Welcome back to our weekly Windows 10 Mobile news recap series, where we go over the top stories of the past week in the world of Microsoft’s mobile operating system. Let’s get started.
NBC discontinues Breaking News app and other mobile services
The Breaking News app, previously a valuable resource for journalists and news junkies who wanted to get in on the latest news in an instant, is being discontinued by NBC. Unlike other discontinuations we tend to cover here, this app is being shut down across the board, going down for all operating systems. According to NBC, “The money has run out.”
Leap Motion announces Leap Motion Mobile Platform
The Leap Motion Mobile Platform has been announced, and it’s looking like it has the potential to make huge strides in the world of virtual reality. A blog post from the creators of Leap Motion talked a bit about what the future of VR could be with its new mobile-oriented peripheral, and it’s pretty inspiring. We don’t know for sure yet if this is something that will eventually be supported through Windows 10 Mobile, but it’s entirely possible considering Microsoft has already been doing some work with Leap Motion technology.
WhatsApp discontinuing Windows Phone 7 support
We’ve known that Windows Phone 7 was on its way out for a long while now, but developers are finally starting to put their foot down and discontinue their services on the OS altogether. WhatsApp, an exceptionally popular messaging service, has decided to cut off support of the outdated Windows Phone platform. Most Windows Phone 7 devices are going to lose WhatsApp at the end of 2016, but the Nokia S40 and Nokia Symbian S60 phones are going to have until June 30th, 2017.
Missing contact photos return to the People app
The People app has had trouble remembering faces, recently. Tons of contact photos have been going missing from peoples’ phones without a trace, making for some annoying inconveniences for people who like to fill out their contact pages thoroughly, photos and all. The bug was fixed this week, however – assuming you got the fix for your Windows 10 Mobile device, your contact photos should be back where they ought to be.
More reports of Windows 10 Mobile losing users globally
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Windows 10 Mobile isn’t doing very well. More reports have come in from Kantar telling us that Microsoft’s share of the mobile OS market are going down across the board. These numbers don’t tell us anything that we don’t already know, but data junkies might get a kick out of seeing how Windows 10 Mobile is doing in each separate country.
Microsoft releases Windows 10 3D Preview app
Microsoft talked a lot about 3D in their New York event this year, making it very clear that 3D models are going to be a huge part of the Windows 10 experience going forward. To help push that idea, they’ve released “View 3D Preview” – an app that lets you view your 3D models on your Windows 10 Mobile device. It’s available right now on the app store, so if you have any use for something like that, you can grab it now.
Skype Translator supports calls to mobile and landlines
Have a pal overseas that you want to have a chat with? Skype Translator has something that can help you out. Using Skype Translator on the new version of Skype Preview, you can make calls to mobile phones and landlines which will have live, on-the-spot translation. You’ll of course need Skype credit or a Skype subscription, but the service is available to you if you meet that requirement.
Thanks for joining us. If you want all of the news as it happens, keep an eye on our Windows 10 Mobile tag.
