BlackBerry has released their BBM application for the Windows Phone platform. After being exclusive to the BlackBerry OS since its inception, the app was released on iOS and Android last year but it took its usual time to arrive later on Windows Phone.

But even though the app is on Windows Phone now, you may not be able to download it. BlackBerry, in its infinite wisdom, as decided to keep it a private beta for now, so you will need an invite to be able to use the app on your Windows Phone device. Read more »

This year will see another big rise among smart devices shipped to retailers and sold to customers – by its end more than 2.43 billion units will have left the manufacturing facilities which compares nicely to to 2013′s 2.34 billion.

The numbers come from Gartner which breaks them down by traditional PCs, ultrabooks and premium laptops, tablets and mobile phones. Interestingly the PC market will account for 308 million devices with tablets closing in at 256 million. Gartner’s projection for 2015 is that tablets will overtake PCs with roughly 4 million more shipments. Read more »

The Nokia Lumia 930 is getting ready to go on sale in Europe with several retailers listing the product and a few of them accepting pre-orders. It looks like the sales of the Lumia 930 will be accompanied by an official flip cover that has been designed to complement the phone.

Although, Nokia hasn’t officially announced any accessories for the Lumia 930, the protective case for the smartphone has surfaced in Italy. The cover has precise cutouts for all the ports, buttons and for the 20 megapixel PureView camera on the back. Read more »

Nokia, or should we say Microsoft, has introduced its latest monthly competition through Instagram, where Lumia users are given the chance to showcase their macro-shooting skills.

All you have to do to enter the competition, is take a macro shot with a Lumia device, and post it on Instagram using the hashtag #LumiaMacro. Read more »

When Microsoft announced Windows Phone 8.1 back at its BUILD conference, one of the features that was mentioned included dynamic lockscreens, which would allow developers to make custom lockscreens. Unfortunately, this feature was not included on the test build that was released to developers.

Now, a new video has surfaced that shows one example of customizable lockscreens. The lockscreen has fullscreen album art and music player controls that allow complete control over the playback from the lockscreen. Read more »

It was apparently time for Angry Birds Seasons to get yet another update. This time, Rovio added 24 new levels to its insanely popular game. These take you on a trip to South HAMerica, where your mission is, as always, to stop those pesky pigs.

There are even three bonus levels inside, and everything is packed with relics, artifacts, ancient statues, and rope bridges – all making for a pretty exotic twist to the game. Read more »

If you were hoping to get a smartwatch from Microsoft to play nice with your Windows Phone, then you may be a tad disappointed.

Microsoft’s rumored upcoming wearable will be more of a jock than a nerd. Read more »

Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform, which decided to forego separating its applications into folders as part of its “Metro” UI, is apparently willing to reconsider this decision.

Information has surfaced that an upcoming WP8.1 update will add this functionality, which will create a folder tile that can have an unspecified number of apps shortcuts inside. Read more »

Nokia Beta Labs released the Glance Background app last October. It spices up the Lumia-exclusive Glance screen with a background.

The Glance Background was in beta phase since the official release and its trial is now over. Read more »

Samsung is apparently working on making an Ativ Camera app available in the Windows Phone app store. It will come with advanced features and will be available for Windows Phone 8.1, but limited to Samsung’s own devices.

The new app comes to upgrade Samsung’s existing camera offering for Windows Phone 8 – which you can see in our review of the Samsung Ativ SE. Read more »

Wouldn’t it be cool if your phone juiced up every time you placed it in your pocket?

Well thanks to a fashion designer and the Nokia DC-50 wireless charging plate for Lumia phones, you can now make this a reality. Read more »

Janet Kennedy, Microsoft Canada President, has detailed the Cortana availability. As it turns out Canada will be among the first wave of countries to get the virtual assistant upon the update rollout.

Microsoft has previously announced the first market where Cortana will be available is USA. The UK and China will be getting the same treatment and now it turns out Cortana will be localized for Canada in time too. Read more »

Group Program Manager for Microsoft’s Cortana virtual assistant Marcus Ash confirmed over Twitter today that the popular feature will be coming to users in China and the UK in the coming weeks.

In general, mobile virtual assistants are severely limited by the Chinese government in terms of what they can do, but if Cortana is able to get an unfiltered release there, it could spell a significant advantage for Windows Phone in the world’s fastest-growing smartphone market. Read more »

Over the years Nokia has done alright for itself and established some well-known trademarks in the tech world. PureView is now synonymous with great camera performance, ClearBlack denotes great display hardware and Asha was Nokia’s dumb phone name while Lumia is the name of the best-selling Windows Phones by Nokia.

After Microsoft bought Nokia and transformed it into Microsoft Mobile, there were questions whether Microsoft will gain those famous Nokia trademarks or not. To blow away the mist of the unknown PureView, Lumia, Asha, ClearBlack, Surge and Mural brand names are now all owned by Microsoft Mobile. Read more »

There is no doubt that Angry Birds is to Rovio what Mario is to Nintendo and Sonic is to SEGA. The company has tried to dabble with other IPs in the past but hasn’t had the same level of success so it keeps going back to the Angry Birds well.

After countless Angry Birds games based on the same original formula, Rovio has tried to diversify it a bit recently, starting with Angry Birds Go, which was a kart racing game (*cough* Mario Kart *cough* Sonic & SEGA All-Star Racing *cough*). The latest game in the Angry Birds series is Angry Birds Epic, which like Angry Birds Go has very little to do with the original games and is actually an RPG. Read more »