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Engadget, AAWP and WPCentral apps, all on Nokia Lumia

Here at Conversations, we make it a priority to deliver you the best Nokia news and as far as we can tell, you’re pretty happy with it. But we also understand that you get your tech news from other news sources, too. To acknowledge this, we’ve installed the Engadget, WPCentral and All About Windows Phone app onto a Nokia Lumia to see how they deliver their news.

Engadget – Free

Engadget story

Engadget podcasts

If you’ve ever looked online for a review or an opinion piece on a gadget or other consumer electronics, you would’ve probably stumbled upon Engadget. The Engadget team post a lot of material every day, usually going way into double figures, covering cameras, laptops, accessories and mobile phones, to name just a few.

Their mobile app is free and feeds their latest news directly to your Nokia Lumia in a way that most news sites do. The latest news is the first screen you’ll expect to see upon loading the app, and delivers the last 20 stories with the most recent one at the top.

As with all Windows Phone apps, more content can be explored by swiping horizontally left or right. This enables you to explore the other parts of the Engadget site, such as five features that probably need more of your attention, and their podcast list.

The podcasts can be played from within the app and can still be listened to as you move away from that section and continue to read of the news stories. Even if you close the app, you’ll still be able to play the podcast, which is a very handy feature.

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If you want to see more that the top 20 list, features of podcasts, there’s the Everything section. This lets you browse through galleries, videos and it’s here that you can search for specific articles.

As readers of Engadget will know, there are separate sections to Engadget, labelled Engadget, Engadget mobile, Engadget HD and alt.engadget; each one offering content targeted to readers who want something a little different.

When it comes to reading articles on the app, it’s as you’d expect; A headline, an image and the story. There’s not much else you’d need really. Additionally, flicking left and right on the story will turn the page much like a magazine and there are a heap of sharing options available, too. Sharing via Facebook, Twitter, Tumble, Evernote, Instapaper, or via email is all achievable with just a couple of clicks.

As if often the case, each Engadget story is followed by a stream of comments by their readers. If you want to add something to the conversation, hit the comment button under a story and type away.

Naturally, a Live tile can be placed on your Start screen and will flip over to show you the latest story that’s been added to the Engadget library.

WPCentral – £0.79 ($0.99)

WPCentral story

WPCentral browsing tiles

Windows Phone Central is a great source of Windows Phone news with a huge community of like-minded readers, each willing to give their own opinion.

As you might expect with a site dedicated to only Windows Phone, their app is a great showcase of how a Windows Phone app should be – following style guides to a T. So much so, that you can change the colours of the app to match the same one you use for the rest of your phone, or any other, if you’d prefer.

The initial welcome screen is that of the news section. And, as you’d expect, the latest story is at the top with the older articles fading beneath it with a total of 20 news stories.

In true Windows Phone style, the next screen pokes into view from the right of the screen, encouraging you to explore the next page. The next screen is full of tiles and it’s here that you can browse the different sections of the site, such as; reviews, forums, apps, podcast, games, videos, developers, wallpapers, tips, tip us, and an offline list (for your saved stories).

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If you want to listen to a podcast and still read the news on offer, back out of the podcast section and continue your reading. They also continue playing if you decide to close the app and pop it in your pocket. However, they’re not listed in an easy to browse fashion, and instead you need to scroll through the podcasts to find the one you want.

When you want to look for specific news, the search section is where you’ll need to head and type in your keywords.

If you’ve found a story you want to read, the story itself is elegantly displayed. Again, the Windows Phone style is spot on. Within a story, swiping left or right opens up some interactivity options. You can select the see the images of the story in closer detail, as well as any video. Plus the comments section for the story is included here in true Windows Phone style.

Comments are displayed much like you’d see in your SMS conversations thread. You can add a comment to the end of the list, or reply to somebody directly by selecting his or her comment and you’d need to sign in, as you’d expect from a comment system.

The sharing of stories can be done via email, SMS, Windows Live, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or by a URL you can copy and paste from anywhere else on the phone.

If you like your news delivers to your Start screen use the Live tile and pin it there. You’ll receive ‘toast’ notifications when new stories appear, and the tile will rotate to show you the headline.

All About Windows Phone – Free

AAWP latest

AAWP app review

All About Windows Phone is another app dedicated to everything Windows Phone. While the amount of content delivered isn’t as much as the other two apps above (there’s still enough for any person), it is a good source of Windows Phone news, reviews and analysis.

The latest feed is the first one you’ll se when you run the app, showing the most recent at the top and working downwards to the oldest.

Scrolling along to the right, you’ll see a screen where you can navigate to specific news stories, from reviews, features, audio and video content and news.

As with all good news sites, there’s a handy search function that really enables you to find what you’re looking for.

And, as we’ve seen from the previous two tech sites and apps, there’s a nice little podcast section here, too. Called AAWP Insights, these podcasts include the latest news of Windows Phone – playable when reading the rest of the news or when the app is closed. These podcasts are shareable via email, Windows Live, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. There’s even the ability to add comments to the podcast, too, to share your own views.

When it comes to the stories themselves, the images that lead the story is clickable so you can get a closer look at what’s going on in the scene.

Sharing support is the same as is offered for the podcasts, and you can leave a comment for each story using the speech bubble icon.

If you want AAWP news delivered to your phone automatically, switch on the notifications option in the settings.

Are you a regular visitor to the tech sites above? Do you regularly use their apps? Let us know, using the comments section below.