With the announcement yesterday, Microsoft said that the new Windows Phone 8 will be moving away from the CE core and moving to the NT core. What does that mean exactly? What it means is that it will share the same core as the actual Windows 8 operating system and the Windows RT tablet system. So you can in theory make an application for Windows 8 and with just a minor amount of tweaking make it compatible with all three platforms. This is huge for developers and insures the strength and future of the mobile operating system. This all comes at a price though as the current generation of Windows Phone 7.5's will not be getting the update to Windows Phone 8 simply because their hardware cannot support it. But Microsoft isn't leaving you completely high and dry as they will be releasing an update for 7.5 to 7.8 which will give you some of the great features of Windows Phone 8.
Sadly other than the updated start screen there was not very much detail as to what exactly other features the current generation of Windows Phones will be getting.
As far as developers go any app that you have currently made for Windows phone 7.5 will work with Windows Phone 8 without anything needing to be done to them.
It is a bitter sweet move by Microsoft but it was one that had to be done. If they want the Windows Phone to succeed they needed an updated and great core to their operating system that almost all developers know how to develop on. With the Windows operating system being the largest and most used operating system in the world, they have insured that all these developers will already know how to make a great Windows Phone app simply by knowing how to make a program run in Windows.
Here is a quick rundown of some of the other features announced for Windows Phone 8:
* With the addition of the NT core, this brings with it support for up to 64 cores of cpu power, SD card functionality and an increased resolution up to 720p.
* True NFC support in all phones. Along with this they have made an app called Wallet where you can store all your coupons, credit cards, and giftcards and use the NFC technology to use them without having them handy. This could mean a lot for NFC actually catching on and not just being a nice trick to have.
* The updated start screen, where you can change the size of the tiles and add as many as 28 tiles on the start screen from one corner to the other if you wanted to do so, all while keeping the sleek clutter free design of the Windows Phone.
* Full Skype and third part Voip support built into the operation system.
* Nokia maps will be the main map application for all Windows Phones. Currently the Nokia Lumia has a great advantage over most other phones because you get Nokia Maps free along with their outstanding turn by turn navigation app called Nokia Drive. With Windows 8 all Windows Phone users will have access to these great maps.
As with their Surface announcement exact launch dates are not being discussed. Only a "fall availability" has been announced. This is a great and long over due leap for the Windows Phone Platform. Hopefully with all these changes the Windows Phone app store will start seeing a lot more big name publishers moving in to take up residence.
This platform is truly an original and stunning operating system that I hope truly catches on and truly compete with iOS and Android. This operating system has a good chance at succeeding now and hopefully will not see the same fate as WebOS.
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