Displaying items by tag: Windows Phone

Nokia could be in a tad bit of trouble with their decision to buddy up to Microsoft. It seems that investors are not willing to wait for their investment in Windows Phone to pay off and we can’t blame them. When Nokia made this decision it was more than a little controversial as Window Phone represented a mere fraction of the market and had not shown any growth potential to warrant making it the exclusive OS for Nokia. Many felt that it was only Stephen Elop’s close connections to Microsoft that enabled the deal as Elop was the head of Microsoft’s Business Division prior to taking the top spot at Nokia.

Nokia today announced its financial statement that shows a total loss of $150 million compared to the previous quarter, but the news for them are not as bad as they seem. The company earned a revenues of $8.7 billion, and has sold 5.6 million Lumia devices, representing a jump of 30 percent in sales and earnings on them.

Nokia and Microsoft made an agreement back in 2011 under which Microsoft will pay the Finnish manufacturer for support of their platform, while Nokia will pay Microsoft a license to use Windows Phone. During the term of the agreement, Microsoft's payments slightly surpassed what Nokia has paid, but a good part of the "bonus" Finnish manufacturer already used.

When introducing Windows Phone 8, Microsoft announced four manufacturers that will have devices in its range; Nokia, HTC, Samsung and Huawei. While the first three heavyweights already introduced their devices before the unveiling of the OS, Huawei decided to wait to release their Windows Phone.

It seems that the Nokia Lumia 920 is selling like crazy in China. Although it has been said that  the number of available devices based on Microsoft operating systems is relatively small, still orders for Windows Phones are not a normal occurance. That is until the Lumia 920.

Nokia is developing a tablet based on an ARM processor and Windows RT, according plans of the Finnish manufacturer. The device should be launched in early 2013, and will have a screen with a diagonal of 10.1 inches. This device should complement their Windows Phone line up and let them compete in a wider market (with companies like HTC and Samsung who will be making both devices as well).

After Nokia announced a deal in which they are seeking Linux specialists, many of the "experts" interpreted this as a sure sign that the company might cross over, or at least be planning to switch to Android. However, no matter how much we want to see Lumias running Android it looks like that will not happen.

Although almost all the attention of Microsoft and the public is focused on Windows Phone 8, the older generation OS is far from retirement, according to Microsoft. They surely brought nothing but dissapointment when they announced that the Lumia 900 and all other first generation WP7 devices wont be able to upgrade to WP8. They will try to calm down users by giving them 7.8 but that probably wont be enough.

Microsoft is being sued over the ideas behind the company's entire visual identity, which is the base functionality of their new operating systems. The lawsuit is about the "live tiles" on the Windows Phone and Windows 8 interface. Two years ago, while advertising Windows Phone 7, Microsoft introduced the concept of "live tiles" that were used as a building block of the mobile interface of the OS and associated applications. The concept has now been extended to both Windows 8 and Microsoft's entire visual identity is based on the principle of simplicity, promoting "live tiles“.

If Microsoft was expecting a mass of people running out to buy Windows 8 devices or to suddenly feel the need to update their machines to Windows 8 they were let down after the launch. Although Microsoft and their partners were playing up Windows 8 and the new class of “touch first” products they failed to capture the markets imagination. Instead, like the Zune HD they have a nice array of positive reviews, but little sales to show for it. We spoke with a few retailers who have stated that Windows 8 interest was flat this weekend. Instead they had questions about if older Windows 7 based devices were going to go on sale soon now that new models were out.