Microsoft Lumia 640 And 640 XL

[Jorge-Vieira]

Microsoft Continues Reliance On Budget Phones, Launches Lumia 640 And 640 XL

As we’ve reported numerous times, Microsoft just can’t get over budget smartphones. While we understand the need for Microsoft to embrace the entry-level market, it seems like this is the only market that the company is interested in these days. Over 70 percent of Windows Phones out in the wild have just 512MB of memory or less, and nearly 33 percent of all Windows Phones sold are the lowly Lumia 520.
And just like fans of a losing sports franchise sitting in the stands hoping that a new star comes to lead their team to a championship (or at least the playoffs), Windows Phone users are looking towards a new flagship to set the tone for the Windows platform. Unfortunately, that won’t happen for at least another six months or so, because today Microsoft announced two more budget smartphones.
First up is the Lumia 640, which incorporates a 5-inch, 1280x720 display that is covered with Gorilla Glass 3. Powering the device is a low-end, quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor backed by 1GB of RAM. You’ll also find 8GB of internal storage, a microSD slot, an 8MP rear camera with LED flash, a 1MP front-facing camera, and a 2500 mAh battery.

image: http://hothardware.com/ContentImages.../small_640.jpg

Lumia 640

The Lumia 640 XL lives up to its name, stretching the screen to 5.7-inches while retaining the same 1280x720 resolution. Like its little brother, the Lumia 640 XL features the same Snapdragon 400 processor, 8GB of internal storage and microSD slot, but ups the ante with a 13MP rear shooter (with Carl Zeiss optics), a 5MP front-facing camera, and a larger 3000 mAh battery.
And since Microsoft seems to be in a giving mood these days, both new smartphones will come with a free year of Office 365 complete with 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage space. That’s a nice bonus for smartphones that will retail for around $250 or less off-contract.

image: http://hothardware.com/ContentImages...all_640_xl.jpg

Lumia 640 XL

Speaking of pricing, the Lumia 640 and 640 XL will be available in 3G and LTE versions priced at 139 euro ($156) and 159 euros ($178) respectively for the former and 189 euros ($212) and 219 euros ($246) for the latter. There will also be dual-SIM LTE and dual-SIM 3G models available, but pricing hasn’t been announced at this time. The Lumia 640 will ship in April, while its bigger brother will be available later this month.
As for the MIA flagship, Microsoft says that you’ll have to wait until the release of Windows 10. “We remain completely committed and focused on new flagship products," said Neil Broadley, Microsoft’s director of phone marketing, in an interview with The Verge. "That said, certainly we believe the best time to bring those flagship devices to market is when we have our very latest flagship software experience available. We’re focusing our flagship development for slightly later when Windows 10 is available."






Via: Microsoft

Noticia:
http://hothardware.com/news/microsof...d8FfgUAQJdS.99

[Sardo]

O 640 parece-me estar um telemóvel bastante equilibrado e os 2500 mAh devem dar uma boa autonomia ao mesmo. No entanto, acho que a Microsoft ainda não se apercebeu que, actualmente, o seu SO não é argumento suficiente para as pessoas comprarem o seu dispositivo. Não percebo a decisão de o dispositivo ainda vir com o Snapdragon 400, quando tudo o que é pedra já começa a vir com o 410.

[Jorge-Vieira]

Além disso podes juntar também os preços praticados, a M$ deveria baixar os preços dos seus terminais, pois não é compreensível que na mesma gama de mercado os terminais da M$ sejam bem mais caros.
Um bom SO não é tudo, como demonstram as ultimas estatisticas onde o WinPhone desceu para baixo dos 2,5% de quota de mercado.
A M$ tem de fazer mais e melhor, se não é para descer ainda mais.

[Jorge-Vieira]

Microsoft Lumia 640 Kicked Out Of Windows 10 Technical Build 10052 Install Party

It looks as though Microsoft hasn’t quite worked out all of the kinks when it comes to installing (or uninstalling) Windows 10 on smartphones that are supposedly supported. Earlier this month, Lumia 520, 525, and 526 owners ran into difficulties when attempting to uninstall Windows 10 Technical Preview Build 10051 to revert back to Windows 8.1.

Microsoft made some tweaks to the Windows Phone Recovery Tool (WPRT) to alleviate the issue and proceeded to release Windows 10 Technical Preview Build 10052. Everything should be all hunky-dory now for supported Lumia smartphones, right? Well, you’d be wrong — but this is to be expected with software that is still in beta.

image: http://hothardware.com/ContentImages.../small_640.jpg

This time around, it’s Lumia 640 users that are experiencing problems with Build 10052. And the problem appears to be similar the issues that we saw with the Lumia 520 and its ilk. In a posting on the Microsoft Community forum, a moderator, Jason[MS], posted the following bit of bad news:

If your 640 handset is on Windows Phone 8.1 and has an OS version greater than 8.10.15116.125, you will not be able to upgrade to Windows 10 Technical Preview currently. To check the current OS version of your device: Settings > About > (More Info)
I know this news is disappointing. This is a temporary, not permanent, situation. Without going into great technical detail, I will summarize and say that if you are on a build greater than the one noted above and update to Windows 10 Technical Preview, your device would not be able to recover back to Windows Phone 8.1 if you were to encounter any device troubles or decide the Preview wasn't to your liking.

So for now, Lumia 640 are strongly encouraged to back away from installing Windows 10 Build 10052 until Microsoft can resolve the issue. “This is not a situation we want to put users in,” Jason[MS], conceded. “Having the ability to recover or roll-back should you choose is important.”
Microsoft came up with a quick fix for Lumia 520/525/526, so hopefully the company will quickly come to the rescue of Lumia 640 users as well that want to try out the latest build of Windows 10.

Noticia:
http://hothardware.com/news/microsof...a8CZPgGxBgY.99