Leaks from within Microsoft have revealed a suite of hi-tech new features for Microsoft's Windows Phone - including new software that will let the phones share apps with Windows PCs.
A video, of Windows Phone chief Joe Belfiore, and supposedly for consumption by Microsoft's partner Nokia, lists a variety of hi-tech features due in a forthcoming update to Windows Phone software. The key feature is that apps can be shared more easily with Windows PCs, in the same way as software is shared across Apple's iPhone and iPad.
Windows Phone will use much of the same software as Microsoft's upcoming tablet-friendly Windows 8, making it easier for developers to create applications that work on both. Microsoft hopes to have 100,000 apps available at launch.
The video was seen by website PocketNow, but other tech insiders who have seen Windows Phone 8 have confirmed several details. Analysts iSuppli have predicted that Microsoft's Windows Phone will overtake Apple's iPhone by 2015.
Nokia, which has partnered with Microsoft to produce smartphones running Windows Phone, has sold a million handsets since launch, beating analyst expectations. The new software, codenamed Apollo, should appear in new Nokia handsets, although there is no confirmed release date.
The devices will also offer SkyDrive - a remote-storage function which allows users to store files such as digital music online, then access them from any device. It could mean that Windows users will be able to access their entire music collection instantly without having to sync their devices with a PC.
The update will also add support for new screen resolutions and will add an NFC (near field communication) chip for contactless payments in shops. Microsoft are describing this as 'the wallet experience'.
So far, Windows Phone has remained niche, despite fan and reviewer enthusiasm for the operating system. Last year, Windows Phone accounted for just two per cent of the smartphone market.
But by 2015, that figure will be 16.7 per cent, says iSuppli - putting the handsets into second place in the worldwide smartphone race, behind Google's Android, but ahead of Apple's iOS.
Source: http://english.kompas.com