April 3 – At the BUILD 2014 conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, Microsoft along with Windows 8.1 updates, announced the Windows Phone 8.1. According to the press statement, the Windows Phone 8.1 is more personal, smarter, and a “World Record Holder!”
(Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella holds up the Nokia Lumia 930 phone that uses Windows 8.1)
Here is what the Windows Phone 8.1 will bring to the table.
Cortana: It is Microsoft’s digital assistant. It works exactly like Apple’s Siri and Google Now. It was inspired by the character “Halo” and will be powered by Bing. Cortana’s data is stored in the Notebook. This includes passwords, location, browser history, contacts, appointments etc. Cortana can be accessed through a Live Tile on the Start screen or by pressing the search button on the device. One can talk loudly or type during meetings. Microsoft also has the added support for integration with third-party apps. The service has only been launched as a beta and will initially work only in the US. It will come to India in 2015.
Action Center: This is a much needed feature that the Windows Phone lacked. The Action center is a single hub which can access notifications from all apps, whether it is pinned to the homescreen or not. It also includes battery information and shortcuts to switching between settings like Wi-Fi, Flight Mode, Bluetooth and Rotation Lock.
Word Flow Keyboard: The keyboards on Windows Phone devices were comfortable. But Microsoft has taken a step forward by adding a Swyple-like functionality where one can swipe alphabets over individually tapping keys.
Skype: The new Skype app for Windows Phone 8.1 has been integrated with a phone dialer. This makes it easy to upgrade a normal phone call into a Skype video call with a tap of a button. The new Skype app is designed to work with Cortana as well.
Wi-Fi Sense: This new feature will connect automatically to a free public hotspot to save cellular data consumption. Users can opt-in to automatically and securely enable friends and contacts to auto-connect to your home Wi-Fi. This means that they can use the internet connection at your house without hassling you for the password. If Wi-Fi is turned off in Wi-Fi Sense, Cortana can automatically turn it back on when the phone is in favorite places as identified in Cortana.
Storage Sense: It has been added to get the most out of memory and storage of the phone. It will help users manage content on an SD memory card if supported by the device. Using this, one can also move content – like apps, music, photos – from internal storage to the memory card.
Calendar: The calendar app has been redesigned. Other than just adding the option to swipe left or right to skip to the next or previous day, Microsoft has a new week view showing the entire schedule of the week.
Other basic features added include a third column on the start screen for smartphones of all sizes, a new app for choosing from a wide variety of lock themes, improvements in music, video and podcasts apps, etc.
Other features….
The Windows Phone 8.1 will start rolling out for existing Windows Phone 8 users. In the coming months, it will be pre-installed on Nokia Lumia 930, 630 and 635.
Microsoft also announced that Micromax will be its new device partner for Windows Phone devices in India.
-India Today
