Update: Yes another item to catch up from the weekend is the overnight news about the Microsoft-Nokia deal.  I have already started some coverage for that and will continue to update things throughout the day but I decided to keep my prepared Weekend Catchup post intact for publication.

—–

Here in the US we had an extended weekend which was one day longer than normal due to the Labor Day holiday.  Officially this holiday marks the end of Summer and apparently also means something relating to wearing the color white.

However, it does not mean the end of tech news and we have a few things to point out to you from this three day weekend.

Windows 8, Internet Explorer and Windows Phone all gain ground (multiple sources) – The beginning of a new month usually means traffic stats and September was no exception. Well except for the fact that they show some good gains from a few of Microsoft’s properties and that two of the major measurement companies, StatCounter and Net Applications, both show the gains despite their different methodologies for measurements. The stats also show a large XP drop as well which is welcomed as the end of its life cycle support approaches next April. Check out Analytics firms agree on August resurgence for Microsoft IE (cNet) and New stats show Windows 8 usage up sharply as XP usage plummets (ZD Net) for more.

Windows Phone hits record 8.2% share across five major European markets (WinBeta) – This increase for Windows Phone is based on the three month period which ended back at the end of July. According to the report inroads have been made thanks to the low end/priced devices Nokia has introduced recently.

Kindle refund more than doubles in e-book settlement (cNet) – Amazon notified Kindle customers via email this weekend that there would be more money, purchase credit actually, coming to their Amazon accounts due to the recent settlement in the Apple e-book pricing settlement.  The new numbers indicate the credit amount has nearly doubled per user.  According to the email I received there is nothing I have to do as the credit will be added automatically to my account.

So as a result of the long weekend we now have a short work week of only four days.  Enjoy it!