If you were expecting Microsoft to improve the Surface Pro supply issues this week, you will be disappointed. The 128GB model of the tablet is still a hotly sought item, sold out in most places. Nevertheless, the past few days were filled with rumors, ramblings, releases, statements and statistics.
Here are the biggest stories of the week from the Redmond front:
Ad of the Week
Microsoft video commercials are either totally hit, or totally miss. This one, however is more of the hit variety, and dukes it out directly with the Samsung Galaxy SIII smartphone as it pits both smartphones in a competition for real world tasks. Not bad, Microsoft, not bad at all.
Ambition of the Week
Big companies, bigger ambitions! Stephen Elop, Nokia’s CEO, in a video interview said that he believed Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform had the potential to become the world’s biggest operating system. Long way to go for that to happen, but he said that his company was prepared to do the work.
Arrival of the Week
More Nokia news this week as the Finnish giant unveiled two midrange smartphones powered by Windows Phone 8 — the Lumia 720 and the very affordable Lumia 520. The handsets are set to be available across the globe in coming months.
Release of the Week
Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 was one of the more anticipated releases from Redmond, and the software titan officially made public its flagship browser at the start of the week. IE10 brings with it a bunch of improvements, and should start grabbing market share as more users deploy it.
Number of the Week
February saw the number of apps available on the Windows Store move up to the 44,000 mark. Slow going, you may say, but this lull could very well signal that things are getting more serious now, and after the initial hoopla of low quality apps, we could finally see some quality movement there.
