Windows Phone
8 will support multicore processors and native BitLocker encryption, and
integrate in many ways with the upcoming Windows 8.
Those are just
a few of the features mentioned in a Pocketnow.com report Feb. 2, many of which were subsequently confirmed by
Paul Thurrott in a posting on his Supersite
for Windows. Pocketnow
claimed its information came from a Microsoft-produced video meant for Nokia
executives and hosted by Windows Phone manager Joe Belfiore.
Pocketnow
paraphrases Belfiore as saying that Windows Phone 8 will “use many of the same
components of Windows 8” and that areas of heavy overlap include “kernel,
networking stacks, security and multimedia support.” Developers will apparently
have the ability to reuse massive chunks of code when “porting an app from
desktop to phone.”
In his own
Feb. 2 posting, Thurrott suggested that Windows Phone 8 “will be based on the
Windows 8 kernel and not on Windows CE as are current versions.” Nonetheless,
applications developed for Windows Phone Mango (the current version) will
apparently continue to play well on the upgraded platform.
According to
both sources, Windows Phone 8 will include the same 128-bit, full-disk
BitLocker encryption that currently runs on Windows—the better to appeal to
businesses possibly looking for an alternative platform to Research In Motion’s
BlackBerry, Apple’s iOS or Google Android. A “Data Smart” feature will give WiFi
hotspots priority over using the smartphone’s cellular connection, in turn
reducing data usage.
Thurott noted
a Skype application, SkyDrive integration, secure payments via near-field
communication (NFC), camera improvements and Internet Explorer 10 Mobile as
other additions.
Microsoft has
launched a renewed push for Windows Phone, centered on the Mango software
update and new devices from Nokia and other manufacturers. As a platform, it
has so far struggled for adoption in the broader smartphone marketplace,
trailing Google, Apple and RIM. Data from research firm Nielsen suggests that
Microsoft owned 7.3 percent of the U.S. smartphone market in the third quarter
of 2011, down from 9 percent earlier in the year; much of that decline was due
to users abandoning the antiquated Windows Mobile platform, something that
Microsoft executives say they anticipated.
While
Microsoft regularly declines to provide Windows Phone sales figures, CEO Steve
Ballmer described the platform’s market share as “very small” during a July 11
keynote speech at the company’s Worldwide Partner Conference. Could Windows
Phone 8’s features help change that?
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