After months of waiting and anticipation, Microsoft has finally announced Windows Phone 8.1 happening in San Francisco at the moment.
Announced in the event is Microsoft Cortona, a personal voice assistant to compete with Apple’s Siri, Samsung’s S Voice and other voice assistants in the market, it will be able to perform the usual commands and answering questions such as weather, traffic etc. Cortona will also pull search results from Bing if it can’t understand you.
Windows Phone 8.1 also introduces a new Action Center, which basically acts as a notification centre for Windows Phone and a feature missed since the introduction of the operating system. There’s toggles on the top and you are able to configure which app notifications are able to show up at the Action Center.
Good news for business users, Microsoft is finally adding support for enterprise VPN and S/MIME which allows encrypted emails. The Windows Phone Store and calendar have also been updated to integrate user feedback asking for alternative views and generally aiming to delight users, claimed Joe Belfiore.
After data sense, Windows Phone introduces Wi-Fi Sense that will automatically connect users to free wireless hotspots nearby (does it work in Malaysia?), and shares your home wireless network with friends without giving them the password. A new version of Skype is also available to easily convert a regular phone call into a Skype video call.
And finally, the Windows Phone 8.1 keyboard finally supports a “Swype” feature, which let’s you perform gestures on your typing experience and enters text faster.
Windows Phone 8.1 will be available as an update to consumers to current Windows Phone 8 customers in coming months and brand new Windows Phone 8.1 phones will be on sale earlier than the update, which Microsoft promises to be available around late April or early May. We hope our Windows Phone gets the update really soon and we’ll be doing a first look on it. So stay tuned.
Source/Image Credit: The Verge
