What's new in Windows 10 for Phones

-
Windows 10 is said to bring a vast number of new features, but not all of those were announced during the Windows 10 press event. Fewer still are presented in the Technical Preview at this early stage, so keep in mind that things will only get better as we move forward. Microsoft has issued a short change log, which says what novelties made it to the first Windows 10 public release and what's still in development.

Here is the official change list:

  • Full-size Background Image for Start: We believe phones should be intensely personal - so we've added another option to customize the start screen with a full-size background image.
  • More Quick Actions in Action Center: We've increased the number of quick actions available to you. Windows Phone 8.1 has four programmable quick actions - but with Windows 10 you also get an expanded view that can now have up to three rows.
  • Interactive Notifications: Notifications are now interactive, allowing you to take action directly like dismissing an alarm, or seeing images for maps. For example, for text messages, when the toast pops, you can quickly reply inline via text or voice.
  • Significantly enhanced speech-to-text capability: You can talk to virtually any data field you choose. Your words show up as you speak them - and punctuation appears automatically. This feature is smart enough to understand when to use 'two' - the number - instead of 'too' as in 'also'.
  • More powerful Photos app: From your very first launch, Photos will show the aggregated set of all your local photos and all your OneDrive photos.
In addition to these features, we can also confirm the new Settings menu is onboard the Technical Preview plus some of the system apps have been refreshed with new UI. The keyboard has been enhanced with new gestures, too.
What didn't make the cut? The new Messaging app is still missing - it is supposed to handle all kind of instant messaging such as Skype. Most of the Photos app is still under construction and the new Album view is yet to come. Plus, the major Office overhaul is left for another Preview.
There is still lot to see though in this new version, so let's cut to the chase. We begin our interface inspection right after the jump.

User interface

The tile-based launcher of Windows 10 looks largely familiar, but the Settings menu and the Action Center have been reworked and now share their base design with the desktop Windows. The goal is, again, to make transitioning between the two easier as well as shorten the initial learning period if you have more than one Windows 10 device.
The first thing you'll notice in Windows 10 for Phones is the new background - the wallpaper now spreads over the background space, while the tiles become transparent so you can enjoy the picture behind them. The Start background continues to be visible even when you go to All apps section on the right.

Windows 10 Technical Preview for Phones lacks the old Start background option, where the image you've selected was displayed on the tiles themselves, but Microsoft has promised to bring this back and we'll be able to choose between the two options. Of course, if can always opt for a no background option as well.
Show More Tiles settings is available and if turned on, it will allow you to stack up to six small tiles in a row instead of just four.
A new addition to Windows 10 is the option to use vertical rectangle tiles (4 x 2) and new supersized tiles (4x4) in the grid. Those are already available, but require apps to explicitly support them so they won't be there for most apps.
The Action Center got an update as well. It still has four quick toggles at top and notifications below, but you can now expand the quick toggles and view three rows of toggles. You can configure what to be visible and what expandable from Settings -> System -> Notifications. You can also opt for which apps to use notification banners and which - don't.
The Settings menu finally makes sense! We've been waiting for a more organized settings menu since the day Windows Phone 7 debuted and finally it is here. Now you have 11 main sections - System, Devices, Networks, Personalization, Accounts, Time and Language, Ease of Access, Privacy, Update & Recovery, and Extras. The new organization, color scheme and system icons are very similar to the new Settings menu in Windows 10 for Desktop.

Apps

The first and most notable new app is Photos. It defaults at your camera roll, but it is also capable of aggregating all of your OneDrive photos and listing them along with your camera snaps. You can turn on/off the OneDrive picture support from settings.
It is very easy to select, delete and share multiple images. A limited editing option is available as well with support for rotation and crop. For advanced image editing you should go for the Lumia Creative Studio.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge survives over 20 minutes under water

-
Image
Samsung didn’t waterproof the new Galaxy S6 and S6 edge like it did with their predecessor. So, what happens if you drop your Galaxy S6 edge in water?  TechSmartt  decided to find out and dunked the an S6 edge into a bowl of water with the stopwatch running. The phone lasted over 20 minutes before powering off. That's a lot more than can be expected from a phone with no official water resistance rating, but it was not without taking some damage. After some drying and charging the Galaxy S6 edge came back to life, though there was still water in the device (visible in the front-facing camera. The phone also tended to reboot or even not boot at all after the experiment. So, definitely don’t go put your Galaxy S6/S6 edge in water on purpose, though it looks like it has a good chance of surviving an accidental drop if you pull it out quickly and dry it properly. Note that depths plays a part, an IPX7 rating for example specifies up to 1m of water.
Read more

Lava Iris Alfa L comes with 5.5 dispaly and 8MP cam @8000

-
Image
Indian smartphone makers seem to be gaining a lot more experience in warding off tough competition from international low cost handset manufacturers. Xiaomi, Lenovo and Motorola have hit the Indian market with very affordable handsets that come with mid-range specifications and features. Lava is a major smartphone vendor in the Indian market. With the launch of another Lava Iris Alfa L handset, the company has strengthened its position in this category as well.As far as specification are concerned, the Lava Iris Alfa L comes with 5.5-inch qHD IPS display with a 540 x 960 pixel resolution with 200ppi, 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek processor, 1 GB RAM, dual SIM, 8GB internal storage expandable upto 32GB via microSD card. When it comes to operating system, Lava Iris Alfa L runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop and comes equipped with an 8MP autofocus PureCel rear camera along with LED flash. It sports a 2MP front-facing camera as well. The handset comes with a very powerful 3,000mAh battery...
Read more

Apple Watch pre-orders open

-
Image
The Apple Watch is here! Kind of. Pre-orders are now open online, which is honestly not as exciting as waiting in line for days in anticipation of the next big thing. However, the actual watches will take weeks, and for most people more than a month to arrive, as shipping times are surprisingly long. Apple Watch Sport ships in June (!) Apple Watch (stainless steel) shipping times are four to six weeks Apple Watch Edition shipping times vary between models from July to August (!!) Hey, but if you want to order a band without the watch it will arrive quicker: it only takes 2 to 4 weeks for most bands to ship. Some ship in May (classic buckle), and others are simply not available yet (modern buckle). You can pre-order an  Apple Watch at the Apple Store here  (external link)
Read more