Windows Phone Blue will arrive Winter 2013

The next big version of Windows Phone, known as Windows Phone Blue, will arrive in time for Christmas 2013

The next landmark update of Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system, dubbed Windows Phone Blue, will arrive this winter, according to reports.

Microsoft posted a job listing on its careers website – the company’s looking for a software development engineer:

‘This is a great time to join as we’re completing our current release are getting ready for our next release targeting the holiday [Christmas] of this year and we’re chartered with keeping the momentum for Windows Phone by bringing new killer devices and delightful user experiences.’

Previously rumoured as simply Windows Blue, the next major update following the launch of Windows Phone 8 at the end of 2012 is expected to do a great deal to bridge the gap between Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8/Windows RT in terms of features, functionality and cross-compatibility between the smartphone and tablet/PC platforms.

Speaking to assembled reporters at MWC 2013, Windows Phone senior marketing manager Greg Sullivan commented that development work was being done to improve Windows Phone 8 and enhance its capabilities:

‘We're going to have an upgrade path going forward. Windows Phone 8 can evolve. We have an architecture that enables portability and is fundamentally hardware independent,’ he said.

Following Windows Phone 8’s release, Microsoft’s own program manager, Thomas Fennel, admitted that the company had planned to include a notifications menu but ‘ran out of time’, suggesting there may have been many more features on the drawing board which didn’t make it into the final product.

It’s believed Windows Phone Blue will be as substantial an update in terms of new functionality as Windows Phone 8 was from Windows Phone 7.

A number of incremental updates are expected between now and the arrival of Windows Phone Blue, with Windows Phone GDR2 expected in the next few months.



by via Know Your Mobile