The next installment of the Windows Phone brand might already be in development, and not under the name widely speculated.
The successor of the Windows Phone 8 could be Windows Phone 9. The next Windows Phone name was found on a Microsoft employee's LinkedIn account, which stated she is a "Test Engineer in the Windows Mobile team."
According to MSFTKitchen, the employee provided a description to her role, reading, "Working as a software test engineer in the Windows Phone Test Services team currently testing Windows 9 OS on Nokia, HTC and Qualcomm device."
Although she wrote "Windows 9 OS," it is likely she meant "Windows Phone 9 OS" as she clearly noted she's on the Windows Mobile team.
If the next Windows Phone upgrade is "Windows Phone 9," it could end rumors of the name "Windows Phone Blue."
Microsoft Senior Marketing Manager Greg Sullivan stated in February, "Over the course of the next several months, I wouldn't be surprised to see some exciting new devices and more interoperability before we start talking about what [operating system] is next."
Sullivan did note that current Windows Phone 8 customers will be able to upgrade to the next mobile operating system, unlike Windows Phone 7 customers who cannot update to Windows Phone 8.
The Microsoft senior marketing manager added, "We're going to have an upgrade path going forward. Windows Phone 8 can evolve. We have an architecture that enables portability and is fundamentally hardware independent."
Whether it is Windows Phone 9 or Windows Phone Blue, the update could be confirmed in the next few months as Microsoft has confirmed they will end mainstream support of Windows Phone 7.8 and Windows Phone 8 in summer 2014.
According to Microsoft, Windows Phone 7.8's mainstream support end date is Sept. 9, 2014, while the Windows Phone 8 platform will end approximately two months prior on July 8, 2014.
Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy regulates Microsoft's product support policies for business and developer products, and for consumer, hardware, and multimedia products.
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