Earlier today we told you that Microsoft would be holding an event to discuss the future of Windows Phone. Sure enough today at 9AM
the event started and Joe Belfiore, corporate VP of Microsoft took the stage to discuss 8 platform announcements related to the Windows Phone 8. You can take a look at what exactly these announcements were below:
The Windows Phone 8 will feature a shared Windows Core. This essentially means the Windows Phone 8 will ship with the same set of components like the kernel, graphics support, as a Windows computer or tablet. Multi-core support will be coming to the Windows Phone 8, first in the form of dual-core. There will also be multiple screen resolution support including WVGA, WXGA and 720p. Lastly on the hardware side you will see MicroSD support.
2. Internet Explorer 10
In the Windows Phone 8 Internet Explorer 10 will come installed featuring anti-phishing filter (SmartScreen), faster JavaScript performance and more HTML5 feature support. Additionally HTML5 support will now include Touch support.
3. Native Code: Killer Games
Both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 will share the same game drivers. This means it will be easy for Windows 8 developers to port games over to the Windows Phone 8. This means not only will it make it much easier to bring apps/games over to the Windows Phone 8, but they will come faster and run like no games we have seen before.
4. Near Field Communication (NFC) Support
Microsoft announced that the Windows Phone 8 will feature better sharing with near field communication, but they did not go into detail on exactly what this meant. Later into the presentation however, we learned it will give you the opportunity to share information between phones and other Windows devices (Microsoft’s version of Android Beam). For example, just by touching another Windows phone or tablet you can create a P2P connection.
5. The Most Complete Wallet Experience
Windows Phone 8 will come with the most complete wallet experience. Essentially their goal is to effectively replace the whole wallet, not just the payments. You’ll have access to mobile payments, loyalty and membership cards, saved deals, and NFC ‘tap to pay.’ As for security Windows Phone 8 will offer secure elements for mobile payments on the SIM (new secure SIM cards will be coming out, the first from Orange).
6. Nokia Map Technology
Windows Phone 8 will include built-in Nokia map technology which will include features such as offline map support, map control for devs, turn-by-turn and NAVTEQ map data.
7. Windows 8 For Business
A lot of businesses have been dissatisfied with using Windows phones, but these concerns have been addressed in Windows Phone 8. Support for encryption, secure boot and bit locker technology will be coming, and of course familiar Office apps.
8. The Start Screen
The start screen will change dramatically in Windows Phone 8, with live tiles being the heart and sole of the phone. Joe said “Live tiles make a phone more personal to you than any other platform, it’s like a unique fingerprint that resembles each and every one of our users.” You can actually set the size of any of the tiles on your start screen. The idea here is to offer a consistent experience between WP8 tiles and Metro tiles on Windows 8.
There you have it! Windows 8 is set to see some dramatic hardware and software improvements over Windows Phone 7. The question that is now on everyone’s mind is will it be enough to compete in the competitive mobile market. I will now turn it over to you guys in the comments section below to discuss what you think of the new Windows Phone 8.
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