With the announcement of Windows Phone 8 from Microsoft, there has been a rather mixed response to the event. For some, it was a pleasant one, seeing Windows Phone 8 as a powerful OS, but for others, especially the existing Windows Phone 7 users, it was a rather unpleasant gift from Microsoft, claiming that the Windows Phone 8 will not be compatible with the existing Windows Phone 7 devices. Though Microsoft has its reasons for claiming so, yet it is the set of Windows Phone 7 users who are at stake.
Nonetheless, Windows Phone 8 seems to be the latest sensation from Microsoft, and we will take a short, but comprehensive tour over the latest features of Windows Phone 8. Nicknamed Apollo, Windows Phone 8 has got some hardware changes associated with it too. Microsoft has managed to include more OEMs. Moreover, a new multicore chipset, modem system architecture, an enhanced graphics processor, removable storage and a lot of NFC-dependent features, are part of the very reason why Windows Phone 8 will not be compatible with Windows Phone 7 devices. But a soothing news for the Windows Phone 7.5 users is that most of the features of Windows Phone 8 will be available in Windows Phone 7.8 version for the Windows Mango suers.
One of the latest improvements in Windows Phone 8 is the new start screen. With this, the users will be allowed to configure live tiles according to their preferences. Apart from this, there is support for Windows 8 app portability, according to which, Windows 8 and Windows phone 8 will share the same kernel, and thus with very less effort we can port app across both platforms. Because of the necessity of NFC hardware for Windows Phone 8, the new NFC (Wallet) is sure to be a boon.
Moreover, Windows Phone 8 will use the more secure Internet Explorer 10, and will have Nokia Maps on all WP8 devices (even non-Nokia ones). Some of the other features coming up on WP8 are true multitasking (like in Android), company hub, built-in voice recognition and speech capabilities, and Skype/VoIP integration.
So, wait for more updates on WP8. To watch WP8 summit keynote video, click here.
