This has been the week of Microsoft. Earlier this week, the company announced its upcoming tablet called “Microsoft Surface” which is set to change the definition of the Tablet computers.
And now, Microsoft have managed to grab the stage again to introduce a new product, the next version of its mobile operating system – Windows Phone 8 which is also code-named “Apollo” . It comes with many new features that I’m going to describe below. The idea and concept of Windows Phone 8 is perhaps much more deeper than I’m thinking of. Perhaps the Windows Phone 8 is set to integrate deeply with Windows 8 Desktop version.It is said to be available within Q3 or Q4 this year.
The main features of the operating system are :
a) New and Better Home Screen : The most attractive thing I feel in Windows 8 and Windows Phone 7 is the home screen. Its my favorite without a doubt.
In Windows Phone 7, we have got a problem. When we add too many applications to the homescreen, scrolling becomes a bit tough. It takes far too long to reach the end.
The good news is that the problem has been well taken care of in Windows Phone 8. In the homescreen, all tiles are scalable. That means the tiles can be made smaller to fit the entire width or space within the screen. Changing size is really easy with the arrow in the lower corner of the application on the homescreen.
b)Shared technology between Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 (the Kernel file system) : It allows resource sharing between the desktop and the mobile and its very important for the developers. With Windows 8 apps, you will be able to bring PC to the phone.
c) Support for Multi-core proccessors : Now you don’t need to buy an iPhone 4S or an Android based phone to enjoy the multi-core processors. Now Windows Phone 8 supports multi-core processors and you will be seeing lots of multi-core processor powered phones in the near future with Windows Phone 8.
d) MicroSD card support : Wow ! One more feature added to Windows 8 which I was missing very badly in Windows Mango. Now, you can have lots of storage space.
e) Internet Explorer 10 : IE 10 reached the mobile platform this time. It includes new features aside from the obvious improvements in rendering and speed. It also improves support for HTML5.
f) New screen resolutions : Now, we have 3 new screen resolutions; 800 x 480 at 15:9, 1280×720 at 15:9 and 1280×768 at 16:9. The old applications will automatically adapt to the new screen resolutions.
g) Apps with native code and support for DirectX : Another key improvement, developers can program games for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 at a time. As resources are shared between these two platforms, it allows unifications of the platforms which is very very beneficial from developer point of view. In the coming days, we are going to see more and better applications in the Windows App marketplace.
h) Improved support for NFC : Microsoft has done well with NFC in Windows Phone 8, not only in terms of property and support from the software or hardware, but includes an application thats acts like a vitual wallet and is based on SIM, unlike Google Wallet.
i) Nokia Maps : The improvised version of Nokia Maps will be found in Windows Phone 8, which was previously seen in some specific phone models like the Nokia Lumia series.
j) Business environment ready : The opearting system is enhanced with features which makes it ready for the business class.
k) Shopping within applications : Now this is something which was previously limited to iOS and Android have now reached the Windows Platform. It will allow developers accept payment from the applications themselves, like a payment to upgrade an existing application to its ad free pro version.
l) Speech Commands : Its a SIRI like platform for Windows which is somehow better than SIRI as it provides API for easy integration.
Microsoft Windows Phone 8, also code-named Apollo is really interesting setup of new features and improvements. We hope to see more of it in the coming days. By the way, its a good job Microsoft. Kudos to the team.
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