Windows Phone 8 Announcement

[Deeko]

Being streamed here: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Windows-Phone/Summit

So far:

• Support for 1280x768 and 1280x720 resolutions
• Multi-core processor support
• Shared kernel w/ Windows 8
• Native SDK
• NFC w/ mobile wallet integrated

 

[Puddle Jumper]

They should be more proactive and add 1920x1080 support now, it's bound to show up in Android phones in the next year or so.

 

[Deeko]

They should be more proactive and add 1920x1080 support now, it's bound to show up in Android phones in the next year or so.

That would be a mistake from an SDK perspective. Every app on Windows Phone has been designed for 800x480. Stretching that to 1920x1080 in one shot would look terrible. Need to give developers time to adjust to multi-resolution support.

 

[darkewaffle]

Here's hoping for news of more hardware presence outside of AT&T.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

That would be a mistake from an SDK perspective. Every app on Windows Phone has been designed for 800x480. Stretching that to 1920x1080 in one shot would look terrible. Need to give developers time to adjust to multi-resolution support.

Stretching it to 720p won't look much better and it leaves them limited to 720p until a future version of the os is released, a strategy that didn't work out well this time.

 

[kaerflog]

The new start screen is much better than the old one that has wasted space on the right with just and arrow.

 

[Deeko]

Stretching it to 720p won't look much better and it leaves them limited to 720p until a future version of the os is released, a strategy that didn't work out well this time.

1920x1080 is over twice as many pixels as 1280x720 so obviously that would make a considerably higher difference. If 1920x1080 is available next year, perhaps they'll add it. Bear in mind that they've been at 800x480 for two years, not one.

 

[kaerflog]

They should be more proactive and add 1920x1080 support now, it's bound to show up in Android phones in the next year or so.

Thats just an overkill.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Thats just an overkill.

Lg has already shown off a 5" 440ppi 1080p AH-IPS screen for use in smartphones.

Edit: No existing devices will get WP8.

 

[Super56K]

Lg has already shown off a 5" 440ppi 1080p AH-IPS screen for use in smartphones.

Edit: No existing devices will get WP8.

Confirmation of that really makes me scratch my head over those Nokia 'beta' commercials.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Confirmation of that really makes me scratch my head over those Nokia 'beta' commercials.

Yeah, those advertisements weren't very well thought out.

 

[Deeko]

Lg has already shown off a 5" 440ppi 1080p AH-IPS screen for use in smartphones.

Edit: No existing devices will get WP8.

Well, they said it doesn't make sense to port support for multiple cores, higher resolutions, NFC, removable SD cards, etc. which is true. They said existing devices will get WP 7.8, with the new start experience. I am curious to see what else will come with that. I would imagine native apps won't be coming, since those would rely on the shared kernel, but what about the other things they announced? IE10? In app purchasing? Nokia maps on non-Nokia devices? Enhanced security features for business? VOIP integration? I guess we'll find out.

 

[VashHT]

They're giving old phones an upgrade at least, but I haven't seen any info on what it includes.

I'm liking the new start screen, and a lot of the other features sound nice too. IE10 sounds like it's going to be good, and finally they're adding real SD card support.

 

[abaez]

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012...rovide-an-escape-from-carrier-update-tyranny/

This is great news.

 

[lothar]

Siri now included in WP8.

 

[VashHT]

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012...rovide-an-escape-from-carrier-update-tyranny/

This is great news.

Wow that's amazing, that was one thing I hated about WP7. They promised faster upgrades due to more consistent hardware but it still didn't work because carriers would take months actually releasing it. I ended up debranding my phone and upgrading i anyways but it's really nice to see an official route to do this.

 

[MajorMullet]

Looks great, now get some hardware on Verizon so I can actually use the thing

 

[Red Storm]

Wow that's amazing, that was one thing I hated about WP7. They promised faster upgrades due to more consistent hardware but it still didn't work because carriers would take months actually releasing it. I ended up debranding my phone and upgrading i anyways but it's really nice to see an official route to do this.

Somehow I doubt Verizon is going to allow it. Not even Google's Nexus got through untouched. I see it happening on other carriers, but not Verizon.

Also, it sounds good in theory, but if you have to check off some feature on your account that determines this, that means you can kiss warranty goodbye. Android phones you can still reset to stock and take it in if you have trouble (though you technically shouldn't).

 

[Dominato3r]

Is it running on the nt kernel?

If its shared windows core would higher resolutions be pretty easy to implement?

 

[Phynaz]

No upgrades for existing phones.

Including the Lumia 900.

Microsoft just gave it to Nokia, hard.

 

[Sheep]

We can drop the notion that WP7 update process is better than Android's. They couldn’t even get past one major upgrade.

Beta testers, indeed.

 

[Dari]

All this excessive foreplay between Microsoft and Nokia is ridiculous. Microsoft, stick it in and release the tension (and willies).

 

[s44]

So they want a mulligan.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

So they want a mulligan.

In a way WP7 was a mulligan following Kin (or Windows Mobile depending on how you look at it).

 

[kaerflog]

Lg has already shown off a 5" 440ppi 1080p AH-IPS screen for use in smartphones.

Edit: No existing devices will get WP8.

I didn't say that 1080p wouldn't come to smartphone, I just said its an overkill.
You're getting to the point of diminishing return.
I'd rather see other improve aspects like longer battery life than making the resolutions higher and wasting more battery life.