You know what's crazy? Microsoft and NBC once ran a joint news channel and website called MSNBC. But back in 2005, NBC bought the stake that Microsoft had in the news channel and only last year completed the transaction to completely take over the website. It then went from being msnbc.com to nbcnews.com. And now you've got an official Windows Phone app to keep tabs on the latest news from that very site.

NBC News is an app for Windows Phone 8. It allows you to stay on top of current events both locally and globally. With NBC News for Windows Phone you can:

"The NBC News app empowers users to quickly and fluidly browse, read and watch original and exclusive news stories from all of NBC News' trusted brands. In addition to watching shows such as Nightly News, Dateline and the TODAY show, users can access our topical content categories covering technology, politics, entertainment and more."

So why only Windows Phone 8? Can't tell you for sure, but it doesn't take advantage of some features you'd only get with the latest and greatest version of Windows Phone. For example:

Voice commands: Start the application by holding the Windows button and saying "NBC News". You can also say "NBC News, watch Nightly News" or "NBC News, go to Tech and Science."

Category tiles: You can pin any show or news category directly onto your start screen for quicker access to the news you love. (including those ever delicious double wide tiles..mhmm)

Lock screen integration: Get beautiful news photography to light up your lock screen. Enable this from the application settings or the systems settings, under "lock screen."

Audio article: Let the phone read to you by using the "read article" option from the article screen menu.

First impressions of NBC News? Very solid for the first version. I didn't think I'd be easily impressed by the ability to have articles read to me, but could totally be handy in those situations when you can't spend too much time looking at your screen. Voice commands as always are futuristic and fun to use. The overall design and layout of the app is very beautiful, although you'd be forgiven for mistaking the layout to the USA Today app. Performance is excellent, both scrolling through articles and video playback were fluid and smooth.