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Microsoft apologizes over 'Smoked by Windows Phone' controversy, offers winner laptop and phone

Microsoft apologizes over 'Smoked by Windows Phone' controversy, offers winner laptop and phone

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Microsoft's working quickly to counter backlash it's receiving after claiming that a user who won a Windows Phone challenge wasn't entitled to his just reward.

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Galaxy Nexus Android 4 Weather Widgets
Galaxy Nexus Android 4 Weather Widgets

Microsoft's working quickly to counter backlash it's receiving after denying a user who won a Windows Phone challenge his just reward. Yesterday, Sahas Katta won a "Smoked by Windows Phone" challenge when his Galaxy Nexus displayed the weather of two different cities faster than the Windows Phone he was up against, but the Microsoft store claimed that he had to show weather from two different states. Microsoft has been roundly bashed for this technicality since then, so Windows Phone evangelist Ben Rudolph has just taken to Twitter to apologize and offer Katta a new laptop and Windows Phone, as well as an apology.

While it's good to see Microsoft quickly try and make things right with a scorned consumer, questions about how fair Microsoft's contest is remain. For his part, Rudolph responded quickly — 10 hours ago, he offered a rematch to Katta, but two hours after that he said he was trying to "make it right" and that he didn't "see what really went down." We'll be watching to see if anyone else comes forward with tales of Microsoft stacking the odds in its contest.