Category: Microsoft

After disappearing over the weekend, the Nokia Camera app has returned to the Windows Phone Store under its new name.  The Lumia Camera app for Windows Phone sports no new features (only bug fixes) but brings to a close one more app that was using the Nokia name in the store.  Microsoft has been on a long process of renaming all of the “Nokia” apps to “Lumia” and the Nokia Camera app was one of the last remaining.

The update should have hit your Windows Phone already if you have the Nokia Camera app installed.  If not you can go to the Store

Lumia Camera for Windows Phone

app on your Windows Phone then go to the More menu, Settings and then tap the “Check for Updates” button.

I’m personally a big fan of the Lumia Camera app as it gives you much more control of your photography than the built-in Windows Phone Camera app.  I also find the Burst mode of the app to be great for capturing action shots or as I did this weekend, fireworks!

The Lumia Camera app is free and available now in the Windows Phone Store

Lumia Camera for Windows Phone – Free – Download Now 

Even the most seasoned Windows Phone user from time-to-time needs a little bit of help.  An app is not behaving or there is a strange WiFi issue with the latest update or simply to get a suggestion on how to do something with your phone.  There are plenty of blogs and sites out there to help but sometimes reaching a broader audience – a global audience – is what you need.  That is where Windows Phone Community can be a huge help and frustration saver.

The Windows Phone Community is part of the Community pages from Microsoft.  These self-help site cover virtually every Microsoft product and are monitored by both enthusiasts, MVPs and Microsoft staff to help you with your Windows Phone needs.  The best part is that all of this is free.  All you need to do is sign in with your Microsoft account to post your questions and helpfully some answers to help your fellow Windows Phone user.

Earlier today I posted an article bringing to light how serious Microsoft is about cloud computing based on their financials from last quarter.  As if they actually read my post, Microsoft’s OneDrive division has just upped the game for cloud storage in a big way.  If you are an Office 365 subscriber, starting today OneDrive is beginning to roll out unlimited storage for as low as $6.99 per month.

Is there really any doubt left on how good of deal this is for you?

To get this outstanding deal when it comes you need to do the following:

1. Go to the Microsoft Store and buy either Office 365 Home (for up to 5 PCs/Macs) $99.95 per year or $9.99/month, Office 365 Personal (1 PC or Mac) at $69.95 per year or $6.99 per month or if you are a student, Office 365 University at $79.95 per year.
2. User your Microsoft ID that you used to purchase Office 365, sign in and install.  As part of the install you will be able to sign up for OneDrive if you don’t have an account.  If you are using OneDrive already and sign into the same account, you will automatically be bumped up to 1TB of storage.

If you are already an Office 365 user then there is nothing more you need to do.  Microsoft will be rolling out this unlimited storage to users over the course of the next few months.  If you want to jump the queue and get it first, follow this link to get moved up in line.

For those of you on Office 365 for Business, the unlimited storage plan will be coming as part of a roadmap update in 2015.  According to the OneDrive blog:

For OneDrive for Business customers, unlimited storage will be listed on the Office 365 roadmap in the coming days and we will begin updating the First Release customers in 2015, aligned with our promise to provide ample notification for significant service changes. In the meantime, get started using your 1 TB of storage today by backing up all those work files kicking around on your PC – with the knowledge that even more storage is on its way!

I cannot think of any reason not to give this a go.  You have the latest and greatest suite of Office apps along with unlimited storage for your documents and pictures.  What’s not to love?

There has been a lot of analysis of the Microsoft quarterly report from last week that has dissected almost every element of it.  I posted here last week about the reports around Windows Phone unit being sold and how the Surface lineup is impacting the overall consumer PC business.  One element that seems to have been overlooked to a large extent is capital expenditure of $1.3 billion that the company has spent on new and upgrading existing data center infrastructure.  This is, in my opinion, an important statement from the company in their earnings.  It points out, beyond any reasonable doubt, that Microsoft is serious about the Cloud and will continue to make this an emphasis for the company.

Satya Nadella, when he became CEO of Microsoft, made it clear that the strategic direction of Microsoft was to be “Mobile First, Cloud First”.  This is a huge ask for a company that has traditionally sold on a license model that assumes physical equipment on premise.  A lot of people simply chalked this up to Nadella’s background of working in the Microsoft Cloud division and this being his roots in the company.  But the evidence suggests that since he has become CEO, the company is indeed holding true to this new direction.  Windows Phone sales continue to improve but the mobile division continues to add applications on other platforms.  The most notable of these is probably the Office suite of apps for iPad that was released shortly after he became CEO.  But supporting the mobile division and perhaps more of the company than we know is the Cloud division.  It is everywhere in Microsoft and if you use a Windows PC, Windows Phone or Xbox One, you are using these cloud services and probably don’t even know it.

During the Microsoft earnings call yesterday, it became apparent that for Windows Phone, the earnings were a mixed bag.  However, if you dive in a little deeper it will start to  make sense what is going on with their earnings and why there is no need to jump on the panic button just yet as a Windows Phone user and fan.

First, let’s take a look at the good news.  In the last quarter which ended in September, Microsoft globally sold 9.3 million Lumia devices.  This up over 5% from the same quarter last year and clearly indicates things are going in the right direction.  A nearly complete refresh of the phone lineup, significant marketing and market expansion has all contributed to this growth and while we don’t know the specific numbers for specific markets, it is an indicator that Microsoft is making gains.

For Microsoft, this translated into $2.6 billion in revenue from Windows Phone.  That’s an impressive number and represents 11% of the total revenue the company generated last quarter of $23.2 billion.  This is very much a positive.

But let’s all take a dose of reality with this number.  Apple sold 10 million iPhone 6 units in its debut weekend.  There is a reason I call Windows Phone the Little OS That Could.  It is little, very little in the overall market as I’ve shared in the past.  There is along way to go, a lot of mind and market share to capture but things are pointing in the right direction.

Now let’s take a look at the bad news – at least on the surface.

Yesterday there were a slew of Microsoft Garage apps that were launched for Windows Phone that bring new games and utilities to the platform.  If you aren’t familiar with it, Microsoft Garage is an internal program at Microsoft where people can develop apps in their free time and Microsoft will select some of the top apps and put them into the Windows Phone Store.  One of those apps yesterday was Tetra Lockscreen.

Tetra Lockscreen for Windows Phone brings a new level of functionality to your Lockscreen and makes it where you can interact with your Lockscreen to get various pieces of information.  It is unique and brings a level of functionality to what is normally nothing more than an at-a-glance feature of Windows Phone.  Tetra Lockscreen can provide you calendar details, a map of your current location, activity tracker and a stopwatch function, all of which you can tap and slide to access.  It is one of those apps that just makes sense and given that it is a free download, everyone should give it a go.

Tetra Lockscreen – Free – Download Now