Skype updates Windows Phone app, temporarily nixes People Hub integration

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Microsoft’s Skype Division is temporarily removing integration with Windows Phone’s People Hub in the latest update to its app for Microsoft’s mobile platform, citing problems with “device stability.” The integration into the People Hub was one of the selling points for the Windows Phone app, putting Skype information alongside email, phone number and other contact… Read More…

Windows Phone fans petition Square, Instagram, Google for apps

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Are you using Windows Phone but missing a favorite app? Maybe an online petition will do the trick. That’s the strategy being tried by some Windows Phone users in an attempt to get companies such as Square, Google and Instagram to make versions of their apps for Microsoft’s mobile platform. It’s a testament to the loyalty of Windows Phone fans,… Read More…

Farewell, iPhone: A new year, with my new Windows Phone

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If my old iPhone 4S is a mid-sized sedan, the device I’ve been using for the past day is more like an SUV. This thing is a beast. And I’m getting more and more comfortable with it. Yes, it’s true: With the New Year approaching, I decided to try something new in my life. This… Read More…

Windows Phone adds 75,000 apps and games in 2012

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Microsoft’s Windows Phone more than doubled the size of its app catalog in 2012, adding more than 75,000 new apps and games from third-party developers, according to a Microsoft blog post published overnight. Todd Brix of Microsoft writes in the post, “We literally set a new foundation this year with the deployment of all-new infrastructure… Read More…

Mark Cuban: Nokia’s Windows Phone ‘crushes’ iPhone 5

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High-profile investor and entrepreneur Mark Cuban gave Microsoft and Nokia a nice little holiday gift in the form of a plug for the new Nokia Windows Phone during an “Ask Me Anything” Q&A on Reddit on Christmas Eve. The Nokia phone “crushes the IPhone 5. not even close,” wrote Cuban. His answer came in response… Read More…

iPhone dominates in the U.S. this holiday with 53% share: Windows Phone inches up

No white iPhone 5s were in stock at Target.

I’m not the only one spending some of my holiday shopping time picking up the new iPhone. A study out today indicates that Apple has achieved its highest ever share of smartphone sales in the U.S., accounting for 53.3 percent of sales in the past 12 weeks.  That compares to 35.8 percent of sales or… Read More…

Help from abroad: Microsoft teaming with China Unicom to boost Windows Phone sales

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The Windows Phone is getting a little help from abroad. The China Daily reports today that China Unicom, the world’s third-largest carrier, announced a partnership with Microsoft to help sales and innovation of Windows Phone devices in China. Microsoft certainly needs any help it can get, as Windows Phone devices account for less than 3 percent of mobile market… Read More…

IDC cuts Windows Phone forecast, now sees Microsoft in third place in 2016

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Long-term forecasting in the technology industry isn’t easy, as we’ve documented in the past, and it’s especially difficult in a market as volatile as smartphones. The latest evidence: The IDC research firm has significantly reduced its long-term forecast for Microsoft’s Windows Phone. IDC now says it expects Windows Phone to post 11.4 percent market share in… Read More…

Comments of the Week: Oprah ‘loves’ the Surface; Hastings’ Microsoft analysis; and more

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The best comments, quotes, and random zingers we heard this week… “[Microsoft has] many great assets and many great challenges. The great assets are the technology, and Windows, Office. And you guys know Ballmer. He is unbelievably self-aware, self-critical, smart. He’s the last guy to be in any little bit of denial.”—Outgoing Microsoft board member… Read More…