Some interesting news and rumors to start your week. Tomorrow, Microsoft is holding an event where it is widely expected that they will launch at least two new Windows 10 Mobile devices along with the new Surface 4 Pro and other key announcements. This event likely is a signal that the mobile version of Windows 10 is at or very close to completion.
Now there are rumors floating about that Google will be in attendance and that they will be announcing a wide range of Google apps to access their services on Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile. This would be a huge step forward in the relationship between the two tech giants with Google pretty much ignoring Microsoft and Windows these past few years. If you remember, I wrote a piece on the one sided relationship between the companies earlier this year and as of today, not much has changed. That could be very different tomorrow.
If the rumors prove to be true then Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile users can likely expect to see official Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps and Hangouts apps be released for Windows 10.
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Google is likely going to make these universal apps, a key tenant of Windows 10, so they will work on any device running Windows 10. This would be monumental news for Windows 10 users who want to access Google services but are stuck with a stream of – and often poorly written – 3rd party apps to do so on their mobile devices.
The rumors of this happening are certainly believable in my book. Microsoft has become very platform agnostic over the course of the past year, openly supporting Android and Apple’s iOS mobile platforms by providing apps and services for both of them. Google, it would seem, has taken notice and is now willing to play nice in the sandbox. At least that’s the rumor.
The Microsoft event starts at 10AM EDT tomorrow morning so by lunch time we will know if these rumors prove to be true.
