Windows Phone 8 Unveiled: Hot New Features

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Shared code is very interesting. Budding devs May pick up Apollo after all. Posted all features in Te Latest Technology Category.

Now i feel that MS is takin things seriously
 
If android was fragmented, this is totally haphazard.

So if a person spend 25k on a lame wp device he/she won't be able to upgrade. And IMO wp8 should be the wp7 cause most of the features launched/debuted with it are so lame that even a low end 5k droid device has it.

Atleast ios and android are on par and way ahead of wp platform interms of stability and feature set.
 
Somebody at TDF said the home screen could get messy. I don't think he's wrong about that.

2h7ffnl.png
 
Dark Star said:
If android was fragmented, this is totally haphazard.

So if a person spend 25k on a lame wp device he/she won't be able to upgrade. And IMO wp8 should be the wp7 cause most of the features launched/debuted with it are so lame that even a low end 5k droid device has it.

Atleast ios and android are on par and way ahead of wp platform interms of stability and feature set.
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You have got to be kidding me! :P

The only features old phones dont get are the ones related to hardware! They cant magically put hardware in your phone. Just cause they are honest and cal it wp7.8 and conniving apple calls it ios6, dont fall for the terms, see beneath them..

---------- Post added at 12:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:43 AM ----------

I for one love the new home screen! :D Its like a sexy mashup of widgets and icons in one. Very functional and chic, love it.
 
Dark Star said:
If android was fragmented, this is totally haphazard.

So if a person spend 25k on a lame wp device he/she won't be able to upgrade. And IMO wp8 should be the wp7 cause most of the features launched/debuted with it are so lame that even a low end 5k droid device has it.

Atleast ios and android are on par and way ahead of wp platform interms of stability and feature set.
Click to expand...


Firstly, Android and iOS are pretty much going the same way. If the phone doesn't have an NFC chip, are you going to run a software for that? Isn't that kind of obvious that your old phone will not support it.

Microsoft's Greg Sullivan -
"When you pull that Lumia out of your pocket after you've received that 7.8 update, it will look and feel the same as a Windows Phone 8 device," claims Sullivan. "Because you don't have a multicore chip and don't have some of these other elements, it didn't make sense for us to make those investments for devices that couldn't really exploit them."
Click to expand...

You are being exceptionally harsh and unreasonable. Are you really comparing the new innovative features promised in WP8 to a low 5k droid device in terms of stability and real-world usage?

Please elaborate on the fragmentation part. Microsoft is treading the fine line between a closed and an open-like-a-pack-of-wild-dogs ecosystem pretty well.

Please read this before commenting further - Windows Phone 8 in detail: new Start Screen, multi-core support, VoIP integration, and NFC | The Verge

- Developers don't have to develop new versions of their apps. MS will take care of it internally.
- Their app will run with little extra coding on the entire MS ecosystem - XBox, Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 OS.
- Inbuilt NFC support into the OS and tie-up with carriers. Not really applicable here but they have combined the results of Apple and Google with their system.
- Removable microSD card
- Inbuilt VOIP integration. Not only Skype, any and every VOIP call incoming will show up as a normal phone call inbuilt in the OS.
- Maps powered by Nokia now; probably the best in the market. Includes turn-by-turn navigation.
- Location apps can run in the background. True multi-tasking.
-Developers can integrate speech response and recognition directly into apps for Windows Phone 8

These are just some of the features, as clarified by MS. They have not revealed the end-user experience right now.

Now, before you go and compare this with Android, please try to understand that these features mean jack-shit when your phone is hanging all the time and you are struggling with new ROMs trying to find the perfect fit. I'm talking about practically anything below the 20k price range.

Windows will have a superb OOB experience with all these features. And that will make it stand in a league of its own. And the lowest priced phone with these features will be much cheaper than the new iPhone 5.

PS: How it eventually turn out to be depends on a lot of factors.. but it is really looking good right now!

---------- Post added at 01:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:33 AM ----------
comp@ddict said:
Somebody at TDF said the home screen could get messy. I don't think he's wrong about that.

2h7ffnl.png
Click to expand...


I really wouldn't want to make a generalized statement on that. You can still have all tiles sized medium you know. You are now given the option to make it messy which some users might like.. me being one! :)
 
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Dark Star - Thats a bit harsh on WP8. Android didnt have many features in the earlier iterations and picked up steam only with 2.xx
IMO WP is also entering that stage and this update is similar to Eclair/Froyo of Android. Now almost all the basic needs are covered.

'Shared code' is very exciting too. Hoping WP8 picks up steam over the next year and a 3 way OS race starts :D

As Party Monger says they at least didnt go with iOS 6 route saying you will get WP8 with only with reduced features. They are being honest and that should be appreciated. Even flagships in Android are supported beyond couple of generations. Google themselves didn't upgrade their Nexus One to ICS when lesser hardware have got ICS! (May be ROM limitations but still)

As of now IMO WP8 is shaping up to be the best of both worlds IMO (iOS and Android) It has microSD support, multiple manufacturers like android.
Direct update to phones without waiting for manufacturer/carrier and a smoother OS experience like the iOS.

Not everyone are going to go the custom ROM route. It is hardly 1%-2% of the mobile phone buyers that are enthusiasts. Better OOB experience counts a lot. I agree with Sei that MS is doing a decent job by trying to find some sort of middle ground between the 'put our OS in any h/w you want' Android model and 'we release only one model per year. Take it or leave it' iOS model.

Very excited. If they manage to release phone similar to Sola with a Snapdragon S3 and below 20k I would happily pick that over Sola any day and would recommend the same to less techy friends (Given they add more free/cheaper games in the future ;))
 
Saw this coming to be honest. As expected Microsoft is closing the gap between Windows RT and Windows phone 8. The only bummer is kick in pants of those who bough high end devices this year so far received with this.
7.8 will bring UI tweaks to them and that is fine. But that will be end of it from the looks of it. The forward compatibility is maintained, but the fact that apps made for WP8 wont be backward compatible is a big blow to existing customers which are basically early adopters who put faith in them and WP. Lot of them mainly did so because they assumed the upgrade path wont be but like this.

Other than that, there noting more to complain about Apollo than the existing 7.5
I still hate tiles and vertical endless scrolling. At least we can now have smaller tiles to use the space more effectively. But there is a reason why humanity moved to books from scrolls. ;)
I am surprised we dont yet have pages instead of the scrolling. That is one of the reasons even my dad for frustrated with WP7 in the end and switched to Android and is now comfortable with it.
Its more problematic on small screen devices like phone. On tablet and desktop, this is fine and ok.

But it was the right time to do the reset if there was any. With huge shift in company policy that is coming with Windows 8, this makes sense. I still dont like it, but it makes lot of sense for the company. Windows RT and Windows 8 gets thumbs up for tablets from me. Windows Phone 8 is still underwhelming, but would rather make up my mind after using it first hand.
 
Well, if they can make a WP8 device like Samsung Omnia W again at the 15k price tag. I'm serious. I'm game man, I'm game.

Got an android tablet. A windows phone would only add to the arsenal. Already used Symbian and Blackberry. Not keen on going back to them. iOS.. umm no I'll just stick to trying it out on the shops (closing my eyes when I see the price tag)
 
^ Even Mango has true multi-tasking but in order to conserve battery life and ensure smoothness of operation, it is limited to 5 and the apps get suspended. That's why the power users cringe so much.

MS has not elaborated on whether they plan to keep the existing 5-suspended-app multitasking in place or are revamping that too.

Secondly, regarding users who bought high-end phones and are worried about wp8 apps not running on their phone should be realistic. I think if the app utilizes the NFC chip, of course it won't run on your phone. But I think that apps will still be designed taking advantage of the windows 7.8 features that can run on wp7.8 and wp8 handsets.

I, for one, qm happy that I did not give in the temptation to pick up a htc tian.. :D
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