Rumors surfaced this week concerning Microsoft’s upcoming mobile operating system, Windows Phone 8. The rumors come from a leaked video featuring Joe Belfiore, a Microsoft senior vice president and manager of the Windows Phone project, and include a few obvious features as well as a particularly intriguing new initiative for Microsoft’s mobile phone division.
Most of the updates focus on scalability and versatility. For example, WP8 (codenamed “Apollo”) will support multicore processors, multiple screen resolutions, removable storage via MicroSD cards, and support for NFC radios. These changes seem to serve mostly as a catch-up measure to iOS and Android devices, which have historically beat Windows Phone in side-by-side hardware comparisons.
Data consumption seems to be another major component of Apollo. A feature called DataSmart will provide a breakdown of data usage, and will attempt to reduce consumption by giving Wi-Fi connections precedence and routing Internet Explorer web page requests through a proxy server for compression, which Belfiore claims could reduce data usage by 30%.
The most interesting detail from the leaked video is that Microsoft plans to unify Windows Phone 8 and the desktop version of Windows 8, going as far as to share a kernel, networking stacks, and security features such as BitLocker encryption. The goal of this unification is to allow developers to reuse large portions of their code between mobile and desktop versions of their software. Microsoft also intends to create a new, dedicated desktop application for syncing a WP8 device, dropping support for the Zune application and addressing a major complaint from users of the platform.
This move to unify the desktop and mobile versions of Windows could prove to be lucrative for Microsoft—if developers are able to easily port their apps to run on PCs, tablets and smartphones, they may flock to the Windows ecosystem to get the most exposure for their products. Since the Windows Phone ecosystem current trails Android and iOS in app selection by a factor of ten, this unification could boost WP device sales significantly.
Although Microsoft has traditionally lagged behind Apple and Google in the mobile phone sector, Windows Phone 8 may give the platform a much-needed advantage over its competition. We believe WP8 will be released sometime in mid-2012.
15 Responses to “Microsoft Windows Phone 8 Details Leak”
…and by the time they release it Apple and Google will be a dozen steps ahead of their catch up initiative.
Yes, the Windows phone is so far behind — that’s why countless reviews conclude it is the better choice vs. Android and Apple.
Yeah, because what reviewers say always dictates what the market decides: See Betamax, WebOS, Amiga, and dozens of other such products…
Reid, Have you actually tested the new Windows Phone? It smokes IOS. And I’ve every iPhone made, not anymore. The Mango 7.5 phone is so much more stable than either IOS or Android. And as intuitive as IOS could ever hope to be.
It could have the best OS inn the world, it’s over for windows. Just look at that home screen, it looks like it’s made for a 2 years old kid. Almost like Apple, kids toys.
Same would go for any other phone then. You are just pressing on a 2d icon.
I agree. The titles look very juvenile. I know some people like it but I find it very child-like.
so you’re complaint is the appearance? it is very easy to customize the appearance, and appearance means little to someone that actually lives (works) using the phone. I have never had a crash in 4 months of use now. My Galaxy crashed constantly, and my 4S needed to be re-booted about once a week. I understand that appearance is a personal matter, but to judge somethings worth alone on it is rather “juvenile”
The UI still looks like garbage.
Android rules.
With a statement like that, I’m guessing your room mate is Oscar the Grouch.
I don’t think i’ll ever own a windows phone, but I actually like the simplicity of the interface. I’m currently using an Evo 4g running Launcher 7 which mimicks the Windows desktop and i’m liking it a lot better than sense or CM7. As always it’s down to personal preference.
It’s so easy for people who love to slam Microsoft to complete dismiss their WP 7.5. The Mango up did for Microsoft what it took iOS and Android nearly 3 or 4 iterations of their OSes to achieve. So it is plausible to think that someday Microsoft will actually over take the other guys on the block (if they sit still and don’t continue to innovate); I would say, Yes. But (here’s my dig); when Microsoft gets within striking distance of iOS; Apple will just attempt to sue them for some shady practice to try and hold up the development and forward progress.
You do realize that Microsoft has been releasing mobile hardware for almost a decade now, right? They beat iOS and Android to market by a good 3-5 years, and STILL took the last 3 years to catch up… In one iteration? Yeah, I guess so — if you count one iteration being worked on for 5 years while customers of Windows Mobile 6.5 phones were left with useless hardware that was being sold as new, I guess…
I wouldn’t touch a windows phone with a ten foot finger.
How ignorant… I’ve owned android, IOS, and WP7. Windows Phone is the best out of all of them. Try not to speak if you haven’t even touched it.