Today Apple announced their upcoming upgrade to their mobile operating system, iOS 6, during their annual WWDC event. With it comes several new features including 3D maps, turn by turn navigation, Facebook integration, Passbook, iCloud tabs, and more. However, whilst the spotlight had been on iOS today, our friends over at WPCentral had posted an interesting article revealing some details about Microsoft’s upcoming mobile operating system – Windows Phone 8.
Without going into too much details of the post, we have summarised the key points below:
- Nokia Maps with 3D navigation – WPCentral claims that Nokia Maps will replace Bing Maps entirely, and will feature 3D navigation and hardware acceleration. According to the website, this will be available across all Windows Phone devices rather than limited to just Nokia devices.
- Integrated Skype – This was long rumored before, but we will finally see Microsoft’s recently-acquired Skype built right into the Windows Phone 8 OS. WPCentral claims that Skype will be integrated with your contacts in the People hub, and available not just for instant messaging but also Voice-Over-IP chats. It is said that Skype for Windows Phone 8 will behave like a regular phone call, and will be “completely seamless”.
- VOIP integration – According to WPCentral, Microsoft will also be allowing other VOIP providers to “patch into” the Windows Phone 8 OS just like Skype, making other VOIP services just as seamless.
- Windows Phone Wallet – This was also rumored previously, where the Windows Phone 8 OS will take advantage of new NFC-capable phones to provide contactless payments.
- Voice tools – WPCentral didn’t go into details, but made comparison with Apple’s Siri service. WMPU mentioned that Windows Phone 8 will feature Voice search that integrates results from IMDB, Yelp, Rotten Tomatoes, OpenTable and the more.
- Lens apps – Also rumored before, WPCentral says that Windows Phone 8 will provide some creative tools for developers to make good use of the phone’s camera. An example given previously was an app that combines burst mode with smile detection to capture a perfect portrait shot.
- Native code development – Also revealed previously, WPCentral mentioned again that native code development will be coming, enabling more powerful applications and making it easier for developers to port apps from iOS or Android.
With the Windows Phone Summit coming next week, we’ll sure be hearing a lot more news about Windows Phone 8. What are some of your most anticipated features of Windows Phone 8? Let us know in the comments below!