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 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.
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
