The big day is almost here. Microsoft reveals the new Xbox at an event held on its Redmond, Wash.-based campus tomorrow, and speculation runs rampant around the web. We do not even know the name of this next-generation console, let alone what capabilities the device will come with.
So, last night, Windows Phone 8 got its first update - specifically for the HTC 8X. In this day and age, where iOS is the gold standard and shows the industry how it ought to be done, and Android is the exact opposite, Windows Phone 7 was a bit of an in-between - every phone got every update, but the staggered rollout was slow and frustrating, often due to carrier meddling. How will Windows Phone 8 fare?
Only days after an embarrassing parting of ways with Windows 8 architect Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is back to his industry-slaying form, laying into Apple for its high prices and Google's Android for its record on mobile security.
I'm an unapologetic fan of Windows Phone 7. I like the aesthetic, the consistent UI design and concepts, and the personal nature of the Start screen. I think it's a solid, stable, fun-to-use platform, and it's my operating system of choice when it comes to smartphones. It has been something of a love/hate relationship, however. As much as I like the software, I haven't liked the way Microsoft has managed it. In particular, the decisions the company has made around patching and updates have left a bad taste in my mouth.
With the debut of Windows Phone 8 a little more than a week away, Best Buy has begun taking pre-orders for Nokia's and HTC's flagship smartphones running Microsoft's new mobile operating system.
The electronics retailer's Web site now lists the Lumia 920 for $149.99 with a two-year commitment and off-contract at $599.99. It also lists the HTC 8X for $99.99 with contract and $599.99 without contract.
After last week's deluge of information about the next iteration of Microsoft's new mobile operating system, the company is letting additional details trickle out. Microsoft revealed last week that Windows 8 Phone will be available in 180 countries when it launches later this year, but it didn't tell us which countries that would be until today.
Let me repeat that a little more verbosely. Watch for Windows Phone to grab a serious hunk of market share at the end of 2012. No doubt about it. "Huh?" you ask. Believe it.
The Feibus-is-crazy club most assuredly is enjoying a surge in membership right about now. And why not? There is certainly plenty of evidence to suggest that Windows Phone thus far has underwhelmed.
Earlier this week, Microsoft ‘developer evangelist’ Nuno Silva created a storm of controversy when he stated in a video interview that all first- and second-generation Windows Phones would be updated to Windows Phone 8 “Apollo”, when it arrives later this year.
Subsequently, sources close to Microsoft insisted that Silva had spoken out of turn, and that the company in fact has no plans to provide an official upgrade path for current handsets to the new Windows Phone OS.
We've expressed concern about the prospects of upgrading current first—and second—generation Windows Phone handsets to Windows Phone 8, codenamed Apollo, when it is released later this year. Microsoft refuses to commit publicly, and we've heard from employees within the company that some or all current users won't be able to upgrade, even those who buy new, second-generation devices. Others have heard similar tales.
Microsoft's renewed push for its Windows Phone platform centers on Mango, an update with hundreds of tweaks and features. Over the next few months, manufacturers such as Nokia will push an array of new smartphones boasting the software.
