Windows Phone 8 Release Announced: 4 Features Revealed By Source Close To Microsoft

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Mobile Most Popular Archives News Markets Careers Life & Style Topics TV Research Luxury & Brands Jewelry & Watches Aircrafts Cars Real Estate Fine Dining Wine, Spirits & Cigars Fashion Windows Phone 8 Release Announced: 4 Features Revealed By Source Close To MicrosoftComments Print This ArticleSend This AricleBy Lisa Eadicicco: Subscribe to Lisa's RSS feed

September 3, 2012 1:18 PM EDT

In July Microsoft fans got a glimpse of backup options to come with Windows Phone 8 when the SDK leaked, but until now there was no indication of how they would work.  But now, sources close to Microsoft have revealed more information about its plans for Windows Phone 8, reports The Verge.

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Backup capability will now be available to users signing in with a Microsoft account. When a Windows Phone 8 device is initially launched, users will be greeted with a splash screen encouraging them to use a Microsoft account. This is typically used to keep data in sync, but the screen on Windows Phone 8 hints that users will be able to keep "photos, contacts, music, documents and more" in sync with their PCs or Xbox consoles.

This information hasn't been confirmed, but seems Microsoft will allow Windows Phone 8 users to share data with an Xbox via SkyDrive, The Verge speculates. Below is a full list of the backup features expected to come with Windows Phone 8: .bk_ggl div {height:92px!important; margin-bottom:20px!important;} Must ReadDemonoid Return Could Be Halted By Anti-Piracy ActionSaudi Arabia's First Female Moviemaker Debuts At Venice Film FestivalSponsorship Link

-  Ability to automatically upload photos and video to SkyDrive

-  Sync SMS and MMS messages to Hotmail or Outlook.com

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-  Sync settings including themes, accounts, and Internet Explorer favorites

-  Sync app lists and individual app settings

These options were not offered with previous iterations of Microsoft's Windows Phone, and will be a handy feature in competing with the iCloud storage of iOS and Google's Android backup options.

Microsoft is expected to reveal more details at an event in New York City on Wednesday. Curious tech enthusiasts were able to get a sneak peek at what's in store for Windows Phone 8 at the IFA conference in Berlin, where Samsung showcased its ATIV S, a sleek and slim Windows Phone 8-enabled device.

"The beautiful, minimal and simple design, together with the premium, metallic hairline finish, make this device even more special," said a Samsung spokesperson last Wednesday. "Even with its slim profile and outstanding mobility, it's fully compatible with Microsoft Windows and users can enjoy various Windows-based content in an optimized environment."

The specs for Samsung's ATIV S Windows Phone 8 device are as follows, courtesy of Sci-Tech Today:

-   4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display

-  Corning Gorilla Glass

-  1.5 gigahertz dual-core Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm

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Nokia, Microsoft in pact to take on Apple, Google

Technology titans Nokia and Microsoft are combining forces to make smart phones that might challenge rivals like Apple and Google and revive their own fortunes in a market they have struggled to keep up with.

Nokia Corp., the world’s largest maker of mobile phones, said Friday it plans to use Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Phone software as the main platform for its smart phones in an effort to pull market share away from Apple’s iPhone and Android, Google’s software for phones and tablets.

The move marks a major strategy shift for Nokia, which has previously equipped devices with its own software. Analysts said the deal was a bigger win for Microsoft than Nokia, whose CEO Stephen Elop in a leaked memo this week compared his company to a burning oil platform with “more than one explosion … fueling a blazing fire around us.”

Nokia said the partnership would “deliver an ecosystem with unrivaled global reach and scale.” However, it warned that the new strategy would also bring “significant uncertainties,” and said it expects profit margins to be hit by strong competition from rivals.

Nokia’s share price plunged 9 percent to euro7.43 ($10.11) in afternoon trading in Helsinki.

Elop, a Canadian national, joined Nokia from a senior executive position at Microsoft last year. The first non-Finn to lead Nokia, he is under intense pressure to reverse the company’s market share losses to North American and Asian competitors.

“Nokia is at a critical juncture, where significant change is necessary and inevitable in our journey forward,” Elop said. He added the company was aiming at “regaining our smart phone leadership, reinforcing our mobile device platform and realizing our investments in the future.”

Speaking later to analysts in London, he declined to say when Nokia would introduce a new device running on Windows Phone. But he said Nokia won’t bury its own Symbian operating system or the new Meego platform that it is currently developing.

The Symbian technology is being used in 200 million phones with 150 million more expected on the market, Elop said.

Android surpassed Symbian to become the world’s No. 1 smart phone software in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the Canalys research firm.

Microsoft CEO Steven Ballmer said the partnership would give the team “more innovation, greater global reach and scale.”

“We need to, and we will, collaborate closely on development … so we can really align and drive the future revolution of the mobile phone,” he said.

The key challenge will be to come up with devices of a quality level and hip factor that helps position Windows Phone as an attractive alternative to iPhone or Android.

Windows Phone 7, which was launched last year, still has a lot of catching up to do in terms of both the number of users and the number of “apps” available for the phones.

Nokia said its expertise in developing new software with Microsoft will be “on top of the platform in areas such as imaging, where Nokia is a market leader.” Its map services will be a core part of the new device as will Microsoft’s Bing search engine, Nokia said.

Neil Mawston of London-based Strategy Analytics said Microsoft was the big winner in the partnership, by teaming up with the biggest mobile hardware vendor in the world.

“In terms of expanding their distribution reach, this is a huge win for Microsoft,” he said.

For Nokia the deal leaves uncertainty about what will happen to its current Symbian operating platform. Mawston said he expects it to be phased out within two years and “completely, or at least mostly, replaced by Windows Phone.”

Although Nokia still is the mobile industry’s biggest handset maker, its market share has plummeted from a high of 41 percent in 2008 to 31 percent in the last quarter of 2010.

It has also lost its innovative edge in the fiercely competitive top-end sector and is virtually invisible — with a 3 percent share — in the world’s largest smart phone market, North America.

Apples’ iPhone has set the standard for today’s smart phones and Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerrys have become the favorite of the corporate set. More recently, Google Inc.’s Android software has emerged as the choice for phone makers that want to challenge the iPhone.

“Today, developers, operators and consumers want compelling mobile products, which include not only the device, but the software, services, applications and customer support that make a great experience,” Elop said.

He warned of further layoffs and restructuring, saying Nokia must “improve the speed and nimbleness and agility of the organization … by taking significant steps in how we operate.” He gave no details.

The company said it will announce a new leadership team and organizational structure “with a clear focus on speed, results and accountability.”

Nokia, which claims 1.3 billion daily users of its devices, said it hopes the “broad, strategic partnership” with Microsoft will lead to capturing the next billion users to join the Internet in developing growth markets.

Jyrki Ali-Yrkko, from the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, described Nokia’s cooperation with Microsoft as “surprising.”

“The strengths will be in Microsoft’s strong position in various corporate solutions and server solutions, but its weakness is that Microsoft perhaps doesn’t have a broad, user-oriented group of developers like those around Android or Apple,” Ali-Yrkko said.

——

Online:

Nokia: http://www.nokia.com

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