On December 8^th Microsoft unveiled its first of 12 deals in 12 days for its Christmas sales promotion. In 2013 the same event included some notable discounts on smartphones, tablets, games, and so this year we’re thinking the Redmond company will offer similarly delectable gifts suitable for most age groups. The deal behind yesterday’s door was a Toshiba Encore Mini Widows 8.1 tablet with a free micro 16GB SD card. The total saving on the retail price was $60, as well as a giveaway one-year subscription to Office 365 Personal worth $70.

On day two, which begins at 5 am PST this morning, Microsoft is offering a Blu Win HD 5-inch Windows Phone at a heavily discounted price. The phone normally goes for $179, but will be on offer for the day at $129. And don’t be surprised if there’s a bit of mayhem at Microsoft stores, as the first 50 phones sold will go for $99.

The mid-range handset comes with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage space (MicroSD up to 32GB), and features a 5-inch HVGA 720×1280 display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 1.2GHz Quad-Core processor, and an 8MP rear camera 2MP front camera. The 1950 mAh battery should give you 10 hours of talk time. Other features include Bluetooth 3.0 support, WiFi, Hotspot, and MicroUSB 2.0 connectivity.

Last year a list of the 12 days of offerings was leaked early, but it seems this year no such luck. If you want to follow the deals as they are announced you can either go to the Microsoft website, or go to Microsoft’s YouTube channel. According to Microsoft there is only limited availability on stock, so deals are on a first-come first-served basis. Promotions will end December 19th and are only available in the United States.

Photo credit:  Microsoft Store