Today, Microsoft Corp has announced the latest version of its mobile operating system, Windows Phone 8.
This latest version comes with many improvements and it aims to attract users and developers to gain better market share. Company also announced that Windows Phone 8 would share core code with its upcoming windows 8. Previous versions of Windows Phone were based on Microsoft’s old mobile OS, Windows CE.
This version of Windows Phone is called with codenamed ‘Apollo’. Company did not disclosed when it is planning to release this operating system.
Windows Phone 8 adds support for many new hardware features. The most anticipated is support for multi-core devices, which have become common on both Android and iOS platforms. There’s also support for better screen resolutions, including 720p and 1,280 x 768 (WXGA). That’s not quite retina, but it’s better than the 800 x 480 screen of the Nokia Lumia 900, one of the current leading Windows Phones.
On top of that, the new Windows Phones include support for external storage in the form of microSD cards as well as NFC. This will allow your phone to replace a lot of things that you used to keep in your wallet (all WP8 phones will have the NFC hub). Microsoft bragged that their NFC wallet is better than Google’s because the security is handled by the SIM card instead of the phone itself. The Wallet will debut on Orange France.
As expected, Windows Phone 8 will use Nokia’s mapping services. The map data can be stored on the phone, so you can use it offline. All third-party apps can use Nokia’s services, even offline.
Microsoft has also added a Siri like app in the Windows Phone 8. This app is called Audible. It can be controlled with speech commands like searching and playing songs. developers can also build apps to take advantage of this features.
Microsoft has also signed a deal to supply the software for Nokia phones in an attempt to increase sales. The company also mentioned that the platform is not compatible with current Windows Phone devices.
