Next Windows 10 for phones build will expand to a massive number of devices

In a new blog post from Microsoft this evening, the company says the next build of the Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones will hit a lot more devices.

In addition to a massively expanded list of supported devices, the blog post notes that Microsoft is looking to increase the frequency at which Windows 10 builds will be released for phones.

The increase in frequency for Windows 10 releases for phones follows a similar path that Microsoft recently laid out for desktop builds. On the topic of the rollout to more phones, the blog post reiterates that the previous limited rollout was due to a partition size issue:

"As I wrote in the accompanying blog post, the reason for this is that we had to select from the set of phones that had sufficient system partition sizes configured by the manufacturer. This was necessary for us to be able to in-place upgrade the phones. I also talked about a feature we were working on called "partition stitching" that would allow us to re-size the system partition dynamically, allowing us to do the upgrade on a larger set of phones."

And Microsoft isn't joking about that larger number of phones. Without further ado, here's the full list of phones that are expected to be eligible for the next build of the Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones:

• Lumia 1020
• Lumia 1320
• Lumia 1520
• Lumia 520
• Lumia 525
• Lumia 526
• Lumia 530
• Lumia 530 Dual Sim
• Lumia 535
• Lumia 620
• Lumia 625
• Lumia 630
• Lumia 630 Dual Sim
• Lumia 635
• Lumia 636
• Lumia 638
• Lumia 720
• Lumia 730
• Lumia 730 Dual SIM
• Lumia 735
• Lumia 810
• Lumia 820
• Lumia 822
• Lumia 830
• Lumia 920
• Lumia 925
• Lumia 928
• Lumia ICON
• Microsoft Lumia 430
• Microsoft Lumia 435
• Microsoft Lumia 435 Dual SIM
• Microsoft Lumia 435 Dual SIM DTV
• Microsoft Lumia 532
• Microsoft Lumia 532 Dual SIM
• Microsoft Lumia 640 Dual SIM
• Microsoft Lumia 535 Dual SIM

The blog post doesn't detail when the build will be available, but it does note that Microsoft likely has at least one more week of testing to go. In any event, this is great news for those that have been patiently awaiting another build, let alone the massive increase in supported devices.

Update: For those wondering why the Lumia 930 is not yet on the list, there is a bug causing the "wrong scaling factor is applied to UX, causing everything to be teeeeeeny tiny" according Microsoft's Gabriel Aul. The bug may be fixed by the time the next release is out, but for now, that is why it is missing.

Image & News Courtesy Windows Central

More Lumia Denim updates reported in Australia, the Philippines and more

Microsoft continues to roll out the Lumia Denim over-the-air update worldwide. We have received reports from a number of Windows Central readers that Denim has made its way to more Lumia smartphones in Australia, the Philippines and other countries.

Specifically, we have received many tips in the past couple of days from the Philippines that theirLumia 1520 smartphones can now download Denim. The Lumia 1320 on Vodafone in Australia is also apparently getting the same update, as is the Lumia 830 RM-985 in parts of Latin America.

However, Microsoft's Windows Phone software update support page does not list these phones as receiving the Denim update yet. Based on the number of tips we have received from our readers, it's more than possible that Microsoft simply has not updated the page to reflect the over-the-air download.

We will continue to keep an eye out on Denim's continued rollout, especially in the US and Canada, where only a handful of Lumia smartphones have received the update.

Do you need some assistance in getting your Windows Phone OS updated? If so, we got you covered with our how-to article on that very subject.

Image & News Courtesy Windows Central

Photos taken with Lumia 930 beat iPhone 6 Plus and Galaxy Note 4 in blind test

A recent blind test of photos taken by various recent smartphones has resulted in a win for theLumia 930 and its 20MP PureView camera beating out images taken by the iPhone 6 Plus and theSamsung Galaxy Note 4, among others.

The Phone Arena site took images of a number of locations in different lighting conditions with six smartphones that at the time were unidentified and asked its readership to vote on which photos were the best. The Lumia 930 was the overall winner with 6032 votes, beating out the Galaxy Note 4 by less than 100 votes. Considering that the Lumia 930 is basically the same smartphone as theLumia Icon that Verizon released over a year ago, that's a pretty good achievement over a smartphone that's been out for less than half of that time.

The iPhone 6 Plus was a distant third in this smartphone camera battle with 4344 votes, with Google's Nexus 6 in fourth place, the Galaxy S5 in fifth place and the newly announced HTC One M9 in sixth place, even with its own 20MP rear camera.

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Microsoft Band online shipments vary by retailer, some stores have them back in stock

The small and medium models of the Microsoft Band are currently showing long waits for shipments for some online retailers. _Again._The Microsoft Store site shows that if you order the small or medium version of the fitness band, you will have to wait until May 6 to receive them

People who want to buy the large version of the Microsoft Band on the company's site won't have to wait nearly that long. The store shows shipments going out on April 1 for orders made today. Microsoft is still restricting online order to one Microsoft Band per customer, which shows that there is still a fairly limited amount of the devices to go around.

Thankfully, Best Buy and Amazon's websites show they have all three versions of the Microsoft Band on sale for shipment April 1 (Best Buy) or even immediately (Amazon). Sadly, Target's website currently shows the Band as "out of stock" just a few days after it started selling the device.

We have received tips from a couple of Windows Central readers that some Microsoft Store retail locations have also received new shipments of the Microsoft Band. If you live near one in the US and Canada, you might want to see if you can stop by and get one immediately.

Image & News Courtesy Windows Central

Windows 10 for phone to support NFC payments similar to Apple Pay

Microsoft wants owners of Windows 10 for phones to pay for goods and services similar to howApple Pay works for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. It detailed those plans last week at a presentation at its WinHEC 2015 hardware conference in China.

You may remember that Softcard released NFC-based "Tap to Pay" apps for Windows Phone in November for Verizon and T-Mobile, and then a few months later announced those apps would be shut down on March 31, due to Google acquiring their technology for use in Google Wallet.

During WinHEC 2015 Microsoft revealed that Windows 10 for phones will support Host Card Emulation (HCE). HCE will allow any smartphone with Windows 10 and NFC hardware to transmit payments from the device to an NFC terminal designed to receive that money but without needing a special secure app like Softcard. It also won't require any secure SIMs from wireless carriers. The slide shows that VISA, MasterCard and American Express are supporting this feature.

HCI is already supported in Google's Android since Android 4.4.

Another slide shows that Windows 10 will also support "Tap to pair" for NFC hardware so it can pair with a Wi-Fi Direct device via Wi-Fi Protected Setup. It will also support tapping to a Miracast dongle, presumably so that the screen for a Windows 10 smartphone can be mirrored to a larger screen that has such a dongle installed.

It's possible that not every Windows 10 smartphone will have NFC support but those devices that do contain the hardware should be able to pay for things at the grocery store, restaurants or other locations that have an NFC payment solution. We should learn a lot more about Microsoft's plans for this part of Windows 10 in late April as part of its Build 2015 developer conference.

Image & News Courtesy Windows Central

Latest Analog Clock Tile update adds multiple tile and custom background support

Analog Clock Tile is a popular app for Windows Phones that puts an analog clock on your start screen. The app has been bumped to version 3, bringing multiple tile and custom backgrounds support. It's quite the update and one we're sure fans of the app will welcome with unlocked lockscreens.

If you're not familiar with Analog Clock Tile, the app takes advantage of changes in Windows Phone 8.1 where Microsoft allows developers to update live tiles every minute, making a clock tile actually viable. This also means 8.1 is required to be able to use this app. Here's what is new in version 3:

• Multiple tiles support
• Custom background colors
• Time zones support
• Memory and bandwidth optimizations for low-spec phones

Now you can pin numerous clocks to your start screen. memory and bandwidth optimizations could prove to be a massive improvement alone for those rocking low-end hardware. Interested in trying out Analog Clock Tile? It's available for free on the store.

Download Analog Clock Title for Windows Phone (free)

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Microsoft will let you upgrade to Windows 10 for free, even if you're running a pirated version

In what may turn out to be an historic move in the battle against piracy, Microsoft's Terry Myerson has announced that the software vendor will allow all customers — whether they're running genuine Windows software or a pirated version — to upgrade to Windows 10 for free.

The move is clearly targeted at the Chinese market, where two-thirds of all PCs run pirated versions of Windows. Speaking to Reuters, Myerson said:

"We are upgrading all qualified PCs, genuine and non-genuine, to Windows 10," he said in a telephone interview with Reuters. The plan is to "re-engage" with the hundreds of millions of users of Windows in China, he said, without elaboration.

By giving away Windows 10 for free, at least for the first year, Microsoft is deviating from its regular sales model for the first time. The software maker announced earlier today that Windows 10 will be launching this summer in 190 countries, with the vendor focusing its attention on China.

Lenovo has committed to rolling out the Windows 10 upgrade to its customers as soon as it becomes available, as well as stating that it would launch its first Windows Phone over the summer.

The Redmond giant also inked a deal with Chinese internet portal Tencent in bringing popular games such as League of Legends to the Windows 10 store. Tencent has stated that it will also be working to roll out the Windows 10 update as soon as possible.

Image & News Courtesy Windows Central