Windows Phone 8 will get a Start screen facelift; share technology core with Windows 8; support for NFC, in-app purchases and eWallet; more developer tools; and better security for enterprise use.
But existing Windows Phone 7.5 users will only get the revamped Start screen through an upgrade to Windows Phone 7.8.
Microsoft gave a preview of what Windows Phone 8 will be at the Windows Phone Summit in San Francisco.
The immediate cosmetic change to the user-interface is the Start screen.
In addition to the current square tiles and rectangular (twice the width of the square tiles) tiles, there is now a third size for tiles.
This is what I call the “mini-square” tile. Each of these is a square tile a quarter the size of the original square tile.
Whereas Windows Phone 7.5 does not allow users to specify which tile to use for an app – Windows Phone 8 will let users specify which tile size to use for each app.
Bigger tile for more frequently used apps (or to display more live information), and smaller tiles for less used apps.
The smaller tiles also allows more tiles/apps to be displayed on each screen to minimise scrolling.
Existing Windows Phone 7.5 users will get this revamped Start screen through an upgrade to Windows Phone 7.8 (no date given), but that’s pretty much all they’ll get – they will NOT be able to upgrade to Windows Phone 8 when it becomes available end of the year.
Yes, some who have just bought spanking new Windows 7.5 phones are complaining that they’re now landed with “obsolete” handsets.
Microsoft says that Windows Phone 8 is a generation shift in technology so it will not run on existing hardware.
Read more details about Windows Phone 8 on the official Windows Phone Blog.
