While Microsoft’s discussion of Windows 8 last week was focused on PCs and tablets, it looks like it may have another function.
Some eagle-eyed Windows fans noticed that in one of the Metro UI slides from Microsoft’s Windows 8 presentation displayed a dialog box with the words “Missed Calls.” This is sparking discussion as to whether or not Windows 8 might be used in a mobile capacity.
Of course, it would seem ridiculous for Microsoft to launch another platform for mobile phones as it is currently working on Windows Phone Mango and clearly has no intention of muddling that up.
So what could the slide mean? Perhaps there is some sort of connectivity feature if users pair up a Windows Phone device and a Windows 8 device. Or it could be a voice-over IP function or something not related to mobile at all.
The final possibility is that the “Missed Calls” graphic was not meant to be in the slide, but that seems unlikely.
What seems most plausible is that this has something to do with the fact that Microsoft recently purchased Skype, the leader in VoIP. Integrating that service directly into the Windows 8 software would make a lot of sense.
While a lot of information was spilled last week, there’s still a lot about Windows 8 that remains unclear. We’ll continue to get details as the 2012 release approaches.
