Satya Swaroop
Member • Feb 23, 2014
Microsoft Announces Future Plans For Windows Phone; Drops News About Windows 8.1 Too
A day before the commencement of Mobile World Congress Microsoft has tried to get some early attention by making a few announcements regarding Windows Phone and Windows 8.1. In a #-Link-Snipped-# on the Windows Blog, Joe Belfiore who leads the Windows Phone product definition & design team has let us in on the future plans of Microsoft both for mobile devices and desktops. We shall begin by looking into the future of Windows Phone. The company has announced that smartphone manufacturers like Foxconn, Gionee, JSR, Karbonn, Lava (Xolo), Lenovo, LG, Longcheer and ZTE have signed up to become Windows Phone partners.
It is nice to see that affordable Android devices manufacturers from India like Karbonn and Xolo are moving towards another mobile operating system. So be prepared to see some dirt-cheap Windows Phone smartphones in 2014 which will give some tough competition to the best selling Nokia Lumia 520. Microsoft has stressed on the fact that the small improvements in the Windows Phone OS like support for soft keys and dual-SIM functionality will make sure that these new partners are able to make Windows smartphones from the same hardware that they use to make their Android phones. Lastly Microsoft has announced the launch of Windows Hardware Partner Portal. From this portal the new partners will be able access to all the tools they need to build their first Windows smartphones. They have also announced that Windows Phone can now be run on Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 and 400 series chipsets and it will support cellular technologies like LTE (TDD/FDD), HSPA+, EVDO and TD-SCMA.
Coming to computers, Microsoft has announced that an update to Windows 8.1 will be available in the spring. Since Windows 8 received a lot of criticisms regarding its interface that favoured touch input, Microsoft has pledged that they will be making improvements to the UI which will make sure the users who use mouse and keyboard find it more familiar and convenient to use. Enterprise users can expect some tweaks like IE8 compatibility in Internet Explorer to support web-based line of business applications. Finally they will be helping hardware manufacturers build lower cost hardware. We think this has something to do with the Microsoft To Cut Windows License Price By 70%.
So is Microsoft finally moving in the right direction? We would like to know your opinions, head over to the comment section and begin the discussion.
It is nice to see that affordable Android devices manufacturers from India like Karbonn and Xolo are moving towards another mobile operating system. So be prepared to see some dirt-cheap Windows Phone smartphones in 2014 which will give some tough competition to the best selling Nokia Lumia 520. Microsoft has stressed on the fact that the small improvements in the Windows Phone OS like support for soft keys and dual-SIM functionality will make sure that these new partners are able to make Windows smartphones from the same hardware that they use to make their Android phones. Lastly Microsoft has announced the launch of Windows Hardware Partner Portal. From this portal the new partners will be able access to all the tools they need to build their first Windows smartphones. They have also announced that Windows Phone can now be run on Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 and 400 series chipsets and it will support cellular technologies like LTE (TDD/FDD), HSPA+, EVDO and TD-SCMA.
Coming to computers, Microsoft has announced that an update to Windows 8.1 will be available in the spring. Since Windows 8 received a lot of criticisms regarding its interface that favoured touch input, Microsoft has pledged that they will be making improvements to the UI which will make sure the users who use mouse and keyboard find it more familiar and convenient to use. Enterprise users can expect some tweaks like IE8 compatibility in Internet Explorer to support web-based line of business applications. Finally they will be helping hardware manufacturers build lower cost hardware. We think this has something to do with the Microsoft To Cut Windows License Price By 70%.
So is Microsoft finally moving in the right direction? We would like to know your opinions, head over to the comment section and begin the discussion.