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Apparently Microsoft is working up a greater range of devices than just phones for its Windows Phone platform that includes potential tablets according to rumours.
TechRadar has it that the current implementation of Windows Phone is just one of six devices in the pipeline. The Windows Phone Design Studio’s General Manager, Albert Shum, claimed it was something they’re working on and that “you want an ecosystem that’s not just about having just one or two things; you want diversity.”
Whether this means Windows Phone 8 on tablets rather than Windows 8 on tablets, is unclear. I’m certainly under the impression that it’s Windows 8 for tablets, regardless of whether they’re ARM or x86-based, not Windows Phone. Perhaps we’ll get a Windows Tablet 8; I certainly wouldn’t put it past Microsoft to roll out yet another named iteration of the Windows 8 family, but let’s hope Microsoft’s learnt its lesson on that one.
There are also rumours Microsoft’s already thinking of changing the form-factor requirements for Windows Phone 8, bumping it up in screen resolution and processing power for instance. It could be that we’ll see smaller, cheaper Windows phones too. Microsoft’s rigid requirements for Windows Phone 7 have made even the cheaper end a decent experience, but they’re not really that cheap though.
Here’s hoping Microsoft sticks with Windows Phone for phones and Windows 8 for tablets. No matter how much I like Windows Phone, it’d be nice to have the option of something more akin to a full computing experience on a tablet, rather than a purely mobile OS like the iPad and Android tablets. [TechRadar]
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I view this as either Windows 8 on Phones, or Windows Phone 8 being essentially Windows 8 for ARM devices.
I’m guessing it’s going to flop as badly as Windows Phone 7 has…
Why?
Well Windows 8 is not a single product, it’s actually two products, one that you have on your traditional PC, that runs Win32 EXE files, and all your usual applications.
Then there is it’s poor cousin, that’s actually nothing like the other Windows 8. This one runs on tablets, it only does Metro applications (those silly tiles that look like childrens building blocks), it doesn’t do .NET, it doesn’t do Win32 EXE’s, you need all new applications (that Microsoft will sell you) that can only run in Metro style or fullscreen.
That to me says, Windows 8 DESERVES to fail on tablets, just like Windows Phone has failed on phones.
By your judgement, those are similar differences shared between Mac OSX and iOS, and to an extent Linux and Android.
Windows 8 looks to go one step further by bridging the gap between the two and giving you apps that run on both. Why should Windows 8 fail because of that?
Kwiiiq you took the words out of my mouth! Only thing I’ll add is that where metro apps are concerned they can be cross compiled for x86/64 and ARM. This means the user experience will be better than iOS/OSX because the user will actually be able to have exactly the same functionality and UI on their PC and tablet. All the developer need do is recompile you can’t do that on any other platform
I was about to say the same thing, with the addition that as far as I understand it the Windows 8 design allows for the option of Intel tablets as well as ARM.
These rumours are silly, we know Windows Phone 8 will use the same kernel as Windows 8 and will be a cut down version of the full OS, Windows Phone apps will run on desktop/laptop/tablet. So the real truth is there will be very little difference between Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, which completely explains the whole diversity comment.