India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Software giant Microsoft has unveiled the new version of its Windows Phone software. The firm launched its much awaited Windows Phone 8 a day after it revealed 'Surface', its own tablet device to challenge the iPad. The new phone software is from the same Windows 8 software that will run Windows PCs and the new tablets, News.com.au reports. The operating system will be featured on phones made by Microsoft partners such as Huawei, Samsung, HTC and Nokia, which is betting its entire smartphone future on the Windows platform. The new operating system will improve on the main differentiating feature of Microsoft Windows Phone 7 software. Microsoft also said that the new operating system would include a digital wallet with near-field communications, and would ditch Microsoft's Bing mapping software in favour of an alternative mapping system developed by Nokia. According to the report, Microsoft needs a hit in the smartphone market as it aims to come from far behind to challenge tech giants Apple and Google in the mobile device sector.

Microsoft unveils Windows Phone 8 to take on Apple, Google mobile devices