Well, this is a pleasant surprise! Not long after we got the Amber update (or, most of us, anyway. Adam informed me that Lumia 520 owners still haven’t had the Amber rollout, boo MS!), it’s been announced in the official developers blog that a new batch of updates is underway.
That’s good news, at least they’re trying to step up the game. And even better, the new update lists changes that are a long time coming. If you haven’t yet, see our article about the current state of the platform. While I’m tempted to say “Why did these fixes take so long?”, I’d just say “I’m just happy you decided to fix these.”
For those taking count, this is the third update to the plaformt since its introduction. Here’s a list of the most relevant changes:
Third Windows Phone 8 Update Features
- Support for bigger, higher-resolution screens
- Support for more powerful hardware
- New: Driving Mode
- New accessibility features
- Improved Internet Sharing
- More useful ringtones
- New: Rotation lock option
- Better storage management
- Easily close apps with the App switche
- Easier WiFi hotspot setup
- Better Bluetooth
Looking at the list, it’s quite hefty, but if you’re accustomed to other smartphone OSes, you can’t help but wonder why the platform is getting these features just now, when these are all now a given to the other smartphone OSes. I honestly feel the same way, but it’s better late than never. The first two updates are quite interesting, however.
According to the blog post, these updates enable Windows Phone 8 to accommodate devices with 5- and 6-inch 1080p touch screens. The second one means that Windows Phone 8 is now compatible with Snapdragon 800 processors (like on the LG G2). Does this mean that there are phablets in the works with updated internals? This is also a bigger departure to the platform’s normal convention of all hardware having identical internals across the board. It seems that Microsoft is willing to delve into a little fragmentation in exchange for flexibility.
Any way you think of it, the changes are a good read. Hit up the Source link for a full account of the changes.
[Source: WP8 Developers’ Blog]