android

Microsoft is set to release an app for Android to help consumers on Google's mobile platform to switch to Windows Phone with less hassle. "Switch to Windows Phone" will locate identical apps or valid alternatives for Windows Phone 8 to replace existing Android apps. The plan is to make switching to Microsoft's platform as painless as possible.

A group of companies led by Microsoft are calling on European authorities to launch an antitrust investigation into Google. The motion behind the move is the search giant's hold over the mobile industry with Google services on smartphones.

The group (called FairSearch) of 17, which includes Nokia and Oracle claim that Google is acting immorally by giving away the Android mobile operating system to OEM partners with the requirement for its software and service applications (Google Maps, YouTube, etc.) to be installed and prominently displayed. 

We may be picking a bit here on Android, but as many Windows Phone users know we are not familiar with getting games first or second. That’s why when we see Brotherhood of Violence and now Puzzle Craft go to Windows Phone 8 (and Windows 8) ahead of Android, we get a little excited.

Puzzle Craft is made by popular game makers Chillingo (though ported by SYZYGY Deutschland GmbH for WP8/Windows RT) and has been described as “…if The Simpsons: Tapped Out and Bejeweled had a baby”. If you’ve ever engaged in Farmville-like online games and happen to like the easier aspects of Bejeweled, this game is for you.

It’s also completely free with no ads. Yowza.

Windows Phone has struggled in the past to gain traction and attract consumers with big brand apps and hardware. Nokia gave the platform a boost in 2011, and HTC, Samsung and Huawei have stepped up their game with Windows Phone 8 handsets. So with new hardware, a more mature operating system and marketing campaigns, how's the adoption going? We have some news for the UK.

Almost one-third of new Windows Phone owners in the UK came from competing platforms, according to sales estimates from Kantar. The company reports that 700,000 new users jumped aboard the past year, in the UK alone. The data reveals that the Nokia Lumia 800 and HTC 8X both accounted for six percent of UK smartphone sales during three months ending January 2013 - up from 2.4 percent in the same period last year.

Gartner has released their data for smartphone sales and market share for the fourth quarter in 2012 and while the data is not conclusive by itself, it does show general trends in where the market is heading.

For Microsoft and partners the picture is most certainly better than it was one year ago, which is the good news. The bad news is the hill to climb to global relevancy is still as massive as ever, mostly due to the continued growth of Android (specifically Samsung) and iOS. Meanwhile BlackBerry (formerly RIM), is still bleeding heavily prior to its transition to BB10, showing a massive decline in sales.

Here’s an interesting twist: An HTC Windows Phone design is evidently being reused for a new Android phone. Yes, after a few cycles of having it in reverse it appears now that HTC will take their highly praised 8X design and recycle it for a new Android M7.

The images come via Android Police and while this is far from official (or 100% confirmed), the phone looks different enough from the 8X to be legitimate.

What would a mobile phone be without an address book of contacts to open up communication with, or a calendar to keep up-to-date with social events? Windows Phone takes strives in being more socially connected than the likes of iOS and Android by sporting integration with Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. But how does one import contacts and calendars from services that are also used on competing platforms?

Probably the toughest problem any new user faces when switching platforms is finding comparable apps on their new OS. Sure, we have the Windows Phone Central forums to help and we try to do what we can here, but Nokia has something even better.

Nokia, in conjunction with Xyologic, have teamed up to bring a site called Find your Favorite Apps (www.xyo.net/lumia) that allows you to name the platform you’re coming from (iPhone, Android), choose one of 15 supported countries and then the app you are looking to pick up. The service then searches database and comes up with what it thinks is the best choice. Heck, it even auto-creates a QR code for quick and easy scanning.