windows phone

The Seattle Times interviewed CEO Steve Ballmer recently and the man behind Microsoft is sounding quite confident about this year’s upcoming launches.

During the interview, Ballmer gave his impression of how momentous this year’s launch line-up will be for Microsoft and he even pulled out two Lumia 920 phones from his pockets. Many have speculated wildly on this interview in relation to Surface pricing, so we thought it was time we looked at what exactly was said…

Just don't whack it too hard...

What a way to round off the working week with a humorous patent that has been filed by Microsoft. If implemented into Windows Phone, we'll be looking to "whack off" our phones should they start ringing. Depending on what the term "whack" means in the society you belong to, it usually involves utmost satisfaction followed by intense drowsiness, or crying children - but please attempt to stay with us without chuckling while we check out how Microsoft will allow us to whack our phones.

We’ve known for a couple of weeks now that Microsoft was evidently rebranding their Xbox games for the Windows Phone OS by dropping “LIVE” and adding a green banner to the top of the cover art. Today we reported that Microsoft was even doing this for older games too.

Interestingly, Microsoft has not announced this publicly yet, making the strategy not very clear. We’ll just assume it is part of the plan to excise “LIVE” from just about everything (and we’re real curious about the Xbox 360).

So simple question: Do you like the new look?

The green banner pops more but you also lose some cover-art space and we’re still not sure what to call it…Xbox on Windows Phone? Xbox for Windows Phone?

Sound off in comments. Voting closes in 3-days and you can vote on your phone by going to m.wpcentral.com.

We have all been asked to write about our next Windows Phone, of course it will be Windows Phone 8. It is a tricky proposition as I have yet to see what HTC are going to bring and I haven’t yet had the chance to touch an ATIV S or Lumia 920. Regardless of that, I’m at the point where I can be fairly certain what I’m going to get when the time finally comes..

There is still much to learn about future Windows Phone 8 devices, but I think it’s reasonable to say that HTC and Samsung are simply recycling their recent Android flagships and using those for their next generation Windows Phone handsets. Based on the leaked specs we have seen, at least one HTC unit could be based on the One X. I wrote a detailed article about the new HTC and Samsung Windows Phone 8 hardware, in case you missed it.

New name-changes to Windows 8 could come down to Windows Phone 8 in China

Less than 24 hours ago, Microsoft opened up the much anticipated app submissions to the Windows 8 store. However, the great news has been thwarted by Microsoft's new app naming policy.

President Barack Obama has been known to be a die-hard BlackBerry fan for years now, even as the Waterloo company is scrambling for its life to stay afloat. While he can wait for BlackBerry 10 to arrive sometime next year, we think he should start considering other options. (After all, that platform won’t have 100,000 apps, right?)

In a somewhat humorous moment this past weekend, the President started to use an iPhone, presumably either as a backup, transition device or just someone else’s. Either way, he evidently wasn’t at all familiar with neither the phone nor the OS and he scrambled a bit when trying to dial out.

We reported a while back that Nokia were helping to bring PayPal to Windows Phone. Well for all those out there that have been waiting with bated breath, it’s finally with us.

We are still trying to confirm the availability in all regions but can confirm 100% that UK and USA are able to see and install the app--you don't need a Nokia phone either. Having installed the app its looking very nice indeed, sporting a smooth scrolling panoramic layout. For a version 1.0 release this is looking very good indeed.

Microsoft Windows Phone Monthly Photo Contest - Pet Photos

Microsoft held its first Windows Phone Monthly Photo Contest last month. The first contest them was pet photos and Microsoft received hundreds of photo entries.

After sifting through them all the Windows Team Blog staff picked a handful of entries that stood out for their creativity and execution.  These photos are  highlighted the Blog's website and include the above photo by Max. K which was taken with a HTC Mozart.

There is no word on what the contest theme will be for this month but once we catch wind of it, we'll pass it on. In the meantime, if you're sharing photos via Twitter, use the hashtag #WPPhoto and Microsoft may highlight them on their official handle.

You can find the full selection of pet photos here at the Windows Team Blog website and some of our favorites after the break.

Don't forget to visit the Windows Phone Central Accessory Store

Just  a quick reminder as the Labor Day weekend draws to a close that in honor of all of the hard working people of America, Canada and the rest of the world we're celebrating with savings at Windows Phone Central Accessory Store.

You can save 15% on ALL Windows Phone accessories through Midnight PST on Monday, September 3rd.  Just use the coupon code LDAY12 at checkout and you'll be set. Oh... and don't forget, if you're outside of North America we're now offering low cost shipping globally.

Enjoy the holiday, and enjoy the savings!