Ha, as colorful a week as any in the world of Microsoft. Rumors abound, quotable quotes from Redmond officials aplenty, positive growth sings abundant, the past few days were one of the more flamboyant ones of the year. In fact, take the Lumia 1520 US shipment delay out and it’s all rainbow, this week.
Here are the more noticeable bits of the week:
Release of the Week
This week was filled with high-profile apps like 3D Builder to Asphalt 8, HERE Maps, TripAdvisor and Riptide GP2 on the Windows Store, to Waze and Office Remote on the Windows Phone Store. But none of these hold a candle to the official Instagram app that was finally released for Windows Phone 8.
Ad of the Week
Funny commercials are, undoubtedly, the most memorable ones. And Microsoft has recently picked up a knack for humor with several witty and amusing ads hitting TV screens the world over. This latest one shows how Windows 8.1 can be used in tight spaces. And it’s a fine piece of commercial.
Number of the Week
The Windows Phone Store crossed an important, important milestone this week. Microsoft candidly made it official that its mobile app repository had hit 3 billion app downloads, in what is record time for the fledgling store. The only way from here is up, as they say.
Search of the Week
There is a very special committee at work in Redmond offices, tasked with the job of finding and deciding on a new Microsoft CEO. Gates, part of this committee recently said that progress has been made in this regard, and now a report claims that the new CEO is set to be announced by Christmas.
Rumor of the Week
Steve Ballmer at the annual shareholder meeting this week said that Microsoft would now have to be careful with future acquisitions. But interestingly, there are voices that say that Redmond is willing to buy Winamp (and the Shoutcast service) from AOL, with an official announcement coming in December.
