TeddyK
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Microsoft has made it all but official now that there will be a launch event on October 29 to finally lift the curtain on Windows Phone 8. This will also mark the first time Microsoft shows off what the new operating system is capable of.
The event will be held in San Francisco and come three days after the official launch of Windows 8 for computers and tablets. The mobile OS is built on the same foundation, so expect to see these tie in together much more moving forward. That is the ultimate vision at Microsoft, of course — having tablets, smartphones and PCs running on the same OS, making it possible to pick up where you left off from one device to another. No one else has made that happen, so if they can do it, it would be a big win for Microsoft.
At this point, little is known about Windows Phone 8. I got a look at what the home screen looks like at the HTC Windows event in New York a couple weeks ago, plus a glimpse of the camera features, but that’s about it. .
The key thing to note here is that this is a fresh start for Windows Phone. Apps that worked on Windows Phone 7 would have to be retooled to work with 8. The reason why is because the hardware requirements have changed. Windows Phone 7 handsets were limited in screen resolution and processing power, meaning that they couldn’t have HD displays nor dual-core processors.
This means we’ll finally see proper multitasking on this OS, as well as other unique features that might fit in with Xbox and Windows PCs. As is, only about 2,500 apps have been confirmed for the Marketplace, but that number should grow even before launch day.
HTC and Nokia have already unveiled their Windows Phone 8 handsets. The fact they kind of look alike is going to be interesting later on. Even so, the Windows Phone 8X and Lumia 920 look to be great phones, so this could be a good start for Microsoft’s mobile OS. Lagging behind in fourth place, they need it.
