microsoft

Bake a Windows Phone cake, win a Windows Phone

May 24, 2012 | By Surur

It seems the folks over at Microsoft are hungry, as they have decided to start a Windows Phone cake contest.

They are giving away a new Windows Phone to fans who submit a picture of a cake shaped like a Windows Phone on their Cake Contest Facebook page. The top 3 cakes with the most likes will win a brand new Windows Phone.

The contest is only open to Americans and entries must be received by Wednesday, May 30 and voting ends June 6. The official rules can be found on SkyDrive here.

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Microsoft Wins German Patent Injunction Against Google Subsidiary Motorola

May 24, 2012 | By Pradeep

Today, Microsoft won a German patent injunction against Google subsidiary Motorola. The court ruled that Android OS infringe patent no. EP1304891 on “communicating multi-part messages between cellular devices using a standardized interface”. Motorola is the only major Android OEM that has not licensed the essential patents from Microsoft yet. As a result of it, Microsoft sued them in USA, Germany and other places and even won an import ban against Android based Motorola devices in USA. I’m sure Motorola with its new owner Google will come down to license patents from Microsoft soon by paying royalties. Read more about the case in details at the source link below.

Source: FOSS Patents

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IDC shows slight increase in WP7 market share Q4 2011 to Q1 2012

May 24, 2012 | By Pradeep

According the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker released today, combined Windows Mobile and Windows Phone shipments increased from 2.6 million in Q1 2011 to 3.3 million Q1 2012. Absolute market share dropped slightly from 2.6% a year ago to 2.2% now, but is up sequentially from 2.1% in Q4 2011 to 2.2% in Q4 2012, with shipments remaining flat from 3.3 million in Q4 2011.

IDC commented about Windows Phone platform in their report as follows,

Windows Mobile/Windows Phone has yet to make significant inroads in the worldwide smartphone market, but 2012 should be considered a ramp-up year for Nokia and Microsoft to boost volumes. Until Nokia speeds the cadence of its smartphone releases or more vendors launch their own Windows Phone-powered smartphones, IDC anticipates slow growth for the operating system.

It is of note that besides Android, which actually increased shipments by 2 million, Windows Phone was the only mobile OS to maintain shipments sequentially, while the other mobile operating systems, including iOS, Symbian and Blackberry all saw sequential reductions in shipments after the holiday season.

Hopefully going into Q2 2012 we will see this translate into an upward trend in actual sales and further market share gains in the rest of the year.

Source: IDC

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Microsoft talks about engendering customer loyalty by delivering updates which makes phones better with time

May 17, 2012 | By Surur

In a job post which will is either a charter for the Windows Phone update team or incredibly hypocritical, depending on if a Windows Phone 8 update will be delivered to existing Windows Phone 7 users, Microsoft talks extensively as to the benefits of delivering updates to Windows Phone handsets.

The job posting for a Program Manager in the CXE: Systems and Automations team mentions “every single day we have the chance to build customer loyalty by building great products that get better with time via update” and also emphasises “To be successful in the phone business we need to swiftly and reliably increase end user value, while we simultaneously broaden the reach of Windows Phones by getting it into the hands of more customers in more places around the world.”

I could not have said it better myself.

Hopefully these ideas are not just platitudes, but are already guiding principles for the Windows Phone team as they get ready to release their next big OS update.

See the job post after the break.

Continue reading →

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Nokia giving hundreds of MVPs free Nokia WP7 handsets, will follow up with WP8 handsets for the select few

May 17, 2012 | By Surur

Sometimes we get some pretty interesting news dropping into our mailbox. If you are a Microsoft MVP with a Windows Phone related competency and have not checked your own mailbox yet, you may be pleased to discover Microsoft and Nokia is sending you a Nokia Lumia 800, 800c or 900 (depending on locale) and you don’t even have to be in the USA to qualify.

Of course in return they want some of that MVP goodness, such as coming to do meet and greets and talks at Windows Phone 7 events, but I am sure for an MVP that’s just par for the course.

More interesting however is that besides WP7 handsets, Nokia will also be handing out Windows Phone 8 handsets when these became available, but only to those who prove they are deserving.

See the letter MVPs will be receiving below.

While Nokia is giving away Windows Phones, they might as well think of sending one my way. Isn’t it a bit of the shame the editor in chief of the largest independent Windows Phone website is still using (a much loved) HTC Trophy?

Thanks to our anonymous tipster.

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Apple Fanboy’s Love Letter On Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone

May 16, 2012 | By Pradeep

Microsoft’s Windows Phone website posted a letter sent to CEO Steve Ballmer from a Apple fanboy on his newly purchased Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone device. Read it below.

From: Scott G.
Sent: Friday, April 13, 2012 1:50 PM
To: Steve Ballmer
Subject: Apple fanboy loves his Windows phone

Mr. Ballmer,

Hopefully this will get to you. Your team deserves credit for producing an excellent product in the newest version of Windows Phone. Yes, I am writing from my MacBook Pro. And I have been a fairly loyal Apple customer over the years. However, I recently bought a Nokia Lumia 900 and intend on keeping it. For full disclosure, I was sure to make sure it could be returned after a dismal experience with an Android phone.
My reasons for switching are:

Call quality. I actually use my phone as a phone. That concept seems to get lost in many product reviews. One of my employees actually thanked me for getting rid of my iPhone as it was so much easier to hear me. I apologize for the tedium but it means a great deal to me and my business.

Simplicity. My family owns five vehicles, including two Fords with Sync. The 4S didn’t support all functions in any of them. My Nokia 900 was flawless out of the box. It was refreshing to have something that just worked. I cannot afford to have my primary means of communication be a science experiment.

No junk software. Speaking of science experiments, I also tried a Motorola Razr. Software that cannot be deleted and restarts itself? A company with questionable privacy rules. Software that terrified my poor in-laws? I guess if you like spending your day tinkering with your phone, it’s pretty cool. Maybe it beats playing with your Star Wars dolls?

Simplicity again. Everything after set up has been painless as well. Adding apps, setting up email accounts, etc. I thought the iPhone was good. Your set up was actually smoother and took less time. Same for Wi-Fi, in-car Bluetooth, etc.

Speed. The 900 doesn’t seem to lag the way the iPhone did at times. Everything seems to execute quickly. That I don’t think about it is probably the best compliment.

Live Tiles. It’s a minor thing but the Metro tiles are pretty cool. I just like the look.

Best regards,

Scott G.

Source: Microsoft

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Microsoft Releases Face SDK For Windows Phone Developers

May 16, 2012 | By Pradeep

Microsoft Research has released three different Face manipulation apps in Windows Phone Marketplace so far. Face Mask, Face Touch and Face Swap are the apps you can now find it in marketplace. Now, Microsoft Research has released an SDK that developers can use to process Face images, etc,.

The Microsoft Face SDK provides many state-of-the-art algorithms to process face images, such as face detection, alignment, tracking, and cartooning. The SDK makes it easy for developers to create interesting, face-related Windows Phone applications.

I expect some cool apps from Windows Phone developers using this SDK. Download the SDK here.

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US Charity drops Blackberry, moves to Windows Phones, saves money

May 15, 2012 | By Pradeep

Feeding America, US’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, has announced that it has moved its operation from Blackberry to Windows Phone, saving money, time and increasing user satisfaction.

The company considered Android, iPhone and Windows Phone prior to the move, but found Windows Phone complemented their use of other Microsoft solutions including Microsoft Office 2010 and Microsoft Lync Server 2010 best.

“Windows Phone provides a level of integration with Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007 and Lync Server 2010 that are not available with the iPhone, iPad or Android,” said Kevin Lutz, vice president of Technology at Feeding America.

The company found it saved money on costly annual server maintenance expenses and also found a 24 percent reduction in cost per device and increased productivity.

“With Office Mobile built into Windows Phone, employees were able to be immediately productive,” said Andy Isztok, director of Service Delivery at Feeding America. “The Office Hub in Windows Phone is great for quickly getting to PowerPoint presentations, Word documents and Excel spreadsheets — regardless of whether they’re stored on your phone or in the cloud on Windows Live SkyDrive. More and more employees are also discovering Microsoft OneNote Mobile; they love how it uses Windows Live to give them access to their OneNote notebooks on their phones, on their PCs and on the Web.”

Feeding American runs more than 200 member food banks, which serve all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico and distribute more than 3 billion pounds of food and grocery products each year.

The move away from Blackberry has been part of a strong trend which has seen RIM’s market share drop from 9% to 3% in USA over the last 12 months, and which may have helped Windows Phone pass the Canadian company in market share for the first time, according to Kantar WorldPanel.

Results From Smoked By Windows Phone Campaign In Korea(Video)

May 15, 2012 | By Pradeep

Microsoft Korea organized Smoked by Windows Phone campaign in their country and the results of the challenges are out now. As usual, Windows Phone dominated the challenge. Totally 923 people participated, and Windows Phone won against 909 people. That leads to a winning percentage of whopping 98.48%. The defeated other platform devices includes iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, Galaxy Note HD LTE, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy S, Galaxy SII, etc,. I think Microsoft should further expand this program to some new countries to spread the message about Windows Phone platform.

Thanks to Ben for the heads up.

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Microsoft getting into the Location-based ad game with Local Scout

May 15, 2012 | By Surur

One of the holy grails of advertising is location-based ads, and when combined with search ads it makes for a rather good revenue opportunity for the provider.

Techie-buzz noticed that Microsoft finally got into the game, by offering relevant ads in their local scout app, such as this ad for Olive Garden from the Yellow Pages in the screen shot (from Techie-buzz).

The next step would of course be relevant ads via toast notifications, which would of course require Microsoft to add a location-based notification like in iOS – hopefully coming in Windows Phone 8.

While Windows Phone users would likely prefer an OS without ads, generating an additional revenue stream besides the license fee makes it easier for Microsoft to justify their investment in developing the OS, which is never a bad thing.

Via Techie-buzz.com

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Microsoft’s ‘30 to launch’ contest winners announced

May 15, 2012 | By Surur

Microsoft has announced the winners of their ‘30 to launch’ developer contest, which challenged developers to go from picking a concept to publishing a Windows Phone 7 app in less than 30 days.

The 4 grand prize winning apps are Brain Cube Reloaded, Play the Hunt, Social Mints, and Surf Info.

Social Mints is an app that allows you to easily monitor the Web and Social Media for interesting and trending content in real-time. You can track & measure what people are saying about a topic that interests you, get the latest on a celebrity or event and keep tabs on your favorite sports teams.

Play the Hunt is a treasure hunt game played in the real world using your Windows Phone.

In this game, you have to figure out the next location from the given clue. When you arrive at a location, you have to play a mini game on your phone and upload a picture before you can move on to the next clue.

The Surf Info shows the current conditions at various surf spots around the U.S. All of the data backing the score is similarly presented in a concise and colorful form.

Brain Cube Reloaded is a Rubics Cube type game with great graphics.

Their developers will receive a state-of-the-art entertainment package that includes a La-Z-Boy© recliner and a Lenovo^®IdeaPad U300 Ultrabook.

Read more about the apps at 30tolaunch.com here.

Thanks Ran for the tip.

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Microsoft slow to pay out to Windows Phone app contest winners

May 10, 2012 | By Surur

I unlock joy windows phone

All the way back in November 2011 Microsoft announced a contest meant to stimulate the Windows Phone 7 app market in India.

The bar to win a Windows Phone was pretty low:

“SUBMIT & RECEIVE” CATEGORY: A registered participant submits THREE qualified Windows Phone Application in the Marketplace and gets a chance to receive a Windows Phone. In this category, the Applications must be distinct and of non-trivial utility value for the Application User. A “Spam” or close replicas of existing Windows Phone Applications are disqualified.
“PORT 2 APPS & RECEIVE” CATEGORY: A registered participant submitting TWO qualified Windows Phone Applications in the Marketplace which are ported from existing Android or iPhone Applications get to receive a Windows Phone.
“WOMEN SPECIAL” CATEGORY: A first of its kind in the developer space, the first 100 registered Woman Developers who submit ONE (1) qualified Windows Phone Application each in the Marketplace qualify to receive a Windows Phone each. The applications can be based on Entertainment, Fashion, Leisure, Sports, Recreation or Travel themes.

The contest ended on March 30, 2012, and since then according to our tipster Microsoft has been very slow at paying out to the winners, apparently delivering a stream of excuses instead.

With apps being the life blood of the smartphone market at present (with Blackberry for example offering $10,000 to those who will write an app for their platform) the least Microsoft could do is deliver what they promised to developers who support their platform.

Have any of our readers been involved in the contest? Let us know your experience below.

Thanks Kunal for the tip.

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Microsoft Reveals “Smoked By Windows Phone” Campaign Stats, They Are Impressive

May 8, 2012 | By Pradeep

Ben Rudolph from Microsoft started the Smoked by Windows Phone campaign at CES last January to showcase how Windows Phones perform faster than other smartphone platforms in many general use cases. Since then the campaign spread across countries around the world and even Nokia took the concept to promote its Lumia devices. Today, Microsoft revealed some stats about this campaign so far which I think is really impressive.

8,000,000+

The total number of views of Smoked by Windows Phone videos since it kicked off in January.

2

YouTube top 5 most viewed lists in which Smoked videos appeared (“Most Popular from Around the Web – All Categories”, and we’re still in the top 5 on Science & Technology)

95%

Percentage of viewers who liked Smoked videos on YouTube.

36

The number of countries running Smoked by Windows Phone.. Some of my favorites include Hong Kong’s game-show style event, Indonesia’s 50-person mall takeover, Nokia India’s “Blown Away by Lumia”, and the UK’s massive “Dare to Live” campaign that is spanning retail, advertising, the web, and of course, in-person challenges.

50,000+

This represents the number of smartphones that have been Smoked by Windows Phone since CES. A big part of this is the “$1000 Windows Phone Challenge” that the Microsoft Stores have been running since March. Here’s how Windows Phone has fared in-store so far:

98%

Windows Phone’s global win percentage. This includes everything from CES through today.

100,000,000+

The estimated number of people who’ve seen, participated in, or read about Smoked by Windows Phone worldwide. This includes stuff like social and media impressions from our videos and ad buy, as well as media coverage social shares, tweets, and Facebook posts. That’s a LOT of people checking out Windows Phone!

Also Microsoft today posted a new set of Smoked by Windows Phone campaign videos which you can find it from Windows Phone’s YouTube page.

Source: Windows Team Blog

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