While the Nokia Lumia 920 is a solid phone overall, its biggest draw is the PureView rear camera capability.

That said, the camera is amazing at image-stabilization and low light, but has been receiving complaints about daylight photos being blurry. The good news is that a fix is in sight. It is being reported that Nokia will be changing the camera software for the Lumia 920 and will hopefully resolve some of the issues in an upcoming update.

Some sample shots from the new software have shown noted improvements with the issue so far.  It is refreshing for a manufacturer to take note of feedback and work to quickly resolve the shortcomings.  The update is set to be released later this month. Other improvements will include a fix for the random reboots reported and Wi-Fi stability fixes.

Are you a 920 owner and have you experienced these issues? Looking forward to this new update?

[ source ]

The post Nokia to Release Update to Fix Nokia Lumia 920 Camera Issues appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Location services have always been a significant power consumer for every smartphone, including the iPhone. These services are also very tightly integrated with the functioning of the iPhone 4S, but according to many, these features should not be using up this much power so quickly.

While no official comment has been reported from Apple as of yet, The Guardian and other sources believe that the power problem is being caused by the “Setting Time Zone” feature. This element is responsible for automatically changing the time zone on the iPhone when the owner travels. While this particular feature is needed only occasionally, it appears to be on all the time only with the iPhone 4S.

This bug seems to have a very easy fix, however. Users have reported that simply turning this element off has dramatically improved battery life. By turning this feature off, the iPhone will no longer automatically update time zones during travel, but for day to day use, many users will find this to be a fair trade off for longer battery life.

To locate the “Setting Time Zone” feature: Settings -> Location Services -> System Services -> Setting Time Zone

Photo Credit: The Guardian

The post iPhone 4S Battery Problems: Location Based? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Some of us were excited when Apple announced the iOS 5 roll out. Unfortunately, reports claim that many iPhone owners who have upgraded are encountering problems. The problems range from lengthy downloads, lost contacts, paid apps that disappear and even bricked phones. Several of my friends bricked their phone and were left with no choice but to do a factory reset, and the painful result is erased notes, photos, videos, and contacts.

Users started tweeting about the problems about an hour after iOS 5 was rolled out. Here are some of the reported cases with suggested fixes, but some do not have any solutions yet. These might give you a clue on what to do if you face the same situation.

1. “Error-34”: This means that iTunes is reporting to the Apple server that your disk no longer has sufficient space but for some users, this may not be the case. There is no solution to this one yet but the error arises when users compress their files to 128 kbps. In the upgrade, the file is being reverted to its uncompressed form so the problem emerges.
2. “Internal Error 3200”: This one indicates that the authentication servers of Apple are not responding. To fix this, Apple has opened new server space to enable faster downloading but the demand for the update is now declining because of the problems the users have encountered.
3. “Error 1603”: The cause of this problem is still unidentified. It is supposed to put your iPod or iPhone into recovery mode but it has failed to perform that. This is the case of the “bricked” device as referred to by the users. The only solution to this is to put your phone into forced recovery mode and be prepared to lose your stored data. It is indeed a great idea to make some back-up copies of your data before updating your operating system.

When putting your phone into forced recovery, follow the enumerated steps:

-  Disconnect the USB cable from your iPod or iPhone but make sure to leave the other end connected to the computer.

-  Do not forget to turn off your device. After this, a red slider will appear. Slide this one and wait until your phone shuts off. If the power button does not turn off the device, press the Sleep/wake button or the home button until it shuts off.

-  The Home button should be pressed and held while reconnecting the USB cable to the phone and until the device turns on.

-  Release the button when “Connect to iTunes” screen appears. Follow the prompts.

The post Thinking of Upgrading Your iPhone to iOS 5? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Let me preface this by saying that the vast majority of people are never really going to dabble in cell phone repair. If something more substantial than a slight nick on the screen goes wrong, they’ll either go to a professional, ask for a free replacement under warranty, or just give up and buy a new phone. If you are the repairing type, though, the HTC Droid Incredible 2 could prove to be your easiest challenge yet.

That’s according to the teardown as performed by the kindly folks at Repair Launch. They took the Android smartphone apart, bit by bit, documenting each step along the way. Taking a smartphone apart certainly isn’t for the feint of heart and it’s definitely more challenging than a simpler phone, but the Droid Incredible 2 is being rated as “the easiest repair in recent history.”

There are a total of nine screws that need to be removed, seven of which can be accessed right after you take off the back plate (which snaps off as easily as any other phone), battery, SIM card, and microSD card. That’s easy enough. You’ll want to be gentle with your prying tool for the other steps, but it does look pretty straightforward.

Removing the glass and LCD will involve a heatgun, but that shouldn’t be too much of a hurdle for people who have taken apart similar electronics in the past. What about you? Have you ever taken apart your phone to fix a component? Or do you just call in the warranty?

The post Teardown of Droid Incredible 2 reveals “easiest repair in recent history” appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The phone was dirty when we opened it up, mostly from of sandy texture. Sand (salt) and moisture can cause corrosion in phones.

A Storm 2 teardown begins by taking out the battery and SIM card as well as the top and bottom front plates.

Then you pop the top and bottom plastic caps off. Be careful because they are stuck with adhesive.

Then you undue the 4 t6 torx screws (2 at the top 2 at the bottom-front and back).

Then using your fingernail pry out the back casing/housing.

Also remember to disconnect the 2 ribbons on the motherboard.

Separate the motherboard from the LCD, which are held together with metal clips that you have to pop out.

After removing the old LCD you remove the metal plate that is adhered to the back of it.

You then apply it on the new LCD. At this point you can clamp it back to the motherboard.

The line in bold is key to enabling a sensitive touch to the screen. It is also a step that many people leave off of the various online tutorials. Some parts may come with a replacement metal plate already adhered but at any rate it is a waste of money.

Once we were done with this the touchscreen was responsive. To finish it off I changed the keypad settings. We changed the hover time to 100,
double tap to 100 and key type to fast and swiping to 6.

After this, the phone was better than when RIM made it. One final note: When your glass digitizer breaks on the Storm 2 the LCD needs replacing because they are glued together. This drives the cost up and is something all phone companies should avoid, yet most do not.

[RepairLaunch Phone Screen Repair]

The post Blackberry Storm 2 Screen & LCD Repair Notes appeared first on Mobile Magazine.