Windows 8 Mobile

Mobile devices have become very popular over the last few years for two main reasons — the Apple iOS and Google Android operating systems. These operating systems have made tablet devices and smart phone devices affordable, reliable, and easy to use. The design of the Windows 8 operating system will help Microsoft position itself alongside Apple and Google for robust tablet and phone devices.

Windows Phone 8

Microsoft announced Windows Phone 8 during the Windows 8 beta phase, which would enable people to use the Windows 8 operating system on compatible smart phones. Pre-release information from Microsoft shows that one of the early changes for Windows Phone 8 will include live tiles on the phone Start screen. Figure 3.1 shows an example of live tiles on a Windows phone on the Microsoft website. Notice how the tiles indicate phone calls, messages, pictures, and other dynamic information for the user.

FIGURE 3.1 Live tiles on Windows Phone 8

At the time of this writing, the Windows Phone 8 tiles can be customized by the user. For example, you can choose between large, medium, and small tiles. The small ones are a quarter the size of the medium ones, so you can fit four small ones in the same space as a medium-sized tile. Tiles also can be rearranged on the screen by dragging them to a different location. You can unpin a tile to remove it from the Start screen.

The following are some of the key features found on Windows Phone 8 and compatible devices:

• Internet Explorer (IE) 10, which includes a service called SmartScreen for reducing access by malicious sites trying to gather personal data about you
• Disk encryption to encrypt files on the device
• Secure boot, which requires Windows Phone 8 to be loaded on the device — and only Windows Phone 8
• SD card storage to expand native file storage and for application storage
• Microsoft Wallet app for quickly paying online with services such as PayPal
• Video capabilities for users to establish “video phone” sessions using Microsoft Skype
• VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) for phone calls that use a business’ network infrastructure to handle incoming and outgoing calls

Windows 8 tablets

At the time of this writing, Windows 8 tablets are being announced in the press and on various websites. For example, Microsoft announced during the beta phase of Windows 8 a new Microsoft Surface tablet aimed at competing with Apple iPad and Android devices (including the Samsung Galaxy tablet). Other companies with plans to release Windows 8 tablets include Lenovo, Dell, HP, and Samsung.

Windows 8 on mobile devices provides the following capabilities:

• Multi-touch screen navigation
• Use of hand and finger gestures
• Windows 8 app interface
• Onscreen keyboard input
• Resolution of at least 1366–768
• USB 2.0 port and at least one controller
• Audio speakers
• Storage of at least 10GB free space
• Wi-Fi network device
• Bluetooth 4.0 + LE (low energy)
• Direct3D 10 graphics with the WDDM 1.2 driver
• 720 pixel camera
• Gyroscope
• Magnetometer
• Accelerometer that supports three axes and a data rate of less than or equal to 50 Hz