iphone

The other day the web went a little wild over news that Windows Phone was outselling iPhones in seven countries. Crazy right? Whether or not the iPhone is king in terms of marketshare is irrelevant, it’s the bar that any OEM or OS wants to beat. So where did Windows Phone beat out the iPhone?

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?

Here there and everywhere, Microsoft is busy promoting Windows Phone 8 here in London, at the same time Nokia is heavily promoting their Lumia 920. Billboard displays, dedicated TV adverts and even sponsoring dramas and product placements, it's everywhere. On UK TV, the Lumia 920 was on two separate gadget shows, one of which being Stephen Fry’s ‘Gadget Man’.

Last night saw the popular Gadget Show TV show put a bright red Lumia 920 with its wireless charging pad up against the HTC One X+ and the iPhone 5. In what can only be described as a hilarious iPhone 5 take down, the presenters gave all the props to the Lumia 920 and the HTC.

Nokia, Samsung and HTC have poked fun at one another within the Windows Phone ecosystem, but it has remained in the jester spirit - we're sure even Samsung must have smirked at Nokia's "Welcome back to Windows Phone" stunt. But it seems it's HTC's turn again by highlighting the weight of the 8X compared to 'the other Windows Phone'. We all know which handset is being referred to.

Look at the shiny shiny...

According to latest data released by comScore, Microsoft remains comfortable in fourth position (behind RIM) with only a .4% reduction in US marketshare. This was expected with the upcoming launch of Windows Phone 8, especially with new hardware unveiled for consumers to hold out on making a purchase.

Sat at 3.6%, Microsoft continues to witness the downfall of RIM which was hit by a sizeable 3.1% drop in US shares as the company continues to battle through the tough period until it releases Blackberry 10. Falling to just 8.3% of the market, unless RIM can slow down the descent of the platform's fall, Microsoft may well find itself in third position - dependant on the imminent Windows Phone 8 launch.

It's time for another From the Froums where we bring you the latest and greatest discussions from the Windows Phone Central community forums. There have been a number of new threads created over the past couple of days, but which ones have peaked the interest of our readers and accumulated a number of replies?

Did Apple's announcement help Nokia buy time?

Just over one week ago as Nokia took to the stage to announce their new Windows Phone 8 devices, their stock value dropped 16% in a single day upon the news. To many of us, this was confusing if only because the devices themselves really seemed great—but the problem was (and still is) the uncertainty created by not announcing price and availability.

We had an excellent analysis of the situation by our own Chris Umiastowski and noted how this was probably temporary and not warranted.

Since that time, Nokia’s stock has slowly climbed back up but there was another hurdle in the distance: Apple’s iPhone 5 announcement. The anticipation was if Apple announced something truly groundbreaking—revolutionary instead of evolutionary—it would further damage perception of Nokia to investors. The iPhone 5 is already one of the top selling phones in the world and it just got way better? That’s bad if you’re betting on Nokia.

Last night during Nokia’s par-tay we managed to check out their little photo challenge area. In short, they literally had a cubby hole in a brick wall where you could mosey on up with your smartphone, snap a pic and then Nokia would do the same with the Lumia 920.

Of course the Lumia 920 is better positioned to win such a contest, after all it has everything: lens stabilization, a larger BSI sensor, F/2.0 aperture and some funky Nokia algorithms to top it all off. And indeed, challenge after challenge we saw the 920 crush any phone that attempted the feat—iPhone 4S, Samsung Galaxy S3—all were smoked.

Nokia has reportedly shipped 6.9 million Lumias

Sales numbers and estimates are always a tricky thing, especially when you don’t have concrete numbers to work with. We also tend to boast the good news and downplay the bad so with that caveat we’ll provide you the latest in “market analysis”. Don’t worry, this one is mostly good.

Strategy Analytics is making quite the name for themselves this day if only because they tend to buck the trend when it comes to Nokia and Windows Phone. In their latest report (available here to subscribers), they claim that Nokia shipped (not necessarily sold) 6.9 million Lumia Windows Phone since its launch in Q4 2011 and up through Q2 2012.