It’s certainly not a good time to be a Windows Phone user

Apr 27, 2015 07:08 GMT  ·  By

Windows Phone users bear a stigma in the mobile world. Most of the time, app developers take their sweet time in porting the most popular apps to the platform, and when they finally do it, the rest of the world has already moved on to the next best thing. A pattern that must be quite frustrating for Windows Phone fans.

But that’s not the worst that can happen. For example, some service providers will go as far as knowingly ignore the existence of Windows Phone owners altogether.

Let’s take for instance Philippinean carrier SMART, which has an interesting promotion going on these days. The mobile operator is offering free usage of the Skype QIK app for the next three months. That’s all nice and peachy, but there’s an important caveat to the whole story.

SMART offers a promotion that does not include Windows Phone users

The deal is available only to the carrier’s Android and iOS users. Windows Phone owners are completely left out, which doesn’t make sense considering that the Skype QIK app is available in the Windows Phone Store as well, besides the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. More than that, Skype QIK is owned by none other than Microsoft.

Microsoft purchased QIK a few years ago, but the company actually discontinued the video streaming service in April 2014, making everyone believe that it was no longer interested in implementing its features in its products.

But that was a wrong assumption. Redmond actually had a more ambitious plan in mind, so a few months later, the company released a new messaging app based on the original services in combination with the VoIP platform Skype.

For those out of the loop, Skype QIK is an application that’s supposed to make video messaging a lot easier. Once you have installed the service on your phone, you just have to input a phone number to sign up and start chatting with friends.

All your QIK contacts will appear in the list, while those without the app will receive an SMS with instructions on how to download the app on their devices as well.

Skype QIK seems like an app worth trying, and the free three-month offer would certainly help users decide if the service is useful to them or not.

Carrier cuts off Windows Phone users (2 Images)

Skype QIK promotion only available for iOS and Android users
Skype QIK app is also available for Windows Phone
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