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If you were like me, you’d have been sitting up at 2am (AEST) watching Microsoft unveil Windows Phone 8 – the new phone operating system from Microsoft designed to complement Windows and Xbox.
So let’s break down the announcements, starting at the question that’s on everyone’s mind:
Upgrade paths
There’s both good and bad news here. There will not be an upgrade path for Windows Phone 7 / 7.5 devices to get Windows Phone 8, but there will be a refresh for some older devices – adding some new features, but not all. Unfortunately we can’t say at this stage which devices will receive the refresh, named Windows Phone 7.8.
All Windows Phone 7 apps will still work on Windows Phone 8.
New features on Windows Phone 8
At the heart of Windows Phone 8 is the same ‘core’ as Windows 8. Without getting technical, this means that apps can be written for both Windows Phone and Windows (that includes Tablets and PCs) at the same time.
On the hardware front, there will be two new screen resolutions – including 720p. There’s also NFC with an Android Beam-like function, new support for multi-core processors, and full microSD support.
Internet Explorer 10 will power web browsing on Windows Phone 8, with more HTML5 support and much better performance.
On mapping, Windows Phone 8 will use Nokia Maps across the board. If you’ve used a Lumia, you’ll know how powerful this can be as it also includes offline mapping and turn-by-turn navigation.
Finally, Microsoft announced a new Wallet hub, which lets you store credit cards, discount cards, passes, and more. Again, this works with NFC tap to pay (similar to PayPass/PayWave).
A new look
Something that’s new to the overall look and feel of Windows Phone is resizable Live Tiles.
This means that you can blow up or shrink tiles based on how important they are to you. The other benefit is that you can now fit more tiles on the home screen than ever before.
So when is it out
Although devices are expected to launch in Q4 2012, we have no confirmed dates on when Windows Phone 8 devices will land on our shores. We’ll let you know when we have more news.
To keep up with all things Window Phone 8 related, head over to The Verge.
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Image Source: The Verge