Music and video
We already know the Zune brand is old news,
but it looks like Windows Phone is doing everything possible to make it avoid
making the old brand. We no longer have the Zune music marketplace again, it is
the independent Xbox Music Store; Zune pass is now Xbox Music Pass. Perhaps
the best new feature is the deep integration of the phone with cloud. The
purchase you make in the Music Store will automatically be saved there so you
can hear this song on all Microsoft devices (eg, Win 8, WP8 and Xbox 360).
Every song or video associated with your Microsoft account will appear in the
collection, and you can choose to transfer them or download them to listen to later.
The playlist gets the same treatment. There are 1 Buzz Panel in Xbox Music
Store, as long as you stay in Artist View. This feature will allow you to
update the latest information connected with the artist by presenting the
Twitter feeds, news feeds and images related to them. When we implement this article,
Microsoft does not support this feature, we were told to wait for it soon after
launch.
Games Hub
If there's one thing Microsoft cannot deny,
that will be the actual gaming experience on Windows Phone 7 is lacking,
despite the company's efforts to market the Games Hub with Xbox Live.
Fortunately, the people at Redmond seem to have realized this need to change to
regain WP8 momentum - when most top games are headed to Android and iOS,
Windows Phone has struggled to attract the famous game Word with Friends so
far. Of course there is a reason for concerning. Let's look at how Microsoft
solved this problem. First, it hopes to integrate with Windows 8 and the use of
native code will attract developers of famous game console that was previously
unavailable resources wasted on unnecessary things like this. The addition will
support the attractive development in theory because the game will easily
transition to Windows Mobile operating system (and vice versa). Finally, WP8
will give developers the ability to provide in-game purchase, increasing
opportunities for third parties that are struggling to earn a little extra
money.
Games
Hub
There is one aspect of the Games Hub that
makes us totally confused. The main Panel has a large list of gaming options
that Microsoft would like to advertise, but the knock on the link leads us to
the first link in IE10. From there you can click another link which will take
you to the Windows Phone Store, but we find it hard to understand why we should
be sent to the browser. We like to be taken directly to the Store or for at
least 1 page which loaded faster Hub and present your options in an effective
manner.
Windows Phone Store
Windows
Phone Store
We have talked a lot about Windows Phone
Store throughout this review, and so far, we have not really discussed that it
is indeed Windows Phone Marketplace that was renamed. These improvements are
mainly located in the rear. First of all, the store was being improved by being
powered by Bing Search that Microsoft says will bring you more relevant results
and recommendations - it is now considered when rating given search results, as
well as removal rate and suspension settings. In addition, the Store offers
in-app purchase and payment methods. As we have mentioned when discussing
Wallet app, you can choose from a network of payment, credit / debit cards,
gift cards or PayPal Microsoft. In addition, any WP7.5 apps you have purchased
will still be available on WP8 - no need to pay for it a second time.
Internet Explorer 10
All critical updates for Windows Phone to
date have included an increase to the next version of Internet Explorer. Once
more, too, as WP8 has Internet Explorer 10 (Mango with IE9). Again, you will
not see many new UI elements here, since most improvement have gone underneath
- this new version promises greater efficiency, faster rendering times,
accelerated by graphics hardware and double HTML5 support as IE9.
Internet
Explorer 10
Will it work as promised? Run at the same
time with the phones powered by Mango, apparently it's much faster.
Specifically, Windows Phone 8X was surfing through SunSpider in time 904ms. It
is our fastest time ever recorded on one mobile device, though not much – there
are just enough points over the 914ms of the iPhone 5. (If you like the test
results, the 8X has 326 points in the HTML5 test and 56,047 points in
Browsemark).
The address bar can also be customized more
than before, because now you can choose between 3 different functions to the buttons
found inside: your options are stop refresh, favorites and tabs. To add a list
of new features, IE10 is "find on page," Do Not Track and NFC sharing
link. IE10 also includes SmartScreen filter, which is the savior if you
accidentally wander into a malicious website.
Company Hub
We recognize that businesses are not the
large field that we previously often reported, and we usually refrain going
into meticulous details in that area. However, a feature is designed for real
business that is too smart to stay away from us. WP8 including support for
special private hub can only be accessed by employees or IT experts. Known
appropriately as Company Hub, this is the place reserved for the company to
provide news, schedules, notes and applications dedicated to employees that
cannot (and should not) be accessed through public Windows Phone Store. These
types of applications are available for iOS and Android for a long time, but we
like the idea of each employee having a one-stop shop on the phone for all of
their pertinent information instead of having to side load everything they
need.
Company
Hub
Google’s disappointments
Any reader having given Windows Phone a
chance in the last two years may have seen Google and Microsoft do not play
nice with each other - at least when it comes to the mobile operating systems
of Microsoft. A quick search of the Windows Phone Store presents only one
application developed by Google Inc. This means you do not have any natural
application for Gmail, Reader, Voice, Talk or other services. The third-party
applications are available to help fill this gap, but most of them do not give
the experiences of what Android users have on their devices. Good luck in making
the shared calendars appear together - many different methods we did not
provide a way to do it. (Google Calendar works normally and our shared one just
works very well). Even for the web overview of its services (mostly looks great
on iOS) appears in the same way as you wait to appear on the normal prepaid phone
of your child's: slow, not direct and the disappointing. Finally, we do not see
any attempts by the two companies to integrate Google+ or Talk on operating
systems such as what was made for Twitter and Facebook. Indeed, Windows Phone -
despite many improvements - still lacks power in this area, making it difficult
to sell items for the Android fans.
