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Microsoft unveils Windows Phone 8.1

Microsoft Windows Phone 8.1 Cortana digital assistant in action
Windows Phone 8.1 Cortana
The Redmond giant finally launches the first major update to Windows Phone 8 which brings a lot of new features and improvements, including the Bing-powered Cortana digital assistant.
Business Windows Smartphone

Windows Phone 8.1 was officially unveiled today at the Microsoft Build Developer Conference, next to plenty of details on the Windows 8.1 Update 1 which will arrive on April 8. While the Windows version for mobiles comes with a lot of improvements and fixes, there is one major feature that everyone is talking about - Cortana, Microsoft's answer to Apple's Siri.

These are the most important changes that Windows Phone 8.1 will bring to its users:

  • More flexible Live Tiles on the Start screen
  • New themes for the Lock screen
  • Cortana personal digital assistant
  • Word Flow keyboard, faster than the notorious Swype
  • New Skype, Calendar apps
  • Improved Music, Video, Podcasts, People Hub, Email and Accounts
  • Excellent integration with Windows via the Microsoft Account

According to the (very long) post by Joe Belfiore published earlier today on the official Windows Phone Blog, "Windows Phone 8.1 will start rolling out to existing Windows Phone 8 users and will come pre-installed on new phones, including the Lumia 630 and 635 and Lumia 930 announced by Nokia today, in the coming months."

Registered developers will be able to update their phones first thanks to the Developer Preview Program in the next weeks.

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Codrut Nistor, 2014-04- 2 (Update: 2021-05-18)