An era Microsoft would soon like to forget has just come to an end. After spirited attempts at breaking into the smartphone market, including a disastrous acquisition of Nokia’s handset division, Microsoft has officially ended support for Windows Phone 8.1, only three years after it was first introduced alongside Cortana. As of this week, Microsoft […]
A long time ago, back before Microsoft bought and subsequently wrote off Nokia’s handset division, the latter company had planned to make a smartwatch, presumably for the Windows Phone platform. After buying Nokia’s handset division, Microsoft nixed it in favor of the Microsoft Band, but legends and mockups still live on. Another render appeared this […]
We have been testing the Microsoft Lumia 950 for nearly a month now and wow, it has been way too long since Microsoft launched a flagship phone. Personally, I have always been a fan of Windows Phone, going as far back as Windows Phone 7. But don’t call this Lumia a Windows Phone — Microsoft considers it […]
Microsoft has made it clear with its launch of Windows 10 that it is interested in unifying its operating system across multiple screens: from your television through your Xbox One, your various computers, to mobile devices that include its line of Windows Phone smartphones and Surface tablets. Yet, despite having bought Nokia and rebranding its line […]
Pretty terrible news out of Redmond today — 7,800 people will lose their jobs as Microsoft leadership more or less acknowledges that their Windows Phone strategy is failing. Microsoft will restructure accordingly, while writing off a massive loss on their purchase of Nokia’s handset division. Today’s press release leads off with the announcement of the […]
We all know the problem with vacation pictures—we take so many that no one really wants to look through them all afterwards. It’s the same deal for action cam videos—that five-hour hike up the mountain was pretty awesome when you were living it, but your hike was not as exciting as the extended version of […]
Microsoft has a fitness band? You better believe it because the Microsoft Band is one of the best wearables on the market right now. The Band is loaded up with just about every feature, and it’s a fraction of the price of the soon-to-be-released Apple iWatch. The Band rocks all of the popular fitness/health features […]
It wasn’t all that long ago when budget phones were synonymous with dumb phones. But, here we are in a post-Symbian world, where dumb phones are starting to get a little scarce. Makes sense—dumb phones can’t win on price when you can get a smartphone for free on-contract, or even under $100 off-contract! Today’s budget […]
Whether you’re getting a new one as a present or shopping for one with that influx of holiday cash from your relatives, there’s no better time to get yourself a new smartphone. But, don’t just go one model number higher than whatever you’ve got now—shake things up this year with a Lumia phone. In a […]
The Nokia Lumia 530 is Nokia’s newest budget Windows 8.1 smartphone, and it’s going to be available as of this month at some impressively low prices at T-Mobile and Cricket Wireless. The phone is definitely a budget offering—it runs on a dated quad-core 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor with just 512 MB of RAM, […]
It’s time to end the duopoly. For too long, Google and Apple have dominated the smartphone market mercilessly, and that’s not a good thing for consumers. Fortunately, there’s a third way. As surprising as it is to point to Microsoft as the plucky up-and-comer, that’s where we are right now. But, Windows Phone has long […]
This week at IFA in Berlin, the Lumia team combined their reveal of the Lumia 730 and 830 with the announcement of a new Lumia-specific update to Windows phones. The Lumia Denim update will combine aspects of the Windows 8.1 Update 1 with brand new camera features—for the phones that have the hardware to handle […]
Nokia has introduced a couple new mid-range smartphones this week that try to toe the line between hardware proficiency and price. Do they? The Nokia Lumia 830 is being billed as an affordable flagship by the Lumia team. Flagship might be too strong of a word, but it’s not a bad phone. The Windows 8.1 […]
Cheap smartphones, no contract. Pick one, right? Unsubsidized, off-contract phones come at a high price—high enough to make the confines of a two-year contract preferable by comparison, which is really saying something. But, that’s only true for the flagship phones that get most of the publicity. The market is awash in low- and mid-tier budget […]
The HTC One M8 is getting a re-release, and while it looks the same from the outside, the inside is getting an overhaul. We’re not talking about the specs, either. HTC is releasing a version of the One M8 that runs the Windows Phone OS, and it’s launching exclusively at Verizon. The Windows Phone version […]
If you can’t join ’em, beat’em. That is exactly what Windows Phone is trying to do with their latest app, which was developed in house by Microsoft to be a direct competitor to Snapchat. Like the popular Snapchat, WindUp lets you create and send temporary messages. The app lets you decide how long the message […]
This week is National Hurricane Preparedness Week, which is well-timed, because this week is also the first week of hurricane season. If you live in a place prone to hurricanes (or any natural disasters), or you’re just looking to help out, take a look at Microsoft’s HelpBridge app, which puts a lot of tools centered […]
I’m actually a little bitter about this one, because Treasure Tag sounds so much more exciting than something that prevents you from forgetting stuff. Still, seems handy!
Microsoft is going to ring in summer with the Windows Phone 8.1 update sometime next month. For those of you already in the Windows Phone camp, there’s a lot here to get excited about, including (finally) your very own digital assistant. But, will there be enough to bring in some defectors from Android or iOS? […]
Over the past couple of years, Yezz has made a name for itself with basic, budget phones that can be had unlocked on the cheap. That’s why it’s a little surprising that their first Windows 8.1 phone is, well, a legitimately good phone. It’s also just as inexpensive as you might expect from Yezz, so […]
Joe Belfiore, the guy in charge of Windows Phone at Microsoft, got up in front of a bunch of developers to talk about Windows Phone 8.1 yesterday. That means what you think it means – Windows Phone owners, it won’t be long before you’re the next group to lay eyes on it. The updated mobile […]
