Articles about Windows 10 Mobile

Windows Phone is becoming an increasingly unattractive proposition in the eyes of smartphone buyers. The tiled operating system dropped to 1.7 percent market share in the third quarter of the year, thanks to extremely weak sales of Lumia devices. Microsoft is the largest vendor of smartphones running the tiled operating system, so its performance has a strong effect on the platform's popularity.

In the third quarter of the year, Windows Phone sales reached 5.87 million units according to research firm Gartner. For the same period, Microsoft says Lumia sales were 5.8 million units, suggesting that its platform market share is close to the 100 percent mark. And things don't look great for Windows 10 Mobile devices either.

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Microsoft is hoping that within the first two to three years after launch Windows 10 will run on over one billion devices. Expectations are high, but the new operating system has a few things going for it which can help it reach that milestone. One of them is universal apps.

The idea is simple: developers can build a single app that works across all types of devices that support Windows 10, including PCs, tablets and smartphones. The software giant's efforts are already starting to bear fruit, as Todoist has just launched its to-do app in Store as a universal app.

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Windows 10 Mobile is making its official debut this week, and the first smartphone to come with the new operating system is Microsoft's Lumia 950. In the US, the flagship is offered directly by the software giant through its online and brick and mortar stores, but it is also carried by its longterm partner, AT&T.

If you want to get your Lumia 950 from a US carrier, AT&T is actually your one and only option, at least for the foreseeable future. The carrier is taking orders now, offering the device with a two year agreement, monthly plans and, of course, unlocked.

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Microsoft recently announced two flagship devices, the Lumia 950 XL and the Lumia 950, both of which run its Windows 10 Mobile operating system and share many features: same screen resolution, same amount of onboard storage and system memory.

The 950 XL is certainly the better purchase out of the two models. Yes, it is bigger than the 950 and more expensive, but there’s three key features that will win businesses and individuals alike.

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One of the features that could have helped Windows 10 Mobile become a more appealing and competitive platform will not be available in the new smartphone operating system at launch. Windows 10 Mobile is expected to make its debut later this month, arriving on Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL first.

The missing feature in question is support for Android apps. The holdup? Microsoft has revealed that Astoria bridge, the tool that makes it possible to run Android apps on its OS, is not yet ready for prime time.

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It has been suggested that more consumers would give Windows Phone a chance if they were given the option to choose between it and Android on the same smartphone. The idea is that they would get to experience all the strengths and weaknesses of the tiled operating system, forming an educated opinion of what they would gain or lose by switching, without having to invest in a new, potentially very expensive, device.

While this is, no doubt, an interesting idea, I had doubts that such a smartphone would see the light of day. However, a German vendor has done it, announcing a smartphone that will ship with both Android and Windows 10 Mobile. Will consumers really be interested in such a dual personality handset?

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As Microsoft has released numerous preview builds of Windows 10, testers have been able to provide feedback and make suggestions via the UserVoice website. In two weeks, this feedback system dies completely.

The killing of UserVoice actually took place on 30 October, but the site remains accessible until 16 November -- almost coinciding with the expected release of Threshold 2. Before you start to panic that Microsoft is killing the feedback that has been provided, there is a contingency plan.

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With the first Windows 10 Mobile devices set to arrive in November, there is not much time left for Microsoft to get its new mobile operating system ready for prime time. Development is in full swing, with a new Insider Preview build available now on the Fast ring.

Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview build 10572, just like the one that arrived a week before it, requires users to go back to Windows Phone 8.1 to install it on their smartphones, but it more than makes up for the trouble thanks to all the changes that Microsoft has baked in.

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Hot on the heels of a new desktop build, Microsoft has now released Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 10549 to Fast ring Windows Phone users. While there are a fair number of improvements and new features, there is also a serious problem for anyone upgrading from Build 10536 -- although there is a work around.

So that’s the bad news, what's the good? Riding the current wave of interest in diversity, this build includes diverse emoji; a recognition of the fact that there are many hues of skin color. There are improvements to the messaging app -- although no Skype integration just yet -- and to Cortana, but that's not the end of the story.

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Microsoft continues to show that it is interested in mobile platforms other than its own. The company has placed an increasing importance on iOS and Android, and new reports reveal that the Skype team has developed a new Android dialer app that is currently destined for India.

As the app comes from the Skype team, it seems reasonable to assume that Skype integration is to be expected -- blurring the boundaries between cellular and web-based calls. India is a sensible testing ground for such an app, but it's likely that it will also spread globally as well as to other platforms.

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Microsoft appears to be making sure that its new Windows 10 Mobile flagships, Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL, have no chance of succeeding in the fierce high-end smartphone market. The software giant has, once again, made the terrible mistake of going down the carrier exclusivity path, which will hurt sales across major markets like the US and Europe and significantly affect the platform's credibility.

Microsoft has decided that its long-term Windows Phone carrier partner, AT&T, should be the sole mobile operator to offer Lumia 950, while in Europe the flagship smartphone will only be carried by Deutsche Telekom (and, hopefully, its subsidiaries). Even worse, there seems to be no talk of carrier availability for Lumia 950 XL in US. And you wonder why Windows Phone's market share just can't seem to grow...

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Microsoft's Windows 10 hardware event has been an impressive tour de force, as we have seen the company reveal a significant number of exciting new products. The focus has been on Surface and Lumia devices, but we have also seen Band and HoloLens pushed into the spotlight. And we cannot forget about the news surrounding Windows 10.

Since it can be hard to keep track of everything that Microsoft has talked about, we have crammed everything you need to know about its Windows 10 hardware event into a single article.

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The next phase of the Windows 10 rollout will happen in December. We already know that the latest version of Microsoft's operating system is installed on millions of desktops and laptops, but the mobile version has been dragging its heels.

With the announcement of the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL which have Windows 10 Mobile pre-installed, owners of other devices have been left wondering when the upgrade will make it to their handset. Originally slated for a November launch, Microsoft has revealed on Facebook that the rollout will start in December.

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As one of the lucky people in attendance at today's Microsoft event in NYC, I was of course excited for a new Surface device -- I expected the "Pro 4", but was pleasantly surprised by the "Book". What I was particularly interested in trying, however, is Continuum. This is Microsoft's branding for using a smartphone as a PC. In other words, you connect a Lumia to a monitor, mouse and keyboard and have a desktop experience.

The good news is, I did get to try Continuum. The bad news? It is not yet ready to replace your PC. Unfortunately, there is one specific thing that makes it less than ideal. Sadly, you cannot run two apps side-by-side. That stinks.

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Microsoft's new Windows 10 Mobile flagships are not the best-kept secrets in the world, as the software giant itself has accidentally revealed the official presentation photos and some of the more-important specifications on its UK online store before the big launch. Today we get to see the big picture, however, as Microsoft officially announces Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL.

Lumia 950 is Microsoft's answer to popular flagships like Apple iPhone 6s and Samsung Galaxy S6, while Lumia 950 XL serves as the company's flagship phablet, taking the fight to Apple's iPhone 6s Plus, LG's G4 and Samsung's Galaxy S6 edge Plus and Galaxy Note 5, just to name a few of the most-important players in this segment. Here is what you need to know about the new Windows 10 Mobile ambassadors.

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