Windows phone 8

Today Microsoft took the wraps off windows phone 8...

All in all I am very impressed with what I have read, it ticks every box I wanted, with the exception of properly optimising for quad cores (even if in theory it can support 64!!)

Also no word on an extended form of multitasking which is disappointing, as is no upgrade path from mango devices :(

The plus points are many and push wp8 above ios in features,style, ui innovation and all round interest...in my personal opinion.
Micro sd card support, hd displays,multicore support,nfc, skype baked in. Better customisation of the live tiles to make it more usefully and appealing.
Shared kernel from w8 which makes porting apps a doddle, also it uses native code for games and full dx compliance which should allow for some desktop like experiences not seen on mobile (I think it's already very good)...indeed the havok physics engine will be coming to the device which will be awesome.

Internet explorer 10 will come with it which will be a massive improvement with quoted sunspider scores in the 1200's and java script 5x better...those results were obtained apparently on a dual core Nokia test device...likely snapdragon s4..so take with a pinch of salt....never the less browsing performance is only slightly behind ios and android in real world hands on, even if benchmark test show wp7 to be miles off the pace, so we can expect blistering performance.

Other features like security were mentioned, although no mention from the brief read I had about the proxy server web compression feature..something that I have used on opera browser and is very usefull.

For a full round up here is a couple of links..
http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/20/windows-phone-8-to-support-multi-core-cpus-hd-resolutions/
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6027/microsofts-windows-phone-summit-in-san-francisco-were-there-
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6028/...-core-socs-higher-resolutions-microsd-and-nfc
 
I wonder if the S4 chip will be the pro version.. Or does the Adreno 225 handle Windows 8 directx requirement?
 
It did look very good and it seems to address most of the omg-I-don't-believe-it-can't-do-this issues. I couldn't tell if it's Windows RT with phone functionality or not.




I couldn't see:

- Access to filesystem - this is huge for me because I often use my phones as a USB drive that I always carry with me, and I will want to manually transfer files to it. Also, I often use my phone to listen to self-ripped, lossless ape music (even if AAC is very good nowadays, I won't buy the same recordings twice), so the apps need to have access to it too.


- Ability to download files from the web browser and/or mail application. I use this often on my smartphones when someone sends me a link for a downloadable document.


If it does have this functionality, I think microsoft will finally have a phone+tablet+pc combo/ecossystem that surpasses apple.
 
I was worried about no file system access and no multitasking. Seems Microsoft focused on looks, bells and whistles and said to hell with the geeks.
 
I was worried about no file system access and no multitasking. Seems Microsoft focused on looks, bells and whistles and said to hell with the geeks.

Ha us geeks are left in the shade once again, it seems you just can't have the cake and eat it....slick smooth ui with instant upgrades won't come with android like functionality :(

Yes I agree with tottentranz with those lacking features and some proper multitasking, I only want the ability to keep 5 major applications in memory, that would be really usefull imo, along with full file access and the ability to load things on and off the internal memory outside the eco system...ie a mac or what ever.

...of course I already all of those features in my hand right now so I'm not desperate :)

@Mize -reviews are out on the at&t galaxy s3 lte, too be honest I'm happy with exynos, there doesn't seem to be much difference out side of faster network on us version, and much faster gpu on exynos, as well as likely better bandwidth and 4 cores to play with :) maybe slightly better battery on us version.
 
Meh, nothing wrong with Qualcomm but why limit it?

It seems as if Microsoft is trying to be more and more like apple. They want a controlled "ecosystem" that maximizes their profitability rather than one with file system access, etc. I mean I hope you can at the very least connect WP8 to a USB port on any computer and view a partition as a drive. Better yet is the webOS novaterm model where you could login to a shell over USB.
 
Qualcomm has ananounced that WP8 devices will be running the Snapdragon S4 plus (with the Adreno 305 GPU) MSM8930 and not the MSM8960 powering the current Android devices like the One X.

Edit or maybe not.. Seems like S4 Plus is the new name for all Dual-Core Krait SoCs with GPUs up-to Adreno 305...
 
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Damn... despite using Android for both tablet and smartphone right now, I may still be drawn to Windows Phone 8 because of a "Pureview" camera module in an upcoming Nokia model.


I'm still hoping for Sony to come out with a camera as good as the N8's for the Xperia GX, though.



Edit or maybe not.. Seems like S4 Plus is the new name for all Dual-Core Krait SoCs with GPUs up-to Adreno 305...

I got scared for a moment. All the models with the Adreno 305 only have a single-channel 32-bit 533MHz LPDDR2, and the Adreno 305 is supposed to be quite a bit slower than the Adreno 225.
 
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Qualcomm has ananounced that WP8 devices will be running the Snapdragon S4 plus (with the Adreno 305 GPU) MSM8930 and not the MSM8960 powering the current Android devices like the One X.

Edit or maybe not.. Seems like S4 Plus is the new name for all Dual-Core Krait SoCs with GPUs up-to Adreno 305...

IQteL.png


Could be plain 8960 or the 8x30 line.
 
Ok guys, I'm both exited, confused and possibly disappointed all at once! What is the chipset they have said it powers with it? A dual core krait@ 1.7ghz is seriously going to be fast, especially on windows phone, and even more so because of the tight relationship between Qualcomm and microkia...

However the gpu aspect is confusing as hell....is it 225 just with An nvidia re branding hatchet job? Or are we talking about the first halti gpu? If it is adreno 305 according to anand that is less powerfull than the 225?? That would be totally bizarre to say the least.

If they clock it up to be .gs3 exynos levels then I would be over the moon for that...but I was really hoping for a 320 beastie :)
 
It seems as if Microsoft is trying to be more and more like apple. They want a controlled "ecosystem" that maximizes their profitability rather than one with file system access, etc.
It's the computer industry going in retrograde to limit the freedom of people that we have gained in the past decades. If you're a tinfoil hatter you're seeing parallels to the failed clipper chip project of the 90s in today's growing trend of non-local cloud storage, where the gov't can subpoena all your private stuff from the cloud service provider. If you're more pragmatic, it's like you say, looking for greater profit margins. Truth may be somewhat inbetween, maybe. *shrug*

Windows phone has looked good, or maybe even REALLY good from a useability PoV IMO, provided one can stomach the visual look of the primary colors, clipart-like tile user interface. It's certainly a lot more useful than a grid of 20 icons that don't actually do anything other than MAYBE show a number overlayed if you got a new message for example. I don't get why Apple holds on to this antiquidated and frankly shit home screen they've got; it's not useful! At all. WP7, and WP8 even more so I assume, presents information quickly and easily at a glance, and lets you access it just as quickly and easily.

I'd consider a WP8 handset next time I upgrade (which will be christmas-ish) provided the hardware is good enough and is visually appealing.
 
I think WP's tiles are nice, but I think MeeGo beat everyone in this category.
Without touching the phone the display shows me (in a dimmed Super AMOLED mode) the time, date, weather and forecast and whether I have email, SMS, missed calls or voice mail. I then wake the phone by simply double-tapping the display and then I can have icons (or squircles as they're called in MeeGo land) to do key functions like toggle BlueTooth or Airplane Mode, etc. Maybe not as pretty as WP's dancing tiles, but being able to see everything without touching the phone and then with three taps (or two if I want to use the wake button instead of double-tap) have my BT turned on (or whatever) is far more efficient (and to me that makes a device more appealing) and useful than pretty pictures.
 
Internet explorer 10 will come with it which will be a massive improvement with quoted sunspider scores in the 1200's and java script 5x better...those results were obtained apparently on a dual core Nokia test device...likely snapdragon s4..so take with a pinch of salt....never the less browsing performance is only slightly behind ios and android in real world hands on, even if benchmark test show wp7 to be miles off the pace, so we can expect blistering performance.
Not unexpectedly, after criticizing dual core and quad core phones for not being useful and wasting battery life, now that WP8 supports dual core CPUs, Nokia doesn't have reservations about being the first to jump onboard.

As others have noted, it's curious that Microsoft keeps the plodding, conservative SoC pace for WP8 given the commonality with the more open Windows RT. I suppose it allows them to really optimize the drivers for performance, stability, and battery life.
 
Pretty nice work by MS again. I currently have an Android phone (Samsung Galaxy Epic 4G, running CM9), which is nice to be able to hack, modify, and customize, but is sometimes really annoying in that it doesn't do the basics well, is laggy etc. Granted, a lot of this might have to do with me running ICS on this phone, but I had the same issues with the stock OS before it was rooted. So I'm pretty sure I'll make the switch to WP8 once I see what phones are out there, and how some of my required apps play on it. I'd really like to see a Tegra processor running it, but I guess that won't happen until the release of Grey.
 


I thought so, Qualcomm have resorted to nvidia shenanigans with the silly naming....just what exactly does the 'plus' nomenclature mean??

How a windows phone 8 devices are going to be able to run a new type of gaming experience with dx and havok physics @ 720p is a mystery to me?....perhaps the close unity with Qualcomm, likely decent drivers,lack of fragmentation and native code will mean more performance can be squeezed from the adreno similar to how original 1ghz snapdragon runs like butter on wp7.....


Not unexpectedly, after criticizing dual core and quad core phones for not being useful and wasting battery life, now that WP8 supports dual core CPUs, Nokia doesn't have reservations about being the first to jump onboard.

As others have noted, it's curious that Microsoft keeps the plodding, conservative SoC pace for WP8 given the commonality with the more open Windows RT. I suppose it allows them to really optimize the drivers for performance, stability, and battery life.

Yes I have said all day long that Nokia would be moving to multi cores, all this nonsense that they're not needed or wanted just waste your battery life is rubbish, used to direct attention away from the fact that that they couldn't supply them...
 
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