Today started off big for Microsoft’s mobile arm, with Nokia announcing promising figures regarding its sales of Lumia devices, while Juniper Research supported the positive information, though still leaving the Finnish device maker a fair amount behind Samsung and Apple. While this grabbed headlines, it was not the only noteworthy event for the platform.
IT Pros benefit from the first of today’s two announcements. Microsoft’s Robert Hoover let it be known that the company has “launched a set of community forums for IT professionals to post technical questions about Windows Phone 8”. He goes on to explain that “the new Windows Phone IT Pro forum is launching on TechNet with three categories – General Questions, Security, Mobile Device Management – and will be monitored by Microsoft folks who can answer your questions.”
The new forums join those already present for both consumers and app developers and Microsoft invites you to get started on them right away, as the mobile OS has gained a bit of traction and would love to welcome enterprise to the table.
Second, the software giant also unveiled an update to Viber that is available right now. The free messaging app today moves to version 3.1. According to Michael Stroh, this “adds a fresh look and handy new features like call transferring to Viber desktop, battery saving alerts, and lock screen notifications for new messages. You can also now pin contacts or conversations to your Start screen via Live Tiles to quickly pick up where you left off.”
Both updates could help to propel the mobile platform to a higher level of usage and acceptance as a valid competitor to Apple and Google alternatives. IT support is especially critical, given Microsoft’s large presence in that market.
