Windows Phone 7.8 due to roll out on Jan 31st

The Windows Phone 7.8 update will arrive on handsets such as the Nokia Lumia 900 and Lumia 800 by the end of the month.

Handsets stuck on Windows Phone 7.5 have not been treated to the plush Windows Phone 8 OS which is reserved for new handsets. Version 7.8 their only salvation, but it's been slow coming.


UK carrier O2 tweeted last week: "The 7.8 Windows Phone update will be released by the end of January and will be available via Zone."

Microsoft which confirmed that "the Windows Phone 7.8 update will arrive by the end of the month January."

Over in Columbia however the Windows Phone team seem more certain over the Windows Phone 7.8 release date, posting on its Facebook page that the update will arrive on January 31.

We've also been in contact with Nokia over the update who told us: "Windows Phone 7.8 is becoming available on new phones around the world, and Microsoft has announced it is working to get the software update tested, approved and rolled out to as many devices as possible early this year.

                          "Exact time frames for rollout will be announced in due course"

It usually takes a few weeks for an update to hit every handset, so you may be looking at mid-February before you're treated to Windows Phone 7.8, although carriers can potentially delay the roll out as they run their own tests before offering it to customers.

Read More

Huawei Ascend W1 Windows Phone sneaks out at CES

While the CES 2013 press conference was all about Android, the expected Huawei W1 Windows Phone was unveiled on the sly, and has now been confirmed by the brand.

The Windows Phone 8-powered handset comes with a superbly uninteresting spec list, which thankfully has been dubbed 'entry-level' on the pricing scale to avoid being plopped in the also-rans bin.

Update: O2 will be the first to range the phone in the UK, with the Huawei Ascend W1 release date of Q1, and we're trying to get more information for other territories. The key info here is still the price, so here's hoping it could perhaps even turn up for under £150.

The Ascend W1 it comes with the aforementioned WP8 (with the new update to improve stability, dubbed Portico) as well as 512MB of RAM – which makes sense, given that it's only got a WVGA resolution 4-inch screen.

Please let it be a cheaper phone

What else makes the Ascend W1 special? Well, there's only 4GB of onboard storage, but the addition of a microSD card slot at least means you can chuck some more in there if you so wish.

A 5MP camera and LED flash is the minimum we'd expect here, and the likes of NFC and a dual core 1.2GHz Qualcomm MSM 8230 CPU should provide adequate grunt under the hood.

The 1950mAh battery should be enough to keep you chugging along throughout the day (something Huawei is dubbing 'best in class', but it pales compared to the masses of juice plugged into the likes of the Android-powered Ascend D2.

In short, we can see this phone not making waves anywhere in the world unless you're after a really budget handset – come on Huawei, where's the super Windows Phone we all want to see?

Read More