Windows Phone’s journey began long ago, in 2010. Back then, BlackBerry was still a viable brand and Palm was alive. It appeared like Microsoft was about to reverse its fortunes in the smartphone space. Two years later, it’s still battling for single digit market share in a smartphone market absolutely dominated by Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android operating system. With Windows 8 launching, Windows Phone 8 could be Microsoft’s big chance to turn things around.
Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone 8 earlier this year, but today, it showed off several new features: Wallet, Kids Corner, Camera Lenses, an amped up People Hub, and Data Sense. What are all these fancily-named features, you ask? Let’s dig in.
The new phones
Microsoft has kept a tight lid on what parts of the OS we were allowed to see and what we weren’t up to this point, but today, the veil came off. Samsung, HTC, and Nokia each showed off their WP8 devices. Seeing the entire lineup together was quite impressive. This is undoubtedly Microsoft’s most varied and well-supported Windows Phone launch to date. For the first time, Microsoft has given manufacturers a lot more leeway to create handsets with more varied specs, features, and designs. These handsets offer a variety of screen sizes, resolutions, shapes, processing power, and unique features. While Nokia handsets boasted a suite of Nokia transportation apps, HTC is heavily pushing its ImageSense camera and Beats functionality. Samsung has plenty of unique apps and is stressing the connectivity between its Windows Phones and Windows 8 tablets. Phones also now seem to come in every color of the rainbow. The hands-on area resembled a Skittles commercial. Some phones even feature swappable shells, so you can change your color every day.
Kids Corner
Now that the smartphone industry is maturing, it’s beginning to get more family friendly. Today, I got to try out Microsoft’s new Kids Corner feature: a sandboxed custom homescreen you can create just for your kids to play around in. For the tech-savvy parent, I have to say, this could be a killer feature.
Kids are annoying sometimes. They won’t shut up and they’re hyper as hell. But what if you could hand them your phone without worrying whether they’ll email your boss pictures of Barney? Now you can. WP8 lets you assign whatever apps, games, music, videos, or other content you want your kids to be able to access to a special homescreen. Turning the feature on requires you to dig into the Settings menu a little, but once it’s activated, you can hand your child your phone at its lock screen. All they have to do is swipe to the left to open a custom kid-friendly homescreen. They can move all the Live Tiles around however they please, and the Home button is deactivated, so you don’t have to worry about them escaping back into your content. A word of advice, though: Create a password for your lock screen. If you don’t, then your kids can still restart the screen and poof, they’re back in your email.
Data Sense
Microsoft has followed Google’s lead and integrated a data-monitoring feature in Windows Phone 8. Data Sense lets you set a data limit for the month (or another length of time) and will warn you as you pass thresholds like 50 percent of your data. Better, you can dig into exactly what apps are sucking up all of your data. I can’t believe that the iPhone doesn’t yet have a feature like this, but now every other major OS does. There isn’t a ton of depth to this app, but it’s value can be measured by the size of your phone bill.
Rooms for your people
Windows Phone has long pushed “hubs” as a way to aggregate large numbers of apps and features around certain topics. The People hub has been a good place to find your contacts and see recent social-networking status updates, but now it can do a little more. If you happen to have a group of friends who have climbed aboard the Windows Phone train like yourself, you can invite them into a “Room” with you. Rooms are kind of like Facebook used to be: exclusive. They have to approve you, but once you’re all connected, you can share content pretty easily.
I haven’t made my own group yet, but I did check out some pre-made groups. By swiping through pages, you can connect with your friends in a few different, useful ways. There’s an open, ongoing chat window, a shared calendar (which can connect to iPhone and some Android devices via a Web link), and photo sharing. It seems like a really great way for close friends to stay in touch. Hopefully Microsoft will continue to build on this feature.
Camera ‘lenses’
This feature doesn’t seem to be getting a lot of notoriety, but for fans of photo filters and apps, it’s pretty cool. While Instagram still isn’t on Windows Phone, there are a lot of cool apps that let you add effects to photographs and now Microsoft lets you access them directly from the Camera app. In essence, it’s now a Camera Hub. You can access these apps by just tapping one of the icons on the screen. Its easy and brings up a grid of apps. Press one and you can apply its feature or filter. Very cool.
Better Live Tiles
Finally, I still haven’t gotten over how much nicer and more customizable the Windows Phone 8 homescreen looks. Because Microsoft is now allowing even more minute features and pages to be “pinned” to the Start screen, the variety of content is impressive. Every Windows Phone I saw today had a completely different and sometimes startlingly unique look to it — a few of them were so busy that I didn’t know where to start. Microsoft has always said that the Start screen reflects who is using the phone. For the first time, I think that’s true. Live Tiles can now be resized to take up an entire row, a standard square, or 1/4 square (practically an icon). You can do a lot with the Start screen now. Apps can communicate with their Live Tiles (and you) faster and better now too. You can even allow apps to show you information on your unlock screen, if you’re into that.
It’s looking good
Windows Phone has always been a nice-looking operating system, but with WP8, Microsoft seems to be smoothing out some of the gaps in its functionality and introducing more features that are unique to its platform. iOS and Android seem to chase and copy one another these days, but Microsoft continues to do its own thing. Now that Windows Phones like the HTC 8X will be on T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon this holiday season, there’s little reason not to at least check one out. You may like it. I’m may make the jump myself, if I’m able.
“Kids are annoying sometimes. They won’t shut up and they’re hyper as hell. But what if you could hand them your phone without worrying whether they’ll email your boss pictures of Barney? Now you can.”
:-) (y) That paragraph alone was worth reading the entire article.
Haha. Glad you liked it.
Sounds very impressive. I’m seriously considering the jump from the iPhone 4s to a W8 phone. Really want to get my hands on one to try it out.
Try Samsung Ativ, it looks stunning and has latest Windows.
“Data Sense lets you set a data limit for the month (or another length of time) and will warn you as you pass thresholds like 50 percent of your data. Better, you can dig into exactly what apps are sucking up all of your data. I can’t believe that the iPhone doesn’t yet have a feature like this, but now every other major OS does.”
Really, you can’t believe the iPhone doesn’t have a feature everyone else has had for a year? If anything, that’s typical for Apple. It wasn’t until the 2009 release of the 3GS that they finally got the ability to record video and respond to voice commands. I had flip phones that could do that! And only now, with the iPhone 5 did they include the never before seen or heard of Panorama picture mode… oh wait! The Mytouch 4g Slide had this back in 2011. Yawn!
I don’t hate Apple or it’s products. I just can’t stand when people tout them as an industry leader when it clearly spends more time evolving its products, rather than innovating.
Haha. The iPhone should have it. Perhaps I can believe it though. You’re right.
Have you heard about apps? Do you know what apps are?
Do you know that software idea is to extend the computer hardware features, while hardware is just a platform for software?
You make apps, where a app does something very well and you choose apps what fills your needs.
Most important software of all, is the operating system what operates every other software on the computer and shares hardware resources for those software (software is visible to operating system as processes).
So if you want a feature X, you install a app. Then you can just ask from that app the feature. You don’t need pre-installed or even integrated features in software system but you actually want apps what gives you them.
I don’t own any Apple product but here is a example: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dataman-real-time-data-usage/id404513413?mt=8
And do you know why you should want apps instead integrated features from software system?
You can actually choose and vote the best design and feature for your needs. You are not under mercy of one corporation what manufacturers and ships the software system.
Like Microsoft, are you forced to use BING search engine? How about forced to use Internet Explorer web browser? And can you even change your virtual keyboard to better suited one for your habits or change the look of the launcher or can you change the address book functionality? Or how about so small thing that disabling all facebook, twitter, and other stupid social networks without disabling the whole software system purpose to work correctly? With Windows Phone, no, you can not.
Oh, and here is another example: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/onavo-count-data-usage-manager/id543547474?mt=8
The best choice is that someone gives you a basket, then you can fill it with food what want to eat and medicines what you need. And then you get what you wanted and needed, without anyone saying “You need to have this, without this you can not use this product, you either like it or you don’t use whole product at all”.
not worth it , anroid phones outdo any phone on the market…
Android phones are pretty sweet. I transferred from the iOS to Android a couple years ago and never looked back. But after I saw windows 7 it gave me a second look at what a Mobile OS is supposed to do. It shouldn’t be a small computer, it should be a phone Windows 8 is even more unbelievable and captures this concept so well it hurts. I think you’re comparing apples and oranges; they both serve a purpose. But I think you should try out the new platform when it comes out. It is pretty sick.
“Microsoft has always said that the Start screen reflects who is using the phone. For the first time, I think that’s true.”
Sad that Microsoft doesn’t tell the truth that Android home screen is the only choice if wanted to get a personal screen (or even lock screen). They even lied in their Windows Phone 8 youtube presentation by showing Android App Launcher as its home screen and denies the information of totally personalized launcher screens.
I made the jump from I to 7 and it was easily worth it. This looks 10x as worth it. I highly recommend their phones!
I hope the screen doesn’t crack as easy as the iPhone’s screen does!!
I’d never own another windows phone. iphone or android only for me.
fail
Which Windows 8 phones are on AT&T and support LTE?
Hey Ian. A number of handset release dates were announced today (http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/new-details-for-existing-windows-phone-8-devices/). We’ll be doing an official update on the state of all Windows Phones coming out in the next day or two, including carriers. The HTC 8X and Lumia 920 are two good LTE options for AT&T.
- Jeff
Thanks Jeff. Now to see if any of these are compatible with my car!