The Windows Phone 8 Start Screen Is the Best of Any Phone

I love Windows Phone 7's start screen: neatly organized square tiles that clearly show information in real time—from emails to photos to weather to travel progress—without having to click on applications. With Windows Phone 8 Microsoft has solved my only criticism: not enough information density. And it have done so without destroying Metro's simplicity and elegance.

As WP8 chief Joe Belfiore said on stage today, this is going to be the feature that users will love the most.

The new Windows Phone 8 Start screen allows for the same level of customization as the tablet and desktop versions of Windows 8. It lets you move tiles around in any way you want and resize the tiles to small, medium and large sizes:

• The medium size is the square one that Windows Phone 7 has now.
• The small size is one quarter of that size.
• The large size takes over two of the square tiles.

The tiles' content is highly customizable too. Apart from specific apps' live tiles, the system would allow you to create specific contact or group tiles, with all the relevant information—emails, Facebook updates, photo uploads, etc.—displayed in real time within the tile.

It will also let you add as many apps as you want to the home screen as icons. By keeping these at the small size, you can create a grid of app icons as dense as the one in the iPhone. Except that here you can also combine those with larger live tiles. Simple, elegant, fully customizable.

The new sizes are also compatible with current Windows Phone 7 apps' live tiles, so no change on the part of the developer is needed—and you won't need to re-download all the apps you already have.

Microsoft is also adding more live tile color options, and now you can assign individual colors to tiles; something that users tired of a uniform block of blocks were demanding.

Customization and variable information density without the mess

Resizable custom tiles are precisely what the Windows Phone's start screen needed to be pretty much perfect from a user experience point of view. Much better and more elegant than the static grid of badge-peppered tiny icons of iOS. Or the painful and ugly clusterf*ck of widgets that you can see in most user-customized Android screens.

Unlike the competition's start screen solutions, resizable tiles give users the ability to increase information density to the maximum allowed on a phone screen while keeping it clean, comprehensive, and pretty. The start screen will provide with as much data as users want, no matter if they are beginners who like just a few important tiles or advanced users who want an information overload.

And the key to avoiding any user-induced design mayhem is as obvious as keeping an organizational grid. No matter what the user does, there's no way that the start screen would look ugly or confusing. Pretty simple and effective.

Microsoft says that this new start screen can tailor each phone to fit each user's lifestyle. People whose lives revolve around sports would be able to create a screen in which their favorite teams and athletes' Twitter accounts or Facebook pages are combined with real-time scoring apps, all alongside their own live tiles for mail, weather or games. Those who love social networks would be able to have their favorite friends always on screen. And so on.

It's really up to the user to decide what they want their phone to be. Microsoft is just making sure that happens, in as pretty and functional manner as we've ever seen. (via Gizmodo)

Windows Phone 8 officially announced, hitting new phones later this year

he news about Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 operating system has been doing the rounds for quite a while. Yesterday, the tech giant said that they would offer a sneak peak at what one can expect from their smartphone OS once it becomes available. At an event in San Francisco, the brand officially raised the curtains on their latest mobile operating system and claimed that it is the most advanced mobile OS Microsoft has ever made. This OS will be available on new handsets that will be launched later this year.

According to a blog post, Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore claims that many of the new capabilities available on the Windows Phone 8 OS comes from Windows, which is the most successful and powerful operating system on the planet, and one used by more than a billion people. Windows Phone 8 is based on the same core technologies that power Windows 8. As a result, Windows Phone 8 will come equipped with a new wave of features for consumers, developers, and businesses.

Enter the next level in Windows mobility

Microsoft claims that with Windows Phone 8, similarities between Windows 8 and this latest smartphone OS is more than just skin deep. He states, “We’ve based the next release of Windows Phone on the rock-solid technology core of Windows 8.” Expanding on this, Belfiore states that Windows Phone and its older sibling will share common networking, security, media and web browser technology, and a common file system. These features will translate into better performance, more features, and new opportunities for app developers and hardware makers to innovate faster.

Here is a look at some of the highlighted features available on Windows Phone 8:

• Multi-core processor support – Windows Phone was a slick OS that ran smoothly on handsets with a single processor. The latest OS now features multi-core support with Belfoire claiming that they’re ready for whatever hardware makers dream up.
• Bigger, sharper screens - Windows Phone 8 supports two new screen resolutions—1280x768 and 1280x720, making it compatible with new handsets that will feature high-definition 720p displays.
• More flexible storage - Windows Phone 8 supports removable MicroSD cards, so users can stuff their phone with extra photos, music, and whatever else is important and then easily move it all onto their PC.
• NFC wireless sharing - In Windows Phone 8, NFC helps make sharing photos, Office docs, and contact info easier. One can achieve this by tapping their phone on another NFC-equipped device.
• Internet Explorer 10 - The next version of Windows Phone comes with the same web browsing engine that’s headed for Window 8 PCs and tablets. Microsoft claims that IE10 is faster and more secure, with advanced anti-phishing features like SmartScreen Filter to block dangerous websites and malware.
• Wallet - Windows Phone 8’s new digital Wallet feature does two things. It can keep debit and credit cards, coupons, boarding passes and other important info right at one’s fingertips. And when paired with a secure SIM from your carrier, users can also pay for things with a tap of your phone at compatible checkout counters.
• Better maps and directions - Windows Phone 8 builds in Nokia mapping as part of the platform. This partnership will provide more detailed maps and turn-by-turn directions in many countries, plus the ability to store maps offline on your phone so you can work with maps without a data connection.
• Improved apps and games – Microsoft states that basing Windows Phone 8 on the Windows core will unleash a new wave of amazing apps and especially games.

The Windows Phone 8 OS also comes with a flexible new Start screen. Microsoft states, “We’re making Windows Phone 8 even more personal, with a new palette of theme colors and three sizes of Live Tiles, all of which are under your control. We know Live Tiles are one of the things current owners really love about their Windows Phones, and we wanted to make them even more flexible and unique.”



Unfortunately existing handsets will not receive the Windows Phone 8 OS but instead will receive an update to their existing OS in the form of Windows Phone 7.8. (via Tech2)

Windows 8.1 demo video hits the web

We’ve only seen leaks and preview images of what Windows 8.1 (code named Windows Blue) would look like so far, but we won’t have to do that anymore. Microsoft has finally released a video demo of Windows 8.1, showing off some of the new features the update brings.

The video shows Jensen Harris of the Windows User Experience Team demonstrating some of the improvements and changes to the Start Screen and Search; how the new Snap Views work, and the changes to the overall user interface. However, Microsoft is still mum about the Start button on Windows 8.1.

Windows 8.1 has a number of visual tweaks and the core apps have improved functionality. Users are handed more control of the look and behavior of their Windows device. Microsoft lets you customize and organize the Start Screen—you can group together apps and tiles, and name the groups. There are new small and live tiles that make the Start screen look very similar to Windows Phone 8’s main menu. Multiple selection of tiles is a much-needed improvement—you can re-size, move and even get rid of several in one go. There’s no indication of whether the excessive animation has been reined in or whether all tile animations can be turned off in one shot.

There are also more choices for the Start screen’s background. There are more colours and new “tattoo” patterns (including animated ones), but users will most likely appreciate the ability to use any image as the background and also unify the desktop wallpaper and Start screen background. 

New colours and tattoos, including animated ones

In addition, you can choose to run a slideshow as a sort of screensaver when your device is locked. Photos on your hard drive or in your online accounts can be used. There’s also a smartphone-inspired feature for taking photos with the webcam even when a device is locked—probably not much use on a desktop, but potentially handy for tablets.

The Snap feature, which lets you view two windows side by side, is now not limited to specific screen sizes. You can snap two apps next to each other and drag the bar between them arbitrarily. You can also have two instances of the same app snapped next to each other on the screen, such as two document windows—something that really should have been allowed right from the beginning. PC users with more than one monitor will be able to snap even more apps together, run different full-screen apps on different monitors and even leave the Start screen permanently visible on any one monitor.

Microsoft will release the first public preview of Windows 8.1 on June 26, at Microsoft’s Build conference.