promotion

Today marks day one of the Dare to Live marketing campaign by Microsoft and Nokia that will have the teams tour the UK challenging the public to see if their smartphones can beat Windows Phone (white Lumia 800s were used at today's event). Much like the Smoked by Windows Phone challenges that have been held across the globe, participants will pocket £20 on the street if they can beat Windows Phone at standard tasks.

Should they lose, participants will have the opportunity to take on the Microsoft team with a dare. Whether it be tightrope walking or the Big Air, the dares are fear destroying. We went down to the Westfield shopping centre in Shepard's Bush to see what was happening. As one can see from the photos, it was quite a sight to see inside the building. There were a number of losing contestants who took to the ropes and bagged themselves a "DARED" Windows Phone shirt.

Be sure to view the tour calendar to be sure as to when the team will be at a city near you. For now check out more photos after the break.

We recently put the question to you whether Microsoft is doing enough to promote and market Windows Phone, and now we've just caught wind of a new campaign kicking off from the software giant in the UK. The Windows Phone team will be touring the country (10 cities - 11 weeks) and challenging participants who believe their smartphone is faster than a Windows Phone.

Much like the Smoked by Windows Phone campaign, should contestants win the "Dare to Live" challenge, they'll pocket £20 there and then. But should they lose, and this is the exciting part, they'll not have to hold a sign up and announce their loss, oh no. Microsoft is taking things to the next level with actual fear driven activities instead.

Throughout each week the team will hold the challenges, but on every Saturday they will hold adrenaline intensive activities that will push yourself beyond comfortable limits. From tightrope walking to the Big Air, you're destined to get a buzz for losing to Windows Phone. Think of it as Smoked by Windows Phone with a twist for losing participants.

As well as the challenge and campaign, Microsoft is teaming up with O2 and Phones4U to provide a number of deals on Windows Phones throughout the duration of the event. Phones4U is currently featured with an up-to £100 cash back on the Lumia 800 when trading in your old phone. Be sure to check out the Dare to Live Facebook page for more details about locations, dates and -of course- the special offers.

Kicking off on April 21st, do you dare the live? The team is hitting London this week for the challenges. Should you be lucky (or unlucky) enough to lose you'll find yourself on a tightrope at the Westfield shopping centre in Shepherds Bush this coming Saturday. Be sure to pop along to see the action, WPCentral will be there to return with some photos of course.

Source: Dare to Live, Windows Phone UK; thanks Mark for the heads up!

Today wrapped up a big day for Windows Phone with the launch of two 4G LTE devices on AT&T, the Lumia 900 (review) and Titan II (review). In celebration, Microsoft ran their Free-Time Machine promotion which basically allowed people to play with both giant Windows Phones and the real thing with the Lumia 900 taking front and center.

From New York City to Chicago to San Francisco, Microsoft had their booths set up and celebrities on hand to help draw new people into "saving time" by seeing how efficient Windows Phone can be. Oh and yeah, they also gave away a lot of gift certificates to restaurants, for gas and all sorts of things to help out folks.

Not much else to say on the events so you can watch the other two videos after the break to get an idea of what happened. And if you stopped by, feel free to post up your pics and tell us your experience in comments.

Tomorrow, April 9th, is the kick off of the Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T (most stores were closed today for the holiday) and as expected, Microsoft will be having their own promotional events coinciding with in-store availability of the new flagship Windows Phone. This of course follows Friday's kick off party in Times Square with superstar Nicki Minaj.

We reported on the freetimemachine.com website a few days ago and although details were scarce it was clear that it was some type of contest for the Lumia 900. Now that we're closer to the the 9th we have more information regarding the event. Besides the online portion (we expect the website to change over tomorrow), Microsoft and Nokia will be hosting events in three cities between 8am and 6pm:

New York City

• Bryant Park (6th Ave between 40th & 42nd)
• Madison Square Park (23rd & Madison)

Chicago

• John Hancock Plaza (E. Chestnut & N. Michigan Ave)
• Pioneer Court (401 N. Michigan Ave)

San Francisco

• Union Square (Post Street & Powell Street)

What's more, we know that Kourtney Kardashian will be on hand from 11:30 to 12:30pm at the Bryant Park location in Manhattan. So if you're a fan, you'll, umm...want to be there.

So what to expect? From a Fox 5 News story on the events there will be "...several Free-Time Machines, or FTMs, for consumers that will be distributing priceless "free time" vouchers in the form of coupons, gifts certificates, and other items from 8 am-6 pm."

Sounds interesting. We'll try to be there to catch some of the event (no guarantees on the Kardashian angle though, we're not that crazy).

Update: In Chicago's Pioneer Court, famed local chef Stephanie Izard will be on hand for the event and in San Francisco, you can expect the 49ers tight-end Vernon Davis.  Thanks, Stephen M., for the info!

Microsoft's Smoked by Windows Phone marketing campaign is still going strong, which all stemmed from CES 2012 in Las Vegas where Ben Rudolph challenged event attendees. The campaign made the move to Microsoft Stores across California, Hong Kong, and is currently being expanded to cover TV advertising. The challenges involved are simple smartphone tasks - which ever phone completes the task first wins.

With $100 on the table there's never a shortage of interested smartphone owners who believe they can smoke a Windows Phone. We previously looked at the announcement made by Microsoft Singapore on their Facebook page, stating the marketing campaign would be brought to the country "very soon". 

The above montage of clips is from ITShow 2012 where the Smoked by Windows Phone challenge was held (March 9-10). End result from the event was: 38 wins, 3 draws and 3 loses.

Source: YouTube; thanks Greg for the tip!

Microsoft has been terribly quiet in Australia and we've had our readers continuously voicing their concerns / complaints in articles regarding the lack of advertising (or promotion) for Windows Phone. Cue Nokia. The manufacturer has been effectively pushing the platform and their Lumia range of handsets in Australia.

We have got the "Little Amazings" video series (much like "The Amazing Everyday") and Lumia Live launch events, carriers offering attractive special offers, giant Windows Phones being erected, and we've now also got newspaper advertisements. The MX newspaper, a popular free Melbourne print, has a full page advert featuring the Lumia 710 on Optus (see above).

Just why are things so slow (excluding the efforts by Nokia)? We're not too sure as demand has shown to be there with Optus recently selling out their entire black Lumia 800 stock. Plan for Microsoft: promote - you've certainly got the money, so please make Windows Phone sunny.  

Source: 1800PocketPC

Both AT&T and Nokia are still preparing to launch the much anticipated Lumia 900 LTE Windows Phone, which is rumoured to be delayed until April 22nd. The release date is surely drawing closer as Lumia 900 promotion material is featured in AT&T stores, including the above Nokia Lumia mints found at the AT&T store in the Arizona Mills mall.

No official date has been provided, so it looks like we'll have to sit tight and hold off on rumours that are flying by.

Thanks Brandon for sending in the photo!

WPDownUnder has created a humorous screensaver to compliment the #SmokedbyWindowsPhone competition. Ben Rudolph first challenged consumers who use different platforms at CES 2012 to see if they could best Windows Phone at normal tasks such as uploading a photo to Facebook.

Should you be interested in displaying superiority on your idle monitor, head on over to WPDownUnder to download the screensaver.

Source: WPDownUnder

While we just learnt the base price of the Nokia Lumia 900 on Rogers it also now appears there will be a Batman "The Dark Knight" tie in as well. If you head over to their promo page, you'll see them advertising the ability to register to be notified when the pre-order is available--nothing unique there (though good tip if you're interested). But near the bottom of the ad there's a curious addition:

"When you pre-order a Lumia 900, Nokia and Rogers have a surprise for you. Hint: there's a hero rising out of the darkness."

No word on if that involves movies passes or maybe the big granddaddy of it all: a Dark Knight edition of the Lumia 900. Sound crazy? We steer you to the Dark Knight Lumia 800 that had a super limited run (so limited we don't even know where to have gotten one). We're sure more will come out eventually on this "surprise" so stay tuned.

Source: Rogers; Thanks, buggyglint, for the link!