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Microsoft Bought Nokia Devices And Services, The Deal Closes Friday

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microsoft bought nokiaMicrosoft has been planning for several months the acquisition of Nokia Devices and Services that will cost them $7,2 billion. Microsoft also announced that their new deal will be closed on Friday. Brad Smith, executive vice president of the company has said in a blog post regarding the fact that Microsoft bought Nokia Devices and Services that: “The completion of this acquisition follows several months of planning and will mark a key step on the journey towards integration. This acquisition will help Microsoft accelerate innovation and market adoption for Windows Phones.”

We think that Microsoft will have plenty of room to increase because the global market share of their Windows Phone stands is at 3.9% momentarily, according to the IDC research company. IDC also predicts that this percentage will go up and reach 7% by year 2018. It appears that the news is not that good for the world leading operating systems, Android and iOS because their figures are expected to decline from 78,9% to 76% for Android and 14,9% to 14,4 % for IOS.

Microsoft wants to call the new subsidiary Microsoft Mobile and Smith said that the plan is to manage the site Nokia.com and other related social media platforms for a year. He also stated that Microsoft will have 21 new employees in China (who were meant to remain with Nokia Chief Technology Office). Smith said that Microsoft will not buy the South Korean Nokia manufacturing facility, even though they were planning to, originally.

A week ago, Microsoft released the Windows Phone 8.1 as their latest operating system for smart mobile devices. This meant the introduction of new features that will compete with the popular Android and IOS systems. The features are: Cortana – which is Microsoft’s answer to the Siri personal assistant from Apple. Other features are a notification system called Action Center and improved battery and browsing capacities.

The fact that Microsoft bought Nokia Devices and Services means that they will have complete control over the mobile hardware.

Microsoft bought Nokia Devices and Services – what does it mean for Nokia?

We look forward to see how this acquisition will be completed on April 25 and what will be made of it. As soon as we’ll have any updates we will keep you posted. What are your thoughts on the fact that Microsoft bought Nokia Devices and Services? Do you think that this for the best on both parts or does it stand for the inevitable death of Nokia? Share your thoughts in the comment below.

 

Microsoft Windows Phone 8 GDR Update to Support Devices Upto 7 Inch Display

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There are quite a few large sized smartphone devices doing the rounds in the market right now. Consumer attraction for the large screen on their smartphone devices has been very positive and makers of the devices are keeping that part in mind when designing future devices. As of now the largest of the lot in smartphones is the Sony Xperia Z Ultra which comes with 6.4 inch display. The closest in screen size is the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3. The Sony model beats the Samsung one by a mere 0.1 inch.

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The Sony Xperia Z Ultra has its share of contrasting user opinion on account of its display which is quite large by smartphone standards. Some say it is too large to be mobile in the real sense and term it closer to a tablet. There is quite some comment of this sort going around and these comments should hold themselves in check for a while as there is supposedly going to be a further addition of another device of similar size so far as the smartphone segment goes.

Peter Torr has placed a note on the Windows Phone Developer Blog about a day coming when there would be a Windows Phone which is 7 inch by size. So there is the possibility of Microsoft coming up with a Smartphone that is 7 inch in size, which if true will comfortably beat the Sony Xperia Z Ultra and its  6.4 inch display.  Curently the biggest device running Windows Phone 8 is the NOkia Lumia 1520 that comes with a 6 inch display.

Torr was writing in the blog on the issue of Microsoft coming up with the GDR3 update. The specific aspect about the update is that it allows the device to sense the size of the display when it renders the contents. What this means is that the device need not just display some additional items to fill up the screen, instead the content would be adjusted by dimension to fit the screen optimally. An elastic property to the content for display on the screen would be added. That leads to the assumption that larger screen smartphone devices could have a possibility of being made in a big way in the near future.

Windows Phone 8 User Experience to Improve to Compete with Android, iOS

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The Windows Phone 8 marks the third leg of the mobile operating system market, behind Android and iOS while being ahead of the BlackBerry 10 platform. It started off small, really small but has been making a steady progress ever since. It might not have leaped off to instant stardom, which can be understandable considering it is up against such established platforms such as Android and iOS.

However, it is slowly getting to a position where it can pose a challenge to both Apple and Google as far as mobile operating system is concerned. While that does not seem to be happening overnight or even in a fortnight, something of that sort definitely can’t be ruled out in the not too distant future. However, there are some things where Microsoft could up its ante for it to compete better with Android.

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To begin with, Windows Phone 8 is a big thing in itself. It has emerged critical to Microsoft’s future strategy of holding on to its position in the tech segment what with the world showing a marked preference away from the traditional PCs, something that has been Microsoft’s forte all these years. With consumers now heavily inclined towards smart connected devices such as smartphones and tablet devices, the Richmond based company has no option but to excel in the changed world order. Windows Phone 8 is the outcome of just such a thought process on part of Microsoft. And while the platform seems to have been developed well enough to be considered at par with Apple’s operating system, there is one aspect that Microsoft seems to have left out of its calculation, the challenge posed by Google’s Android OS.

Towards this, one area where Windows Phone 8 can benefit immensely is ensuring updates reach the end devices soon enough. This can be achieved if Microsoft adopts the Windows Core for the smartphone operating system if. Microsoft also had announced it is up to just such a thing though as of now nothing of that sort has taken place. It is time for Microsoft to take quick steps to make the transition to using the kernels and codes of Windows RT.

The Windows Phone faces immense problem in dealing with applications as some applications are recognized whereas some files don’t recognize the other. In a world where the Smartphones are nothing less than pc at hand, this is another area where Windows Phone needs to buckle up.

A platform that boasts of making UI easier, it is a shame when it doesn’t prove so. Microsoft also has not been able to bring forth an accessories market for its Windows Phone, something that both Apple and Google are trying to better the user experience with. And both offer a whole host of suitable accessories all aimed at adding to the user experience with the platform. Although it doesn’t guarantee a greater market share, still the company would not suffer for its mediocre produce. Meanwhile, Microsoft isn’t planning of launching any new update for Windows Phone till next year.

Microsoft Happy to Hold on to Third Spot with Windows Phone and Not Scared of BlackBerry

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Developers at Microsoft are working on Windows Phone Blue update which is going to be next major update for the OS. According to Larry Lieberman who is the product manager at Windows Phone expressed the company’s views on the progress of Windows Phone 8 OS. Microsoft is happy to hold on to the third spot in the mobile platform ecosystem.

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After Android and iOS, BlackBerry was holding one to the third spot but in the month of May, Microsoft managed to steal that spot from BlackBerry. Also, Liberman feels that BlackBerry is not a serious competition. He said that BlackBerry will not be able to offer things that are currently being offered by Windows Phone. He said the Windows Phone devices are available across different price points which allow them to attract larger audience.

Nokia and Microsoft have together managed to roll out some low cost Windows Phone devices which have eventually helped the OS to gain good popularity. Even though it is now in third position and way behind Android and iOS, Liberman believes that the operating system is growing at a faster pace compared to any other OS.

At present the growth of Windows Phone is small but Nokia is really doing well for itself as well as Windows Phone by rolling many devices in quick succession. In fact, Nokia had already announced the range of Windows Phone powered devices they are going to release this year. However, we feel that one major setback for the OS is that the developers have not managed to release new updates at faster pace and currently Microsoft is rolling many Windows Phone devices with existing version of the OS.

Recently, a leaked device was found to be running on Windows 8.1 aka Windows Phone Blue update which makes us feel that update release around the corner. However, another report states that the newest update is plagued with many bugs and the update will be only made available in the next year.

Liberman said that they are currently focusing a lot on feedback from the user voice site. One of the most wanted features on Windows Phone is the presence of a notification center. Microsoft is going through all the requests on the user voice site carefully and if certain features are being asked by lot of features, Microsoft will make that feature available in the next update.

Microsoft still needs to roll out many Windows Phone devices in the market. Major brands like Samsung, LG, and Sony consistently release new Androids almost every week. So, Nokia and HTC should release many Windows Phone devices in the market to shoot up the operating system’s popularity.

Considering the fact that Microsoft is quite slow in releasing an update for Windows Phone, we feel a feature-rich major update will be soon made available. If Microsoft takes on aggressive strategy for Windows Phone, it can become a good threat to Android and iOS.

Windows Phone 8 Edition of HTC One Under Construction

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The HTC One has done well in resurrecting the brand and if the rumors are on the right track, HTC is working on a HTC One phone which will be powered with Windows Phone 8 OS. The rumor was brought to light by Neowin.net. According to the source, HTC is working on a new phone that will be powered with Windows Phone OS and it is will sport a similar look as HTC One. However, the device will not be completely identical to the HTC One.

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HTC’s forthcoming Windows OS powered phone will sport a display measuring around 4 to 5 inches. It will sport a metal body. HTC’s Beat Audio will be available on the phone. Also, it will run on Windows Phone 8 OS with GDR update which will make it possible for Windows phone to support 1080p and quad-core CPU.

The HTC One which runs on Android has got a 4.7inch display and supports 1080p video. The UltraPixel camera feature which is available on the original HTC One will also available in the rumored Windows phone. Even though the HTC One is a competitor to the famous Galaxy S4, the HTC One comes with 4MP camera whereas the Galaxy S4 has got 13MP camera onboard. The iPhone 5 has got 8MP camera. Even though the HTC One has got a 4MP camera, it has got a larger physical sensor compared to sensor present on leading smartphones.

The Windows Phone GDR3 update is going to be launched next year. Also, Windows will be announcing the Windows Phone Blue update early 2014. As mentioned before, the update will allow Windows Phone to support high HD displays and better features. With HTC switching to Windows Phone smartphones in the near future, soon Nokia Lumia line of phones that are going to have good competition.

Currently, 80 percent of Windows Phone powered phones are mainly from Nokia. Samsung is going to release the next ATIV S phone which is also Windows Phone powered smartphone in the near future. When Windows Phone was launched, HTC had initially had released a few Windows Phone phones. However, later they concentrated on Android OS.

At the moment, you can find two HTC Windows Phone 8 phones in the market namely the HTC 8X and HTC 8S. The 8X is top performing Windows Phone device whereas the 8S slots itself in the mid-range category. So HTC is yet to announce a power packed Windows Phone. If the rumored Windows Phone running HTC device is going to sport features like that of the HTC One, it is surely going to come out with costly price tag.

Nokia is currently in agreement with Microsoft and that is the reason why it is able to provide its users with exclusive apps and services. So even if HTC joins the battle by launching Windows Phone devices, it won’t be getting those benefits that Nokia is already availing by teaming up with Microsoft. We will have to wait more to hear more about the rumored Windows Phone 8 device.

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