Category: Windows Phone

As part of the new Windows 10 for Phone, Microsoft is making sure that it includes the latest and greatest in Bluetooth Hands-Free Profiles for improved sound and voice quality.  As part of the wide range of announcements they made last week at WinHEC in China, Microsoft announced that the new mobile platform will support the Hands-Free Profile (HFP) standard 1.6 which requires, amongst other things, the support for high definition audio.  Microsoft is referring to this as Wideband speech but you may also know if it as HD Voice and it should significantly improve the audio quality of calls and using voice activated services like Cortana on the new platform.

OneDrive for Windows Phone has received a small but important update today that allows you to more easily share work files with colleagues from the app.  The update, version 4.8.0.0 for those keeping score at home, only lists this addition as the changes in this version versus the previous build which brought several improvements including PIN locking.  In order to use this new feature you must be using an OneDrive for Business account through your organization.

OneDrive for Windows Phone – Free – Download Now

If you know me, you know I have an Angry Birds addiction problem.  Need proof?

No, I do not have an @AngryBirds addition problem. Leave me alone. pic.twitter.com/lMSTRriCKG

— Clinton Fitch (@ClintonFitch) December 10, 2014

Yeah, I know. Intervention time. Anyway, for those of you who share my addition, you will be pleased to hear that there is an update for Angry Birds Star Wars II in the Windows Phone store today.  The update, version 1.8.1 for those keeping score at home, brings 32 new levels to the game and, as always, the update is free.

Angry Birds Star Wars II – Free (In-App Purchases) – Download Now

If there is one completely broken and painful process with Windows Phone 8.1 today it is the upgrade process, particularly those locked to carriers.  This is a sore subject for many Windows Phone users because it takes seemingly forever to get updates.  The latest Lumia Denim update is classic example.  AT&T took 10 weeks after it was released finally offered it on the Lumia 1520 while the Lumia 635 still hasn’t seen the update.  Verizon never released Lumia Cyan for the Lumia Icon (Lumia 93) and instead did a rollup with Denim just a few weeks ago.  Countless posts have been made on Windows centric sites on the subject and to say it is broken is, well, an understatement.  Microsoft has recognized this and is apparently trying to fix it in Windows 10 for Phone.  Under a project by the name of Project Milkyway, the company is outlining an update process that will take from 4-6 weeks from the time an update is announced to the time it hits your phone.  Interestingly, OEMs and carriers are still part of the process which has been a lot of the challenge.  I outlined a way I think Microsoft could bypass them entirely but appreciate it too has challenges.  While no specifics were given on how Microsoft would encourage them to speed things up, the Project Milkyway outline they presented today at WinHEC in China seems to be trying to change the current status quo with Windows 10 for Phone.

When it comes to Windows 10 for Phone, we are going to see a whole lot of improvements around USB support in the release coming this summer.  At the WinHEC event in China, the company outlined how they are going to be changing the way USB works on the platform and they are all positives.  First and perhaps most importantly is the support for USB Type-C, the new standard in USB connectors.  Apple as you may know recently announced a new MacBook that only has a USB Type-C connector for everything: Power, Display, etc.  Some didn’t take kindly to it but now that Microsoft has pushed support for it into Windows 10, it’s another indicator that this is the connection type of choice in the future.  The benefits are clear as Type-C has far more power and potential functionality than the current connection, Type-A for those that are curious.

The WinHEC event in China has been a big event with a lot of news about the release of Windows 10 this summer and, for the first time, the hardware requirements for Windows 10 for PC, Tablets and Windows 10 for Phones.  The minimum specifications do have some interesting tidbits in the information but equally not a huge change from Windows Phone 8.1.  Perhaps the biggest change is the screen sizes that Windows 10 for Phones will run on as well as the minimum memory requirements based on the screen sizes of those devices.