Microsoft Mobile App development steps up and a lock screen tool

Last month, Microsoft's Android Lock-screen tool, next lock, added new features to music and instant messaging, and a few days ago Microsoft launched picturesque, another Android app that embeds other Microsoft features such as Bing Search and Bing News.

Picturesque the Bing search strip at the top of the screen, trying to replace the default Google search for many Android devices. In addition to weather forecasts, news, missed calls and text messages, there is also control of WiFi, Bluetooth, volume, brightness and other functions. You can slide four screens to complete different functions, as shown in the following figure.

Looking at Microsoft's moves over the last year in mobile apps, it does match the new vision of "moving first, Cloud first", presented by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella last November. Currently there are more than 100 Microsoft apps in the two big mobile app stores, and this does not include apps launched by its Yammer and Skype. Microsoft released 50 applications last year, with 12 in one months of the year.

However, the number does not explain everything, not to mention personalized desktop and tool this piece has been a lot of companies to do very much. Last fall, Microsoft's next Lock screen, installed at 100,000 to 500,000 times, but Yahoo's Aviate or Facebook home has reached 100 to 5 million, not to mention the billions of Yahoo weather and Facebook Messenger.