Microsoft to launch their own phone and copy Android’s notification tray in 2013

It’s safe to say that Windows Phone hasn’t taken off. Nokia recently reported that they sold just 2.9 million Lumia devices in Q3 2012. To put that number into some perspective, today Samsung announced that they sold 3 million Galaxy Note 2 units in 37 days. Translation: One phone in Samsung’s portfolio managed to outsell Nokia’s entire Windows Phone lineup.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft is aiming to turn things around in 2013. Their sources in Asia tell them that Microsoft is working on their own smartphone, but they can’t confirm whether or not the company plans to mass produce said device. Microsoft could very well just be doing some research, poking around to see what their hardware engineers can come up with, but our gut tells us that there’s something more to this story. Expect to hear more rumors about a “Surface Phone” over the coming months.
In other news, Microsoft’s Thomas Fennel told developers attending the BUILD Conference that the company “rant out of time” with regards to the lack of a notification center in Windows Phone. His exact quote:

“It’s very very important to me… we get tons of feedback from developers that they want something like that as well. I promise we’re thinking very very hard on that one.”

We all know Apple blatantly copied the Android notification tray when they launched iOS 5 back in October 2011. Now it looks like Microsoft is also going to do the same thing, though we don’t know when they’re going to bring it to Windows Phone. Microsoft typically updates their mobile OS in a tick-tock fashion. After a major update (Windows Phone 7) there’s a minor update (Windows Phone 7.5) and then there’s another major update (Windows Phone 8), so you get the idea.
Will Microsoft’s phone, assuming it exists, be awesome? Looking at the Surface, it’s obvious that the company has incredibly talented designers. But will Windows Phone ever become more attractive than Android?
That’s going to be a tough mountain to climb.

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Get a Windows Phone, says Steve

Here’s to the crazy ones, indeed! Reminiscent of how an iconic ex-CEO once attempted to voice-over an advertisement for his company’s product, Microsoft’s latest Windows Phone 8 ad screams of self-promotion. But this is a different Steve, altogether — someone who does not exactly generate a Reality Distortion Field like the late Steve Jobs. Microsoft’s own Steve Ballmer has narrated Redmond’s latest Windows Phone 8 ad, with highlight on the personal touch.
Steve talks about taking advice from all sorts of folks, from his wife, to his Microsoft colleagues, and even Bill Gates himself. But Ballmer’s own advice: get a Windows Phone.
The ad puts a highlight on communication as a central part of Windows Phone 8 (hey, it’s a phone, after all!). This includes the live tiles on the home screen showing messages and the number of Skype calls and emails.
The ad is pretty straightforward, and does not have any allusions to how groundbreaking their platform is (like Apple’s Think Different ads). Apple eventually went for another voice-over in their “crazy ones” ads, a spot that eventually went to Richard Dreyfuss. Will Microsoft eventually hire other voiceover actors, too?

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NFC sharing is possible between Android and Windows Phone 8

Did you know that you can use NFC to send things like contacts and web page URLs between an Android device and a Windows Phone 8 device? Well you can! In tests between a HTC Windows Phone 8X and a Samsung Galaxy Nexus running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean it has been shown that URLs and contacts can be sent between the devices, in both directions. However, using NFC on Android is a little simpler and requires less taps than on Windows Phone 8.
Near field communication (NFC), which needs a distance of at least 4cm to initiate a connection, has been supported in Android for a while, but it is a new feature on Windows Phone 8. The new mobile OS from Microsoft has a feature called “Tap + Send” which is generally available under the “More …” -> Share menu.
There is a limit however on what can be sent between platforms. Using two devices with the same OS it is possible to share photos and videos between phones. But across the Windows – Android divide you get an error saying that large file transfers aren’t supported.
Although this is all very good news for consumers and opens up some interesting possibilities for NFC use across all smartphone devices (when Apple finally decides to support it), it is sad that the standards aren’t sufficiently well defined that the transfer of photos or other types of files isn’t supported.
Check out the video below and then please leave a comment letting me know what you think!

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HTC’s 8X and Nokia’s Lumia 920 now priced thanks to Best Buy

Windows Phone 8 is going to launch next week. It’s going to be an important event because Microsoft is desperately trying to show the world that they can compete with the present day duopoly that is Android and iOS. From what we’ve seen of the platform thus far, there’s nothing to be too concerned about.
Focusing on the devices however, there’s two flagship phones that we’ve been keeping our eyes on: HTC’s 8X and Nokia’s Lumia 920. Starting with the latter, it’s gorgeous, it’s the world’s first smartphone to ship with optical image stabilization, and it has an ultra sensitive touch screen that works even if you’re wearing a thick pair of gloves. The 8X is also an amazing device, perhaps even more so, because it packs a 720p screen that measures just 4.3 inches across. Translation: Incredible sharpness, and the perfect form factor.
We didn’t know how much these two phones were going to cost, until now that is. Over the weekend, Best Buy put these two handsets up for pre-order on their site. The 8X, with 8 GB of on-board storage, costs just $99 with a 2 year contract. The Lumia 920, which ships with 32 GB of on-board store, is just $50 more. Both devices are on AT&T.
Does the Android ecosystem have anything to be scared of? Not really. The Galaxy S III can already be had for $99 or even less if you buy it with a coupon. Samsung’s latest flagship device, the Galaxy Note II, is an incredible $299, but that’s going to come down really fast. The Optimus G will be a more manageable $199, and pretty soon we’ll find out how much the Nexus version is.
It goes without saying that despite this site being called Android Authority, we like to keep up with what’s going on with other platforms. Good ideas about how a mobile OS should operate, regardless of where the originated, are good ideas. Period. Android simply has more good ideas than the other guys.

 

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