The Windows Phone community forum is the best place to discuss the platform as a whole with other consumers. There can be times where you miss the latest threads published on the boards, so we bring you across a handful of discussions that are well worth checking out. So what's been happening as of late?
We've continuously given Microsoft some heat for not promoting and expanding the Windows Phone platform well enough, but is it really required? Many don't believe so, and forum member ttsoldier has created a thread on our forum to go into just what Redmond is doing when it comes to getting the word out.
"I've seen Windows Phone 8 pop up in two TV series that I look at. 1)Revenge 2)Scandal. In revenge it's a blue HTC, and in Scandal it's Lumia 920's. (Yes. Plural). In both series, they started off in the earlier episodes using BlackBerries and iPhones, now, WP8 is in the mix. To me, it shows that Microsoft is trying to get the word out there!"
Now we can of course mistake Microsoft marketing with efforts by manufacturers, but there are times where Redmond is the main driving force behind some promotions. Be sure to add your thoughts on and experiences with Microsoft marketing Windows Phone in the "And you say Microsoft isn't pushing WP8?" thread.
What's HTC up to?
So what exactly is HTC up to? The company is still heading down in a negative spiral, is struggling against other manufacturers in Android and is being cast aside by Nokia with Windows Phone, but where is HTC? We've consistently covered Nokia and Microsoft together, but it's gone rather quiet in the HTC camp.
Forum member Jonny8X voices his concerns:
"Of course you will be aware of bombardment of new regarding the Lumia recently, wether it be updates, apps or whatever. To be honest, it has me worried, I mean, HTC's portfolio of recent news isn't exactly overwhelming (there had been none) and if you own a HTC (which I do), what can we do but sit and watch our Lumia brothers and sisters reap all the Microsoft love so to speak?"
It's a good argument and one that we'd like to put to HTC. Wasn't it unveiled that the company would reignite the fire with Microsoft? Now, don't get us wrong, we really (and I mean "really") like both the HTC 8X and 8S Windows Phones. They're exciting hardware, but where are the apps and marketing to go with It's concerning with how it's all gone rather quiet.
What are your thoughts? Add your $0.02 in the "What is HTC doing?" thread.
Show download counters on the Store?
This is an interesting idea. Should Microsoft display the number of times an app has been downloaded from the Windows Phone Store? It would be an interesting statistic, one that forum member adamjolin believes would be handy for consumers to be able to view when browsing around for popular apps.
Do you believe Microsoft should add the metric to each app listing? Add our thoughts in the "Download count in store" thread.
