Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, in its attempt to catch up with Apple and Google, has introduced a newer version for its mobile OS, Windows Phone 8.
Windows Phone 8, which is slated to release later this year, comes with same core software code as the new Windows 8 operating system running on personal computers, Terry Myerson, corporate vice president of Windows Phone, said at an event in San Francisco today.
Four manufactures Nokia, Samsung, Huawei and HTC will launch devices when Windows Phone 8 debuts, reports the company. But the news that might disappoint all Windows phone users is that the latest OS will not be provided in the existing smartphones.
For the existing users, however, the company has provided some upgade to the existing 7.5 Mango and calls it Windows Phone 7.8. According to Nokia, the 7.8 update will come to Lumia 900 in just a few weeks.
According to Myerson, Windows Phone 8, known as Apollo, will do what Windows 7 could not do for the company in last 18 months since its launch - overcoming the platform's inability and bridging the gap between them and major players like Apple and Google.
Will Myerson be right in predicting the future of the latest Microsoft OS? Can Windows Phone 8 surely live up to the company's expectation? While answers to these questions have to wait till the launch of the OS, let's see the features that, according to us, are the best five offered by the software giant:
1. Multi-Core CPU Support: It is delayed but finally it is here. Windows is perhaps the last to join the bandwagons of operating systems that support multi-core CPUs. The latest OS will support dual-core and multi-core processors.
2. Start Screen with Live Tiles: Microsoft has redesigned the start screen and has provided Live Tiles, which according to Joe Belfiore, Microsoft vice president, "the heart and soul of our product."
User can resize each individual live tile from the start screen to one of three sizes and can keep as many as 24 tiles on a single screen. With this new feature, Microsoft has given users more freedom and greater control over the looks of their phone.
CNET has reported that Microsoft has also provided support for new color themes, but didn't list.
