Articles about Windows 10 Mobile

Call it a missed opportunity. Microsoft finds itself with a unique chance to leverage its full range of products and services to promote the new OS. Unfortunately, not all parts of the Redmond giant are on board with the new strategy. The Office team, in particular, has only half-heartedly embraced key Windows 10 technologies, like Universal Windows Apps and XAML. And this lack of commitment may very well prove fatal to Windows 10 Mobile.

But first, some perspective: Rewind the clock to late last year when Microsoft was touting the forthcoming Office 2016, including the much anticipated "touch-centric" version of Office (code-named "Gemini") that customers had been clamoring for. Next, fast forward a few months to when the first technical previews were released -- both Office 2016 and what would go on to be known as "Office Mobile" -- and reality set-in. Not only were the new fangled "Mobile" versions less functional than their Win32-based counterparts, they lacked much of the core integration plumbing (COM/OLE/VBA) that had made traditional Office such a powerful in-house development platform.

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As the industry awaits the debut of Microsoft’s much delayed Windows 10 Mobile phone OS, many questions are circulating about which strategy the company should pursue going forward.

Some are arguing that Microsoft should abandon Windows 10 Mobile altogether and throw its lot in with CyanogenMod (or perhaps roll its own, rogue version of Android). Others are advocating a continued focus on delivering apps for Android and iOS first while leaving Windows 10 Mobile to languish as a low-priority, third option. And still others believe Microsoft should stay the course and leverage its strengths in the enterprise to reshape Windows 10 Mobile into an extension of the company’s entrenched productivity stack.

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We knew that Microsoft won’t be making any announcements related to its newly released operating system during the IFA 2015 fair, but now we have more details.

Microsoft has taken to Twitter to announce it is holding a separate event on October 6 at 10 am EDT (3 pm London time) in New York.

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While the launch date of Windows 10 Mobile is still shrouded in mystery, Microsoft is at least treating platform enthusiasts to new Insider Preview releases. After a long wait, build 10536 arrives on Fast Ring with new features and lots of improvements in tow, but also its fair share of known issues. Development appears to be far from over.

To get to Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 10536, users on Fast Ring who are running Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 10512 will first have to upgrade their devices to builds 10514 and 10536.1000. Here is what's new in the latest release.

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If you feel like it has been a while since Microsoft released a new preview build of Windows 10 Mobile, you are not alone. In becoming the (very) public face of the Insider program, Gabe Aul has made something of a rod for his own back and is constantly pestered on Twitter for news about when a new build will emerge.

With the long-ish wait since the last build, the troops are starting to get restless. In an attempt to calm things down, Aul has reiterated how the development process works -- because, really, we've already had the concept of internal testing rings explained to us at least a couple of times -- adding that the team is working hard to get a new build ready for this week.

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The long-anticipated Skype Messaging app is finally here. That is, if you have a Windows Phone smartphone, and just happen to be running Windows 10 Mobile developer preview. The company quietly released the new messaging client on Sunday.

The Skype Universal Messaging app, as evident in the screenshots and descriptions, comes with a user interface that seems very similar to the built-in messaging app on Windows Phone 8.1 and above. The app, as you would expect, also offers a quick option to do voice calling.

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Having trouble locating Lumia Storyteller, Lumia Beamer, Photobeamer, and Lumia Refocus in the Windows Store? Quit trying; they are no longer available to download. That's because Microsoft has pulled these services from the official store as part of its ongoing “streamlining” efforts, it announces in a blog post.

The company has pulled Lumia Storyteller, Lumia Beamer, Photobeamer, and Lumia Refocus apps, and noted that those who have it installed on their device, will stop receiving any app updates after October 30, 2015. The said apps won't be able to offer online services. Lumia Panorama and Video Uploader are also among the affected apps, and they too won't receive any updates from the company.

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Known tech leaker Evan Blass has posted a couple of pictures on his Twitter profile which seem to be press renders of the upcoming Lumia phones.

According to the tweets, the two phones are Microsoft Lumia 950 and Lumia 950XL, codenamed Talkman and Cityman, respectively.

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Windows 10 Mobile is not even ready for prime time, as Microsoft is still working on it, but some vendors have already announced smartphones that will debut with the upcoming operating system on board. The latest is 50 Cesium, an entry-level device from French electronics company Archos, which is also its first Windows 10 Mobile device.

50 Cesium is the Windows 10 Mobile counterpart to the newly-announced 50e Helium (shown on the left), which is "almost identical" in terms of hardware design. The only noteworthy difference is that the latter runs Android 5.1 Lollipop out-of-the-box. According to the company, this was done in order to "allow the customer to focus on what they like on the inside: the user interface". This is not a new idea, having previously seen HTC, for instance, announce a variant of its Android flagship from last year, One (M8), running Windows Phone instead of Android.

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Microsoft has updated a landing page for Windows 10 Mobile to reveal that Windows Phone 8.x devices with less than 8 GB of internal storage will not be upgraded to the upcoming operating system. This will come as bad news to some folks who have invested in the platform.

Windows 10 Mobile can very well run on devices that were designed with Windows Phone 8 or Windows Phone 8.1 in mind, as long as there is enough storage space to accommodate the new OS. It, for instance, runs well on both my Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 520. Manufacturers which have cut corners are, obviously, to blame for this.

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Yesterday Microsoft’s Gabriel Aul teased a new Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build was on the horizon, and today it arrives to those Insiders on the Fast ring.

Microsoft has been rather preoccupied with the PC and tablet version of its new OS over the past couple of weeks (understandably) but now it’s back to business as usual on the development of the Mobile edition.

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Microsoft can focus on Windows 10 Mobile now that Windows 10 is officially available to PC and tablet users. While we do not yet know exactly when the software giant plans to introduce the new version of its smartphone operating system, we do have an idea about which Lumia handsets will be the first to receive the coveted software upgrade.

Windows 10 Mobile will be available to virtually all smartphones that run Windows Phone 8.1, partly because the system requirements are pretty much the same. The Lumia devices that will get the software upgrade first are newer handsets that either sell well at the moment or are positioned at the top of the lineup.

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All the news surrounding Windows 10 is focused primarily on desktop and tablet, with little mention of Windows 10 Mobile from any Microsoft executives.

Vice president of Operating Systems Joe Belfiore has finally updated us on Windows 10 Mobile, stating that the Insider program allowing Mi 4 owners to flash the operating system will be open to anyone.

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Microsoft has revealed the minimum hardware requirements for all of its different Windows 10 platforms, including Windows 10 Mobile.

For the most part, none of the requirements are shocking. Microsoft is making sure all of the low-end options are compatible with Windows 10 Mobile, while pushing to the limit with 2K display, 4GB of RAM and octa-core processor support.

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It’s taken two weeks to get there, but finally Microsoft has deemed the latest build of Windows 10 Mobile stable enough for Slow ring Insiders.

While the mobile version of the OS isn’t likely to launch until the fall, Microsoft is now mostly working on improving stability and squashing bugs along with some small changes and feature tweaks.

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