Category: Microsoft

Windows Phone fans have been watching over the course of the last few months the slow demise of the Nokia name.  Nobody should be surprised by this given that Nokia is now simply a division of Microsoft but still, there is a bit of nostalgia in the name given many, many of us owned a Nokia branded phone at some point in our lives.  Now the transition is nearly complete with Microsoft announcing today that the Nokia Lumia name will be disappearing from Windows Phones and the new Microsoft Lumia name will begin to be used going forward.  The elimination of the Nokia name doesn’t stop there as Nokia named social network accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram will all be changed from Nokia-whatever to Microsoft-whatever or Lumia-whatever.

The moving away from the Nokia name really started with the rebranding of apps in the Windows Phone store.  Apps like Nokia

Now the Microsoft Lumia 635

Panoramic and Storyteller are now Lumia Panoramic and Storyteller.  That will continue until all the apps are rebranded and any new apps, such as the Lumia Selfie app, will start life branded as Lumia.  But the Microsoft Lumia change is a bit bigger than just eliminating the Nokia name.  This is a fundamental shift in how Microsoft is going to market with their phones.  Indeed it is entirely possible that we will see the name Windows Phone go away in favor of simply Windows as Microsoft tries to convey the one OS for all devices.

All of these changes along with the continual, steady development of Windows Phone as a platform, points to a new sense of direction and optimism for the Little OS That Could.  With the new Cloud and Mobile centric vision that Microsoft has under the leadership of Nadella, it only seems fitting that everything be unified under Microsoft and under Windows.

While it is sad to see the Nokia name nearing its end, it is also a point of excitement for what Microsoft has in store for the Microsoft Lumia devices and Windows Phone platform.

Microsoft has released two new ads for the Surface Pro 3, both highlighting how the table helps businesses gain efficiencies and productivity.  The ads, which are on the Microsoft YouTube channel, are between 1 and 2 minutes in length and highlight the power and productivity that the tablet brings in two very different business scenarios.

The first video is for Watersports Central.

With Surface Pro 3, Watersports Central is able to provide its customers with a unique premium sales experience. Armed with a Surface Pro 3, sales staff are able to meet customers wherever they are and complete the sales process without ever having to set foot into an office.

Microsoft has updated all of the MSN apps for Windows Phone today and I have absolutely no clue what changed in any of them 🙂

Every one of the MSN apps for Windows Phone has been updated with a small bump in each of their build numbers.  However, the release notes are non-existent so there is no clear indication of what changed in any of them.  One thing I have noticed is that all of the apps are Universal apps for Windows and Windows Phone – but I could have simply missed that in the past.

If you have automatic app updates enabled then you likely have already received these new updates on your Windows Phone for the apps that you have installed.  If you don’t have automatic updates enabled, go to the Windows Phone Store on your device, go to More>Settings and tap the Check for Updates button to force a check for updates on all of your apps.

Over the course of the past several months, Microsoft has been slowly and quietly renaming the Nokia apps to the Lumia Apps.  This has all ben a part of the absorbing of Nokia as a company into Microsoft.  Last week during the Lumia 830 announcement at IFA, this became even clearer as every app mentioned by name was Lumia, like the Lumia Selfie app.  Now more and more of what were the Nokia apps are under the Lumia name.