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Talk is affordable and Reliable on Nokia's $50 Phone

The standard worth of a smartphone running one in every of the trendy mobile operating systems is usually $200, with a two-year service contract. Recently, there have even been many, largely unsuccessful, tries to spice up costs to $300.

But phone manufacturers and carriers are needing to push smartphones into cheaper price bands to expand the market. Older and additional basic models are bringing to light for fewer. Multiple Android models sell for around $100, and many well below that. Even Apple, that established the $200 commonplace, sells its iPhone four, that is outwardly the image of the present iPhone 4S, for $99. And its 2009-vintage iPhone 3GS is free with an AT&T contract.

So on, I tested a brand new $50 smartphone to check what you get for that sort of cash. It's referred to as the Nokia Lumia 710, and it runs Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system, the much-praised, however late and struggling, competitor to Android and also the Apple iOS software that powers the iPhone.

The Nokia Lumia 710 runs constant Mango version of Windows Phone as costlier models, with its bright tiles that may show live knowledge, just like the weather or favorite photos.

After per week of testing the Lumia 710, my verdict is that it is a smart price for the money, and a decent selection for folks moving up to their 1st smartphone, or those longing for another to Android and Apple. it's some notable weaknesses and downsides, and it does not compare with the iPhone 4S or elite Android models just like the Samsung Galaxy S II. however it is a good phone that gets the foremost common smartphone tasks done.

I selected the Lumia 710 as a result of it is not an previous model or one that runs an outdated version of software. In fact, it is the 1st Windows Phone device from Nokia, Microsoft's principal phone partner, to be offered by an yank wireless carrier—in this case, T-Mobile. And it had been designed to be a low-cost various to most alternative smartphones, to spice up the tepid sales of Windows Phone devices and to launch Nokia's bid to regain a major share of the U.S. market.

T-Mobile is promoting the phone heavily in its stores and in national TV ads, and says it'll be a significant focus for the carrier this winter. Wal-Mart is pushing it for $18.88 in its stores and free on-line, with a contract, in line with T-Mobile and Nokia.

Though it is the vanguard, the Lumia 710 will not be the flagship of Nokia's new Windows Phone line. a wholly totally different model, the larger however sleeker Lumia 900, is coming back from AT&T, most likely in March. it'll boast an even bigger, higher screen, additional storage and options and a stronger camera. No value has been announced, however it'll definitely price quite $50.

Another higher-end Nokia model, the Lumia 800, already is accessible overseas, however hasn't been picked up however by U.S. carriers.

The 710 could be a somewhat thick, rounded phone that comes in black or white and includes a three.7-inch screen—bigger than the iPhone's, however a lot of smaller than the massive displays of four.5 inches or additional on a number of the newer Android models.

The phone is plastic and fairly lightweight, however does not appear low cost or flimsy. it's a rubbery, curved back and feels smart within the hand. and in contrast to several new smartphones, the rear is removable and therefore the battery is replaceable.


This phone runs on T-Mobile's 4G network, that I actually have consistently found to be a lot of slower than Verizon's latest 4G technology, currently additionally being rolled out by AT&T. In my tests, downloads averaged concerning a pair of megabits per second, that is not far better than on several 3G phones.

The 710 runs an equivalent Mango version of Windows Phone as costlier models and, in my tests, was typically snappy, though it lagged in a very few instances. Like all Windows phones, it's an obsessive button that launches the camera even when the phone is locked. However, Windows Phone has concerning 100 percent of the third-party apps because the iPhone.

I was ready to use all the most options of Mango, that distinguishes itself from its competitors with a user interface created of bright tiles which will show live information, just like the weather or favorite photos, even before you faucet them to open apps. Mango's "hubs"—features that combination data like your friends' contact data and social-networking status—also worked fine.

I was ready to sync the phone with each a Windows computer and a Mac, using Microsoft software, to feature music, photos and videos.

So what corner-cutting was done to induce the worth down? What are the missing features? One is that the absence of a front camera, which implies you cannot do video chats on the 710. Also, the phone cannot be used as a Wi-Fi hot spot to attach alternative devices, like laptops, to the Web. it's solely eight gigabytes of internal storage, that cannot be expanded. the bottom line for many alternative new smartphones is sixteen gigabytes.

In addition, I found the five megapixel rear camera to be no higher than adequate, with some footage I took rapidly setting out fuzzy, though most others were acceptable.

I found the phone's buttons needed additional pressure than they ought to have. The screen, whereas decent-looking when viewed straight on, was tougher to scan from an angle than on most competing smartphones.

I did not perform a proper battery check, however found the phone's battery created it through the day in mixed, light-to-moderate use. Sound quality was smart and calls did not drop.

T-Mobile's service plans for the Nokia Lumia 710 begin at $60 per month for five hundred minutes of voice, unlimited texts and a paltry two hundred megabytes of knowledge. however the carrier recommends an idea that prices $80 monthly and boosts the information portion to unlimited (T-Mobile slows your affiliation if you exceed five gigabytes of knowledge throughout the month.)

Bottom line: Nokia can soon have flashier, high-end Windows Phone models within the U.S., however you'll be able to get plenty for fewer within the Lumia 710.

Wikipedia, Google and alternative websites protest of anti-piracy laws

It wasn't quite the day the music died. however the web felt eerie Wednesday as massive swaths of on-line|the web|the net} community went dark in what leaders known as an historic protest to kill proposed online anti-piracy legislation.

By day's finish, the large protest seemed to have utterly dazed any political support left for the already imperiled bills in Congress. Florida Sen. Mark Rubio, one in all the co-sponsors of legislation within the Senate, backed aloof from his bill, whereas others in Congress voiced issues concerning speeding too quickly. House Speaker John Boehner acknowledged mid-day that there was an absence of consensus on the legislation.

This screen shot shows the blacked-out Wikipedia web site, saying a 24-hour protest against proposed legislation within the U.S. Congress, meant to shield intellectual property that critics say might facilitate censorship, observed because the "Stop on-line Piracy Act," or "SOPA," and therefore the "Protect IP Act," or "PIPA."

The scope of the protest and emotional show of solidarity among such a large amount of websites offered a surprising spectacle in an internet landscape normally consumed by business-as-usual. With thousands of web site home pages full of somber warnings regarding how the Stop on-line Piracy Act would wrap the globe Wide internet during a serious cloak of censorship, the sole issue missing was the theme from Jaws. The bill's dreaded acronym -- SOPA -- was squarely in each Web-warrior's crosshairs.

Wikipedia went dark initial on Tuesday night, urging guests to contact their representatives in Congress to raise that the House bill, beside its parallel shield IP Act currently stalled within the Senate, be deep-sixed. Google (GOOG)-goersfound a black-armband where the Google Doodle ought to are. And Reddit, the story-sharing web site that calls itself "front page of the web,'' was vowing "today we have a tendency to fight back.''

The calls and e-mails appear to possess scuttled the legislation as currently written, with Rubio warning "Congress ought to listen and avoid dashing through a bill that might have several unintended consequences.''

"INTERNET GOES ON STRIKE,'' screamed a headline on sopastrike.com, home of the non-profit online-freedom advocacy cluster Fight for the long run, whose co-founder, Holmes Wilson, said he was blown away by the response of quite seventy five,000 folks that had signed up to strike on their sites, either with total blackouts or by posting a notice.

"Today the net is revealing the facility it's to defend itself,'' said Holmes, who said nearly a pair of million individuals had visited the strike web site by late morning. "But this is often regarding over simply net freedom. As we rely a lot of and a lot of on technology, all of our freedoms are within the balance, as a result of all of them rely upon a free and open net and that is being threatened.''

By late afternoon, the strike web site had had nearly a pair of million guests who had clicked through to send 350,000 e-mails to Congress and "sopa'' had been tweeted three million times, in step with the tweet-metering web site Topsy. Even Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg thought-about the bills such a threat that he Tweeted his opposition.

"Tell your congressmen you wish them to be pro-internet,'' he wrote, reportedly his initial look on Twitter in virtually 3 years.

Critics of the 2 bills, that are opposed by the Obama administration, say the tools proposed to prevent the unfold of pirated copies of flicks and different content by "rogue'' websites overseas may simply be abused. They complain the language is imprecise and sets up the chance of intermediaries either shutting down legitimate websites or prompting self-censorship by websites worried regarding their potential liability.

The Hollywood movie business leaders, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and labor teams who support the bills say they are necessary to shield content suppliers like artists and musicians who have gotten ripped off by rogue websites beyond the enforcement reach of yankee authorities.

Ultimately, the controversy over the bills represents a monumental face-off between 2 behemoths of yankee business -- the content creators and also the tech corporations that deliver that content to the plenty.

The money behind the posturing is huge. each Hollywood and Silicon Valley pay generously to lobby causes in Washington. in step with the middle for Responsive Politics, the movie, tv and music industries spent a combined $91.7 million on lobbying efforts in 2011, compared with the pc and net industry's $93 million.

But Wednesday was all regarding the critics. And by all measures, their efforts appeared to be paying off. Presumably many numerous Google users were obtaining a fast education on the bills, albeit with a biased perspective. Jay Walsh, a spokesman for the Wikimedia Foundation that runs Wikipedia, said by mid-day a hundred,000 individuals had clicked through the blacked-out English Wikipedia web site to contact their representatives in Washington.

"We're obtaining huge interest from readers and therefore the media and seeing large amounts of Twitter traffic around this,'' said Walsh, who said the location normally gets between one hundred and a hundred and fifty million guests each day. Some users were furious when finding the encyclopedia website stop working, however Walsh said "our hope is that individuals who scan Wikipedia can perceive the threat of SOPA and PIPA and facilitate us place them down for sensible.''

That perceived to be already underway in Washington, as many members of Congress said the legislation appeared stalled, with some reversing earlier support for the measures. As Rubio withdrew as a co-sponsor of PIPA within the Senate, Reps. Lee Terry, R-Neb, and Ben Quayle, R-Ariz, said they were pulling their names from the companion House bill. Meanwhile, Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, referred to as on Congress to require longer to figure on the bills.

"Better to induce this done right instead of quick and wrong," Cornyn said on his Facebook page. "Stealing content is theft, plain and easy, however issues regarding unintended harm to the net and innovation within the tech sector need a a lot of thoughtful balance, which is able to take longer."

Rubio conjointly joined many alternative Republicans in calling for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, to delay a vote on PIPA scheduled for next Tuesday.

"Members of Congress got to hear regarding the results of SOPA, and after they do, they will learn of the intense consequences to the net the bill poses,'' said Rep. Anna G. Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, ranking member on the Communications and Technology Subcommittee. "It's time to tug up the emergency brake on this legislation."

And to form positive everybody knew where she stood on the bills, Eshoo blacked out her own web site, with a straightforward message dead-center within the home page: ''STOP SOPA/PIPA''