Welcome once more to our favorite new weekly segment, WPD Bits! This is your go-to article for a quick collection of all the smaller bits of news that happened in the past week. If you missed our first edition, feel free to check that out here, and for the future you can read all of our Bits here.
For the week ending July 29, 2012 there was a lot of news overshadowed by the big Windows Phone 8 SDK leak. SkyDrive just flipped the switch on its Office Web Apps Preview, the Windows Store in Windows 8 reached a mini-milestone, a new face has been enlisted for WP8, Nokia hit the beach with a limited edition Lumia, and Germany has a Windows Phone store within a store.
For all of the rapid-fire news you can bit into, keep reading after the jump!
SkyDrive rolls out preview of revamped Office Web Apps
A couple of weeks ago, Microsoft announced some massive plans for Office 2013 this year including a revamp of the free Office Web Apps found in SkyDrive. Well it appears at least some Windows 8 users are receiving the new Preview of the apps, including the slick new OneNote web app pictured above. Check it out on your SkyDrive and see if you got lucky! [ Thanks, Ludwig! ]
Windows Store reaches 400 app milestone
Microsoft may be a little behind when it comes to the mobile and tablet battle, but they're definitely coming back in a big way. The Windows Store found in the Windows 8 Release Preview now offers more than 400 apps to download, and because its a preview all of them are free. These are unofficial numbers and while its nowhere near as big as the iPad's selection, it's a sign of strong momentum to come especially because Windows Phone already reached its own impressive milestone earlier this year. [ Via: Neowin / Source: McAkins Online ]
Chinese manufacturer Oppo to build WP8 devices in 2013
There's a lot of excitement surrounding Windows Phone 8 (especially after this week), but for now the new platform will only be launching with a handful of partners. Meanwhile others have decided to wait on the sidelines, but a new face is ready to join the club in 2013. Chinese manufacturer Oppo, most famous for their 6.5mm thin Finder handset, will be going head-to-head with local rival Huawei to produce WP8 devices. If the mockup is any indication of the phones we'll get, China could be an exciting source of new Windows Phones next year. [ Source: WPDang (translated) ]
Nokia announces limited edition Quiksilver Lumia 610
Nokia has the connections to make Windows Phone a hit, and one way they can do that is with special brand partnerships. We've already seen the Orange-branded Nokia Lumia 610 NFC announced, and now another special edition of the budget Tango handset has been revealed. This week at France's Roxy 2012 surfing competition, Nokia announced a special edition Quiksilver Nokia Lumia 610, which will be available for purchase in their Boardriders retail stores. Also shown off at the event? Windows Phone-branded white sunglasses. We're so jealous. [ Via: WPCentral / Source: Roxy 2012 ]
O2 Germany retail stores include Windows Phone store within
Earlier in the week we had learned a bit of info about so-called "Windows Phone Walls" within select European retailers. Well apparently these Windows Phone Walls make up a mini Windows Phone Store, as evidence by a few pictures from an O2 Germany store. Sales staff is on hand to eagerly promote Windows Phone, large displays show off hallmark features of the phones, a giant PixelSense tablet running a demo of Windows Phone for shoppers to play with, and more. It's like Windows Phone heaven. [ Via: PhoneArena / Source: WMPU ]
