Today Microsoft unveiled not only an updated Twitter and Skype app, but a new Facebook application for the Windows Phone 8 platform. The newly renovated app uses a new feature in Windows Phone 8 that lets users access Facebook calendar events and notifications right from their lock screens. The app can also put photos from Facebook right on the lock screen. Other than that, we can expect lots of improvements in stability and performance when compared to older versions.
Now let’s get to the updated Twitter and Skype apps. First, the updated Twitter application uses the enhanced notification system, with improved performance over the older apps. As for the new version of Skype, the application can now run in the background, allowing users to receive phone calls and messages even when the app isn’t running. Microsoft claims battery performance on Windows Phone 8 devices will not suffer due to the new update, which is something we can’t wait to test for ourselves.
These apps were shown off because the company is trying to grab mind share away from Google Android and Apple’s iOS ecosystems. Microsoft also touted that its Windows Store has 120,000 apps available, which was another way for it to attract skeptical buyers.
[via The Verge]