Microsoft Finally Previewing Windows Phone 8 SDK
Microsoft is only previewing the SDK because there are features the company doesn't want to publicly reveal just yet.
The Windows Phone Developer Blog reports that Microsoft is now taking requests for access to the Windows Phone 8 SDK Preview program.
The object of this program, according to Microsoft's Todd Brix, is to let developers of the platform's most-downloaded apps (aka the "popular" crowd) to start optimizing their games and whatnot for Windows Phone 8. The majority of published developers should qualify for access, he added.
So why not just publicly release the full SDK now rather than offer a little pre-launch tease? Because there are a number of features Microsoft just doesn't want the public to know about just yet. "Our SDK includes comprehensive emulators that allow developers to test apps against a wide range of Windows Phone features. We recognize that this is a different approach to delivering tools than we’ve taken in the past," he said.
Naturally Microsoft's goal is to generate as much Windows Phone 8 excitement as possible to attract new customers when phones go on sale. "This [preview release] is one of many steps we’re taking to help give you what you (and we) want most," he adds. "Windows Phone 8 remains on track to hit store shelves later this year and we very much want developers to create new apps for the platform, so please bear with us."
Additional SDK news will be made in the coming weeks, he said.
To apply for the Windows Phone 8 SDK Preview program, developers are required to visit the Microsoft Connect site and complete a short application. Developers should have their Developer ID and Application’s Product ID on hand, as well as the name of their local Phone Champ (if you don’t know your local Phone Champ, you can always get in touch via the Find My Champ app).
"We’ll be taking applications until Monday, September 17 at 5pm PDT. If you’re accepted to the program, you’ll hear from us in the following week with instructions on how to download the SDK and get support for questions and issues," he said.
To apply for the program, head over to the Microsoft Connect site here.
Or is Microsoft using a different logo for their Windows 8 phone edition?
LOL! +1
While I generally agree with your statement, it's common to the smart phone industry; Microsoft, in other words, certainly wasn't the fits to do that. They also released an upgrade for the Win 7 phones that supplies a lot of the features. I don't recall Android even doing that much.
Realistically though, hardware in phones is changing so fast right now that anyone buying should expect some amount of "obsolete" in a short period of time. A 6-month old phone is last generation, at best, and you can only do so much to bring the hardware capabilities forward.
Yes, where have you been? This is the new MS logo
Sad but true.
Win 7 phones have been out a lot longer than you may realize. Just because the Lumia line was only out a few months, doesn't mean they was the only ones out.
Anyways, I don't see anything wrong or amiss about selling a Win 7 phone, and now offering Win 8 phones several months later. The Win 7 phones still do everything they did when they were bought. Just because there is now a Win 8 phone doesn't make the Win 7 phone less of a product than when it was bought.
I find it odd how so many people some how think a Win 7 phone becomes useless once Win 8 arrives. That's like calling your 2010 F150 useless, because you can buy 2012 models now.
No, wait people: the blue slanted one is not the company's new logo. It's the new windows logo. Microsoft's new logo is this: http://blogs.technet.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-80-73-metablogapi/2112.msftlogo_5F00_lg_5F00_57CAED14.jpg
Yeah, but what people mean (or I hope they mean), is that before knowing that the next version would have had native apps incompatible with the previous, you bought thinking that your apps were going to steadily increase even if you didn't get all the new OS version features. Instead, with the incompatibility of WP8 apps on WP7, the WP7 users are now all but assured that they won't see many new apps for their phone if at all, once WP8 comes out, because developers will focus on the new. Debatable anyway, since if I was a developer, I'd do both a WP7 and WP8 version of my app, to broaden the user base and generate more talk.