Microsoft is still working on software updates for Windows Phone 7 — but the company is also looking ahead to Windows Phone 8. While Microsoft hasn’t had much to say publicly about its next-generation smartphone OS, the folks at PocketNow got a look at a leaked video which spells out an awful lot of details.
Paul Thurrott followed up with more details at WinSuperSite.
Here are a few of the highlights:
- The operating system will be based on the Windows 8 kernel, not Windows CE.
- While Windows 8 apps won’t run on Windows Phone 8, the two operating systems will share enough code that developers can port Win8 apps to WP8 easily.
- The Zune Client desktop sync app will go away and Microsoft will launch a new app dedicated to synchronizing Windows Phone 8 devices with Windows computers.
- Windows Phone 8 will support multicore chips, new screen resolutions, NFC radios, and other high-end hardware.
- There will be a Wallet app to compete with Google Wallet.
- Microsoft plans to use a proxy server to speed up webpage load times in Internet Explorer 10.
- Windows Phone 8 will support 128-bit full-disk BitLocker encryption.
- Microsoft is introducing a “lens app” for camera functionality.
The new mobile operating system is expected to ship around the same time as Windows 8, which probably means the second half of 2012.
