New Windows Phone 8 rumors.

[George P Global Moderator]

Nokia prepping PureView and QWERTY devices, Lenovo and Asus to join the game

His self-appointed retirement from leaking Microsoft rumors later this month is apparently not stopping the MS Nerd from revealing some new tidbits concerning the upcoming Windows Phone 8 ?Apollo? release.

He sheds some light onto Nokia?s WP8 devices, which will include a PureView flagship (albeit with the Nokia N8?s 12 megapixel sensor) with a ClearBlack 1280?720 display destined for Verizon, and a QWERTY landscape-slider with a traditional 4? WVGA display set to arrive on Sprint. The rather interesting part here, however, is the chip these devices are supposed to be running on: the MSM8960, part of the Snapdragon S4 family. For readers unfamilar with Qualcomm?s product range, the S4 is the second generation dual-core Snapdragon that can also be found Android devices such as the AT&T version of the HTC One X; despite only sporting two cores, its CPU performance is actually comparable to ? if not better than ? the quad-core Tegra 3 from Nvidia, whereas its GPU performance falls short.

As for the other two major US carriers, MS Nerd claims that T-Mobile will get an HTC device for launch while AT&T is getting two Samsung devices.

Regarding hardware partnerships, Lenovo and ASUS are said to be joining the likes of Nokia, HTC and Samsung as Windows Phone OEMs, whereas there?s ?no sign? of LG, Dell or Acer. Considering the latters? spotty track record ? LG?s refurbishing of a first-gen device under a designer brand name, Dell?s failed execution of what seemed to be a great portrait slider, and Acer?s low-end second-gen offering ? that doesn?t seem entirely unlikely, although we would still take this with a grain of salt. On the other hand, the notion of Lenovo and ASUS as new hardware partners is much more plausible and corroborates earlier rumors.

http://wmpoweruser.com/windows-phone-8-rumors-nokia-prepping-pureview-and-qwerty-devices-lenovo-and-asus-to-join-the-game/

MS Nerd has been pretty spot on with his/her info as far as I remember, if true we should be in for some interesting new WP8 devices Fall/Winter of this year.

[margrave]

AT&T = Fail

[George P Global Moderator]

While I don't much care about US carriers since I don't live there, the specs for the Verizon phone sound good to me as well, I think it makes sense for Nokia to go after Verizon next with a new top end WP8 device later this year since they already started off with AT&T.

Still, one has to wonder why AT&T gets these phones first and or more of them while the other carriers only get one? I really doubt it's that MS or one of the OEMs making a Windows PHone doesn't want to sell to Verizon or Sprint etc. I bet it's a case of the carriers not living up to their end and not wanting to market/promote/push new WP devices that's the issue.

So far from what I've seen AT&T's really going to push the Lumia 900 hard, the shots of new retail displays that are up show promise. Compared to before when all the carriers did was toss it in the back of the shops like they didn't even want to sell them, which is funny, why buy something for your retail shop if you don't try to sell it then? Just seems like a loss of money to me. If the Lumia 900 does well expect Verizon and Sprint to trip over themselves to get the next new "exclusive" phone.

[Calum Veteran]

The title of this article and thread make it sound as if these are rumours about the Windows Phone 8 operating system and not just rumours about devices that may run the operating system :/

[BetaAddict]

While I don't much care about US carriers since I don't live there, the specs for the Verizon phone sound good to me as well, I think it makes sense for Nokia to go after Verizon next with a new top end WP8 device later this year since they already started off with AT&T.

Still, one has to wonder why AT&T gets these phones first and or more of them while the other carriers only get one? I really doubt it's that MS or one of the OEMs making a Windows PHone doesn't want to sell to Verizon or Sprint etc. I bet it's a case of the carriers not living up to their end and not wanting to market/promote/push new WP devices that's the issue.

So far from what I've seen AT&T's really going to push the Lumia 900 hard, the shots of new retail displays that are up show promise. Compared to before when all the carriers did was toss it in the back of the shops like they didn't even want to sell them, which is funny, why buy something for your retail shop if you don't try to sell it then? Just seems like a loss of money to me. If the Lumia 900 does well expect Verizon and Sprint to trip over themselves to get the next new "exclusive" phone.

The answer is rather simple. Verizon is much more invested in their Android offerings, especially the Nexus, to want to bring in WP7 handsets. Secondly, its cheaper for Nokia in terms of baseband to only include LTE/GSM chipsets rather than a triband LTE/GSM/CDMA to ensure Lumia 900 works on Verizon.

[psionicinversion]

the hardware on w8 devices should finally silence the iPhone and droid spec ###### although im sure they'll come up with something else to bash windows phone with. From what I've seen the lumia is prolly the best crafted device out there.

[George P Global Moderator]

The answer is rather simple. Verizon is much more invested in their Android offerings, especially the Nexus, to want to bring in WP7 handsets. Secondly, its cheaper for Nokia in terms of baseband to only include LTE/GSM chipsets rather than a triband LTE/GSM/CDMA to ensure Lumia 900 works on Verizon.

I don't expect to see the 900 on verizon, if anything Nokia will make a new model specifically for that network without the GSM band. They've done the same thing with the 800 when they released it in China. Verizon won't see anything till WP8, that's clear now, and regardless with HTC taking a hit on sales it seems like going Android only, at least for them, isn't really paying off. There's enough me-to/copy Android devices out there already, I'd like to think there's a good chunk of people who want something else that are also on Verizon. Whatever, if AT&T does it's part and the Lumia 900 and Titan II get pushed like they should the sales will be there, specially for the 900.

[Woelfel]

The title of this article and thread make it sound as if these are rumours about the Windows Phone 8 operating system and not just rumours about devices that may run the operating system :/

I too was hoping for OS update. :( I wonder when Microsoft is going to reveal what Windows Phone 8 is going to have in store. My guess is not until July-September. :(

[Muhammad Farrukh]

All I ever wanted was a Xperia S, running Windows Phone :(

[Calum Veteran]

I too was hoping for OS update. :( I wonder when Microsoft is going to reveal what Windows Phone 8 is going to have in store. My guess is not until July-September. :(

I hope it's sooner, but I also don't expect it to be for a while. I drastically need a new phone, as mine is broken quite badly, but I won't be sure whether I'd like a Windows Phone or an iPhone until I hear what is included in Windows Phone 8.

[George P Global Moderator]

MS won't talk up WP8 until a few months before it's ready to release it, which is why there's nothing new coming out other than on the hardware support side and so on.

They don't want to do what they did with Mango and talk up features that don't come until 6-8 months later, no reason to show their hand so soon. Also it'd kill Nokias Lumia thunder though MS could make that up if they officially said that it'll get updated to v8. Still I can see why they wouldn't want to do that anyways, because they can't talk about the new OS without coming out and saying all the new hardware it'd support also. If people know 720p screens and dual cores are coming in the next batch of phones then why get something like the Lumia 900 today?

The rest is timing on MS's part, there was the rumor that they're going to try and RTM Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 together, if so, then we're talking September-November time frame. At best that's 4 months from now, they really don't want to tip their hand yet, not until the tango update is rolled out first, probably May-June for that.

Honestly if you can hold out until Nov for a new phone then you should.

[~Johnny]

I hope it doesn't have a 1280?720 display, or atleast if it does, that's the only other resolution allows.

I'm all for higher res displays, but as an application developer I'd prefer them to be in the same aspect ratio at least as the current 800 x 480 screens, to make application scaling and development easier for us.

[George P Global Moderator]

I hope it doesn't have a 1280?720 display, or atleast if it does, that's the only other resolution allows.

I'm all for higher res displays, but as an application developer I'd prefer them to be in the same aspect ratio at least as the current 800 x 480 screens, to make application scaling and development easier for us.

That's good for the developers but it does leave you behind on hardware and then marketing lingo etc. I could see MS making 720p the res for just WP8 devices while all the current 7.x ones have 800x480. Then it's just a matter of slowly phasing out the lower res with time.

[~Johnny]

That's good for the developers but it does leave you behind on hardware and then marketing lingo etc. I could see MS making 720p the res for just WP8 devices while all the current 7.x ones have 800x480. Then it's just a matter of slowly phasing out the lower res with time.

They could go for 1200 x 720, or anything above, as long as we stick in the same aspect ratios (5/3) and don't do an Android free-for-all and give us developers a headache about it :p Windows Phone has some of the easiest developer tools to work with, and I'd like the experience to stay that way in general, especially if they want developers to flock to steadily see it as a viable option. Quite a few have been burned by working on Android, and they really need to know that Windows Phone is going to have a relatively stable and consistent experience going forward. A shame they can't do an Apple and literally just double the dimensions though :p

[downhillrider]

I think Apollo will have more to do with what hardware it comes with and what kind of designs these companies have for the phones. The OS is fine as it is. Im sure they will have some things like a notification system (current one is useless) and better intergrated stuff. But it wont look any different. 2 complaints from the general public, hardware and apps. Thats what will be really interesting to see when Apollo launches. Get rid of those 2 complaints from people and get them to really give WindowsPhone another look.

[watchthisspace]

After using an iPhone 4 for almost two years now, I really cannot go back to a lower resolution display. I hope Microsoft cater for higher resolution displays, as long as they make sure OEM's don't skimp on the hardware to keep the OS from being fluid and lag free.

[Muhammad Farrukh]

I hope it doesn't have a 1280?720 display, or atleast if it does, that's the only other resolution allows.

I hope they double it, like 1600 x 960

Seems unlikely, but Apple has done it and would be awesome if Microsoft alos follows the path

[George P Global Moderator]

Having different types of screens and devices shouldn't be much of a problem if WP8s UI scales like we've seen Win8s start screen do. e.g. With Win8 start screen and metro apps when you switch between different size screens you automatically see more or less of them. Maybe WP8 will be able to show more or less of the UI depending on the screen it's on as well?

While no one expects it to change much, the UI that is, I do expect to see a good chunk of new stuff. Just adding a notification area is something new. Or hell, everyone wants to be able to set a background image on the start screen, not just the lock screen, so that's another thing. If WP8 follows Win8 and we can get WinRT apps on the phone then "apps" shouldn't be an issue anymore since devs aren't locked into SL/XNA and can now use everything WinRT supports.

[Salutary7]

I'm hoping for more than 10 tile colors in WP8 :|