14 DAY TRIAL // 2012 has been long said to be the year of Windows Phone, and it appears that things are finally starting to shape up in this direction.
Microsoft is pushing hard for the marketing of its mobile operating system, especially in the United States, and is also working on making the platform and services associated with it available for more users around the world.
For example, starting with this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where Nokia’s Lumia 900 was launched, we’ve seen news on Microsoft’s Smoked by Windows Phone campaign for the platform.
The marketing campaign started with a simple challenge: Ben Rudolph, aka The PC Guy, went to the event with his Windows Phone and with a pocket full of $100 bills to give to those who would prove that their devices were faster than Windows Phone.
The result was surprisingly positive for Microsoft’s OS. It managed to be faster in most of the challenges there, and Smoked by Windows Phone became a trend.
Microsoft seized the opportunity and brought the competition to its stores in the US, as well as to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the most important mobile event of the year.
The campaign reached other countries around the world as well, and Nokia even adapted it for its own products in India, as previously reported.
Today, we learn that Microsoft is planning to up the ante by offering special edition Hunger Games PCs worth $1,000 each, to those who manage to beat Windows Phone this weekend. If they lose, they will be offered the possibility to switch to a Windows Phone for free. This seems like a win-win situation, if you ask me.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Running this campaign, Microsoft is making even more people interested in its fast and well performing platform. And it also explains them why their phones get beaten, when they do. And they do lose these small competitions in most cases.
Below, you will find some videos with the latest Smoked by Windows Phone wins, that Microsoft’s posted on its Facebook account. If you got a flagship Galaxy S II and you get smoked by a Windows Phone, you start questioning your handset options, that’ for sure.
Furthermore, the company is dragging its partners in Windows Phone’s marketing as well, and AT&T is said to have already fallen in this net.
Rumor has it that its Front Seller employees will be getting free Nokia Lumia 900 handsets if they chose to, as part of the “Company Use” program. Instead, they will have to give back the devices they previously owned, as part of this program.
Apparently, Nokia is expecting for over 80 percent of AT&T’s targeted employees to make the switch to its Lumia 900. The Finnish vendor is also said to be paying $25 million to AT&T for that.
That’s not too much, especially since Nokia is playing all of its cards on Windows Phone. And with the hype around Lumia 900 – the first LTE-capable Windows Phone from Nokia – getting higher, the move might prove a success.
Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS will also have a lot to gain from this, and it does need that, one should agree. The platform has been lagging behind Android, iOS and BlackBerry for too long to remain relevant.
Microsoft has just pushed the OS to the market in China, and is working on having its Windows Phone Marketplace available for users and developers in as many markets around the world as possible.
