windows 9 phone

What the successor to Windows
Phone Apollo must have
Thanks to the leaked SDK, we
have a better idea of what's
coming in Windows Phone 8.
Its Windows 8 base supports
multi-core CPUs, microSD cards,
NFC, higher screen resolutions,
Internet Explorer 10 and more
powerful native applications. And
there are new features such as
terrain maps, multi-frame
capture in the camera and back
up for a list of installed apps.
Here are nine things we think
are still missing that we'd like to
see next time around, in
Windows Phone 9.
1. Upgrade from Windows
Phone 8
Windows Phone 8 is a big change
from Windows Phone 7 and
Windows Phone 7.5, using all new
kernels. WP7 apps will run on
Windows Phone 8, but you can't
run Windows Phone 8 apps on
Windows Phone 7 handsets.
That's understandable, because
it's such a big change, but
there's no reason for Windows
Phone 9 to be as fundamental a
change. With the promise of 18
months of updates, we expect to
be able to upgrade Windows
Phone 8 handsets to version 9.
2. Choice over SkyDrive sync
Unlike the PC, the SkyDrive app
for Windows Phone doesn't sync
files, it just enables you to
access them when you're online.
Even with an SD card in your
phone, we don't necessarily want
everything we have on SkyDrive
syncing to the phone in the
future.
We'd like to pick exactly what
syncs to the phone (something
the SkyDrive team recently
promised to consider), and maybe
even choose which sections of a
OneNote notebook sync.
3. Less developer access to
SkyDrive
Windows Phone 8 apps can use
your SkyDrive account to store
files and back up app data. That's
OK as long as that data goes in a
separate, clearly marked area
(how about Program Files?) so it
doesn't clutter up your SkyDrive,
won't get deleted because you
don't recognise it and doesn't get
synced to all your PCs.
We'd also like better security for
what apps can do on your
SkyDrive; once you give them
access they can read, write and
even delete files.
They need to do that with the
files that the app creates, but
nothing (apart from the Windows
Marketplace approvals process) is
stopping an app from changing or
deleting other files. Keeping the
files you create with one app in a
sandbox so you can't see them in
another app is proving
inconvenient in iCloud, but a
developer doesn't have to be
malicious for a programming
error to accidentally delete files.
4. Better backup
We're delighted to see that
Windows Phone 8 will bring back
the option to back up text
messages, photos, videos, 'most'
settings and installed apps. We
hope that means full resolution
photo backup as in the latest
SkyDrive update, not the
downsized versions in Windows
Phone today.
We also hope it means you can
easily reinstall all your apps on a
new phone (or your reset
handset) rather than having to
select them one by one in a
third-party app such as
Reinstaller.
If not, those are must-haves for
Windows Phone 9. But we also
want to see the ability to do a
full backup and restore of your
phone, using your PC, the cloud,
a spare SD card or anything else.
5. Smaller and larger screens
The rumoured BlackBerry-style
form factor
for Windows Phone 8 isn't
happening. It's not surprising,
given that it would be hard to
scale apps to fit into the 4:3
aspect ratio needed compared to
the 15:9 used today (the shift to
16:9 for some Windows Phone 8
handsets is less of a problem).
But the rumoured form factor we
really miss is the 1-inch square
screen you could have used as a
watch.
We'd also like a 7-inch tablet to
compete with the Kindle Fire and
Nexus 7 (something else the
MALI GPU might be good at).
Microsoft sees Windows 8 as
right for tablets, but for
something smaller we think
Windows Phone is a better
choice; anything below 10 inches
and even Windows RT will be
cramped.
6. More CPUs, more modems
Windows Phone 8 has dual-core
CPUs, but they're all Qualcomm
Snapdragon S4 chips. When
Windows Phone's Joe Belfiore
said the Windows 8 core means
"we're ready for whatever
hardware makers dream up" we
thought we'd finally see
handsets with ST-Ericsson
NovaThor chips, seen in Android
devices such as the Xperia Play.
We'd like to see what their more
powerful multi-core MALI-400
GPU and integrated modem could
do for Windows Phone handsets
in terms of better graphics and
more efficient functionality.
Keeping to a single specification
makes it easier for Microsoft to
deliver a consistent Windows
Phone experience on different
handsets, but one of the reasons
to switch to the Windows 8 core
is to make it easier to develop
drivers for a wider range of
devices.
If Microsoft really wants to
attract more OEMs to Windows
Phone, more hardware options
would help.
7. Wi-Fi Sync that works
Being able to sync music and
photos to your phone over Wi-Fi
when it's plugged in overnight is
a great feature.
If only you could set it up reliably
without worrying about whether
your PC is on a public or private
network or whether it's your
access point or a server handing
out IP addresses.
Maybe the switch to the Windows
8 kernel will fix this as well, but
it's too useful a tool to be this
unreliable.
8. A screenshot tool
Imagine if enthusiastic users of
your product could show their
friends pictures of their
favourite apps. Wouldn't it be
handy if there was a way to
capture what was on screen and
use that to promote your
product; let alone making it easy
for bloggers to show off tips and
shortcuts or for users with
problems to show what was going
wrong?
Again, maybe the Windows
underpinnings will make this
happen in Windows Phone 8 (it's
in Windows 8 as Windows-
Printscreen) but if it is, Microsoft
is keeping it very quiet.
9. Clarity
Windows Phone 8 has had to be
developed at top speed, and we
might not officially see the SDK
for developers to start work on
WP8 apps until the end of
September (Microsoft only says
"by the end of the summer").
The problem is that Windows
Phone 8 is based on technology
from Windows 8, and Windows 8
is only just finished. The secrecy
is understandable in the
circumstances – but those won't
be the same next time around.
To keep developer momentum
and get apps that show off what
Windows Phone can really do,
Microsoft needs to give a lot
more concrete information a lot
earlier on next time.
Microsoft isn't Apple, and secrecy
that works for Apple won''t work
when it's time to get app
developers onboard. If Windows
Phone 9 is going to keep the
excitement of Windows Phone 8
going, get that started sooner –
because there won't be the
hoopla of Surface and Windows 8
launching next year.