Rumor: Instagram, Real Racing 3 and Temple Run for Windows Phone coming in May
Yesterday we brought you the story about Instagram reportedly already in the Windows Phone Store. The app is hidden, presumably for Microsoft eyes only, and we argued that if Microsoft had built the app they could be waiting on some last minute negotiations with Instagram to use their APIs legally.
Now, the same source, @anontechleaks, has a few more tidbits including images of Real Racing 3 and Temple Run—two huge titles that Windows Phone desperately needs. Real Racing 3 evidently requires 1.7GB of free space, putting it probably in 800MB range.
In related but different news, Real Racing 2 is reportedly coming soon too but as a Nokia exclusive. We’re unsure if this a case of rumors colliding or one will be for Windows Phone 8 (RR3) and one for Windows Phone 7.x (RR2).
No information was given about Temple Run.
On Instagram, the news is that it is a straight up iOS port with no Lens feature, which may be surprising for those anticipating. Of course, that can later be changed with updates, and this could be a “let’s just get it out there” move by Microsoft.
The timing of the releases is curious. May is not too far off, but it’s not exactly around the corner either. The only thing we can think is this may coincide with forthcoming firmware updates for Nokia, perhaps the GDR2 OS update and of course Verizon’s new Lumia 928, giving Microsoft and partners a very high profile May.
Interesting enough, the leaker of those images to demonstrate that they are not Photoshopped, showed the URL for the Real Racing 3 game with the ID of the app blurred out. On Windows Phone Daily an analysis of the images showed there were no PS tricks but a person could still fake the listing on the site just by entering into the CSS editor of their browser.
Get the Windows Central Newsletter
All the latest news, reviews, and guides for Windows and Xbox diehards.
Now that we can see the full URL and the image, it does lend more credibility to the leak though of course we cannot be 100%.
Source: @Anontechleaks; Thanks, Er. Akshat, for the tip
Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007, when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and watches. He has been reviewing laptops since 2015 and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, ARM processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.