Windows 8.1 on a tablet.(Photo: Ryan Nakashima AP)
SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft on Wednesday kicks off its annual developer conference here, where it is expected to preview upcoming Windows updates and announce new features for Windows Phone, including a Siri- and Google Now-like voice assistant.
Among other things, the Windows Phone 8.1 update is expected to bring a central hub for notifications for text messages, incoming email and the like, similar to what you find on Android and Apple devices.
Handset maker Nokia, which Microsoft is acquiring in a $7 billion deal expected to close this month, also will be making announcements in conjunction with the event.
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Over the past year, Microsoft has been touting the strides it has made with Windows Phone. It has increased market share and built up offerings in its app store. As of February, there were more than 240,000 apps, including recent mainstay additions such as Vine, Instagram and traffic and mapping app Waze.
Yet Windows Phone still trails Apple and Android market share by a wide margin even as it solidifies its spot in third place over BlackBerry. It ended 2013 with 90.9% growth for the year with shipments of 33.4 million units, according to researcher IDC. Android devices by a variety of manufacturers clocked 793.6 million, for 58.7 percent annual growth.
The sold-out Build conference is aimed primarily at software developers who make applications for all of Microsoft's products.
Microsoft executives will be "trying to inspire the choir to hold on, and to renew their faith," says Forrester researcher Jeffrey Hammond.
Developers will be looking for "clarity" from Microsoft about how its different platforms will come together, says Hammond.
It can be confusing to build products for all of Microsoft's platforms, he says. There are five in all: Windows 8, Windows RT (a version for some tablets), Windows Phone, Xbox and a version of Windows that gets embedded in things like kiosks.
The next version of Windows is expected to pull those together. At the opening keynote on Wednesday Microsoft execs will focus on that "unification story," he says. "They have to capture the attention of the developers and hold it," says Hammond.
Of consumer interest, speculation about the most immediate updates to touch-friendly Windows is that it will add features to make it more comfortable to use for people who prefer more traditional mouse-and-keyboard computing.
As part of the company's push to a "mobile-first, cloud-first" world, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella last week in San Francisco made his first public appearance as CEO to announce that the popular Office software suite would be available on Apple's iPad.
The highly anticipated move was seen as a breakthrough as Microsoft focuses on delivering services to businesses and consumers wherever they are. In the week since that announcement, the apps for Word, Excel and PowerPoint have risen to the top of the free download chart for iPad.
On Monday, Nadella named Nokia chief Stephen Elop to head Microsoft's Devices group as part of several executive moves aimed at getting its management structure aligned with the new multi-platform focus.
Investors so far like what they see in Nadella, who took over the CEO spot from Steve Ballmer in February. The company's stock has been trading around highs last seen in 2000.
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