Windows Phone is yet to become the game changer Microsoft wants
it to be. It didn't quite experience the kind of explosive growth that
could've put Nokia back in pole position, but it has been steadily
climbing up the ranks. Maybe an upgrade of the scale of its 8.1
version is all it needed to go into overdrive and really challenge the
big two in the smartphone game.
While some analysts are predicting huge gains in the next few years,
others are sending the OS straight to the OS cemetery, right next to
Symbian and Bada. Sure, nobody knows what the future holds but
Microsoft is certainly trying to leave nothing to chance. It has been
busy building up its arsenal and now it's ready to do some real
damage.
Redmond must be quite confident everybody is going to be impressed
that the update progress screen is filled with bold statements like
"loaded with new features and improvements we think you are going
to love", "reinvented with you in mind", "and it will be worth the wait".
And it's not just empty promises either - the 8.1 update is here to
change the face of Windows Phone forever.
center with toggles and improved multitasking to boost productivity,
more customizable Live Tiles with cool wallpaper to sexy up the looks
and automatic Store updates to make app-handling even easier.
There's also Cortana for those looking for something extra.
Here comes the complete list of novelties we've managed to find so
far.
What's new:
Action Center to display all of your notifications, plus customizable
quick toggles
Cortana virtual assistant at your command
Universal Search
Start background on all of your tiles
Customizable number of tiles per row - four or six
Internet Explorer 11 with better UI, faster page load, in-private
browsing, tab sync across devices and Reader mode
New Dialer app with Speed Dial, shortcuts to contact, and call time
Built-in Facebook with deeper integration, real-time notifications
Redesigned status bar
Quiet Hours mode for control over your notifications at night or
events marked as busy
Move/install apps on SD card
Automatic app updates in Store
VPN support
Wi-Fi Sense
Better sound control with separate scrubbers for Notifications/Ringer
and Apps/Media
Better multi-tasking with suspend mode
Camera burst mode, customizable viewfinder
Swype-like keyboard
Battery Sense app
Storage Sense app
New Music and Video apps
Podcasts app
Better backups with app data sync
App data syncing across devices
Customizable lockscreen and glance screen notifications
You can change the default SMS app and the default SMS
notifications
Support for QHD displays, dual-SIM and fingerprint scanners, on-
screen buttons.
What's still missing:
System-wide file manager
Options for more quick toggles
Richer app catalog
Cortana is some way behind Android and iOS rivals
That list of disadvantages is getting shorter with every next iteration,
so Microsoft is certainly doing something right. At this point WP8.1
not only matches its rivals in almost all key aspects of the user
experience, but puts its own twist on some popular features, while
offering a few exclusives along the way. This last part is particularly
important as it will help Microsoft's OS try and steal some users from
competing platforms, and not just serve as an entry point into
smartphones.
Of course that's all only true if all the Windows Phone 8.1 novelties
work as promised.
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