Another fine day for rumors, and today we have a fairly big one. Chinese tech site WPDang just announced that according to their resources, the Windows Phone 7.8 OS update will be pushed to all older generation devices (Windows Phone 7.5 and older) in every corner of this world at about 18:00 GMT, January 30, 2013.
Considering you guys could be located anywhere, we'll not convert that into some other time zone. Instead let's just say that if this rumour is indeed true, your old Windows Phone will receive a welcomed update in 5 hours. Not every phone will get the push exactly on time though. Like each update before, Windows Phone 7.8 will roll out in 4 waves, with the whole process concluding in 3 weeks.
It's a natural fit for February's Windows Phone Photo Challenge theme to be "love". With Valentine's Day right around the corner you are challenged to submit a photo that captures the emotion of love.
For those not familiar, Microsoft sponsors a "bragging rights" photo contest each month with a particular theme. Just snap a photo with your Windows Phone based on the theme and if you win Microsoft will share the photo on their Windows Phone Blog, in their newsletter, and share it on their Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest pages.
Microsoft is reportedly set to partner up with Samsung to push Windows Phone out to businesses. According to reports, the two companies are looking to form a similar partnership that Microsoft has developed with both Nokia and HTC with Windows Phone 8. This will come as a slight surprise to those who believe Samsung continue to place Windows Phone on the backbench while Android hardware remains top priority.
This week the two biggest components of the Windows Phone ecosystem reported financial results. Microsoft and Nokia both printed decent numbers.
I won’t spend much time on Microsoft. It was a fairly boring quarter. The Redmond giant came in with results that were in line with analyst results. They’ve now sold a grand total of 60 million Windows 8 licenses, but this includes licenses sold to Dell and other manufacturers. So it’s hard to pin down exactly how many boxes consumers are actually buying with the latest and greatest Windows OS.
In the land of mobile, Microsoft won’t say how many Surface tablets they’ve sold. I can’t say I blame them. If they revealed numbers they’d just be compared to iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab sales. Why would Microsoft want to give people more reason to print negative headlines?
By Rich Edmonds, Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 at 6:58 pm
Microsoft has revealed that during Q2 of its 2013 financial year it has broken revenue records with a taking of $21.5 billion. $6.38 billion of that grand total was actual profit, providing shareholder's with $0.76 per-share. While EPS was down year-over-year, net income is reported to be up from $5.87 billion a year ago. It's looking good for the company.
A rag-tag group of privacy advocates, internet activists, journalists and organizations have banded together and have written an open letter to Skype, calling on the communications giant to "publicly document Skype’s security and privacy practices."
The letter, which is addressed to Skype Division President Tony Bates, Microsoft Chief Privacy Officer Brendon Lynch, Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith, says that the members of the group who authored it rely on Skype to communicate under circumstances where privacy and security are imperative and that it would be doing them a great service to know just what they can expect.
By Rich Edmonds, Wednesday, Jan 23, 2013 at 10:13 pm
Welcome to another Windows Phone Central From the Forums where we bring you the latest discussions that are happening on our community forum. If you've somehow been too busy in life to be checking the community out on a daily basis, you may find yourself being out of the loop when it comes to discussing the latest news. So what's been happening the past few days?
By Rich Edmonds, Wednesday, Jan 23, 2013 at 8:38 am
Ah, Dell. The famous PC manufacturer and temporary OEM partner with Microsoft on Windows Phone. The company has previously stated that there are no plans to support the smartphone industry and that it would continue to primarily focus on the PC market, but now Microsoft is reportedly in talks to participate in a deal to take Dell private, according to CNBC.
There's only just over a week left until Google flips the switch to drop Exchange ActiveSync support. Should you be an avid Google user and utilise Gmail (among other services) on your Windows Phone, you'll be left in the dark to an extent.
What the changes mean for consumers is from February onwards we'll no longer be able to synchronise calendars and contacts through a Gmail account (though email will still function normally) set up new Google accounts to take advantage of calendars and contacts using EAS (only email will function using IMAP). Those who already have accounts configured will be fine, according to Google.
Not all is lost, however. While you can take this as a golden opportunity to change over to Outlook, Microsoft is planning to support CardDAV and CalDAV in Windows Phone, according to sources familiar with company plans. The two protocols are actually Google's preferred route to synchronise content. Microsoft is attempting to work against Google's decisions of late to prevent consumers from being left out.
Specifications have been leaked for the 360's successor.
With E3 approaching closer as each day passes, there's going to be more and more salt being thrown at consumers from sources who wish to either leak valid details about Microsoft's next generation Xbox console, or stir up false rumour. The latest information comes from VGleaks, who doesn't have a significant track record, but has published detailed articles surrounding the Playstation 4, WiiU and Xbox.
The "Peanut Butter, Jelly" version, shown above was the runner-up and will air during both the NFC and AFC Championship games.
If you're the type who would rather tune in this Sunday, January 21st, during the pre-Game show and see which version won, don't stray any further. If you can't stand the anticipation, you can find the winning version after the break.
Still think they should have had a War Eagle version....
HelpBridge is a new Windows Phone app from Microsoft that is designed to help you get through times of emergency and find resources to help those in need.
You'll have to create a HelpBridge account based on your Facebook or Microsoft Account. As you create your account, you add emergency contacts that you can contact when you need help or just to let them know you're alright. When you do reach out for help or let everyone know your okay, the app will send a brief message and map of your location via email, sms to your contact group and there's even a way to post the message on Facebook.
Microsoft aims to showcase a range of technologies that will enable retailers to sort through and better make uses of data to drive strategic insights and fuel business decisions. Such technology will be on show at the National Retail Federation Annual Convention & EXPO (mouthful alert) this week. The company aims to provide the necessary tools and information to employees in the retail industry to create a better experience for the customer.
Microsoft has just announced a new developer contest that should make things very interesting both for developers and regular consumers who use their apps every day. The contest, entitled “Windows Phone Next App Star Competition”, will offer up over $1M in prizes to 64 winners but it’s the top spot that should gain the most attention.
Should you win the #1 app, Microsoft will feature your creation on a TV commercial featured in primetime.
The way the contest is structured is very simple. Developers just need to have their apps published by March 5th and users will merely vote for their favorite app based on the ratings (“stars”) they give it in the Store. That means apps with 4 or 5 star ratings starting on March 5th will get ranked higher than ones with 2 or 3 stars...
Microsoft has a nice collection of celebrity endorsements for Windows Phone 8 from Singer Gwen Stefani to Actress Jessica Alba to Olympic Athlete Kerri Walsh. Cam Newton, NFL Quarterback for the Carolina Panthers (and former Auburn University QB), has also jumped into the action.
Cam is featured in four video spots, each with a slightly different ending such as the "Poundcake and French Fries" version above.
To highlight Cam's Windows Phone experience, Microsoft is holding a poll over on Twitter to see which ending to his Windows Phone commercial should be aired on January 20th during the NFC Championship football game. There are four endings to choose from and you can catch the remaining three just past the break. To cast your vote and to see the live poll results, just head on over to the Windows Phone Blog.
Just a shame they didn't have a "War Eagle" version...
Our Windows Phones are great devices to keep you in touch. Either through actually using it as a wireless telephone, checking your email, chatting through text messages, surfing the web or accessing your favorite app or game. But there are some occasions where your Windows Phone, or any other smartphone for that matter, can be rather annoying.
Occasions such as a movie theater when someone pulls out there Windows Phone to check a missed call and the screen lights up the room. Or when you're in a meeting and the chime sounds for an incoming text that interrupts your bosses in mid-speech.
It appears that Samsung will not be launching the companies Windows RT tablet, the ATIV Tab, in the U.S. market and the future doesn't look bright for other markets as well.
The reason behind the cold feet? Feedback from Samsung's retail partners indicated demand for Windows RT tablets is modest at best and the investment to sell the importance of Windows RT's benefits was too great.
As we've mentioned before, the People Hub has always been a pain for Chinese Windows Phone devices, because what's called "People Hub" in the Chinese version of the OS simply doesn't have any social functions. To put it mildly, the module has been nothing but an unnecessarily complicated phone book. The reason for this is quite simple: Microsoft yanked out all the social services blocked by China's national Great Firewall (Twitter, Facebook), and removed the ones that practically have no user at all in China (LinkedIn), without giving any replacements. Finally this is going to change, today.
By Rich Edmonds, Wednesday, Jan 9, 2013 at 5:23 pm
Are you an avid movie buff, or a hardcore gamer? Do you own a HDTV and enjoy a high definition experience? Microsoft Research aims to further enhance your visual pleasure when watching the screen with IllumiRoom - a concept that uses peripheral projected illusions for interactive experiences. Forget 3D glasses, this involves subtle projections without any potential eye-strain.
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