Nokia Xpress for Windows Phone 8 devices released

After releasing the beta version of the Nokia Xpress app for Lumia devices running on Windows Phone 7 in October, the company has recently released the app for Windows 8 devices; it is available from the Windows Phone Store.

Commenting on the application for Windows Phone 8 devices, Nokia states that Nokia Xpress is a content discovery app that connects a user to the Internet in an entirely new way. The company claims that this cloud-powered app is a fast way to find web content while saving time and money. The Xpress platform compresses data by about two thirds so one uses less of their data plan; it also helps in saving battery charge. One can connect with the latest stories and content while automatically optimising for a better experience and lower data usage.

Nokia Xpress for Windows 8 released

Here is a look at the highlighted features of the Nokia Xpress app:

• Magazine – Store and read articles, news blogs and more in an easy-to-read format
• Monitor Data Usage – Data usage and savings are reported as a live tile on the start page and via a detailed dashboard in the app
• In Page Search – tap on a word and discover related content with automatic contextual search. Currently supported by Wikipedia, Bing and YouTube
• SkyDrive – easily save and store videos and images to SkyDrive without using your precious data plan
• Translations – One click language translation is available for virtually any web page

Download Nokia Xpress for your Windows Phone 8 device here.

More from News & Analysis

What is the US HIRE Bill and why is India’s $250-billion IT sector worried? Is the internet dead? What's this theory that OpenAI's Sam Altman says might be true?

Earlier this month, Nokia had announced the budget-friendly Lumia 620 running on Windows Phone 8. Nokia claims that Lumia 620’s body uses a new dual-shot colour technique to deliver a variety of colour and texture effects. Dual-shot adds a second layer of coloured, transparent or translucent polycarbonate on top of a base layer to produce secondary colour blends and depth effects. One can add a personal feel to the handset as there are seven different exchangeable shells to choose from. The Nokia Lumia 620 is powered by Qualcomm’s SnapdragonS4 Plus processors.

Here is a quick look at some of the highlighted features of the Lumia 620:

• 3.8-inch TFT ClearBlack display with a resolution of 800 x 480
• 3G, EDGE, Wi-Fi, NFC
• Bluetooth 3.0
• GPS with A-GPS and Nokia Maps Suite
• 5MP camera with f/2.4 aperture and 720p video recording, front-facing camera with 480p recording
• 8GB mass memory with Micro SD support up to 64GB

Prior to the Lumia 620 being announced, the brand had also launched the Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 which run on the new Windows Phone OS. The Lumia 620 has features shared with the Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 such as the camera lenses. The Cinemagraph lens adds simple animations to still photographs, while Smart Shoot creates a single shot from multiple images, and removes unwanted objects from the picture. Bundled apps include Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive, Nokia Transport and the exclusive Nokia City Lens. Nokia City Lens displays information about local surroundings overlaid onto buildings as seen through the camera viewfinder. Nokia Music, which provides free streaming of ad-free tracks without registration or subscription and the ability to download playlists for listening offline, is also bundled.

As of now, none of the latest Windows Phone 8 handsets from Nokia have been officially launched in India.

To read our first impressions about the Nokia Lumia 920, click here. We have also pit the camera of the Lumia 920 against that of the Apple iPhone 5, to check out our winner, click here.