Microsoft slams quad-core arms race as 'ridiculous'

"Windows Phone just as fast".

We're drowning in quad-core smartphones here in Barcelona and the MWC show floor is saturated with pocket powerhouses. But are all those extra Ghzs really necessary? Windows Phone director Aaron Woodman doesn't seem to think so.

We asked the Windows Phone head honcho what he thought of the influx of quad-core smartphones given that Windows Phone 7.5 handsets were light in the Ghz-packing department, and he answered by stating that "the quad-core arms race is ridiculous".

Expanding on these strong words further, Woodman explained that Windows Phone devices like the Nokia Lumia 800 are able to run lightning fast without needing battery-sucking quad-cores in their innards, and that other companies are just playing a numbers game similar to the camera phone megapixel wars of old.

Microsoft is so confident in its Windows Phone optimisation that it's been running a 'Smoked by Windows Phone' campaign here in Barcelona in which it's giving out €100 ($A124) to anyone whose handset can beat a Windows Phone in a one-on-one user test.

Woodman himself demonstrated a side-by-side comparison of a Nokia Lumia 800 and its recently announced budget Lumia 610 handset and we were impressed by how the Lumia 610, with its 800Mhz processor and 256MB of RAM managed to keep up with its menu transitions.

This article originally appeared at Stuff.tv