All,
Many people were surprised a while back when Microsoft and Nokia joined forces to build the future platform for Microsoft targeted for Windows-based smart phone and Tablets.
Time passed, and it seems like a lot is going on in the Windows Phone platform.
Visual Studio Express with Windows Phone Tools was built, works great on Windows 7 OS.
Express Blend, Silver Light and many other tools became available for Windows phone developers, as well as XNA framework integration to the mobile platform.
In the latest MWC 2012 in Barcelona, the new Nokia Lumia devices were introduced (Lumia 900, 800, etc.) and few weeks later started to be sold.
Current OS version which runs on Windows phones is windows phone 7.5, however there are already news about the launch of the poweful Windows Phone 8 OS – which will be named Apollo, and will be released this coming Fall
http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/20/microsoft-introduces-windows-phone-8/
The bad news are that thew new OS will not be backward compatible with the current existing WP7.x devices which is disappointing and surprising (If this indeed will be the case).
For more reading on the windows phone 8 features and more – visit the Microsoft blog:
Basically, the additional enhancement for windows phone will be these:
- Multi-core processor support
- Bigger, sharper screens: Windows Phone 8 supports two new screen resolutions—1280×768 and 1280×720, opening the door to amazing new handsets with high-definition 720p displays.
- More flexible storage
- NFC wireless sharing
- Internet Explorer 10: The next version of Windows Phone comes with the same web browsing engine that’s headed for Window 8 PCs and tablets.
- Wallet: Windows Phone 8’s new digital Wallet feature does two great things. It can keep debit and credit cards, coupons, boarding passes, and other important info right at your fingertips.
- Better maps and directions
- Cooler apps and games: Basing Windows Phone 8 on the Windows core will unleash a new wave of amazing apps and especially games, for reasons I’ll touch on in a moment.
Saying all of that, we start to see more mobile OEM’s such as HTC, Huawei and Samsung which also declare about their plans to release WP based devices.
In a poll which asked questions about the new WP8 release, and its compare to Android and iOS, people answered as follows:
Are you impressed with the new Windows Phone 8?
- Yes, it brings some new cool features (35%, 166 Votes)
- It’s OK, but nothing to write home about (23%, 110 Votes)
- It’s not even close to Android ICS (20%, 95 Votes)
- Yes, it leaves Android in the dust (15%, 71 Votes)
- Underwhelming (7%, 39 Votes)
Total Voters: 481
This is how the WP8 start screen shall look like (More or less):
HTC press release from yesterday about their plans to release 3 new HTC devices running WP8 (“Rio”, “Zenith” and “Accord”):
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/06/report-three-htc-windows-phone-8-devices-in-the-works/
As mentioned above, Huawei also announced their plan to release a new WP8 device by the end of this year:
In case you wish to see live videos about the WP platform, features and more, visit the Youtube channel for WP:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0C88F4DC0C435D09
Since this is a Testing Blog, i would like to share an important link which holds information about tools which Microsoft provides for the testers (Certification tools, and more, called MPR – Microsoft Platform Ready tools – soon to be more relevant for the mobile platforms):
http://www.microsoftplatformready.com/dashboard.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=29945
Stay tuned for further news and updates.
Regards,
Eran Kinsbruner
Continuous Testing and DevOps Blog 