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Microsoft admits it 'ran out of time' on Windows Phone 8 notification center

Microsoft admits it 'ran out of time' on Windows Phone 8 notification center

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HTC 8X Hero
HTC 8X Hero

One of the interesting omissions from Microsoft's recently launched Windows Phone 8 operating system is the lack of a notification center. Android and iOS both include a system to collect the various alerts triggered by applications, but Microsoft is lacking that crucial element. During a session on notifications at Build today, Microsoft's Thomas Fennel strongly hinted that the company is considering a notification center for Windows Phone.

"Because we ran out of time," admitted Fennel, after being questioned on the lack of notification center by an audience member. "It's very very important to me… we get tons of feedback from developers that they want something like that as well. I promise we're thinking very very hard on that one." The lack of notification center is evident when a notification is triggered and disappears, especially when a Live Tile is not enabled for that particular app. Other Microsoft representatives that The Verge has talked to at Build this week have pointed towards Live Tiles as a way to display notifications, but it's clear that Microsoft is considering a system to aggregate toast notifications for a quick overview.