While Nokia's own Symbian mobile OS has crumbled into relative obscurity, the Finnish company's decision to hop aboard the Windows Phone bandwagon has proved relatively successful so far. The Lumia devices proved to be a big hit with consumers opting for WP7, and naturally, the onus is now on Nokia to deliver again with Windows Phone 8, which will release alongside the main star of the show, Windows 8, on October 26th.
In the current smartphone climate, it seems that everyone is talking about devices like the iPhone and Samsung's extremely popular Galaxy S III, or mostly devices that are built around iOS or Android. In all honesty, it is a bit of a short-sighted position to take, and although companies like Nokia have been cast into the wilderness in recent years, they have always been known for producing premium quality hardware. And now thanks to their partnership with Microsoft, we could hopefully see a re-emergence of the Finnish company.
When Microsoft finally got around to announcing Windows Phone 8, users of current WP7.x were left a little disappointed by the lack of support for any current devices. As disheartening as the move was for some, it was a necessary way for Microsoft to really move on, since Windows Phone 8 will offer support for more powerful, dual-core devices - something which will undoubtedly be hindered by the support for older hardware.
After going AWOL from the Microsoft Windows Phone Marketplace for a short while, instant messaging app WhatsApp has now reappeared, allowing users to download it once again. Importantly, the app is still free, just as it was before it went missing.
Although Microsoft has announced its Windows Phone 8 mobile operating system, only a few of the key details were revealed, with some kept back for added intrigue. There have been murmurs for a while now with regards a screenshot function, and now details have emerged portraying just how such a feature will work.
Seeing that we've been able to gather a few years of experience with touchscreen keyboards, they've become relatively easy to use for most, especially for simple and short search queries. However, if you want to add a more creative and personal touch to your input, you will be able to take advantage of Handwrite, which Google just announced. It's a new feature of Google's mobile search website that's actually built into the search webpage itself, so you'll be able to try this out on any touch-enabled smartphone (or tablet, for that matter.)
Microsoft next big developer conference, BUILD, will take place at the company's Redmond campus this year, with the fun set to kick off on October 30th. Developers from around the globe will be invited to take part in Microsoft's big annual developer conference, and this time it will be held at Microsoft's own office complex. It's not quite Apple's spaceship campus, but we can't have everything in life now, can we? I guess not.
Of all the features that arrived when iOS 5 reached the end-user back in October of last year, iMessage has been arguably the most significant, and by now allowing messages to be sent and received in a faster, more secure manner across a variety of platforms, it has to go down as one of the best in the business. Granted, it has its occasional downtime, but it's not bad as is, and with the service also arriving to the Mac with OS X Mountain Lion, it will almost certainly become the sole mode of quick communication to many Apple enthusiasts.
As primarily an iOS user (with quite a bit of time for Android, mind), I have had very little experience with Microsoft's Windows Phone platform. In fact, apart from toying around with a Lumia 800 (which, by the way, I did rather enjoy), I have to confess to being a bit of a noob when it comes to the platform, but nevertheless, I am as excited as any with the prospect of Windows Phone 8.
Following yesterday's official debut of Office 2013 (and the Customer Preview, which is now available for download as we reported yesterday), Microsoft has today followed up with a post that shares more information about Office 2013's role in the cloud as well as its future on the Windows Phone platform.
