Twitter debuts a slew of new features for Windows Phone

As BlackBerry falls, Windows Phone has been making big strides to take its place

As BlackBerry falls (hoping that somebody will come and pick it up off the floor), someone is bound to step in and take its place as the number three smartphone manufacturer, behind the big dogs: Google and Apple.

The one stepping up to the plate has turned out to be Microsoft. And if you want some proof that Windows Phones are starting to be taken seriously, the platform just got a big new update from one of the biggest apps around.

Twitter, which is in full on "get more people and revenue!" mode as it heads toward going public next month, has decided to put some of resources into a slew of new updates that were made specifically for Windows Phone, it was announced on Tuesday. 

The new features include the ability to get Tweets on the lock screen of a Windows Phone. All a user has to do is add a favorite Twitter account in their app settings, and the most recent Tweets will appear at the top of the screen. Users can now also pin key word searches to their homescreen as well. 

The app will also come in 54 languages, and will provide translation that is powered by Bing. This makes sense when you realize that Twitter is looking to expand internationally. In Twitter's S-1 filing with the SEC, it was revealed that, of its 218.3 million monthly active users (MAUs), 49.2 millioncame from the United States, and 169.1 million came from international users. Its number of international MAUs jumped 47% from the year before. 

Twitter also added additional information to search and discover. Search now include photos, videos, and accounts, along with Tweets, while Discover included recommended accounts to follow, trending topics, and activity happening in your network.

In addition, Twitter also added mobile notifications,  and a new, interesting feature that allows users to choose a "a light or dark theme to fit your mood, lighting or preference."

Windows phone growth

Windows Phones were an also-ran for a long time, but they have recently begun to make great strides in the market. 

While Microsoft's overall market share did not see much of an increase in the second quarter of this year, , going from 3.1% to 3.7%, it saw a huge increase in shipments: going from 4.9 million to 8.7 million. That is an increase of 77.6%.

Meanwhile, BlackBerry, the previous number three, saw terrible numbers at the same time,

BlackBerry was the only manufactuerer  to actually ship less smartphones this quarter than a year ago, dropping to 6.8 million from 7.7 million, a decrease of 11.7%. Meanwhile, it also lost nearly half of its market share, going from 4.9% to $2.9%. 

The recent problems that BlacKberry has been experiencing has left a big hole in the market, and Windows has been all too happy to fill it. Now that seems to be paying off, as it looks like other companies are starting to take notice.

(Image source: https://blog.twitter.com)