Author: Clinton

Building on the announcements that they made at Mobile World Congress, Microsoft and Samsung today have announced a furthering of their relationship which will include the pre-install of Microsoft Office apps on Samsung Android-based tablets.  The announcement, while not a complete surprise, is good news for Samsung devices users as they will get these apps and the impact of this is both for consumers and businesses.  While I have been quite critical of how Google themselves had played with Microsoft, it is clear that Samsung sees the value of a relationship between the two companies even after a contentious legal battle.  While I’m not sure this is all kiss-and-make-up, it certainly is a step in the right direction.

In baseball, you know you have made it if you have a baseball card made for you.  In memeland, you know you’ve made it if they make a sticker of you.

Peeps, I give you Ninja Cat Unicorn stickers.

So a little bit of a back story for those who are unfamiliar with the Unicorn riding, Microsoft flag waiving Ninja cat meme.  It started when Windows 10 for Phone was released last month when Gabe Aul Tweeted a photo of someone’s laptop with this sticker on it.  It, like many memes, took a life of its own and has quickly become one of the most sought after things on Microsoft’s campus.  Thanks to Microsoft MVP Michael Gillett, I have posted mobile wallpaper versions of wallpapers he created of the Ninja Cat riding unicorn which you can find here.

Now it seems for a mere $3.00 you can have your own Ninja cat sticker for your laptop, window (the physical ones you look out) or wherever you decide the meme needs to live in your life.

The shunning of Windows and Windows Phone by the US banking industry continues in earnest.  After Bank of America dropped support for their Windows and Windows Phone applications earlier this month, Chase has followed suit.  Over the weekend, Chase users who attempted to use the app were greeted with a notification that the app was no longer supported and that users needed to go to the Chase website through their browser.  Like Bank of America, users of Chase also found problems using the mobile website in Internet Explorer on their Windows Phone.

It is just the latest in a series of high profile and important apps being dropped for Windows Phone at a time where the future for the platform and universal apps is as bright as it has ever been.

As part of the new Windows 10 for Phone, Microsoft is making sure that it includes the latest and greatest in Bluetooth Hands-Free Profiles for improved sound and voice quality.  As part of the wide range of announcements they made last week at WinHEC in China, Microsoft announced that the new mobile platform will support the Hands-Free Profile (HFP) standard 1.6 which requires, amongst other things, the support for high definition audio.  Microsoft is referring to this as Wideband speech but you may also know if it as HD Voice and it should significantly improve the audio quality of calls and using voice activated services like Cortana on the new platform.

Continuing their dive to the bottom of the price barrel on smartphones, Microsoft today has announced the new Lumia 430.  This $70 Windows Phone 8.1 powered device has minimal specs as you would expect for that price point but does has a few things going for it in that it is upgradable to Windows 10 for Phone and it is a Dual-SIM device.  Otherwise this phone is not going to set the world alight but that really isn’t want Microsoft is intending with the Lumia 430.  It is a budget friendly phone aimed at specific markets (APAC, IMEA, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus) to go after the “next billion” in Microsoft plans.

That means we will likely never see the Lumia 430 here in the United States.

If you know me, you know I have an Angry Birds addiction problem.  Need proof?

No, I do not have an @AngryBirds addition problem. Leave me alone. pic.twitter.com/lMSTRriCKG

— Clinton Fitch (@ClintonFitch) December 10, 2014

Yeah, I know. Intervention time. Anyway, for those of you who share my addition, you will be pleased to hear that there is an update for Angry Birds Star Wars II in the Windows Phone store today.  The update, version 1.8.1 for those keeping score at home, brings 32 new levels to the game and, as always, the update is free.

Angry Birds Star Wars II – Free (In-App Purchases) – Download Now