursday while announcing the availability of its new Lumia 430.

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Windows 10 Technical Preview Review

A lot of big, positive changes were made between Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 8. Even more positive changes were made between Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 8.1. Still, despite all of the positive changes made to the platform, Windows Phone still lags quite a bit behind the likes of Android and iOS in terms of popularity and adoption.

Fortunately that doesn’t mean Microsoft has to give up. Instead, Microsoft will revamp Windows Phone once again, this time in a unified fashion with the rest of its software to form Windows 10, which will allegedly launch this summer in 190 countries.

We’re not totally left in the dark when it comes to what Windows 10 will be like. Microsoft recently released Windows 10 Technical Preview for certain Windows Phone devices, one of which I just recently purchased for myself. One of the first things I did was log in to the Windows Insider app and install Windows 10 Technical Preview on my device.

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Aeries for Windows Phone updated with new image viewer, performance improvements and more

There's no shortage of Twitter clients in the Windows Phone Store with every client offering its own set of features. Aeries is an excellent Twitter client which offers a right mix of features and simplified design to help power users get the most out of the social network.

 Aeries for Windows Phone picked up an update lately, introducing a number of new features and bug fixes to boost the user experience. It's good to see the developer is pushing out regular updates for the app on Windows Phone, and irons out bug fixes as well as introduces new features.

 The latest update brings support for Portuguese languages as well as improved timeline search, performances fixes, a new image viewer, and lots more.

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Lenovo to launch its first Windows phone this summer

Lenovo will finally launch its first lineup of Windows phones, slated for China around midyear.

 That tidbit was squeezed into the announcement made on Tuesday by Microsoft that Windows 10 itself would debut in 190 countries sometime this summer. In its blog post, Microsoft said Lenovo had announced a commitment to build Windows phones, which will be available in the middle of 2015 via Chinese carrier China Mobile.

 Microsoft's mobile OS has been mired in third place in the global smartphone arena, stuck far behind Google's Android and Apple's iOS. Windows Phone's share of the market dipped to 2.7 percent last year from 3.3 percent in 2013, according to research firm IDC. As Microsoft prepares to roll out Windows 10 to all devices, from phones to tablets to PCs, the company needs to expand its presence on mobile devices, especially in China, which ranks as the largest smartphone market.

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Lenovo to Launch Windows Phone Handsets in Mid-2015

Lenovo will launch its first Windows Phone OS-based smartphones in mid-2015.
Microsoft at its WinHEC conference in Shenzhen on Tuesday announced Lenovo as its strategic partner along with Tencent and Qihu 360. The company says that Lenovo has also committed to "build Windows phones, to be available in mid-year 2015 via China Mobile."

While the Redmond giant is approaching its Windows 10 release, which company confirmed to get available this summer in 190 countries and 111 languages, and is going to launch Windows 10 for phones, Lenovo will still be launching Windows Phone OS smartphone in mid-2015, as suggested in the presentation slide by Microsoft (via The Verge). An upgrade to Windows 10 for the Lenovo phones can be expected, if not a launch with Windows 10 onboard.

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This Is How Microsoft Will Get You to Try Windows Phone

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) has had a lot of trouble in the mobile market. Its Windows Phone platform has a market share in the low single digits, even though the latest version, Windows Phone 8.1, has generally enjoyed positive reviews. A major problem is that Windows Phone doesn't have nearly as vast an ecosystem compared with either Android or iOS, and getting people to try Windows Phone, instead of choosing a more popular alternative by default, has been a struggle.

In terms of price, Windows Phones cost roughly the same as comparable Android devices. But there's little driving consumers to the platform, and that's left Windows Phone languishing in a distant third place in the smartphone market. Windows 10, with its refinement of universal apps that can run on both PCs and Windows Phones, should help the cause later this year, but Microsoft has a trick up its sleeve right now that could boost its market share.

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Microsoft Lumia 535

Almost a year to the day that Microsoft completed its acquisition of Nokia's mobile phone division, I still expect to find the Nokia brand when I pick up a Lumia smartphone.

But things have yet to change under Microsoft. Lumia phones retain their colourful designs and they still run Windows Phone 8.1. In fact, the Lumia 535, available here since December, is the first Lumia phone to drop the Nokia name.

This is a budget phone, not a flagship model. Its design, typical of Lumia models, has a plastic back cover which can be swopped with similarly brightly coloured versions. A 5-inch screen dominates the front. Surrounding it is a surprisingly thin bezel.

The device has a removable battery, a microSD card slot and two micro SIM slots, but it has only 3G connectivity. The microSD slot supports cards with a storage capacity of up to 128GB. This is a must-have feature as the Lumia has a miserly internal storage of just 8GB.

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Windows 10 Xbox app gets Xbox One SmartGlass tech for future game streaming

Microsoft is migrating several functions formerly reserved for its Xbox One SmartGlass mobile app into the Xbox app for Windows 10, as it increasingly ties the Xbox One console to PCs and mobile devices.

Microsoft didn’t really add anything too new to the Xbox app for Windows 10, which might be thought of as a private social network for gamers on the Xbox One, and soon Windows 10. But the capabilities of the Xbox One SmartGlass app on Windows Phone and the Xbox app on Windows 10 are now largely identical—which makes a great deal of sense to those who might not own a Windows phone, but who may eventually run Windows 10 on, say, a Surface tablet.

SmartGlass is a “second screen” app that was originally written for Windows Phone, allowing it, for example, to control aspects of a connected Xbox One. Like SmartGlass on the phone, a Microsoft spokeswoman said in an email, users can navigate the Xbox console. They can also bring up the OneGuide channel guide, find TV listings and app channels, then instruct the console to tune to the selected content. The app can also be used to mute the television and adjust the volume, similar to the virtual remote control apps that are available for various smartphone platforms.

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Bank of America Windows Phone app shut down, mobile browsing doesn't work either

Bank of America is one of the largest banks in the US, but as of today, you can't do any banking with the company via your Windows Phone.  In late January, the company announced that it was pulling support for its Windows Phone app, but the app still worked, although with a message urging users to use the web interface instead.

Opening the app now gives you an error, stating:

We no longer support the app and you may not have browser access to bankofamerica.com for this device.

But you can access Online Banking through your laptop or desktop browser or a mobile device with a supported operating system.  Just go to bankofamerica.com for a list of supported browsers and operating systems.

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Windows Phone 8.1 Update 2 reportedly not coming to existing devices

Microsoft finally introduced Windows Phone 8.1 Update 2 at its Mobile World Congress 2015 event in Barcelona. Windows Phone 8.1 Update 2 comes with a bunch of improvements. The settings in Update 2 are now searchable and sortable according to function. For example, under Wireless settings, we have NFC, WiFi and Bluetooth. You can also use jumplist functionality to navigate through settings. Windows Phone 8.1 Update 2 also brings the ability to customize app permissions. The update also brings support for Bluetooth keyboards.

If you’re waiting to update your Windows Phone to Windows Phone 8.1 Update 2, there is a bad news. According to Microsoft enthusiast, Paul Thurrott’s sources, the Windows Phone 8.1 Update 2 will not roll out to existing device:

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Windows Phone 10 Updates, Office 2016: Microsoft Roundup

Microsoft traded Redmond for the sunny skies of Barcelona this week, where it participated in this year's Mobile World Congress show. Attendees didn't have to wait very long for Windows news, as Microsoft kicked off its week with a keynote presentation on March 2.

There, it rolled out a series of announcements, including a few features that will debut on Windows 10 for mobile devices. In addition to the promise of a Windows 10 flagship phone later this year, we learned that Microsoft has developed an updated version of Cortana and added enhancements to its Spartan browser for mobile use.

The browser upgrades include an improved Reading View capability that enables users to transfer content from a Windows 10 PC to a Lumia device. There were also promises that when the next Windows 10 mobile preview rolls out, it will be compatible with a wider range of Windows Phones -- the last preview only targeted a small portion of the Lumia lineup.

Microsoft also confirmed that Spartan will be in the next Windows 10 preview build to undergo testing by Windows Insiders, of which there are now 2.8 billion.

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What the Lumia 640 tells us about Windows Phone 8.1 Update 2

When we looked at the new Lumia 640 and 640 XLs earlier this week, we spotted a small change from the version of Windows Phone 8.1 that's currently shipping.

Over the past few days, a few more differences have been noticed, as has the name of the set of updates: it's called Windows Phone 8.1 Update 2. We don't know when it'll ship—Microsoft hasn't even officially announced it—but it'll contain a smattering of interface and functional changes.

The interface we spotted is a minor thing. At the bottom of the Start screen, where Windows Phone 8.1 has a right-pointing arrow to show that you can scroll right to see the all apps view, Update 2 adds some words: it now says "all apps."

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Microsoft’s Windows Phone strategy is as directionless as it’s ever been

When I look at what Microsoft is doing with Windows Phone right now, all I can think of is the straggler Japanese soldiers who kept trying to fight World War II even though their government had already surrendered. With Windows Phone, Microsoft isn’t just fighting a losing war, it’s fighting a war that’s already been lost. Nonetheless, a new report in The Wall Street Journal shows that Microsoft is still clinging to hope that Windows Phone will become a relevant mobile platform… if we just give it at least another six months or so.

“Microsoft officials say the company is playing the long game,” the Journal reports. “It’s pinning its hopes for mobile revival on Windows 10, the next version of its operating system, which is expected to debut later this year.”

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Microsoft, Intel join forces on low-cost Windows 10 phones

Right now you can’t buy Windows-based handsets that run on Intel chips, but that will change later this year with the mobile version of Windows 10.

Microsoft’s recent Windows Phone OSes worked only with ARM-based processors from Qualcomm. Though Windows 10 will also work on ARM systems, compatibility with Intel x86 chips breaks that exclusivity.

The Windows 10 mobile OS will run on handsets and so-called phablets powered by Intel’s upcoming Atom X3 chips, code-named Sofia, announced by the chip maker at the Mobile World Congress trade show.

Devices with the X3 chips will be priced from under $75 to $249. The X3 chips will also be offered in Android handsets.

Intel had been toying with the idea of supporting Windows Phone, but up to has been underwhelmed by the OS’s adoption. Intel, still struggling in the smartphone market, backed Android because of its widespread adoption.

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Why Microsoft still believes in Windows Phone even though things have been pretty bad for years

It's been the same story for the last few years.

Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system is universally accepted as a solid alternative to iOS or Android, but it's still missing the key apps people love to use.

And because of Microsoft's tiny market share in phones, a lot of important developers pretty much ignore the platform.

But, Microsoft still believes in Windows Phone, and its next answer comes with Windows 10, the new operating system that will run on all Microsoft gadgets from the Xbox and tablets to PCs and phones.

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Acer enters Windows Phone fray with cheap Liquid M220 mobe

MWC Acer is entering the Windows Phone market, with a low-end model that will retail for just €79, making it the cheapest mobile in the vendor’s range.

The Taiwanese firm announced the Liquid M220 today in Barcelona, on the eve of Mobile World Congress. It has a 4-inch display with 233 pixels per inch, 512MB RAM, 8GB storage, 1.2GHz Snapdragon 200 processor, 5MP rear and 2MP front cameras, and is expected to be available in April.

The device runs Windows Phone 8.1, but an upgrade to Windows 10 is promised when available. Some configurations will support a Micro SD card, and others dual SIM, depending on region and operator.

Why is Acer introducing its first Windows Phone, despite Microsoft’s tiny market share?

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Microsoft will announce two Windows Phones tomorrow

We've known Microsoft will detail its plans for Windows 10 on mobile here at MWC, but in the lead-up to its event it's accidentally let slip that two new Windows Phones are coming as well. An empty article went live on its blog with the headline "Microsoft Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL: keeping you prepared for anything," and was swiftly removed, but not before The Verge spotted the mistake. From the model numbers, we can speculate that the Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL will be mid-range devices, one little, one large. Expect more details on the handsets tomorrow morning when we'll be live at Microsoft's press conference.

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Snapchat removes the best way that Windows Phone users can demand the app

Snapchat, for those unaware, is a messaging app where the photos, videos and accompanying messages all self-destruct ten seconds after they are opened by the recipient. Currently available for iOS and Android, Windows Phone users have long requested a version of the app for their platform. On Snapchat's support page there used to be a way for Windows Phone users to get their voices heard.

The Snapchat support site at one time, had an option entitled 'Support My Incompatible Device.' Windows Phone users could use that link to slam their shoe on a virtual table and demand a Windows Phone version of the app. But now, that option has disappeared from Snapchat.

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Acer's new Windows Phone is unlikely to blow you away

For some time now, consumers have pretty much been stuck choosing between Lumias for their Windows Phone fix. Acer is aiming to change that with the launch of its catchily named "Liquid M220" smartphone. The M220 is a decidedly low-end handset, with a 4-inch WVGA (480 x 800 pixels) display, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage (upgradable via microSD), 5-megapixel rear camera and 2-megapixel front-facing shooter. It's clearly aiming to compete with Microsoft's cheapest Lumias, and, although admittedly this comes down to taste, it's not exactly a looker compared to its rivals.

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