In order to show off just how sturdy the new Nokia Lumia 900′s screen is, Techcraver decided to take things to the extreme by using the device as a hammer. That’s right, while it certainly isn’t recommended, it turns out that the Lumia 900 has an extra special unadvertised feature- it makes a pretty decent hammer in a pinch. You can even attempt to bang a nail against the screen and the Lumia 900 doesn’t shatter.

Of course, even the Lumia 900 has its breaking point, and you will notice that they didn’t attempt to drive the nails in with much force, nor did they attempt to take the hammer directly to the phone. Can’t blame them, I wouldn’t want to destroy the poor little thing either. Still, it’s clear that Nokia did a pretty good job in creating a solid phone that can take a little bit of abuse and keep on ticking.

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This big marketing push will take on many approaches, including everything from simple awareness campaigns to incentives for retailers to push Windows Phone devices. There are reports that sales guys could get as much as $10 to $15 per handset sold. The money comes from Microsoft, as well as partners like Nokia and Samsung, and it’s reportedly going to all be spent in “early 2012.” The Nokia Ace from AT&T, in particular, will be getting a “concerted advertising push.”

It’s clear that Android and iOS are the elephants in the room when it comes to smartphone platforms, since only 5.2% of all smartphone subscribers are using Microsoft’s mobile OS. If you thought you were sick of the “To the Cloud” campaign, you’re about to get really sick of Windows Phone… but at least more of the general population will even know of its existence.

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Windows Phone Tango doesn’t sound like it’s going to be nearly as substantial as its tropical fruit-named predecessor, but it will reportedly still bring some new moves to the dance floor. For instance, we’re hearing that it’ll get support for smaller screens, smaller chassis sizes, and even LTE. Considering all the LTE-equipped Droids out there, that’s a good thing for Redmond.

But it takes two to tango! There’s a good chance that Nokia will be showing off its new Nokia 719 and Nokia 900 at CES, both of which could very well ship with Tango right out of the box. The newest WP7 update is rumored to be released “soon” after CES.

Looking a little further down the roadmap to what could be Windows Phone 8, we’re hearing that the “Apollo” update is currently being slated to launch in mid-June 2012. Does this mean you should wait? Or is it likely that existing WP7 and WP7.5 devices will be eligible for the WP8 upgrade?

The post CES To Set Stage For Windows Phone Tango Update appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

This is a feature that has almost become a fundamental mainstay in terms of smartphones, but WP7 didn’t let you turn your 3G/4G cellular connection into a Wi-Fi hotspot for neighboring devices. Mango does. Whether your carrier lets you do that (among other considerations) isn’t quite as clear, but at least the OS supports that feature now.

Another big one is multitasking. It’s still not true multitasking in the conventional sense, but Mango does let you do some multitasking “beyond the core functions of the OS.” You also get something called Local Scout, which is a tool in Maps that looks for nearby places to eat, see, and do. Visual Search works similarly to Google Goggles, and the Messaging utility lets you maintain one conversation with someone across multiple protocols. Start with SMS, continue on FB, and finish up on IM, all within a single convo thread.

Have you sunk your teeth into WP7.5 Mango yet? What do you think so far?

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If you check out the update schedule on the official Microsoft site, you’ll see that Windows Phone 7.5 Mango is currently listed as “delivering update” across all carriers in the United States. This includes AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, open market phones, and “all other operators.”

Of course, this comes with a caveat. If you’re wondering why your phone hasn’t already told you that it’s ready for a tasty new treat, that’s because it’s going to take a few days, if not a few weeks before the Mango update is rolled out to all devices across all carriers. In the meantime, you just have to sit tight and make sure you have Zune for Windows or Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac all geared up, updated, and ready to roll.

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