Microsoft will offer Windows 10 for free… even for pirates

You may have already heard that Microsoft will let its Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 customers upgrade to Windows 10 at no cost when it gets released. Did that excite you? Well, get this – the software giant has announced in a summit in China that it will even let users with non-genuine copies of Windows (read: pirated users) to the latest version of the OS.

However, it is not clear whether the offer will be limited to Chinese customers or if it will be available globally. Terry Myerson, head of Windows at Microsoft, was quoted as saying "we are upgrading all qualified PCs, genuine and non-genuine, to Windows 10." If it will be a global offer, then it will be a boon for users especially in countries like the Philippines where software piracy is very rampant.

Microsoft also announced a new summer target launch-frame for Windows 10. The company mentioned that it will be available in 190 countries in 111 languages.

Sources: Microsoft, Reuters

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Rumor: Samsung Galaxy Note 2 to receive Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean Plus update in July along with the Galaxy S4

Calling all the owners of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 2! An anonymous source has just tipped us on an upcoming and anticipated update for the Galaxy Note 2.

In a screenshot of what seems to be an internal document from a carrier, it is revealed that the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean ‘Plus’ update for the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 LTE (for this carrier, at least) is expected to be approved on July 22, followed by the general release on August 8. The document says that the carrier is awaiting the submission of the update from Samsung, which is expected on July 8.

Now this is what’s interesting. International and unlocked models from Samsung normally receive updates well ahead of time than those being offered by big-name carriers like AT&T, Vodafone, and many others. If we are to follow this leaked document, it is possible that unlocked Samsung Galaxy Note 2 models will get the Android 4.2.2 update in July.

The document also reveals that the Samsung Galaxy S4 will get the same Jelly Bean ‘Plus’ update at the same timeframe. There was no mention of any schedule for the Galaxy S3, however.

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Official Speedtest.net app finally comes to Windows Phone

Another useful and handy app lands in the Windows Phone land, this time it’s the Speedtest.net app by Ookla.

Speedtest.net is the online tool many people uses to measure their Internet connection bandwidth. It could be for reporting purposes so they can determine if their ISPs delivers the right speed they are promised. It is also available on iOS and Android.

The Speedtest.net app for Windows Phone is different from its two other counterparts. The user interface is different and is still beautiful. It has two live tile sizes which displays your recent tests right on your Start screen.

Use Speedtest.net for easy, one-tap connection testing in under 30 seconds—accurate anywhere thanks to our global network.

Millions of users have made Speedtest.net the #1 app for testing internet speeds, and it’s trusted by the professionals like Anandtech, Engadget, and the BBC and New York Times!

- Discover your Download, Upload, and Ping
- Real-time graphs show connection consistency

  

Now get Speedtesting! Get the Speedtest.net app on the Windows Phone Store.

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Google Chrome for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad now available on the App Store

Finally, the most used and popular desktop browser, Google Chrome, has made its way to the Apple’s iOS devices.

Earlier this morning, Google announced that it will release Google Chrome for iOS. And just hours after the announcement, the browser is now available for download at the App Store and we just had our hands-on with the browser.

Google Chrome for iOS is a universal app which means it will work on the iPad, too. It has a nice start screen which displays your most visited websites as well as the recently closed tabs similar to the desktop versions. You can sign-in with your Google account so you can have your browser data synced across your devices and computers. There’s incognito mode, request desktop site, and of course bookmarks. The tabs page can be accessed by tapping on the square box icon on the right. You can see your active tabs there as well as snapshots of those tabs. Swiping tabs away well, closes them.

Check out our photos of Google Chrome for iOS below.

  

  

  

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Nokia (Symbian) Belle Appears on Navifirm! For Prototype Devices For Now

Today is February 1, isn't it? Save for some time zones, of course. But Nokia seems to have already, or is already putting up the firmwares for Nokia (Symbian) Belle for the N8 on Navifirm. The official version will be 111.030.0609. The current variant available for now is for the 0585950 product code, which seems to be for a prototype device.

Other variants for other countries should follow up immediately!

Via: Symbiantweet

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Nokia Belle Update Will be Available Starting February 8!

Hola! The much, much, much anticipated Nokia Belle (previously Symbian Belle) update will officially start to roll-out on February 8! That is according to Nokia Vietnam, who made a special page about the update.

The page states that the update will be available for Nokia N8, E7, X7, E6, and C6-01. You may notice that the Nokia 500 is mysteriously not present in the list and on the poster. I'll blame that for the different hardware configuration of the Nokia 500, just as what I've said in my review.

UPDATE: Nokia Philippines seems to add credibility for the February 8 release date. Check the photo below folks! :)

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Nokia Philippines Starts the New Year With a New General Manager

Dharmesh Goshalia, General Manager and Head of Sales Nokia Philippines

Nokia Philippines started the 2012 with a thanksgiving party for media members and bloggers and other people last Thursday. Aside from the lunch, some fun games, talks about the Nokia Store and the other recently launched devices such as the Nokia Asha 200 and Asha 303, they also announced the new General Manager for the company, Dharmesh Goshalia, which really is the main highlight of the event.

They also discussed the recent change to the Nokia Store here in the Philippines, in which mobile phone users can now access and purchase premium contents, for the first time since the store opened in 2009. The Nokia Store is now seeing about 11 million global downloads daily. Price points in Nokia Store are in Philippine Peso (PHP), from P20, P30, P50, P75, P100, P150 to as much as P600 and P750! You can purchase apps hassle free thanks to Nokia's carrier billing that is available in many countries around the world now. At the moment Globe is the only network supporting the payment processing at Nokia Store, although Smart should be supported soon.

You can read the full press release below.

Nokia Philippines welcomes new General Manager

Nokia recently announced the appointment of Dharmesh Goshalia as General Manager of its Philippine office.  He will also handle the position of Head of Sales at the company.

As the new General Manager of Nokia Philippines, Goshalia or Gosh to colleagues brings with him formidable experience in business development, management and marketing across retail distribution and operator business from diverse markets.  Under his management, Nokia Philippines is looking at maintaining its market leadership in the country while continuing to innovate and keep pace with the needs of the market.

With his appointment, Gosh sets his sights on bringing his strong leadership and strategic decision-making skills to continue to drive Nokia’s success in the country.  “The mobile phone landscape in the Philippines is very dynamic and exciting, and we look forward to maintaining Nokia’s leadership position in the country.  Nokia has a long-running relationship with Filipino mobile users, and enjoys a huge gap over competitors in terms of preference, driven by its strong image as a trustworthy brand, meeting customer needs and being easy to use,” said Gosh.

According to Gosh, 2012 is another exciting year for Nokia as it delivers aspirational products that offer choice for consumers, with differentiation on quality and value for money.  “I’m excited to be at the center of all these amazing developments and look forward to further strengthening Nokia’s relationship with Filipino consumers and steer the company to achieve further success here,” added Gosh.

To date, Nokia continues to change the game in the smartphone business as it gears up to build a winning ecosystem with Microsoft.  The Nokia Lumia 800, Nokia Lumia 710 and Nokia Lumia 900 – all Windows Phone devices, have had good reception in the select markets that they’ve been introduced to.  Not to be left behind are the Symbian Belle devices like the Nokia 700 and Nokia 701 and the uniquely designed Nokia N9. 

In mobile phones, Nokia continues its drive to connect the next billion people to the Internet, introducing last year great devices and rich services to fulfill this commitment.  Among these devices are four Dual SIM handsets – the Nokia 101, Nokia X1-01, Nokia C2-00 and Nokia C2-03 and the more recent Asha range of QWERTY mobile phones, the Nokia Asha 303 and Nokia Asha 200 (also a Dual SIM phone), which blur the line between smartphones and feature phones.  Connecting to the Web and sharing with contacts has been made easier and more fun.  This will be backed up by more efficient services, like the Nokia Browser and Nokia Maps for Series 40, which both have been earning raves since last year.

With a very busy year ahead, Gosh is all geared up to face the challenges of his new position.  Gosh has been in the telecom industry for over 16 years – six of which has been spent with Nokia.  During those years, he has achieved building and reinforcing teams regardless of race and culture with his strong management skills and affinity for business cultures.  His experiences across Europe, Middle East and Africa have now led him to Asia, where he will easily adapt into diversity and cultural differences.      

Prior to his assignment to Nokia Philippines, Gosh was General Manager of Nokia Greece and Cyprus.  Coming onboard Nokia in 2006, Gosh has significantly contributed to the success in markets such as Nigeria, Egypt, Tunisia and other countries while heading the multimedia business unit for North and West Africa. 

Gosh has worked with Ericsson South Africa and Sweden, Protek Flagship South Africa and India and Smartcom Mobile Communication, among others where he has left a trail of success with people and business.

The Johannesburg-raised Gosh went to Rand Afrikaans University, where he finished Psychology in 1989. 

About Nokia
Nokia is a global leader in mobile communications whose products have become an integral part of the lives of people around the world.  Every day, more than 1.3 billion people use their Nokia to capture and share experiences, access information, find their way or simply to speak to one another.  Nokia’s technological and design innovations have made its brand one of the most recognized in the world.  For more information, visit http://www.nokia.com.ph.

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Nokia Lumia 800 Getting 8107 Windows Phone Update Starting Today

Image via @markguim

Nokia has now started to roll-out the Windows Phone 7.10.8107.79 update which fixes few bugs, and is also said to bring better battery life. To get this update, connect your phone to PC and launch Zune. You can try checking there if the update is now available for your phone. Don't get mad if you don't see the update, Nokia is rolling it out just now.

Windows Phone 7.10.8107.79 Changelog
On-screen keyboard. Fixes an issue to prevent the keyboard from disappearing during typing.
Email. Fixes a Google mail syncing issue.
Location. Fixes a location access issue. With this fix, the Me feature in the People Hub sends anonymous information about nearby Wi-Fi access points and cell towers to Microsoft only if you agree to allow the Check In function to access and use location information.
Security. Revokes digital certificates from DigiCert Sdn Bhd to address an encryption issue.
Email threads. Fixes an email issue related to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. With this fix, when you reply to or forward a message, the original message is now included in your response.
Voicemail. Fixes a voicemail notification display issue that occurs on some European and Asian networks under certain conditions.

Oh by the way, just saw this on my Twitter timeline. If you're eager on getting the update now, check my tip below.

TIP: To force Zune on getting and downloading the update, do the following. Turn of WiFi and cellular data on your phone. Connect it to PC. Launch Zune, go to Options, then click Updates. Now this is the important step, after 2-3 seconds, disconnect your PC from the Internet. (via Camb078)

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This is final, I swear! Nokia (Symbian) Belle Coming Next Week!

Without any ado, the Nokia (Symbian) Belle update will start rolling-out next week! Nokia has just made the announcement on Twitter. The new update will be (or is supposed to be) available for Nokia N8, E7, X7, C7, C6-01, E6, and 500.

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Full Symbian^3 Source Code Along With Bootloader Source!!

OHH MY GOD!!! This is something that I didn't expected! The full Symbian^3 source code has been made available on the Internet, along with the bootloader source code that modders can use to find a way on how to unlock it, and to be able to run other OSes on Symbian^3 devices!! Check out the links below if you want to download it.

Symbian OS Layer
MegaUpload.com
DepositFiles.com
Hotfile.com
Uploading.com

Adaptation Layer
MegaUpload.com
DepositFiles.com
Hotfile.com

Symbian Middleware
MegaUpload.com
DepositFiles.com

Source Code for Symbian^3 Applications (i.e. Music Player, Screensaver, etc.)
MegaUpload.com
DepositFiles.com
Hotfile.com

The bootloader source code is located at the Symbian OS layer, within this location: OS\kernelhwsvr\brbootldr


This will open a whole new possibilities for many modifications on Symbian^3! Hopefully many modders (or developers/hackers) will make use of this to make Symbian even more better. Will we finally see Android or other OS on a Symbian^3 device soon?

Source: DailyMobile Forum

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Video: Tweeties for Symbian - A Wannabe Official Twitter Client

A very promising and good-looking Twitter client for Symbian is about to come! Meet Tweeties, the official newest Twitter client for Symbian! This app mimics the very good UI of Twitter for iPhone. Makes me want to suggest it to Twitter that they should contact the developer of this app and make it the official app for Symbian! Anyway, Camb078 uploaded a demo video on YouTube for the pleasure of your eyes.






You may now try this app by downloading the free version at Nokia Store. Full version is coming soon! The developer behind this app is Dragon Sight.

Nokia Store Link: http://store.nokia.com/content/230749
Price: FREE

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Untethered iOS 5.0.1 Jailbreak is Out!

Hurrah! This is a great holiday gift for iOS fans out there! If you own a non-A5 device, be it an iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad, then you may now jailbreak your device on iOS 5.0.1, untethered! The Chronic Dev Team and the iPhone Dev Team has just released the untethered jailbreak for those devices, based on pod2g's work.

So what are you waiting for? Update your device now to iOS 5.0.1 and don't forget to save your SHSH blobs! If you have un iPhone and need it unlocked, please use a custom IPSW or else it might update your baseband and you will loose the unlock!

Compatible With:
iPhone3GS, iPhone4, iPhone4-CDMA, iPad1, iPod touch 3G, iPod touch 4G
Download:
redsnow 0.9.10b1 for OS X
redsnow 0.9.10b1 for Windows

Alternate Links:
redsnow 0.9.10b1 for OS X
redsnow 0.9.10b1 for Windows

Links are not yet permanent. I will update this post once the permalinks are out!

UPDATE: The iPhone Dev Team has provided alternate links that can support much higher bandwidths!

Sources: (1) pod2g (2) iPhone Dev Team

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Nokia Carmode Now Available at Nokia Store

Nokia Carmode was announced last September for Nokia Belle devices. It makes using phone features much easier, like calling, playing music, and of course, navigation!

Yesterday, it was made available at Nokia Store for free. At the moment, Nokia Carmode is only available for Nokia Belle devices, no MeeGo version this time.

The Car Mode application reduces driver distraction by making available the most relevant applications for in-car usage, such as making calls, using navigation and listening to music. 

Nokia Store Link: http://store.nokia.com/content/232236
Price: FREE

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The Pinoy Siri: Introducing VANGIE

Are you an iPhone 4S user? Do you love Siri? Or do you hate Siri because she doesn't support some features? Or you just hate here because she doesn't understand you? Well... meet Vangie - The Pinoy Siri, by MacApuno Systems.

Vangie will understand you, from asking "Vangie, ano weather today?", to asking her "Vangie call my girlfriend." and she will reply with usually quirky and funny notes. I just hope that Vangie is real. But I see no reasons for it to be fake. Let's just watch the video below.

I would love to see Vangie on Cydia soon... Vangie has already gone viral on Facebook and Twitter today. At the time of writing, Vangie is the 4th trending topic on Twiter.

Vangie, kailan ka namin puwedeng madownload sa Cydia?

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Angry Birds Now Finally on Nokia N9/N950

The original version of Rovio Mobile's Angry Birds is now finally available at Nokia Store for the Nokia N9 and N950. It's still on version 1.6.3 and we're still waiting for the Happy Birdday episode to come out for the MeeGo and Symbian version.

The survival of the Angry Birds is at stake. Dish out revenge on the green pigs who stole the Birds ’ eggs. Use the unique destructive powers of the Angry Birds to lay waste to the pigs’ fortified castles. Angry Birds features hours of gameplay, challenging physics-based castle demolition, and lots of replay value. Each of the 288 levels requires logic, skill, and brute force to crush the enem y. 
Protect wildlife or play Angry Birds!

Check out the demo below.

Nokia Store Link: http://store.nokia.com/content/210809/
Price: $1.99

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Symbian Belle Release On Early 2012

Symbian Belle was supposed to be out now if a rumour is to be believed. But no. The new update for Symbian is not expected to come until early 2012. This one seems to be a more solid info, as it came from several Nokia accounts online.

So, you willing to wait? Or just go the flashing via Phoenix way?

Sources: (1) Nokia Singapore (2) Nokia Malaysia (3) Nokia Netherlands (4) Nokia UK

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Android Honeycomb Now Rolling Out OTA for HTC Flyer

The HTC Flyer has been on Gingerbread for quite some time now, and it's about time that it gets the Honeycomb update. HTC has officially announced that the Honeycomb update is now rolling-out OTA. The update is now available for the 3G + WiFi version. Update for WiFi only version should follow soon.

Source: (1) HTC (2) Engadget (image)

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Symbian Anna Version 025.008 Available On Navifirm for N8 and E7

Something's wrong going on at Espoo. I posted yesterday about Symbian Belle for today, but while waiting for it... Tada! This new firmware showed up on Navifirm. It's a version 025.008 update that seems to be for North America devices. Maybe this update is required for North America users... Ugh. I donn't know. I still expect Belle later.

Today is supposed to be Belle day. But no. It's Anna day.

UPDATE: This update is also available for E7.

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Symbian Belle On December 5 (Today/tomorrow)?

Remember Taylor? Yes the one who provided us the leaked Symbian Belle firmware not so long ago, said in a post on DailyMobile Forum that the final Symbian Belle for Nokia N8 (and possibly for other devices?) will be finally released on Navifirm on December 5. You might remember that Symbian Belle for N8 mysteriously appeared and then disappeared on Navifirm in the last few days. Hopefully this time Nokia won't disappoint us.

By the way, it's already December 5 here, 2:32 AM. Fingers crossed for tomorrow (or later). Goodnight!

Source: (1) DailyMobile (2) DailyMobile

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iPhone 4S Available In the Philippines And Other Counties Starting December 16

Local network carriers Globe Telecom and Smart Communications has began accepting pre-orders for the iPhone 4S, almost 2 months after it went on sale on U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the U.K last October 14.

Globe Telecom has been the official carrier of the iPhone in the past 3 years, but today, it has changed. Smart Communications will also start offering the Apple product starting on December 16.

You may now sign-up for postpaid or prepaid on Globe by filling-up the form here.

In case you're a Smart subscriber, head on here to sign-up.

Plans and pricing details are not yet available.

UPDATE: It looks like the December 16 launch date is set by Apple. The iPhone 4S will be also available on Malaysia, South Africa, Taiwan, and Thailand. If this is true, then we may also see the iPhone 4S on Globe Telecom on the same day.

UPDATE 2: Apple is also set to launch the iPhone 4S on Russia, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia on the same day. [Source]

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