Buoyed by the success of the Nokia Lumia smartphones, Microsoft's Windows Phone 8-powered handsets are gaining popularity and the platform is fast emerging as a robust ecosystem, which could give Android and iOS stiff competition.
WP8 is undoubtedly an improvement over its predecessor, especially with the new NT Kernel, but there is plenty of room for improvement. Handy features which already exist in Microsoft's Windows 8 OS are notably missing in the mobile platform.
Here we take a look at five features we'd like the Redmond-based company to fix in Windows Phone 8:
1. Improved Xbox Gaming Integration
Microsoft has failed to utilize the potential of Xbox gaming on Windows. We're still waiting for the alleged integration of Xbox Live with the Kinect interface, which can turn your Windows Phone handset into a Kinect gaming system companion.
What's more, Microsoft was supposed to offer support for synchronous game play with Xbox 360 as well, but that didn't see the light of day either. This feature would have enabled users to play games on their Windows Phone devices and when they paused it, they could have resumed the game on their Xbox 360.
Surprisingly, Microsoft has been unable to leverage the Xbox 360 with Windows Phone, which would disappoint many fans. Microsoft Studios' Halo would have been a sure shot in drawing more consumers to the platform, but that too is notably absent.
Hopefully, Microsoft has been working on Xbox gaming integration and would bring it to Windows Phone this year.
2. Universal Search
Speculation was rife that both Windows Phone 7.5 Tango and Windows Phone 8 would soon get the universal search feature. But like most Microsoft suppositions, this functionality didn't see the light of day.
The notion of a universal function is not radical at all; however, it is a useful feature and is available in rival operating systems. Microsoft could easily integrate Bing search to the WP platform, making it easy peasy lemon squeezy for users to look for things on the device, as well as on the Internet.
To give Microsoft its due, the software giant has a nifty feature for Windows 8 which lets users sift through various apps. It could extend this to the mobile platform as well.
3. Folders
Downloading apps, tiles and pins to devices is pretty common and keeping them organized in separate folders is a practical need. Microsoft would do well to take a page out of iOS' and Android's books and have a ready solution for folders.
With the folder option at their disposal, users would be able to organize/group apps together for faster access. It would also de-clutter the home screen. Windows 8 has the "grouping" ability, so Microsoft could well extend it to Windows Phone too.
4. Click 'X' to Close Apps
A feature that one takes for granted (and which is possibly the most basic and simple one around) is the "X" tab that is used to close apps.
Presently, Microsoft does not have this option for the card view for multiple apps in Windows Phone. This feature is available for multiple tabs in Internet Explorer, so Microsoft would simply need to extend it to its Windows Phone.
5. Simplified Notification Center
Having a notification center helps users in checking the status of the innumerable apps and services in one place. iOS, Android and BlackBerry 10 all have a notification center and Windows Phone's Live Tiles (the Me tile notification area) were supposed to serve the same purpose. However, the supposed notification center-type solution for Windows Phone 8 platform is not easy to operate.
Microsoft needs to take some notes from other ecosystems and make the interface more user-friendly and simple. Introducing handy features like right swipe to access the notification center would hit the right note with WP8 users.
