If you’re accustomed to the tiled interface of Windows Phone 8, you’ll be aware of how easy it is to change the color of the theme / accent to whatever you want. Well, almost anything; for while one can accent the user-interface with a bunch of exotic colors ranging from cobalt to crimson, there’s no immediately apparent black option. If you’ve spent some time rootling around your device’s settings, you may already have discovered how to inject the jet-black finish upon the UI, but if you haven’t and would like to know how, below you’ll find a little tutorial covering the steps.

Although Windows Phone, as discussed earlier, is a struggling ecosystem in mobile space, the devices currently being churned out for the platform are every bit worthy of recognition. Nokia, even before it was acquired by Microsoft, provided a continual stream of great handsets for WP users to behold, and has today unveiled yet another addition to its high-end line-up. The Lumia Icon, which will launch on Verizon Wireless in The States, packs a similarly high-end performance to that of the established releases like the Lumia 1020 and 925, and as the Finnish company’s first major release of the year so far, we’ll be looking at the key specs and form factor after the break.

With Apple having recently dropped its big software update for iOS, it’s now Microsoft’s turn to come through with some big announcements for those on its own smartphone platform, and today, the software maker has unveiled the details of Update 3 for Windows Phone 8. Included will be support for 1080p displays and quad-core processors, two features that have become the de facto standard for high-end handsets, and with a new Driving Mode also thrown into the mix, the future does look somewhat brighter for the struggling ecosystem.

It’s been a big day for Microsoft and its Windows Phone platform. With Nokia releasing a major new handset, and the pair having what can only be called a ‘special relationship’ at this point, both parties will have been at full tilt throughout the day.

As soon as iOS 7 beta was announced and subsequently revealed by Apple on the introductory morning of this year’s WWDC, many onlookers took to the blogs, forums and social networks to note of the incredible similarities in design between it and another major mobile OS – Windows Phone. The motif of clean lines and vibrant colors has long since been a set of values associated with Microsoft’s smartphone platform, of course, but as you will see in a comparison video by tech fan Sean Rosairo, it would seem as though the fruit company has ripped more than a few segments directly from Windows Phone.

Microsoft is hard at work getting Windows 8.1 ready for the desktop, but there’s no doubt that the Redmond outfit is also buckling down to the task of getting its mobile brother all set for primetime too. With Windows Phone 8 undoubtedly an improvement on previous versions, few would argue that there are still some big issues to be addressed before Windows Phone can really compete with the likes of iOS and Android.

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.

If there’s one negative that is consistently levelled at Windows Phone, it’s the platform’s lack of any kind of unified notification system. Unlike Android or iOS, Windows Phone does not feature an area of the operating system that plays host to all new notifications, meaning it can be easy to miss something important.

The Mobile World Congress 2013 is well and truly underway, with a number of companies using the event to launch some of their newest and most exciting products. As well as launching a bunch of new smartphones to accompany the Lumia 820 and Lumia 920 on Windows Phone 8, Nokia has also made some key software alterations and enhancements to its broad range of apps.

Anyone who’s ever purchased a stock device – computer, notebook or cell phone – from any OEM, is bound to have come across bloatware. Essentially, this is bundled software that the manufacturer chooses to incorporate within the device for certain purposes; sometimes, the software may be useful in some cases. Either way, bloatware isn’t something that’s usually welcomed by end users, because they’d, for the most part, make the device slower, underperform, and take up unnecessary resources on your device.

If you cast your minds back a couple of weeks, you may remember my tentative pledge to take on the challenge of using a Windows Phone 8 device for an entire two weeks, in place of my beloved iPhone. This, on its own, is not much to shout about, but considering I had never previously acquainted myself with Windows Phone in any way, shape or form, I suspected my fortnight with the Nokia Lumia 820 would be one of trials and tribulations.

There is no doubt that smartphones are becoming everyone’s favorite digital cameras, capable of taking pictures more easily and quickly while still maintaining an acceptable level of quality. According to a new report, Nokia is taking this to a whole new level by introducing a new Nokia Lumia smartphone, running Windows Phone 8, which sports a 41-megapixel camera on the back.