With the release of the new Lumia devices from Nokia and the ATIV S from Samsung, the Windows Phone 8 platform is definitely set to be released in the mainstream market. Microsoft is planning to unveil it formally on October 29th in San Francisco. Three weeks from now, one of the most awaited smartphone platforms is going to be up for grabs and while it’s unveiling may not be like the release of the iPhone 5 by Apple, it will still be a groundbreaking event. Windows Phone 8 boasts of several impressive features and improvements over the previous version and represents a generation shift in technology for the platform (from Windows CE kernel to Windows NT).
One of the most exciting features of the new platform is that it is going to feature Near-Field Communication. NFC is still in its nascent stages, but promises to be the next big thing in mobile commerce. The design of the new operating system is also quite different and features a new start screen that covers the entire width of the phone. Moreover, there will be support for a variety of colors and in-app purchases that weren’t available in Windows Phone 7. The company has also prioritized customer privacy and included an application similar to a digital wallet to store confidential financial data.
As far as technical details go, the new OS will feature support for multicore processors, which means that Windows Phone 8 devices are going to get more powerful with dual and quad core processors. In addition, updates are going to be offered over the air without the need for hooking up with a computer. The similarities between the Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 for tablets and PCs are quite narrow and WP8 will provide great opportunities for easy synchronization and greater interoperability of apps.
There is one downside regarding Windows Phone 8, though. Users currently running Windows Phone 7 cannot upgrade to the new version. This is because WP8 is designed to run on an entirely new kernel (Windows NT) and is optimized for dual core processors and different hardware from Windows Phone 7 devices. Microsoft is trying to appease customers by releasing a Windows Phone 7.8 update which will bring the new start screen to WP7 devices. However, no major OS changes will be carried over from WP8 to the 7.8 update.
