Windows Phone 8 Will Integrate with Windows 8: Reports

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Windows Phone 8 will support multicore processors and native BitLocker encryption, and integrate in many ways with the upcoming Microsoft Windows 8 operating system.

Those are just a few of the features mentioned in a Pocketnow.com report Feb. 2, many of which were subsequently confirmed by Paul Thurrott in a posting on his Supersite for Windows. Pocketnow claimed its information came from a Microsoft-produced video meant for Nokia executives and hosted by Windows Phone manager Joe Belfiore.

According to both sources, Windows Phone 8 will include the same 128-bit, full-disk BitLocker encryption that currently runs on Windows — the better to appeal to businesses possibly looking for an alternative platform to Research In Motion’s BlackBerry, Apple’s iOS or Google Android. A “Data Smart” feature will give WiFi hotspots priority over using the smartphone’s cellular connection, in turn reducing data usage.

Pocketnow paraphrases Belfiore as saying that Windows Phone 8 will “use many of the same components of Windows 8” and that areas of heavy overlap include “kernel, networking stacks, security and multimedia support.” Developers will apparently have the ability to reuse massive chunks of code when “porting an app from desktop to phone.”

In his own Feb. 2 posting, Thurrott suggested that Windows Phone 8 “will be based on the Windows 8 kernel and not on Windows CE as are current versions.” Nonetheless, applications developed for Windows Phone Mango (the current version) will apparently continue to play well on the upgraded platform.

Thurott noted a Skype application, SkyDrive integration, secure payments via near-field communication (NFC), camera improvements and Internet Explorer 10 Mobile as other additions.

To read the original eWeek article, click here: Windows Phone 8 Will Integrate with Windows 8: Reports

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