For starters, its code name will be “Apollo,” and the overall theme with Windows Phone 8 will be “scale and choice.” Windows Phone Program Management VP Joe Belfiore leaked the details to Pocketnow.com, and the next release will have Wi-Fi capabilities, full-on Windows 8 integration: the same style interface so developers can use the same code for both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8; NFC radios will also be supported with a wallet experience that will “have capability to be carrier-branded and controlled, either by a secure element on a SIM card or utilizing hardware in the phone itself.”
On top of all that, Microsoft plans on incorporating 100,000 apps to the Windows Marketplace—something most of us thought we would never see; there has even been unofficial announcements of a Windows Phone version of Instagram (don’t worry Android people, you’ll too get it soon), and even an XBOX companion and Skype integration.
Reducing and tracking data use with the DataSmart package is another feature that separates the Windows Phone 8 from any other phone out there—making the Windows Phone fully-equipped with lots of tech goodness.
Unfortunately the phone won’t be available until the end of the year, but by that time some of our contracts will be up, so we don’t mind the long wait.
In the meantime, look for the Lumia 900 US release on March 18, just $99.99 with AT&T contract and read up on the Windows Phone 8 features in full.
(via The Verge & Pocket Now; photo via Tech Alpha)
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