From the Forums: Cool lock screen effect, Microsoft and tablets

It has been a rather quiet weekend in the realm of Windows Phone, but that hasn't prevented Windows Phone community forum members from logging onto the boards over the last couple of days. But what threads have been started and what have you possibly missed? We'll quickly run through a handful of discussions that are growing in popularity.

"Hello, Windows Phone owners. Look at your screen, now back at me. Now back at your screen, now back at me. Sadly, it isn't me, but if he stopped using a boring wallpaper and switched to a nice blurred effect, he could look like me. Look down, back up, where are you? You're at Redmond, with the Ballmer crew. What's in your hand? It's a Windows Phone that requires some love. Look again, the device is now sporting a unique look. Anything is possible when your Windows Phone has a blurred wallpaper. I'm on a Surface board."

Enough said? Try it out, it's pretty awesome. Forum member Joe920 has brought up an idea that we've never attempted ourselves - blurring our home screens and then applying the result as the wallpaper. It has the potential to create some interesting effects. Here's what Joe managed to come up with:

All that's required is to take screenshot, open up the image in your favourite editor and add go crazy with the blur tool. Have you tried it out? Be sure to add yours to the "Nice effect - set your lock screen to a blurred version of your home screen" thread.

 

Microsoft and tablets

So it's known that Microsoft is pushing both Windows 8 and RT on tablets, competing against both Android and iOS. But what are the company's chances? Can Windows really power through, absorb some market share and cause some issues for the competitor platforms? That's yet to be seen, but if what we've seen already of Windows Blue, we can definitely speculate Redmond will have a strong chance.

Forum member nube_android believes so. We'd like to know what you all think, how do you see Microsoft performing in the tablet market? Head on over to the "Where Microsoft can win: tablets" thread and add your predictions.

 

Windows Phone consumers spending more dosh

We covered an interesting report today that revealed Evernote reporting more revenue per Windows Phone owner than Android. Should this be the case for other developers it would paint a positive picture for Microsoft. In order to attract more developers to the platform, Redmond needs to convince others that creating content for Windows Phone is worth the investment.

So we put the question to you, just how much do you spend on apps and other content from the store? We're not requesting exact specifics, but if you've noticed you willingly part with the credit card more so on Windows Phone than a competing platform. Do you have a strong collection of commercial apps and games? Add your experiences to the "Go MSFT!" thread.