Microsoft Officially Unveils Windows Phone 8

Microsoft officially announced Windows Phone 8 at an event in San Francisco. Microsoft previewed new features of its upcoming Windows Phone 8 mobile operating system.

I will give you a quick glance of the new changes and improvements in WP8:

1) New Kernel: The biggest change is in WP8′s kernel. Now it shares the same kernel with Windows 8.

2) New Start Screen: The new start screen will have resizable tiles — double-wide, regular, and small. All tiles can be resized by the user. So now a lot of information can be packed onto the start screen.

3) Internet Explorer 10: Windows Phone 8 will launch with Internet Explorer 10, which will have a lot of functionalities from the desktop browser. It will have anti-phishing support, faster JavaScript performance and enhanced support for webpages built with HTML5.

4) Native NFC Support: The WP8 will have full native support for NFC and will support 3rd party apps too. Microsoft is also adding in-app purchasing to Windows Phone apps, tied into the Wallet.

5) Multi-Core Support: Windows Phone 8 will support multi-core processors thanks to the shared Windows 8 kernel. For this fall, Microsoft will focus on dual-cores and in future quad-core devices will come.

6) Improved Multitasking: Multitasking in WP8 is improved and now will enable seamless VoIP and video calls. Third party apps can use it too. Location based apps can now work in the background.

7) A New Speech Platform: Apple’s Siri has now a competitor. Not only does it come with improved system-wide virtual assistant, but third party developers will also be able to use and develop on Microsoft’s speech platform and add voice commands to their apps. In its own words, Microsoft wants you to have a dialogue with each app.

8) New Screen Resolutions: Microsoft even upped the screen resolutions that we’ll be seeing on upcoming Windows Phones: the options are 800×480 pixels (with a 15:9 aspect ratio); 1,280×768 (15:9); and 1,280×720 (16:9).

10) Integrated Nokia Maps: Windows 8 will omit Bing Maps in favor of Nokia Maps. This feature will include turn-by-turn directions and the option to save maps for offline use.

11) Native Code Support: Windows Phone 8 will also support native code development which will make porting stuffs like graphic intensive games to Windows Phone 8 a breeze.

12) Ready for Business: Windows Phone 8 will appeal to corporate users with secure boot and BitLocker encryption. It will also allow administrators to manage devices remotely and push apps to them.

13) New Update Method: Unlike WP7, WP8 updates will be distributed over the air (OTA).

14) Removable Storage Support: Windows Phone 8 will have support for removable storage. So external storage on SD card is possible.

We will let you know more about Windows Phone 8. Stay tuned…