Microsoft to drop Windows Phone and Nokia brands

Remember when HTC delivered its Windows Phone version of the One M8 last month? In the weeks leading up to its release we heard a few names thrown around, including things like the W8, but the phone ultimately debuted as the One M8 for Windows. Specifically “Windows,” not “Windows Phone.” Compare that to the company’s previous WP entries: models with names like the Windows Phone 8X by HTC. What happened to that “Phone” part? This may be just the start of a larger trend, as multiple reports arrive that Microsoft is getting ready for a major Windows Phone re-branding effort, in which both the Windows Phone and Nokia names will be going the way of the dodo.
Instead, we could start seeing Microsoft Lumia phones (with no hint of Nokia), and witness references to the platform shift from Windows Phone to simply Windows. Considering the ongoing talk about Microsoft taking steps to merge several of its platforms, notably RT and WP, a simple, over-arching “Windows” banner does make a degree of sense.
The documentation supporting this move claims that at least the dropping of Nokia in reference to Lumia models will occur in time for the holiday season later this year. As for an official name-change for the platform itself, Microsoft has already been spotted referring to WP as simply “Windows,” but we may find ourselves waiting until another launch event before the transition is official – specifically, if we get something like Windows 9 for phones, rather than Windows Phone 9.


 source:The verge