windowsphonedevelopersummit
Latest
Microsoft unveils Internet Explorer 10 for Windows Phone, very similar to the desktop
How do you perfectly complement 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.
Windows Phone 8 to support multi-core CPUs, HD resolutions, SD cards and NFC
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-158713%
Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 share lots of code, NT kernel
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.
Microsoft introduces Windows Phone 8 for fall release, incompatible with current devices
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-158719% 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-158726% 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-158711%
