Microsoft is reportedly planning to change the way they market their smartphone OS for this holiday season, dropping both the Nokia and Windows Phone brands from product references and advertisements.
The news originates from Geek on Gadgets, who received a confidential Microsoft document revealing the changes. It marks a shift in branding since Microsoft acquired Nokia's devices and services division in September last year, with the company looking to refreshen up their image in the lead up to the launch of Windows 'Threshold' next year.
Windows 'Threshold' (or Windows 9 as it'll likely be called) is set to unify all versions of Windows, including Windows Phone and Windows RT, into effectively one operating system. With this in mind, it makes sense for Microsoft to transition away from Windows Phone branding: it's reported that this holiday season, marketing material will simply refer to it as "Windows".
Some of Microsoft's recent promotions appear to have already started the shift away from Windows Phone branding. Some of the latest videos for Cortana and Nokia's upcoming smartphones don't mention "Windows Phone" at all, and even HTC's latest handset is simply the HTC One M8 for Windows.
As for the Nokia brand, it was always expected that Microsoft would eventually drop it following the acquisition. The confidential documents reveal that the Lumia brand will stay, but future devices will be branded as Microsoft Lumia rather than Nokia Lumia. The upcoming Lumia 830 and Lumia 730/735 will be the last devices to launch with Nokia branding printed on the phone.