Nokia’s aluminum Lumia

First images of Nokia’s aluminum Lumia, codenamed ‘Catwalk’, have surfaced [Updated]

We have no way of verifying the authenticity of these two images, but it appears to be of the upcoming Nokia Lumia ‘Catwalk’, a follow up to the Lumia 920 that reportedly sports a new aluminum chassis to help reduce the size and weight. The images showed up on the popular Chinese social network Sina Weibo.

No other details were given, but earlier information about Catwalk stated the device as having 4.5” display with an OCTA display, S4 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, 16GB of storage (down from 32GB), 2000mAh battery and an 8.7MP OIS camera with LED flash.

As a result of the new body, the device is 50 grams lighter (just 132g) than the current Lumia 920 and is supposedly about 2.3mm less in thickness (8.4 versus 10.7mm on the 920).

From the image, we can see that the microSIM door on top matches the Lumia 720's and indeed, it has the same "three dots" on the back for a wireless charging backplate. While moving the microUSB (or is it an HDMI out port?) to the top may seem unusual, we must remember that it is not a requirement that it be on the bottom of the device and OEMs can move things around.

The timing of the device was reported to be for a May 15th announcement with a late June availability. T-Mobile US is expected to pick up the device as well as other international carriers.

Verizon will launch a similar, but non-aluminum device called the Lumia 928 aka ‘Laser’ in the coming weeks.

Update (5:25PM ET): We have spoken to someone familiar with this alleged device who can confirm that it is indeed, accurate. Because of that we've bumped the rum'o'meter from an initial '5' to an '8' (from an early corroboration) to a '10', meaning we have very high confidence in these images. Whether or not they are early or late prototype, we don't know.

Source: Sina Weibo, Baidu; Thanks,  AIKON, for the tip!

http://www.wpcentral.com/first-images-nokia-catwalk-surface

Instagram app for Windows Phone

Instagram app appears for Windows Phone, but you can’t have it (because it’s not real)

April fools. We’re writing this story for one reason: to get all of our awesome loyal fans to stop tipping us on Instagram becoming available for Windows Phone. News flash: it’s not.

The app in question went live in the Store on March 31st in beta form and cannot be downloaded by the public. In the app description, all of the features of the hipster photo app are given along with mentions of Windows Phone 8 support and a “Modern User Interface by Sarper Erel”, who happened to have made an Instagram “concept” for Windows Phone 7 back one year ago in 2012.

That's just where some of the weirdness begins...

There’s also of course the last bullet point in the app description that a few have glossed over: “And Happy April 1st 2013!.". Ahem.

Let us just clear a few things up: if Instagram was about to come out, we’d surely know about it. Trust us. This is not it, even though the company name, Burbn Inc. is the right one for Instagram.

So how did this happen? Simple, anyone with a developer account can make a private beta on the Windows Phone Store and have the app say whatever they want to say.Throw in some screenshots designed by someone else as a "project" from one year ago and hey-ho, you have a fake listing that looks almost real. Almost.

Let’s look at a few other oddities here, just to be safe:

• It’s April first
• The app description makes mention of April 1st
• The app was published on March 31st
• It’s conveniently a private beta, meaning no one can test it
• The app design is based off of a 2012 concept that was a made “in a day”
• IT IS APRIL FIRST

Do we need to go on? Sorry folks, no Instagram. at least not today. Indeed, we have a feeling we’ll be fighting off quite a few rumors and “news” today, so just have fun and take it all with a grain of salt.

Oh and if you want to see the app yourself in the Store, knock yourself out.

Read full here.... http://www.wpcentral.com/april-fools-instagram-app-appears-windows-phone-fake