Gadgetory

this is dan seifert with the verge and I'm here in New York City where HTC and Microsoft have just unveiled the Windows Phone 8 X and Windows Phone 8 s smartphones the 8x and the 8's represent a new effort from HTC to produce compelling Windows Phone devices that aren't just recycled versions of its existing Android minor without a doubt these devices are impressive especially in the case of the windows phone 8x the 8x feature is some great hardware and some great design and also has some cutting-edge specs as well the new phones names Windows Phone 8 X and Windows Phone 8 s aren't an accident in fact they're the result of a close relationship between Microsoft and HTC to produce new signature phones for the Windows Phone 8 line as the story goes HTC CEO Peter Chou asked the team to design a new phone from scratch inspired by Windows Phone the end result in press microsoft so much that they partner for what HTC president jason mackenzie called a quote integrated campaign microsoft CEO steve ballmer said the new branding initiative was a big deal and should be great for consumers we knew that at the end of the day consumers are not buying an operating system the phone is what's emotional that's what's going to drive the emotional purchase and because that's what you live with every day and so we knew we needed to do is really establish a piece of hardware beautiful design that consumers would associate with the best of Windows Phone but it also brings up an interesting question about Microsoft's other big partner for windows phone nokia until this point Nokia's Lumia line has been synonymous with Windows Phone but now it's clear that Microsoft isn't putting all of its eggs in Nokia's basket in fact just minutes after HTC's event Nokia quickly released a statement calling the move a tactical rebranding and no key executive Chris Webber CH we did that it takes more than matching color to match the innovations of the Lumia 920 we think it's clear that Nokia feels threatened threatened by HTC's renewed relationship with Microsoft these new devices and HTC's traditionally strong relationship with US carriers an area that nokia has struggled with in the past despite HTC's apparent advantages with carriers it's actually in the same boat as noget here with Windows Phone 8 both companies have to rely on a yet proven platform despite Microsoft's promises of grandeur we have yet to see what Windows Phone 8 actually looks like or how it will perform in the end it doesn't matter how combative the two companies are or how they try to differentiate themselves from each other it's an unproven platform and it's a risk that both companies equally share