windows phone

Todd Brix has published a new entry on the Windows Phone Developer Blog detailing highlights of 2012 for Windows Phone. The goal for the team was to establish a new, scalable platform on the mobile phone as well as the cloud. Providing a unique experience for consumers to enjoy when downloading and using apps from a catalogue of apps.

American investor and businessman Mark Cuban, who owns NBA team Dallas Mavericks, recently carried out an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit. The session was hit by a number of questions from fellow users, spanning a number of topics. Most notably was a conversation that was started by ashton90, who wanted to know what kind of laptop Cuban owns, as well as MP3 player.

Latest figures published by market research group Kantar has revealed that Windows Phone is on the rise across the board, excluding a number of markets where sales remain low. The Nokia Lumia 920, HTC 8X and Samsung ATIV S are all high-end smartphones that will be pushing the platform forward in 2013 with potential marketshare gain in multiple locations, but how has the platform progressed through 2012?

It’s that time of the month again when Microsoft throws down the gauntlet to see who can produce the best photo using their Windows Phone camera.

Camera technology on our devices has been steadily improving and with the launch of Windows Phone 8 we now have some best in class hardware. The competition welcomes submissions from those using Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 8 hardware and this time the theme is Happy Holidays! Read on past the break to find out more.

The Windows Phone team have announced on the official blog that the Windows Phone Store has expanded to cover 37 new locations around the world. With the newly added markets, the store is available in 112 worldwide, while the website is accessible in 191. The team has continued to work on adding more locations to the list since the platform launched back in 2010.

If you're holding your breath for some more official apps from Google for Windows Phone or Windows 8, you stop trying now. A Google product manager has gone on record saying the Mountain View company has no plans to develop its application for Microsoft's competing operating system. The reason may surprise you.

So Google isn't actively developing for Windows Phone or Windows 8 because it just doesn't see the market for it yet. Speaking with tech site V3, Clay Bavor went on record saying:

"We have no plans to build out Windows apps. We are very careful about where we invest and will go where the users are but they are not on Windows Phone or Windows 8. If that changes, we would invest there, of course."

While there aren't any current plans to bring popular services like YouTube or Google Talk to Windows Phone or Windows 8, there could be hope for both platforms as they gain market share.

Previously when we saw the release of the Vimeo for Windows Phone 8 we noticed that it had vanished from the marketplace for Windows Phone 7. Whilst concerned that it was being pulled for the previous version of the OS we did have a hunch it might just be a marketplace glitch.

Turns out our hunch was right and the app is now available to grab and install again from the marketplace.

Fire up Photoshop or Illustrator because design magazine Core77 is running another design competition for Windows Phone. The contest is similar to one a year ago that Core77 did in partnership with the Windows Phone Team, this one is also a joint effort. Back then the contest was called "Fast Track to the Mobile App" and this year is going under the name "App to the Future". Winning submissions will have some nice prizes to look forward too! What's also unique about this contest is that it isn't restricted to North American residents, it's open to every abled designer on the planet.

Walk into any mobile phone shop anywhere and you’ll be greeted with row after row of rectangle shaped devices. How on earth does one choose which phone to buy when faced with this veritable sea of similar looking handsets? Nokia have done good work with their promotion of their Lumia range, often having dedicated displays to highlight the devices in stores but this alone does not sell devices.

As Windows Phone does break away from the standard looking icon-based user interface and offer something new, there is a need to tell its story. We checked in to the ‘Meet Windows Phone’ event yesterday evening to see what Microsoft and O2 are doing to engage the man and woman on the street.