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In almost every major market globally, Windows Phone market share was up in August 2014 when compared to August 2013 according to a new report by Kantar Worldpanel.  The report reviews mobile market share across all platforms in various countries and regions and in some of those markets, Windows Phone took its biggest step forward in a long time – if ever.

Across the European big 5 countries – UK, Germany, Spain, France & Italy – Windows Phone market share jumped to 9.2%, up .7% over August 2013.  Outside of Android, Windows Phone gained the most traction in Europe with iOS sales declining year-over-year by .4%.  Equally as important, Windows Phone market share increased in the United States to 4.7%, up .8% year-over-year.  It is a major step forward for the Little Operating System That Could.

The increase in market share is important for Microsoft as they fight the uphill battle against Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS platforms and these increase certainly aren’t going to cause either of them to lose any sleep.  However it does cement Windows Phone as the 3rd horse in the Mobile OS race and proves that Microsoft’s focus on the platform and devices is not a fruitless effort.

Yesterday, despite massive live streaming issues, Apple introduced the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus, the latest generation of their phones.  For the sake of full disclosure, I do own AlliOSNews, a site dedicated to iOS, much like this site is to Windows Phone.  But in all honesty, I was absolutely underwhelmed by what I saw yesterday from Apple.  If you go purely from a specifications perspective, the new Lumia 830 is on par and in many ways beats the new iPhone 6.  Then there is the cost factor.  It’s a bit eye watering when you come right down to it.

One of the aspects of OS X that I love is the ability to silence notifications.  I travel a fair amount so there are times when I don’t want my laptop chirping away when I’m trying to sleep.  Problem is, I want those emails and other notifications as soon as I wake up.  One of the challenges I thought I would find in moving to Windows 8 would be the loss of this feature.  Thankfully, that’s not the case but setting up Quiet Hours in Windows 8 is a few clicks and menus into the Operating System.

The team over at WPCentral are covering the CTIA event in Las Vegas in the United States this week.  Yesterday Microsoft’s Stephen Elop stated that the recently announced Lumia 830 will be in the United States on AT&T by this holiday season.  This is great news and certainly news that will make Windows Phone fans in the US happy.  The Lumia 830 has all the makings of being successful and getting into a market as big as the US – where Windows Phone ironically is struggling the most – could very much dictate the success of the phone.