Nokia’s new maps application “Here” for iOS is available today in the App Store. SiliconANGLE News Desk Editor Kristen Nicole gave a brief review on it, saying that it’s reminiscent of Nokia’s old Symbian operating system, which is good news for the vintage Nokia audience. The navigation system includes step by step driving and walking directions; however, she was unable to get the audio voice navigation to work for driving directions. Aside from that, she said it was easy to use with a search feature, a social component, and a live traffic view.

Microsoft’s Surface tablet has gotten a free advertising boost, compliments of Oprah. The celeb has touted the Surface in a recent tweet which said, “Gotta say love that SURFACE! Have bought 12 already for Christmas gifts. #Favorite Things.” However, it was noticed that her tweet was received from the Twitter application for iPad, drawing plenty of criticism. Kristen Nicole did not think there was anything to read into this. She stated, “A lot of people use a lot of different devices these days. It’s the era in which we live.”

In other Microsoft news, the Windows 8 launch has not met internal expectations at all. Kristen Nicole speculated why PC makers are being blamed for the slow sales of Windows 8. She said, “It’s one of those deals where you have a hardware component and a software component, and if you’re not in control of both of those factors, it’s easy to play the blame game.”

Kristen Nicole discussed other factors that could be contributing to the on-going Windows 8 debacle, including the fragmentation between the hardware availability and the software, a low level of demand, and the learning curve that comes with Windows 8. See the entire segment with Kristin Feledy and Kristen Nicole on the Morning NewsDesk Show.