Microsoft, Nokia Schedule Windows Phone Event for Sept. 5
Is Nokia preparing to show us its Windows 8 wares?
Just last week there were rumors floating around that said we could see Windows Phone 8 devices from Nokia as early as September. The rumor mill kicked into high gear when a report on Bloomberg cited sources that said Nokia would introduce Windows Phone 8 devices at Nokia World in the first week of September. Now it looks as though Bloomberg's sources were right. Sort of.
Nokia does indeed have a Windows Phone event scheduled to take place during Nokia World. However, it won't actually be at Nokia World, which is taking place in Nokia's homeland of Finland. Instead, Nokia has sent out invitations to to a media event for September 5 in New York City.
Microsoft gave us a sneak peek at Windows Phone 8, AKA Apollo, back in June. Windows Phone 8 will share a kernel, file system, media foundation, device drivers, and parts of the security model of Windows 8, and is due out in the fall. Packing support for multi-core processors, displays up to 1280x768, and external SD storage, Windows Phone 8 will bring Internet Explorer 10 to Windows Phone devices as well as in-app purchases, , and improved enterprise features (including device management for administrators, Office apps, support for BitLocker encryption, and secure boot mode).
The invite itself doesn't offer much in the way of information about the event. The only hint is that it is styled to look a lot like the Windows Phone UI. Stay tuned, and we'll bring you the latest three weeks from now!
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Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
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house70 Curious to see to what hardware will this be paired... Sounds like a massive improvement over the previous 7.5.Reply
Also, why are they holding back in terms of resolution support? Saving that for a future 8.5 iteration? -
syrious1 my guess is the new devices will be released with 7.8 and then later upgraded. There will be no true WP8 OS on devices until after October.Reply
just a guess..
If AT&T has anything to do with that roll-out, you might as well just wait till December to buy a phone . -
back_by_demand Funny, i'm 1 year into a 2 year WP7 contract so was a bit bummed till this afternoon, spoke to them and they will allow me to upgrade up to 12 months earlyReply
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EPIC WIN, I think I will see what Samsung and Nokia have to show by end of September then have a chat with my carrier -
SchizoFrog syrious1my guess is the new devices will be released with 7.8 and then later upgraded. There will be no true WP8 OS on devices until after October. just a guess...Reply
WP7.8 is specifically designed for previous devices that can not support WP8. AS in WP7.8 will not include support for multicore processors or external storage cards among other things. It will however update some of the background systems and bring some of the new UI options to previous devices.
It be nice to finally see what they are launching as WP8 devices although the reported Nokia Phi is just a slight upgrade of the Lumia 900.
I too will be waiting for Samsung and maybe even HTC to enter the market before deciding. I just hope Samsung will push WP8 with a high end device like the GSIII. -
h4ndsome That Nokia Maps icon is worth more than anything Apple or Samsung will ever muster up.Reply -
hardcore_gamer The only problem I see with windows RT is that it's a locked system like crapple devices. Apps can be only purchased from MS's store.Reply