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Microsoft reveals Windows 10 for Lumia

Nicola Mawson
By Nicola Mawson, Contributor.
Barcelona, 02 Mar 2015
Microsoft is increasing the size of its unified development platform, says VP of devices and services, Stephen Elop.
Microsoft is increasing the size of its unified development platform, says VP of devices and services, Stephen Elop.

Mobile World Congress 2015: Microsoft for the first time demonstrated Windows 10 on a Lumia handset this morning, and announced the new mobile OS would be made available on more new handsets later this year.

Stephen Elop, executive VP of Microsoft's devices and services business unit, said all phones previously shipped with Windows 8.1 will be upgraded to Windows 10 later this year. He also showed off the Lumia 640 and Lumia XL to a large crowd at a press conference on the opening morning of Mobile World Congress 2015 in Barcelona.

The new Lumia handsets, which will be available in April, are budget phones that come with integrated Office 365 for free for a year and will be upgradable to Microsoft's new OS when it is released.

Windows 10 - the iteration of its software that leaps straight from the unpopular Windows 8 - has been described by Microsoft as its best ever OS. It offers new options for securing information, additional development tools, new types of interaction, and will be available for desktops in SA's spring.

The handsets that will come out with the new OS will offer integrated apps, a cleaner user interface, and faster ease of access to key functionality, such as settings. They also seamlessly sync apps across to the user's main device, such as a desktop or tablet running Windows 10.

Elop noted Microsoft is focused on mobility of experience and that this starts with Windows. He said Windows 10 is fully integrated and has Skype, Outlook and other apps already built in as part of the OS.

Developers can build universal applications once and then deliver these to different types of Microsoft devices, Elop explained. He added Microsoft will broaden its device range in the future.

Elop said Microsoft 10 is being built based on feedback from its Windows 10 insiders, with 900 000 "pieces of information" already having been submitted by its 2.8 million insiders.

Microsoft also aims to deliver a common experience across devices, which gives developers a unified platform from which to work. As Microsoft increases the size of its unified Windows platform, more developers will come on board, he said.

* Nicola Mawson is in Barcelona courtesy of Samsung.

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