Interested in some Windows Phone 8 Apollo information on a Thursday afternoon? A pair of reports from Pocketnow and Paul Thurrott of WinSuperSite claim to have some details on Windows Phone 8, the former of which has allegedly gotten hold of a video starring Microsoft's own Windows Phone manager Joe Belfiore that's intended for partners at Nokia. So what kinds of goodies can we expect from the next major version of Windows Phone? There's quite a bit of information to digest, so let's break it down.
Hardware-wise, we're told that Microsoft's theme for Windows Phone 8 will be "scale and choice." The updated OS will reportedly bring with it several more hardware options than are currently available with Windows Phone, including support for multi-core processors, new form factors, and a total of four different screen resolution options. Also coming to Windows Phone 8 is support for removable microSD cards and NFC radios that'll bring contactless payments.
On the software side of things, Microsoft is expecting there to be 100,000 apps available in the Windows Phone Marketplace by the time WP8 launches. Pocketnow believes that a Skype client will be able to integrate into the OS, but Thurrott claims that the app will be separate. Also, the camera app in Windows Phone 8 will reportedly be able to be skinned by OEMs or overlayed with third-party viewfinders.
Another major feature that's allegedly covered in the leaked video is a tool dubbed DataSmart, which will allow users to track and reduce their cellular data usage, which will be done by prioritizing Wi-Fi connections along with server-side compression built in to Internet Explorer 10. Lastly, Windows Phone 8 will unsurprisingly feature a high-level of integration with Windows 8 on PCs. That includes an easy way for developers to port apps from Windows 8 to Windows Phone 8, a new companion syncing app that'll replace the desktop Zune software, and SkyDrive support that'll allow users to share their data across devices.
Overall it sounds like Microsoft's got quite a bit planned for Windows Phone 8, but that shouldn't come as much of a surprise considering that we've heard that the update's been described as a "very different game" compared to Windows Phone 7.5 Mango. With the impending arrival of devices like the Nokia Lumia 900 and HTC Titan II as well as this massive Windows Phone 8 leak, it definitely seems like it's a good time to be a fan of Microsoft's mobile platform. Here's to hoping that we get more details on Windows Phone 8 soon. What do you all make of this leaked info? Do you folks that have avoided Windows Phone so far think that you could be convinced to check Windows Phone 8 out if these details hold true?
Via Pocketnow, WinSuperSite