Instagram just keeps on growing, especially since the buyout by Facebook. It seems everyone us using Instagram to post pictures of their kids, their cats and most importantly, their meals. We’re not sure phenomenon really does Instagram justice at this point, but there’s one string that is missing from their potent bow. One that just doesn’t seem forthcoming.

Thanks in part to the limitations of Windows Phone, Nokia is quite some distance behind the major Android and iOS vendors in terms of market share and reach, and in an attempt to bridge some of the gaping gap between its fleet of smartphones and those of the Big Two, the Finnish company has today announced the Lumia 925 – which was teased yesterday in a rather mesmerizing video – at its planned London event. All of the details, as ever, are coming up right after the break!

Windows Phone is currently in the midst of one of its stickiest patches, even though it finally got its own YouTube app just recently. As the saying goes though, one YouTube app does not make a platform successful. Or something like that.

Everybody knew it was there, and many seemed sure of its main specs, but finally, Nokia has come through with an official announcement of the forthcoming Lumia 928. Although the device itself remains largely unchanged from the Lumia 920, this one will be arriving to the United States as an exclusive to Verizon – finally allowing those on the nation’s most subscribed-to network a chance of trying out a decent Windows Phone 8 handset.

Nokia’s success depends very much on the Windows Phone platform it has leant so heavily on these past couple of years, and having ditched its own Symbian software in favor of the pretty, if still emerging Microsoft mobile operating system, it stands to reason that the continued promotion of WP8 is as much the Finnish outfit’s responsibility as it is Redmond company’s. To help keep Lumia smartphones ticking over when connecting to the mains is not an option, Nokia has thrown together a rather beautiful portable charger, which notably, takes the shape of a Windows (Phone) 8 Live Tile.

Nokia has sought to address the shortcomings and limitations of the Windows Phone platform by packing immensely good cameras into its high-end devices, and the fact that the Lumia 920′s snapper is still widely considered the best in the business is a testament to that fact. Nokia’s so-called ‘PureView’ technology with OIS is back for another round in the upcoming Lumia 928 handset, which looks a modest refresh on the current flagship, and to show you just how good the 928′s shooter is, Nokia has put together a little comparison video pitting the camera against that of the Samsung Galaxy S III and Apple’s iPhone 5 in low lighting conditions.

With the introduction of the Hulu Plus for Windows Phone app on Monday allowing it to finally be scrubbed from the list of “apps Windows Phone needs but doesn’t yet have,” a couple more significant apps for the platform have today seen updates. The Foursquare app has finally been updated for Windows Phone 8, while Microsoft has made some novel alterations to its home-cooked YouTube app. Details and the download link, as ever, can be found after the break.

After quite a long wait, the official Hulu Plus app has finally reached the Windows Phone Store, and we’ve got all of the details along with that all-important download link coming up after the break.

Having established that a significant portion of those adopting the Windows Phone platform will be doing so from Google’s Android, Microsoft has created a ‘Switch to Windows Phone’ app which aims to make the process as painless as possible. I must admit, when I first saw it, I thought it was shameless plugging bordering on propaganda, but having delved beneath the surface, it does appear that the Redmond’s main objective here is to lay the foundations for a smooth migration over to the tiled realms of Windows Phone 8.

Facebook is something of a killer app on pretty much every platform, especially mobile, or otherwise known as ‘handheld devices’. That’s why having a compelling Facebook app is a must for any mobile platform worth its salt, that’s why Microsoft is working with Facebook itself in order to make sure that the social networking app is as awesome as possible on Windows Phone.

Microsoft may be languishing behind Apple and Google in the mobile operating system stakes, but that hasn’t stopped the Redmond outfit from coning out on the offensive with its latest Windows Phone ad. You can check it out after the jump.

Windows Phone is still not quite gaining the traction it needs to worry the likes of Apple and Google, but few can argue that Microsoft hasn’t made some important improvements to the platform since its introduction. Things like copy and paste are now part of Windows Phone, when they were once just a pipe dream. With Microsoft already working to bring a new version of Windows to the desktop, the speculation is now all about where the Redmond firm will take Windows Phone when it receives its next update.

The last couple of months have been dominated by talk of upcoming iOS and Android devices, namely the Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC’s One, as well as the as-yet unconfirmed successor to the iPhone 5. Amid all of this speculation, it’s easy to forget that there’s a third horse vying for relevance in the busy smartphone arena, and Finnish outfit Nokia is looking to remind the smartphone industry that its range of Windows Phone 8 devices can mix it with the best of them by holding a special press event on May 14th, which will allow the tech world to “see what’s next” from the Lumia brand.

Whatever your thoughts on Windows Phone 8 might be, it’s hard to argue that it doesn’t hold a lot of potential. In a world where iOS and Android rule the roost, it’s refreshing to see something like Windows Phone, whether it’s your choice of mobile operating system or not. The undoubted problem with Windows Phone though, is its lack of quality apps.

Windows Phone’s unique functionality and innovative take on the mobile ecosystem in general has drawn a fair few admirers, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who famously described it as “beautiful” . For all of its plus points however, the real test of a piece of software’s credibility is not just in how good it is, but also how many people are willing to use it, and at the moment, neither developers or consumers seem interested enough in Windows Phone for Microsoft to launch a notable challenge against iOS or Android. One app that could really help draw more consumers is Instagram, and although it’s been somewhat up in the air as to whether the Facebook-owned app would be making an appearance on Windows Phone, Nokia appears to have stepped out and confirmed that, in fact, it will.

If you’re a Windows Phone user, then a lack of apps, or at least quality apps, is something that you’re no doubt very familiar with. It’s a shame, because the Windows Phone experience is a very good one, but the platform just doesn’t boast an app ecosystem like either iOS or Android, and it’s putting people off.

You’d struggle to find any group of people more aware of Instagram’s popularity than those stranded on the currently-unsupported Windows Phone platform, and although we’ve heard murmurings that an official version for Microsoft’s fledgling platform could be forthcoming, said users have had to make the best of the scores of third-party apps offering very limited functionality. While the Instagram API has prevented any WP developer from creating an app with direct uploading capabilities, an interesting attempt to circumvent this (using a middleman server) has been devised by the folks at Venetasoft, and having already garnered a sneak peek at what the company’s Instagraph app could offer to Instagram fans, the app is now officially available for download.

Although things have been somewhat quiet from Nokia and Windows Phone 8 in light of the upcoming smartphone releases from Samsung and HTC, the camera of the Finnish company’s Lumia 920 is still considered among the best in the business. Conversely, the Samsung Galaxy S Series’ snappers have tended to underperform, and while Nokia’s flagship completely smoked the Galaxy S III in terms of still camera performance (particularly in low light), the Galaxy S4′s much-hyped 13-megapixel offering brings the kinds of improvements you would expect of a next-gen handset. To test one category, one user has taken the opportunity to produce a stabilization comparison video of Samsung’s apparent best video camera against that of the 920, which of course includes that much-lauded PureView technology. Which came out on top? Find out, after the break!

One of the perceived downsides of the smartphone industry is the monopolization of devices through carrier locking. At point of sale and when you sign up to a contract with a carrier, it’s understandable, but thereafter, getting a handset unlocked can be a trying, if not impossible process. If you want to check whether your device is unlocked for use on any network, a nifty online service completely has your back, and not only is the website incredibly easy to use, but if you’re on Android, there’s also an app available to download over at the Google Play Store. More details after the break.

The Windows Phone Store is missing quite a lot of apps just now, and although we’re not all hipsters with a compulsion to take a square photo before filtering and sharing, Instagram has been mentioned ad nauseam as the sort of app Microsoft needs on board if its fledgling ecosystem is to go the distance. As Windows Phone users still continue to wait and hope for an Instagram app, and unofficial offering by the name of Instagraph is best attempt we’ve seen at emulating the experience, allowing for photos to be uploaded to the network right from within the app. It looks promising, and although we had better hold off the celebrations while the approval process runs its course, Windows Phone users could be just a short while away from being able to edit and upload their images straight from their handset.