WhatsApp returns to Windows Phone, brings new features

What’s up?! Not much, just WhatsApp returning to the Windows Phone Store. After going MIA, the popular messaging app has returned. Not only has it returned, but it’s been updated. Earlier today, Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore said the app would be coming ‘quite soon’. This does qualify as fairly soon! Details after the break.
Head into the Windows Phone Store and you’ll find version 2.11.490.0 of WhatsApp sitting there. Here’s what’s new in this update:

• Chat backgrounds
• Broadcast lists
• Privacy settings (settings > account > privacy)
• Media auto-download settings (settings > chat settings > media auto-download)
• Custom notification tones (Windows Phone 8 Update 3 required)
• Various enhancements and bug fixes

Not only does the app return, but it surely comes with a couple of new features. Chat backgrounds have been added, shown to be privacy settings, control the auto-download of media, custom notifications are there and more!

Heads up, those on Windows Phone 8.1 will get a warning message saying some features will not work properly.

Grab the update for WhatsApp and let us know what you think!

Download WhatsApp for Windows Phone

Review – 12x Telephoto Lens for the Nokia Lumia 920

If there is just one thing Lumia 920 owners are happy about, it’s their camera. So it’s finally nice to see some aftermarket-accessories develop off of what Nokia has began (although personally, we would like to check out Nokia get included in this area too).

We have covered some magnetic lens plugs in the previous, and while "cheap" they did offer users a new creative capacity with their phones. After all, if you are a good professional photographer, you can make "art" out of anything at all and those lenses enabled some awesome options.

Now we've a 12x telephoto lens that comes out of Guangdong, China and it goes for just slightly less than $20 (plus shipping). We purchased ours through Amazon.com and it took about 10 days or so for the products to appear.

So how is it? It’s surprisingly well built. It’s a strong, elegant machine made aluminum body with a durable tripod. Fact be told, we’re a bit stunned about how nicely it all works together—nothing feels "cheap" about it, which includes the box that it came in (it’s one of those nice ones with a magnetic flap).

Of course the big matter is, quality of the photos. The lens is a fixed 12x telephoto, which means you have to "frame the photo with your feet", so to speak. The lens can be manually targeted and it too excels beyond our expectations. Anyone who knows a quality lens knows it must have a smooth, slow and steady rotator and this lens actually has that, making it feel like you’re focusing an old-school prime lens for a DSLR.

Photos themselves are "ok". Let us be obvious: this is not Nikon, Canon or Carl Zeiss creating the glass and there is a purpose why some of us pay $1K+ for our lenses in the first place. Purple fringing, discolored sides and a filter focal area are all side effects of a $20 lens.

Having said that, it’s still pretty cool.

Hello, for $20, we can think of worse things to spend our money on. Will we use it often? Who knows. But the 920’s camera is a work of art and it’s fun to play all around with such add-ons, even if they are niche or unique.

You can order your 12x Zoom Lens through Amazon.com right here. Make sure you watch our video walk through for our impressions.

Nokia X - Full Phone Specifications

Also known as Nokia Normandy, Nokia A110, Nokia X Dual SIM RM-980

General	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2
		GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
	3G Network	HSDPA 900 / 2100
	SIM	Optional Dual SIM (Micro-SIM)
	Announced	2014, February
	Status	Available. Released 2014, March

Body	Dimensions	115.5 x 63 x 10.4 mm, 73.2 cc (4.55 x 2.48 x 0.41 in)
	Weight	128.7 g (4.52 oz)

Display	Type	IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	480 x 800 pixels, 4.0 inches (~233 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes, up to 2 fingers
		- Nokia X platform 1.0 UI

Sound	Alert types	Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes

Memory	Card slot	microSD, up to 32 GB
	Internal	4 GB, 512 MB RAM

Data	GPRS	Up to 85.6 kbps
	EDGE	Up to 236.8 kbps
	Speed	HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot
	Bluetooth	Yes, v3.0 with A2DP, HS
	USB	Yes, microUSB v2.0

Camera	Primary	3.15 MP, 2048 x 1536 pixels, check quality
	Features	1/5'' sensor size, panorama, face detection
	Video	Yes, 480p@30fps
	Secondary	No

Features	OS	Android OS, v4.1.2 (Jelly Bean)
	Chipset	Qualcomm MSM8225 Snapdragon S4 Play
	CPU	Dual-core 1 GHz Cortex-A5
	GPU	Adreno 203
	Sensors	Accelerometer, proximity
	Messaging	SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM
	Browser	HTML
	Radio	Stereo FM radio
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support
	Java	Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
	Colors	Bright green, bright red, cyan, yellow, black, white
		- SNS integration - MP3/WAV/eAAC+/Flac player - MP4/H.264/H.263 player - Photo editor - Voice memo/dial - Predictive text input

Battery		Li-Ion 1500 mAh battery (BN-01)
	Stand-by	Up to 408 h
	Talk time	Up to 13 h 20 min (2G) / Up to 10 h 30 min (3G)
	Music play	Up to 26 h

Misc	SAR US	1.30 W/kg (head)     1.44 W/kg (body)
	SAR EU	1.14 W/kg (head)     0.90 W/kg (body)
	Price group

Nokia X Phone: