In a conference in Hyderabad, Microsoft India President, Anant Maheshwari was asked about Microsoft’s consumer plans in the country. From Xbox to Surface, Office to Windows 10 S, reporters bombarded him with questions. Needless to say, the Surface Phone also came up in the questionnaire. While Anant didn’t straight away deny it, what he said leaves us thinking.

Digit: What is the last word from Microsoft on making smartphones? We keep hearing rumours of a Surface Phone. Is there one in the works?

Anant: I think given the world that we live in, we should never be talking about last words.

The response is interesting. While he could flat out deny or give a generic response, his reply gives us room for thinking. With all the patents doing rounds, including the latest one, something is in the works. Microsoft won’t easily give up the Mobile market, at least the enterprise market, and a Surface Phone must happen.

Coming from a top-level executive, it looks like Microsoft has a plan chalked out for the future. They might have tumbled in the past and they may again, but that doesn’t stop Microsoft from giving up.

Apart from Surface Phone, Anant also talked about Windows 10 S, Xbox and Surface in India. He gave an outline for their Enterprise policy and initiatives on Office 365. Interestingly, he also pointed out that Microsoft was committed to provide their support on all ecosystems and gave iPhone as an example,

“…Microsoft a critical partner or player in the mobile revolution…I’ll just take my iPhone out and I would say – Listen, when I work on a daily basis on Office 365, I seamlessly work between my Surface, which is a Microsoft device and an iOS device, and similarly for all Android phones. So, I think the world is very different today where the OS may not necessarily be the driver.”

He repeatedly mentioned that the OS was not important but the Microsoft apps and service was. This again echoes Microsoft’s new mantra of “Mobile first, Cloud first’, by providing their services everywhere. He mentions the syncing capabilities of the OneNote app on both his Surface and iPhone repeatedly.

Nonetheless, it’s interesting to see someone from Microsoft speaking about their Mobile plans, while most of them gives the cold shoulder attitude. If the Surface Phone comes, it sure will be an enterprise-focused device and not a consumer-focused one. Microsoft has already given up on that market.

The interview is an interesting read and the full interview can be found here.

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Today, ProtoBetaTest managed to get their hands on a Lumia prototype with an early implementation of pen support. The Lumia 950 as we know is quite different, actally boring compared to what the device could have been, even thought the device brought a lot of different and powerful features.

The guys at ProtoBetaTest made a video showcasing the pen functionality on the device, and even though is a bit rough it still looks good and quite functional considering the early state of the prototype development.

As of ProtoBetaTest, the device supports multiple pens and eraser, and it’s one of the earliest Lumia 950 prototype. The pen used in the video is the one from the Surface Pro 4, and the screen of the device appears to be using the same N-trig technology used in later Surface models.

To be honest, I feel almost disappointed such a great feature was pulled off, but maybe there was a good reason behind that, or that might be coming to a future device eventually, if there’s gonna be one.

The post New video shows off unreleased Microsoft Lumia prototype with Surface Pen support appeared first on Windows Latest

It seems that one failure was not enough to dampen their spirits as WhartonBrooks have yet again teased another phone. Spotted on their Brazilian Facebook page, it appears to be a Windows Phone, again.

Spotted first on Reddit, the phone looks like a poorly done render by an amateur. Readers would remember their last attempt at mobile was a complete failure. The Indigogo campaign failed to generate any excitement.

The phone looks like it has a metal unibody design, and that’s good. It appears to be running Windows 10 Mobile. As for the specifications, we have no clue. It’s just a reveal, maybe a tease or just a render to excite the small fanbase.

With Andromeda OS coming up, it seems foolish to release a Windows 10 Mobile powered phone now. Microsoft has killed off it’s phone OS and is focusing on making it’s next attempt at Windows a modular OS for all devices.

Nevertheless, we wonder. Why would WhartonBrooks want to make a Windows Phone at a time when Microsoft has declared it dead? Is it just a render as the picture suggests, or will the enthusiastic OEM finally release a Windows Phone? We would advise people to take WhartonBrooks’ tease with caution, because, you know, right?

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Last we saw leak images of Microsoft Lumia 960 on a Chinese website. The specifications of the device was also revealed. Today, yet another set of the images have been leaked on a Chinese website that reveals the complete design of Lumia 960. The new Lumia 960 prototype images reveal a aluminum body.

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The leaked images only show the back of the phone and it seems the display of the prototype is missing. Although, the front panel of the phone was leaked earlier. The phone features a 20MP rear camera and a triple LED flash. The device would have had a Iris Scanner, 5.5-inch display with 2K resolution, 4GB of RAM. It would have been equipped with a Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820.

Microsoft hasn’t given up on Windows Phone. The Redmond giant is planning for a Windows Phone reboot with a new hardware but nothing is real yet. Windows 10 Mobile will receive major improvements with CShell. The company is actually working on Windows 10 OS for Mobiles with scaled UX. It will be done with new CShell, an ‘adaptive shell’ that scale Windows 10 to any form depending on the screen size of the device.

Do you think the Lumia 960 could’ve saved the Microsoft’s mobile business?

The post Even more real life images of Lumia 960 prototype leaked online appeared first on Windows Latest

Start Screen: One noteworthy changes in start screen is the ability to uninstall the app directly from the Start screen. We also know that “CShell” allows running Start Screen,task view, apps list on Windows phone in the landscape mode.

Keyboard: The keyboard running on windows 10 mobile with CShell has also seen updated graphics and improvements in the swipe functionality of word flow keyboard. Emoticons are also looking slightly different and much more cleaner.

Settings:Microsoft has also included the video advice in the settings app  that are present on Windows 10 PCs.

File Explorer: Microsoft has also eliminated the older two step process for saving the files using the file explorer on Windows Phone.

The post More screenshots of “CShell” running on Windows 10 Mobile leaked appeared first on Windows Latest

Hapanero existed in two variants with dual-SIM support one having a 1080P screen and another one having 1440p screen. The device had been powered by a Snapdragon 810 processor with  4GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage with microSD card expansion. The phone also had a 20-megapixel camera with a triple LED flash (similar to Lumia  960) and 2000mAH capacity that can be removed.

We have been hearing rumours about Microsoft launching smartphone (not surface phone) at the end of this year. Other OEMs have not been able to capture the Windows phone market that Lumia left for them. Let us see what Microsoft will for the future of Windows phones.

The post Pictures of Hapanero an unreleased Windows Phone leaked from China appeared first on Windows Latest

The earlier leaked images revealed the front and back panel of Lumia 960. However, the complete specifications weren’t leaked. Today, even more images of Lumia 960 has been leaked and it has revealed the complete design of the Lumia 960.

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The new leaked image has revealed that volume rockers are on the left side instead of right. The camera key and power key are on the right side of the smartphone. Furthermore, SIM and MicroSD card slot is also on the right side. At the bottom, USB-C and 3.5mm headphone are situated.

Lumia 960 Specifications

The Lumia 960 features a metal design and it has the Lumia 950’s front panel. It has a front facing speakers. The smartphone also features a 20MP ZEIIS rear camera and a triple LED flash on back.

It comes with a 5.5-inch display with 2K resolution, 4GB of RAM. The cancelled Lumia flagship device would have been powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor.

The Lumia 960 design seems to be quite modern and much better than the Lumia 950, what do you think?

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https://twitter.com/WithinRafael/status/870500573639983104

Microsoft’s last insider build 16199 had a new setting icon in the taskbar that was later removed. It was believed that Microsoft was working on a new ‘control center’ which will have these Toggle from the action center and the system tray of the taskbar. This meant that the action center will be extensively used for the notifications of the app by Microsoft in Windows 10. This control center has quick actions and some new features like brightness slider.

Control Center is yet to get its official presence from Microsoft but now it is nearly confirmed by them accidentally. Let us see what Microsoft have for the insiders in the upcoming Builds regarding this ‘control center’. What are your views on this new control center and comment below.

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Microsoft had been criticized by the users a lot when the company launched the Lumia 950 with Windows 10 at a premium price. The lack of users due to lack of apps and on the other hand lack of developer support due to lack of users. The present situation is no different, Windows 10 Mobile operating system is in maintenance mode and no new Windows Phones are being developed.

Today, Lumia 960 prototype images surfaced online. The premium design of the smartphone has been revealed in the leaked images. The device could have been the Microsoft’s successor to the Lumia 950 but later Microsoft cancelled the smartphone. Furthermore, images of prototype Nokia handset has been leaked online.

Lumia 960 Specifications and features

The Lumia 960 design seems to be quite modern and much better than the Lumia 950. The Lumia 950 had a plastic cheap looking body but the Lumia 960 sports a metal-aluminium-unibody design with antenna bands.

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It also features a 20MP rear camera and a triple LED flash. The device would have had a Iris Scanner, 5.5-inch display with 2K resolution, 4GB of RAM. The canceled Lumia flagship device would have been powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor.

Windows 10 Mobile (or may be another iteration of Windows on Mobile devices) is already in the pipeline and Microsoft was prepared already about the features of that iteration but showing off those features being baked into the OS was not the best strategy. It is worth noting that Microsoft is also planning to reboot Windows Mobile with new hardware and updated software.

What do you think about the cancelled Microsoft Lumia 960? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Microsoft’s Lumia 960 premium design revealed in leaked images appeared first on Windows Latest

While they devices garnered some attention for their Continuum feature, the abysmal Windows Store and lack of other OEM devices, made Windows 10 Mobile dead on arrival. Today not may be the greatest for Windows Phone fans and users alike, but a new video, showing Microsoft’s original aspirations for the phone OS shows that they once really cared for the platform.

A new report from Windows Central showing the planned features for the Lumia 950 & 950XL has now surfaced, and we can’t help but feel sad seeing the last Lumia flagships in their full glory. With pen support, advanced glance screen features, device gestures support and a smart cover accessory, the Lumia 950s really look sexy.

The above video, which has been obtained from internal Microsoft sources show how the Lumia 950 & 950XL should have been. Most of the features shown above were actually working in the prototype models and would have made it to the hands of users if Microsoft had not give up at the last moment.

The pen support is the most interesting. With an active stylus, the Lumias would have been directly competing with the Samsung Galaxy Note series of phablets. Interestingly, the report also claims that the pen was none other than the Surface Pen which has received much appreciation from users and critics alike.

The gesture features would have been a carry over from the cancelled Lumia McLaren and would include some 3D touch support too. The video also show some slight changes to the design of the Lumias but they are not much noticeable.

After seeing this video, as a fan I can’t say that I am happy with Microsoft. These features would have been real successful had Microsoft really cared about it’s own products instead of getting in bed with it’s direct competitors, Android and iOS. While all may change with the arrival of the mythical Surface Phone, we can’t help but feel worried about it’s future. Will Microsoft really make a mark with the phone or just dump all the visons altogether and launch another Lumia 950/XL, just to make the fans and well wishers of the platform angry? Only time will tell and all we can do is sit and wait(sigh).

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