I’ve finally switched over the a smart phone, and my choice was the NOKIA Lumia 710 running Windows Phone. This mobile operating system was introduced last year and features the Metro interface that will be rolled out for PC with Windows 8 later this year. The home screen includes “Live Tiles” that are activated by touch. Each tile represents an application such as phone, texting or email. Web browsing is supported via Internet Explorer Mobile; videos can be streamed via YouTube.

Xbox Live on Windows Phone allows phone owners to download games as well as log into the online Xbox console Xbox games to view leaderboards. Phone owners can also create an Xbox 3D avatar.

One-touch searching is available via Bing, or phone owners can add a Google Live Tile for searching. A voice recognition system lets users initiate phone calls, text message and searches via speech. Windows Phone also provides a mobile version of Office that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.

Find out more about Windows Phone on the official website.

Microsoft has announced the new logo for Windows 8, which is composed of a white cross on a blue background.  Microsoft’s goal was to return to the window concept. Many thought the current four color logo resembled a flag, not to mention that its use of primary colors made it similar to the Chrome logo.  However, there are already comments on the Web about the new logo resembling the Nordic cross flag or a Scottish flag (which used the same colors with an X shape rather than a cross). 

Read more about the new Windows 8 logo design on ReadWriteWeb.