Microsoft confirms no upgrade path to Windows Phone 8, unveils 7.8 for legacy devices

Posted on 20/06/2012 by James Trew

The debate can now be laid to rest: devices currently running on Windows Phone 7.5 will not be on the receiving end of the long-awaited Apollo update (aka Windows Phone 8). But that doesn't mean those smartphones are at the end of the line. It's long been speculated that the reason Microsoft would want to restrict WP8 to new phones is primarily due to improvements in hardware support and the change in platform architecture, and this conjecture appears to be right on the money. After all, how can single-core devices with WVGA screens take advantage of multi-core and additional resolution support? That part makes sense, but that leaves the software side.

So here's the plan to ensure current Windows Phone users stay happy: a few software benefits will be included in WP8, and a hearty helping of these killer features (such as the new Start screen) will be available to legacy devices in the form of Windows Phone 7.8. There'll be support for three tile sizes, with the smallest being fingertip size (a quarter of the standard square). The update will be delivered directly to users, sidestepping carriers, and can be done over WiFi.

Update: While Microsoft was keen to announce that 7.x apps will run on Windows Phone 8, ZDNet has just confirmed, via a statement from Redmond, that apps built for the new platform won't be backwards compatible:

"New applications compiled specifically for Windows Phone 8 will not be made available for Windows Phone 7.x devices."

To check out the latest updates from Microsoft's Windows Phone event, visit our liveblog!

Microsoft confirms no upgrade path to Windows Phone 8, unveils 7.8 for legacy devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Phone 8 introduces new Start screen

Posted on 20/06/2012 by Billy Steele

Yes, Windows Phone 8 is coming later this year, and it introduces some important changes to the user interface. The most noticeable is probably the new Start screen, which offers more customization and makes more efficient use of its real estate. As a user, you'll be able to choose any tile and tweak its appearance to suit your sensibilities. Sizing can be configured with a resize arrow while in customization mode and offers the option of small, medium or double-wide tiles that span the entire width of the display. All current applications will be automatically designed for small and medium versions by default and devs will be able to dive in to add support for the larger options should they feel the need to do so -- something that until today was reserved for Microsoft and its partners / carriers. What's that? You want more colors? Yeah, you'll get those too.

Gallery: Windows Phone 8 Start screen

To check out the latest updates from Microsoft's Windows Phone event, visit our liveblog!

Windows Phone 8 introduces new Start screen originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Phone 8 to use Nokia map data with built-in turn-by-turn navigation (update: deals too)

Posted on 20/06/2012 by Jon Fingas

You won't have to use a Lumia phone any longer to get Nokia's mapping expertise: Microsoft just announced that Nokia's map technology is being built into Windows Phone 8. Along with the requisite NAVTEQ map information, it'll carry many of the things that Nokia Drive users love so well, including offline map support, developer control over maps, and (you guessed it) turn-by-turn directions. That makes three major mobile platforms that have or will have driving directions baked in from the start -- it's now becoming par for the course rather than an advantage to lord over others.

Update: Along with core navigation, there will also be support for Microsoft's new deals feature as part of the mapping update, so you'll know when the coffee house around the corner is discounting cappuccinos.

To check out the latest updates from Microsoft's Windows Phone event, visit our liveblog!

Windows Phone 8 to use Nokia map data with built-in turn-by-turn navigation (update: deals too) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MS teases Windows Phone 8 enterprise features: Company Hub, encryption, secure boot, IT management

Posted on 20/06/2012 by Zach Honig

At today's Windows Phone Summit, Microsoft alluded to some of the next-gen OS' enterprise features, including a trusted shared Windows core, encryption, secure boot and IT device management. Company VP Joe Belfiore recognized that some business users haven't been satisfied with the operating system's previous suite of enterprise features, and that definitely appears to be one focus of Windows Phone 8. BitLocker Drive Encryption will provide support for device security, while IT administrators will have have the ability to push apps to handsets while sidestepping the Marketplace. Office will also have a greater presence in Windows Phone 8, though we don't know exactly how that will play out just yet. Enterprise clearly hasn't been a primary target of Microsoft's mobile OS to date, but that could very well change beginning this fall.

There's also a new Company Hub feature, which will allow companies their own app distribution pipe, as well as giving IT administrators the ability to highlight specific things depending on what's important to their organization. With so many Windows machines in the workplace, it's pretty smart for Microsoft to take a serious dive into this stuff, and it's honestly really slick. There's also a Microsoft IT app, which the company claims will be provided in template form so that outfits can tweak it to fit specific needs.

To check out the latest updates from Microsoft's Windows Phone event, visit our liveblog!

Continue reading MS teases Windows Phone 8 enterprise features: Company Hub, encryption, secure boot, IT management

MS teases Windows Phone 8 enterprise features: Company Hub, encryption, secure boot, IT management originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft brings NFC payments and loyalty cards to Windows Phone 8

Posted on 20/06/2012 by Donald Melanson

Well it looks like Google Wallet and Apple's Passbook have some new competition. Today at the Windows Phone Developer Summit, Microsoft shared its plans to bring NFC payments and loyalty cards to Windows Phone 8 with its very own mobile wallet feature. It's promising that it will be the "most complete wallet experience" on any phone. That of course includes support for tap-to-pay, the ability to link credit and debit cards, integration with third-party apps and, more uniquely, secure elements on the SIM card rather than the phone itself. You'll also have a PIN code option to protect all purchases on the phone.

As for partners, Orange France is the only one that Microsoft has announced today, but it says that it expects to have a "good solution" with the US carrier-backed Isis initiative sometime next year (though not in time for launch). What's more, the wallet will come loaded on every Windows Phone 8 device, regardless of whether the carrier supports the SIM-based security, which will let folks use at least some of the features.

Check out the latest updates from Microsoft's Windows Phone event in our liveblog!

Gallery: Windows Phone 8 NFC

Gallery: Windows Phone 8 Wallet

Microsoft brings NFC payments and loyalty cards to Windows Phone 8 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft unveils Internet Explorer 10 for Windows Phone, very similar to the desktop

Posted on 20/06/2012 by Terrence O'Brien

How do you perfectly compliment a brand new mobile operating system? Why with a brand new browser designed to handle the modern web. Microsoft just took the wraps off Internet Explorer 10 for Windows Phone, and it looks to be a significant upgrade over the version that came bundled with Mango. In fact, it borrows quite heavily from its desktop sibling. The SmartScreen anti-phishing filter has finally been ported to the mobile space and performance is through the roof. Javascript performance has improved four-fold compared to Mango and HTML5 performance has doubled since Windows Phone 7.5. Microsoft was even willing to put the browser through its SunSpider paces on stage, hitting a blindingly fast 1,200ms. By comparison, the Galaxy S III only managed 1,460ms in our review. Perhaps most importantly for a primarily touch-driven device, though, IE 10 now includes touch support for HTML5 apps. We'd say that Microsoft has more than closed the mobile browser gap.

Microsoft unveils Internet Explorer 10 for Windows Phone, very similar to the desktop originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Phone 8 to support multi-core CPUs, HD resolutions, SD cards and NFC

Posted on 20/06/2012 by Jon Fingas

Microsoft is on stage at the Windows Phone Developer Summit offering us a bite of what's to come in Windows Phone 8, and one of the tastiest morsels may just be the noticeably more diverse hardware it will support. The new platform won't just support dual-core processors -- it will support as many as 64 cores, should such massively parallel chips come to exist in the platform's lifetime. Also gone is that long-criticized 800 x 480 display resolution ceiling: if phone builders like, they can either opt for the increasingly common 1280 x 720 or a rarer 1280 x 768. A few subtler feature parities are coming with the upgrade, such as NFC for tags and payments as well as a long, long requested support for SD cards beyond the crude initial expansion. All told, Microsoft just brought Windows Phone right up to hardware parity with its biggest rivals, and possibly a bit beyond.

To check out the latest updates from Microsoft's Windows Phone event, visit our liveblog!

Gallery: Windows Phone 8 Hardware

Windows Phone 8 to support multi-core CPUs, HD resolutions, SD cards and NFC originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 share lots of code, NT kernel

Posted on 20/06/2012 by Terrence O'Brien

It's not a complete surprise, but it's still a little bit shocking that it's actually happening -- Windows Phone 8 will be borrowing much of its code base, including the kernel, from Windows 8. At the heart of the latest mobile OS from Microsoft is the full-fledged NT kernel. It's not just a kernel though, the so-called "Shared Windows Core" extends to the file system, security infrastructure, etc... The obvious benefit here is to streamline the creation of a coherent ecosystem. Developers will be able to easily create apps and drivers that can jump from the phone, to the tablet and to the desktop. Only having to write a driver once should also simplify the process of building hardware, meaning manufacturers won't have to tailor GPU code to a phone and start again on the desktop. They OSes even share a substantial chunk of browser code, finally bringing Windows Phone up to parity with its desktop IE progenitors. For enterprise users and IT departments, Microsoft has brought over Secure Boot, BitLocker and some serious encryption. We'd say it's about time that Redmond finally brought all its Windows power to the mobile space.

Thanks to the sharing of C and C++ libraries, Direct X components and SQLite support, developers can actually write an app once and move it from one platform to another with only a few code tweaks. In fact, thanks to the Shared Windows Core, pretty much the only major difference for coders is screen resolution and size. Obviously, a 4-inch 720p display isn't the same as a 1080p 10-inch tablet, but the Direct X graphics engine is -- and that, friends, can make all the difference.

Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 share lots of code, NT kernel originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft introduces Windows Phone 8 for fall release, incompatible with current devices

Posted on 20/06/2012 by Tim Stevens

Microsoft has finally and officially removed the wraps from the OS formerly known as Apollo. It's now just Windows Phone 8 and, at their "sneak peek" event we're learning a good bit about that OS, and some of the great new hardware support that it offers. But, there's one thing we want to make clear right away: if you're currently holding a Windows Phone device you won't be getting a taste of this action. Well, not unless you buy a new phone, that is. That back and forth about upgrade paths has been proven to be incorrect, as the hardware requirements for WP8 preclude its running on any current WP device -- even that hot blue Lumia 900 you got for a steal.

Gallery: Windows Phone 8 Start screen

And what are those hardware requirements? As detailed here, multi-core processors (up to 64) are now allowable, displays up to WXGA (1280 x 768) and external storage on SD. This better, faster hardware will enable new, faster games and other demanding apps which, for the first time, can be written in native code. (Well, it's C/C++, which at least lets developers get out of CLR land.) All this will run on a kernel shared with Windows 8 and Windows RT. In other words: yes, Microsoft has managed to get one platform running on desktops, laptops, tablets and phones, the idea being that apps can be more easily ported from one to the next, promising "games we've never seen before" running on your phones.

Gallery: Windows Phone 8 NFC demo

There's also a new wallet functionality thanks to the NFC support, as detailed here, but reliant on an augmented SIM, not hardware on the phone itself. This means carriers won't have to remove apps (as we've seen with Google Wallet in the past) but they can block support altogether. Nokia maps is now built into the OS, including offline map support.

This is a big step forward on many levels, but Microsoft is naturally sticking to its roots, promising enterprise-ready security and support, enabling admins to deploy and restrict apps on corporate-provided phones and manage them remotely. There's also encryption and secure booting integrated.

It's all set to arrive this fall, which just so happens to be when Windows 8 (and those fancy new Surface tablets) will start shipping, too.

Follow the liveblog of the event here!

Gallery: Windows Phone 8