Verizon Backing Microsoft In Smartphone War

Verizon Backing Microsoft In Smartphone War
by Emily Price on Mashable

Verizon is publicly getting behind Microsoft in the smartphone war. During the company’s earnings conference call Thursday Verizon CFO Fran Shammo suggested that the carrier wants to help Windows Phone become more of a contender in the smartphone market.

“It is important that there is a third ecosystem that is brought into the mix here, and we are fully supportive of that with Microsoft,” Shammo said.

Carriers are currently dependent on Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS to drive most of their product sales. Carriers are traditionally responsible for paying the full retail price for any smartphones they sell. The iphone has a retail price starting at $600, which means the carrier is taking a huge hit when it sells you that phone for a mere $199 – something it then makes up for in hefty data charges.

Adding a third player into the mix would fuel competition amongst the handset makers which could ultimately lead to better devices as well as lower costs for both consumers and carriers.

Shammo noted that Verizon played a key role in growth of Android into the “incredible platform” it is today, and is “looking to do the same thing with a third ecosystem.” While T-Mobile was the first carrier to offer an Android device, it was Verizon who pushed the ecosystem into popularity. The “Droid” name –which was always a Verizon exclusive – has become a household name.

If it really threw it’s weight behind the platform, Verizon could potentially have a similar effect on Windows Phone. The platform has gotten off to a slow start. However, with the release of Windows Phone 8 –codenamed Apollo – later this year, the platform may be able to better keep up with Android and Apple’s high-resolution screens and faster data speeds.

While Android handsets have been running on LTE for some time. The first LTE Windows Phones –the Nokia Lumia 900 and HTC Titan II – were released earlier this month. Apple is also expected to release an LTE iPhone late this year.

What do you think about Windows Phone? Do you think we need a third ecosystem, or is Apple and Android enough? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.




Source: Mashable.com

Skype coming soon to Windows Phone

Skype coming soon to Windows Phone

By Daniel Bader on January 14, 2012 at 5:32pm in CES 2012, Mobile News

skype for windows mobile

According to Vice President of Products at Microsoft, Rick Osterloh, Skype for Windows Phone is coming soon. The app, which was first shown off at MIX ’11 and should have been released by the end of 2011, is nearly ready for public consumption.

Apparently the app won’t be as tightly integrated as some of the other Mango services such as Facebook and Twitter, but will perform as a standalone app until the release of Windows Phone Apollo later this year. And before then, according to sources, there is still Tango to go through.

Regardless of how it will operate, Microsoft is betting big things on its $8.5 billion acquisition, and it is no surprise that the app, and  in the future, the built-in service, is coming to Windows Phone in a big way. Look for an announcement at Mobile World Congress next month in Barcelona.

Check after the break for a video snippet with Rick from CES 2012.

Source: The Verge

Skype for Windows Phone “coming soon”

Skype for Windows Phone “coming soon”

January 15, 2012 | Jennifer Van Grove

Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype promised to be a marriage made in an integration heaven — especially for Windows Phones owners — but so far it’s been all talk and no action.

A Skype for Windows Phone application, however, will soon make its debut, Skype vice president of products Rick Osterloh asserted in a recent interview taped at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas.

“We’re … working on a Windows Phone product that will be coming out soon,” he said.

When Microsoft purchased the video-conferencing company for $8.5 billion in June 2011 (the deal closed in October), it talked up an unrivaled Windows Phone Skype offering that would include deep integration between the voice over IP service and its mobile operating system. But the merger still has Windows Phone owners waiting for platform integration, let alone a basic application on par with what’s already offered on iPhone, Android and BlackBerry.

That wait is likely to continue. The first Windows Phone product, according to The Verge, could be released as soon as the Mobile World Congress in February, but it won’t be the much-ballyhooed operating system-wide offering originally touted by the companies. Windows Phone owners may have to wait for this rich Skype integration until the Apollo software release, which, according to a leaked roadmap, won’t happen until the fourth quarter of 2012.

“We understand, from our own sources, that the initial release of Skype will not feature deep Windows Phone integration, and that Microsoft is planning this for “Apollo” and beyond,” The Verge is reporting. “Microsoft’s first Windows Phone Skype application will largely be seen as an interim release until Windows Phone ‘Apollo’ is made available.”

But Microsoft and Skype would like you to know that integrations are coming — eventually. “We’re working with a lot of different Microsoft product groups to create direct integrations,” Osterloh said. “Right now, we’re working on Windows Phone, we’ll be working on Windows 8, Xbox, Lync. So a whole range of different Microsoft users will get access to Skype and have a great experience.”

Skype, Osterloh said, now has more than 200 million monthly users.