Windows Phone 8.1

Two 'Windows Phone 8.1' stories April 2014 - January 2015

Microsoft will give away Windows 10 … just like OS X

Microsoft announced today at its Windows 10 briefing that it will make the next major version of its operating system free for consumers. Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for for the first year for Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows Phone 8.1 users. Users who upgrade will continue to have access to the latest versions for free when using the same device. For comparison, Apple has offered updates to each of its software updates, including major operating system versions, for free since 2013 with the release of OS X 10.9 Mavericks for the Mac.
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Windows Phone 8.1 update lets users add Passbook cards to Microsoft Wallet

WPcentral notes that the upcoming Windows Phone 8.1 update introduces support for Apple’s Passbook iOS app, allowing users to load coupons, tickets, boarding passes, etc, designed for Passbook into the Microsoft Wallet app.

While the Microsoft Wallet app will be able to load the various coupons and loyalty cards usually reserved for Passbook, it’s still a little unclear exactly what’s going on behind the scenes. Microsoft appears to be allowing users to download the Passbook files and rendering its own card for Microsoft Wallet, but the report speculates Windows Phone won’t be able to tap into the push notifications Apple’s uses to update cards like on iOS.

There seems to be some confusion over whether or not Mircosoft is officially supporting Passbook in one way or another, but with a developer preview of Windows Phone 8.1 rolling out today, I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about this soon.