Huawei may be off the hook with The White House, just not officially
A White House review has found no evidence that Chinese telecom company Huawei has been spying for its home country, according to a report from Reuters citing two unnamed sources.
This 18-month assessment by the executive branch stands in contrast to a year-long probe into China's Huawei and ZTE by the U.S. House Intelligence Committee.
The White House didn't find a smoking gun and only deemed Huawei a risk for other reasons, like the fact that its technology could be vulnerable to hackers. The Intelligence Committee had harsher words.
The House panel "has serious concerns" about both telecom companies, as "China is known to be the major perpetrator of cyber espionage." Its report concluded that "American businesses should use other vendors."
On top of that condemnation, the committee, headed by Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich), said it received "dozens and dozens" of fresh complaints about Huawei and ZTE after issuing the House report.
Officially, the White House minces words on Huawei
Huawei isn't completely off the hook with the White House either, though. National Security Council Spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden officially denied that the executive branch issued a review that came to a conclusion that exonerated Huawei.
"The White House has not conducted any classified inquiry that resulted in clearing any telecom equipment supplier," Hayden told Reuters without specifying further.
It's unclear if she meant that the review exists but was conducted outside of the White House, or if the alleged White House review just didn't come to that black-and-white "clearing" conclusion.
In an election year, it's become evident that even a few words matter in statements issued by the White House.
Huawei still a concern for all branches of government
In addition to saying that Huawei wasn't cleared by the White House, Hayden reiterated that the company had been banned from supplying U.S. emergency network infrastructure for first responders "due to U.S. government national security concerns."
Australia has also barred Huawei from becoming a government contractor, and Canada is looking to adopt a similar policy.
Huawei praises report, plays victim
Although official White House channels have denied the report, both the Chinese government and its media were immediately touting it as a proclamation of innocence.
The country's Foreign Ministry called for a "level and stable" playing field following the "White House-ordered review."
Meanwhile, China Daily quoted experts who criticized U.S. resistance to Huawei, reporting that "the U.S. will lose through such thinking."
BlackBerry 10 is a brand new operating system from RIM, which has been built to run on both smartphones and tablets, much like Android and iOS, and will be absolutely key in deciding the company's future.
Get it wrong and BlackBerry 10 could well sink the Canadian firm, so here's hoping that BB10 (and not BBX after a lawsuit was filed) will be the blockbuster revelation which RIM so desperately needs it to be.
Update: Research in Motion is pretty bullish about the chances of BlackBerry 10, with CEO Thorsten Heins saying: "We have a clear shot at being the number three platform on the market. We're not just another open platform on the market, we are BlackBerry." - powerful stuff.
BlackBerry 10 release date
Initially RIM was planning to launch BB10 before the end of 2012, with at least one flagship device running the operating system arriving in time for Christmas.
However CEO Thorsten Heins confirmed in July that BlackBerry 10 will be delayed until early 2013, as the company continues to fine tune the software, to ensure it launches in the best possible state.
Heins said: "We expect a successful launch of BB10 in the first calendar quarter 2013 – this is our number one priority.
"The timeline has shifted to [this date] and is related to the large volume of software code to work through over last few months.
"This is taking more time than anticipated. To be clear, the change in timeline is not related to architecture, but the integration challenge of bringing all this code our diligent R&D teams have created and get it ready for use globally."
BB10 sees the implementation of a whole new user interface, with RIM doing away with the familiar BlackBerry system we're all used to, in favour of something which resembles the likes of Android and iOS, although with its own unique features.
With BlackBerry 10, RIM has merged homescreens, widgets, app lists and a unified inbox into one slick interface, offering up an easy to navigate user experience.
Although the operating system is still very much in early stages of its development we must say that we were impressed with how smooth and slick the interface felt under out fingers – seamlessly zipping around without fuss.
BlackBerry assured us that this smooth experience would still be present in the final product, thanks to the clever integration of the HTML 5 system, which optimises the performance of the software. We certainly hope they're right.
To find out more about the initial features make sure you read out hands on: BlackBerry 10 review.
Update: A particularly enticing new feature is BlackBerry Peek, which allows users to glimpse their hub screen from any application without exiting the program.
It's a one-finger feature, meaning all it takes is a thumb swipe to see what emails, texts, and other messages are waiting on a phone.
Update:BlackBerry Balance draws a line between professional and personal use, so company phones have a set of rules laid out by the boss on one part of the device while allowing workers more freedom elsewhere.
Update: If you need any more convincing RIM CEO Thorsten Heins has said: "we believe BB10 will advance the OS environment to the next level" - so yeah, watch out Android/iOS/Windows Phone.
BlackBerry 10 keyboard
BlackBerry handsets are famous for their physical boards and RIM is keen to bring this typing experience to its BB10 touchscreen smartphones with its own offering.
RIM has developed its own keyboard, with a design which reflects the physical offerings on its Bold range and a new next-word prediction system which sees suggestions appearing above characters on the board itself.
It's critical that RIM nails the keyboard in BB10, as BlackBerry handsets are synonymous with typing on the go, and if dedicated fans can't easily transfer from physical boards then touchscreen BB 10 handsets may be hard to shift.
To find out more about the BB10 keyboard make sure you read our hands on: BB10 review.
BlackBerry 10 - BlackBerry Hub
The BlackBerry Hub will be the brain center of all BB10 devices, a one-stop shop to access email, Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, BlackBerry messenger, text messages, and other time-sensitive information.
BlackBerry 10 camera
A brand new camera application has been developed for BB10, bringing the operating system inline with the camera functions found on Android, iOS and Windows Phone handsets.
The new app allows for photographs to be "rewound" in case you've mucked up the image.
Say for instance your friend is blinking in a shot, with the new app you would be able to "rewind" the image to the point where they weren't and save it.
With the launch of Blackberry 10, RIM has also revealed a developer toolkit for the platform, which could mean that more photography and image-editing apps are in the pipeline.
BlackBerry 10 apps
Your current BlackBerry apps won't run on BB10, so you'll need to download/purchase a new set of applications onto your new device when they eventually roll out.
Apps are big business in the smartphone and tablet world and RIM is very aware of this, as it's guaranteed developers $10,000 of revenue in the first year of an app's life on BB 10.
The current PlayBook, and to an extent BlackBerry handsets, suffer from a lacklustre offering in the App World store – with the likes of Google's Play Store and Apple's App Store dwarfing RIM's offering and thus putting some consumers off.
As well as the revenue incentive for developers, RIM has also made it easy to port Android applications on the BB10 platform, with an easy to use API helping devs to do this - and hopefully boasting the portfolio of apps available at launch.
BlackBerry 10 devices
The first BlackBerry 10 devices are now expected to arrive in January 2013, and RIM has confirmed that it will offer both full-touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard handset options.
According to leaked BB10 roadmaps, the first touchscreen phone will be called the BlackBerry London, while the first to sport a full keyboard and the new OS will be called the BlackBerry Nevada – both pegged for a first quarter release next year.
The same roadmap also shows RIM isn't going to be giving up on the tablet market after the poor performce of its PlayBook, with another slate, codenamed Blackforest, scheduled for release in the middle of 2013.
It's thought that the Blackforest will also sport a larger screen than the 7-inch PlayBook – possibly putting it in contention to challenge the new iPad and 10-inch Android crowd.
Update: Heins said BB 10 phones will use the same HDMI and USB connectors as past BlackBerry devices, noting, "We all can save some money" - a cheeky dig at Apple and the new port on the iPhone 5 right there.
Update: RIM CEO Thorsten Heins reckons the display on the new touchscreen BB10 device is going to be top notch: "The display in full touch will be beyond what iPhone 5 launched with, it will actually be true HD."
However RIM has also ruled out any chance of us seeing the BB10 handsets before the end of 2012, with the Canadian firm determined to make us wait until the new year.
Update: But wait, what's this? We may have got our first peek at the fully-touchscreen L Series and QWERTY keyboard touting N Series, thanks to a leaked video claiming to be an internal promo clip for RIM.
BlackBerry 10 on PlayBook
RIM has already confirmed that the BlackBerry PlayBook will receive the update to the BlackBerry 10 operating system, and while there's no firm date for this to be rolled out, we'd expect it to happen pretty soon into the new year.
BlackBerry 10 in cars
The current PlayBook OS is based on the version of QNX built for car makers and "the next generation of QNX for cars is going to be built from BB 10," Alec Saunders told us; car makers are keen to use HTML5 for in-car information and entertainment.
That makes it easier to treat your car as another device, he suggested, and to share information. "Ultimately you will be able to transition from your smartphone to your tablet to your TV to your car. Sync will be important. I think you'll start to see devices do things like Bridge today, where it mirrors [on the PlayBook] what's on the BlackBerry handset.
"You'll use one device to access what's on another. QNX is made for these kind of scenarios, projecting information from one device to another. You won't have five devices and have all your content on everything; it's going to have to grow seamlessly across them."
BlackBerry 7 devices
There's bad news for anyone who currently owns a BlackBerry though, as all BlackBerry 7 handsets will not receive the update to the new BB 10 operating system, as RIM has completely rebuilt the platform from the ground up, which means the current crop of phones will be unable to run it.
Microsoft has officially announced the first details of Windows Phone 8 (which you may know better as Apollo) and confirming many of the rumours about the new operating system at the Windows Phone Summit.
However, don't get too excited - this is a 'sneak peek' rather than the full details of the new version and there's still a lot of information that we don't know.
Windows Phone 8 release date
We're still waiting to get our ears tuned into a proper Windows Phone 8 release date – we're currently being given the boring notion of 'autumn', which could be any time from October to Christmas for all we know. However, we expect it to be sooner rather than later as Microsoft won't want to miss the traditional holiday season gadget-buying rush.
That position has been thrown into doubt somewhat since Microsoft has started cosying up to HTC as well, and sources tell us we won't see a single Windows Phone 8 handset until the first days of November at least.
According to sources Windows Phone 8 will be officially launched on October 29, three days after the launch of the Windows 8 platform, so the November release date for handsets makes a lot of sense.
If you like the sound of all this, then the good news is you won't have to wait until your mobile network gets around to testing and pushing out updates in the future either.
There's going to be a way for users to get updates directly from Microsoft (perhaps labelled as beta releases) as long as they assume responsibility for anything that goes wrong.
In summary, Microsoft is adding the features that Windows Phone needs to succeed and that need new hardware.
It's also finally doing something to address the problem of upgrades that would work on your handset but you're frustratingly unable to get – listen up, Google.
Where Windows Phone still needs to catch up with the other smartphone systems on features it's doing that much faster. Now it just needs to sell more devices.
Windows Phone 8 - who's on board?
There aren't too many manufacturers on board just yet, but we do know a few that will be launching Windows Phone 8 handsets.
Samsung, Huawei, HTC and Nokia are the only confirmed manufacturers at this time - although ZTE told TechRadar it will be launching WP8-powered handsets in 2013.
During IFA 2012 in Berlin Samsung unveiled its first Windows Phone 8 handset, the Ativ S, which will pack a large 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display and a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, with the choice of 16GB and 32GB of internal storage.
Huawei will be bringing out a Windows Phone 8 handset by the end of the year too, with Shao Yang, chief marketing officer for Huawei, saying: "We are poised to end the year with a big bang – with the introduction of our first smartphone running on the Windows Phone platform."
Nokia has also unveiled its first two handsets to run Windows Phone 8 at a special event in New York.
The flagship Nokia Lumia 920 will head up the Finnish firm's range, sporting a 4.5-inch HD display, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 8.7MP rear 'Pureview' camera, 32GB of internal memory and 1GB of RAM, helping it to run Microsoft's latest mobile platform.
Given the phones are officially called 'Windows Phone 8X/S by HTC' it's a curious move from Microsoft to make the Taiwanese manufacturer the flagship brand for the new version of the platform.
Both phones exhibit solid design, feel great in the hand, and while they're not as thing as the competition offer tapered chassis to add a better position during use.
The 8X and 8S both offer up Beats Audio for enhanced sound, but the 8X is the superior experience thanks to a larger 4.3-inch screen, compared to the 4-inch of the latter.
Windows Phone 8 apps
The problem for Windows Phone is less the existing users – who tend to be enthusiastic as well as demanding – and more selling the phones.
The partnership with Nokia is certainly helping, as will the announcement that the Windows Phone Marketplace is now up to 100,000 apps with more coming - from the PayPal support for Wallet to iPhone must-haves like Words with Friends and Audible, plus Zynga's newly acquired Draw Something.
All Windows Phone 7 apps will run on Windows Phone 8 handsets; but in future developers will have to choose whether to make an app that only uses Windows Phone 7 features and works on both, or one that uses Windows Phone 8.
This means supporting features like Wallet, VOIP, native code or being able to run navigation in the background (which should mean we finally see some full-featured turn-by-turn navigation apps that go beyond what Nokia Drive offers).
TomTom clearly sees the power of Nokia Drive too, as it reckons it will be looking at a Windows Phone 8 app in the future, despite saying it has 'a bit of a love hate relationship with Windows Phone'.
EA has come out in support of Windows Phone 8 platform too, with the powerful Windows 8 synergy seemingly enough to encourage the brand to state: "Anything that allows more platforms to be adopted quickly that have a gaming element is good for Electronic Arts."
However, BBC iPlayer isn't likely to appear on the platform due to the development tools used, meaning it will still lag behind iOS and Android in the VOD stakes.
There are other advantages, but with the interfaces to components like graphics, audio and sensors being far more similar to those in Windows 8, it's a lot easier to write Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 apps that share features.
Or, of course, they can make two versions, one for 7 and one for 8; how often that happens is going to depend both on how easy Microsoft makes it to share code between versions of apps in its developer tools and on sales of Windows Phone 8 handsets.
Windows Phone 8 interface
There is one feature of Windows Phone you will be able to get on current handsets (with an update that has the strikingly appropriate name of Windows Phone 7.8) and that's the new Start screen. This now uses the whole width of the screen, without the arrow to tell you to swipe sideways for more apps.
With the extra space you can fit in a lot more tiles, which can now be three different sizes. There's a new small size that you can pick for any app, so if you don't need the Office hub or the dialler to have a full size button because there's not that much useful information on them, you can shrink them down.
New start screen: With the extra space you can fit in a lot more tiles, which can now be three different sizes.
And as well as the current standard tile size, any app will be able to have an extra-large tile to fit more details onto the live tile. Along with some new colour schemes, that makes the Start screen look much more personal.
But the overall look of the platform hasn't changed dramatically – you're still offered a list of apps adjacent to the Start screen, and the panorama method of seeing more information by moving horizontally remains – after all, why change one of the best things about the old OS?
A few new features look set to still be unveiled - for instance, the mysterious Rooms to allow for shared calendars and photos - so we're still eagerly awaiting the official unveil later this year.
Windows Phone 8 – under the hood
Windows Phone 8 is a major new version, running the kernel from Windows rather than from Windows CE.
It isn't the same as Windows 8, or even Windows RT – even though that also runs on ARM processors – and it doesn't have the same look to the Start screen and Metro-style WinRT apps won't run on Windows Phone 8.
But under the hood it's a lot more similar to develop for and Windows Phone gets several key components from 'big' Windows as well as some significant new features and new hardware, which is good news for what developers can make apps do with the increased access they get to the phone system.
Don't expect the same do-anything, break-anything ethos of Android though; battery life and user experience are still priorities for Windows Phone and even native applications run in a sandbox.
Windows Phone 8 browser and security
Key features that Windows Phone 8 gets from Windows include Internet Explorer 10, complete with the phishing filter and SmartScreen application reputation service to make it harder for malicious websites to trick you into giving away personal information like credit card details or downloading malware.
Malware hasn't been a problem for Windows Phone so far, but any platform that becomes successful is going to get attacked.
Windows Phone gets other Windows security features like disk encryption and secure boot, so businesses will be happier to use it (especially as they can now manage devices and sideload their own business applications).
Windows Phone 8 media and gaming
Audio, graphics and media playback all work more like their Windows equivalents, which should make for more powerful games and entertainment apps.
However, this means that current games will need to be re-tooled to take advantage of the new platform – the likes of Rovio can leave their games as Windows Phone 7 versions, but they'll likely want to re-release a more powerful version of the game too.
But given the increased GPU support and power on offer, we'll at least start seeing some more 3D-rich gaming environments that start taxing the Windows Phone 8 handsets compared to their previous counterparts.
Video calling
There's one place where Windows Phone is jumping ahead of Windows; VOIP calls will look just like regular phone calls with all the same features and notifications. Obviously that's good for Skype but other VOIP apps like Tango will get the same support.
We're still waiting to see how deep Skype integration gets into the Windows Phone 8 OS, as given it's already available as an app on the Windows Phone Marketplace it should be shoved pretty deeply into the platform.
Will it lead to a surge in video calling? Probably not, but as there are strong rumours the Xbox platform will be getting a taste of video calling too it seems only fair that Windows Phone 8 devices, complete with their improved front-facing cameras, should be given priority.
Windows Phone 8 CPU
To make all this work well Windows Phone 8 will run on new hardware; still ARM processors, still the Snapdragon platform from Qualcomm but now with multicore processors, with a new generation of GPUs, and with NFC support.
Battery life is still priority for the platform, so we doubt Microsoft is going to allow any CPUs that get too amorous with the power pack – but more power is a big selling point in today's smartphone market, so this makes enormous sense.
Microsoft Wallet
The new Microsoft Wallet app will allow you to make payments by tapping your phone on a credit card reader the way Google Wallet does, and store credit card and membership details securely and tap your phone to send them the way iOS 6 will.
And you're not tied to using a Microsoft payment service; applications will be able to tap into the Wallet system to set up new payment services – which will include Paypal.
The app is a hub for digital coupons and debit or credit cards - plus you can add in loyalty cards and third party apps that will notify you when they become relevant.
NFC support
NFC is there for Microsoft's Wallet payment system, but has other options as well. The OS supports secure SIM, which means users' can swap from handset to handset and take their payment method with them physically.
There are other applications that Nokia is keen to utilise as well, such as being able to pair with its Bluetooth accessories with a simple tap of the phone – it's a trick we've seen on the old Symbian phones and one we expect to feature heavily here too.
Speech recognition
Microsoft has teamed up with Audible to bring speech recognition to Windows Phone 8, allowing users to shout a variety of commands at their handsets.
During the keynote presentation, we saw a demo of the speech platform – which allowed a user to play movies, browse audiobooks and perform searches.
It's also available for Mango devices, so pop over to the Marketplace today and search Audible if you fancy a go.
Windows Phone 8 upgrades
That's the reason that you won't be able to upgrade any existing Windows Phone handsets to 8, because they don't have the hardware to support the new features or deliver the multitasking performance that the Windows kernel and the improved VOIP support needs.
Only two of the rumoured new resolutions are being announced, both widescreen formats: 1280 by 768 and 1280 by 720 as well as the current 800 by 480, which should give phone makers more flexibility when it comes to choosing parts they can use in multiple devices.
And Windows Phone finally sorts out its SD card support; you'll be able to store media files on a micro SD card or install applications onto it.
Take a moment to check out our Windows Phone 8 round up video below.
We've updated our Samsung Galaxy Nexus review to reflect the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update which has now been rolled out to the handset.
The Samsung Galaxy Nexus was the world's first phone to run Android 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich and now just under a year later it's the first phone to run Android 4.1: Jelly Bean. It's an upgrade that keeps it as relevant as ever and we've updated our review to reflect the changes.
There are some gadgets in geek-world that are announced and we just could not wait to touch. The Nokia N95, the original iPhone, the T-Mobile G1 and Palm's first Pre.
The Galaxy Nexus fitted firmly in that category back when we first reviewed it and in many ways, coming back to it now, it still does.
The big selling point here is not so much the handset – it's what powers the Galaxy Nexus. With Android 4.0 Google redrew its Android OS in probably the biggest overhaul since it launched and the Galaxy Nexus was the flagship device for that OS.
Despite the fact that many handsets are still stuck with Android 2.3: Gingerbread, Google hasn't stood still and the result of their hard work is Android 4.1.
It's an evolution rather than a revolution, an attempt to refine what the company did with Android 4.0. But it's no less exciting for it and once again the Galaxy Nexus is Google's standard bearer, bringing smartphone users their first taste of the new OS.
On top of that, the specs include a fantastic Super AMOLED HD screen, dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 5MP camera and NFC support, to name a few.
The Nexus itself is fairly big, with dimensions of 135.5 x 67.9 x 8.9mm, though it's actually slightly smaller than Samsung's flagship handset, the Samsung Galaxy S3.
Although it's slightly smaller it's also a little bit heavier at 135g compared to the latter's 133g. It doesn't feel enormous, really it's at the upper end of what we'd consider to be an ideal size for most users, but you can tell you are not using an iPhone 4S.
The front is probably as minimalist as you can get. It's all black and being built from the ground up as an Android 4.0 handset there are no buttons in sight.
In fact, all you have on the front is the screen, front facing camera and the brightness sensor, plus a cheeky little light beneath the screen that you don't even know exists until you get an email and it begins to pulsate.
The sides are fairly unremarkable with power/standby on the right along with three charging pins (for a dock accessory), volume on the left, nothing up top and the bottom housing the charge/sync socket and headphone jack.
The whole handset has a curved shape much like that on the Samsung Galaxy S3 but it's not too severe.
The rear takes its design cues from the Samsung Galaxy S2 with a snap on cover that feels slightly coarse to give a good grip. It has both Google and Samsung branding on it.
You won't find an SD slot on the outside, or indeed, the inside. Ridiculously, this – the flagship Google handset which is so set up as a media device – has been crippled by having NO expandable memory. Words fail us. And they may fail you when you realise that 16GB internal storage is your lot.
But the screen, when lit up, looks fantastic. It's 4.65-inches with a resolution of 720 x 1280, giving it a pixel density of 316ppi. It really is super sharp. We would have expected nothing less with Samsung's mobile displays among the best out there, but it's cracking for internet and video.
There is no doubt about it – this is a premium handset and is up there with the iPhone 4S and Samsung Galaxy S3 in terms of marketing position.
If you want one, there's good news: the price has dropped to just £21.50 per month on contract and £295 SIM free.
Video controversy has seriously marred the launch of the Lumia 920
Nokia has enlisted the services of an ethics officer to conduct a review into the controversial 'faked' promotional video for the new Lumia 920 handset.
The video, shown at the launch last week, was supposed to show off the capabilities of the built-in 8.7-megapixel PureView stills camera and video camera, fitted with advanced image stabilising capabilities.
However, The Verge examined the video in detail and found the reflection of a cameraman within the video.
As well as the video, Nokia admitted that the still shots were also not taken with the Lumia 920.
The revelation has caused huge embarrassment and further damage to the ailing smartphone giant's reputation as it battles against the odds to re-establish itself among the mobile elite.
No disclaimer
Business Week brings word from Nokia that the ethics and compliance officer will seek to "understand what happened," and the company will deal with the issue "quickly, fairly and privately."
The company did not go as far as to claim that the device was used to produce the video, but did not say otherwise, leaving viewers to assume that all of that gorgeous footage arose from the Lumia 920.
Nokia spokeswoman Susan Sheehan said: "What we understand to date is that it was nobody's intention to mislead, but there was poor judgment in the decision not to use a disclaimer."
With falling device sales, massive job cuts and a share price in free fall, this controversy was really the last thing Nokia needed
The launch of the Lumia 920, the company's first Windows Phone 8 handset, was supposed to be the Finns' ticket back to the big time. Now it has completely lost control of the story.
Nokia has announced it is launching an ethical review into the Lumia 920 presentation video.
In case you need a refresh, the Nokia’s Lumia 920 video promoting the smartphone’s camera turned out fake. The samples shown in the advertisement were shot with an expensive DSLR camera, instead of the Lumia 920.
Photo: Copyright johaee@gmail.com
Even though the video gives you the wrong impression, Nokia has never claimed this an actual Lumia 920 sample. This confusion could have been avoided with a proper disclaimer but there is none within the promo video.
Well, Nokia has launched an ethical inquiry to "to understand what happened". A report is to be completed by an independent ethics and compliance officer.
The company is obviously acknowledging that the case brought some bad publicity and that's hardly ideal, given its recent performances in the market. The good thing is, it will try to avoid such mishaps in the future.
Microsoft has officially announced the first details of Windows Phone 8 (which you may know better as Apollo) and confirming many of the rumours about the new operating system at the Windows Phone Summit.
However, don't get too excited - this is a 'sneak peek' rather than the full details of the new version and there's still a lot of information that we don't know.
Windows Phone 8 release date
We're still waiting to get our ears on a proper Windows Phone 8 release date – we're currently being given the boring notion of 'autumn', which could be any time from October to Christmas for all we know. However, we expect it to be sooner rather than later as Microsoft won't want to miss the traditional holiday season gadget-buying rush.
If you like the sound of all this, then the good news is you won't have to wait until your mobile network gets around to testing and pushing out updates in the future either.
Microsoft is still agreeing details with the operators and handset makers for Windows Phone 7.8, but there's going to be a way to get updates directly from Microsoft (perhaps labelled as beta releases) as long as you assume responsibility for anything that goes wrong.
In summary, Microsoft is adding the features that Windows Phone needs to succeed and that need new hardware.
It's also finally doing something to address the problem of upgrades that would work on your handset but you're frustratingly unable to get – listen up, Google.
Where Windows Phone still needs to catch up with the other smartphone systems on features it's doing that much faster. Now it just needs to sell more devices.
There aren't too many manufacturers on board just yet, but we do know a few that will be launching Windows Phone 8 handsets.
Samsung, Huawei, HTC and Nokia are the only confirmed manufacturers at this time - although ZTE told TechRadar it will be launching WP8-powered handsets in 2013.
Update: It seems we've had confirmation that Samsung's next Windows Phone will support both Internet Explorer 10 (from Windows Phone 8) and have a WVGA screen, meaning it will likely be one of the budget range for the new OS.
Huawei will be bringing out a Windows Phone 8 handset by the end of the year too, with Shao Yang, chief marketing officer for Huawei, saying: "We are poised to end the year with a big bang – with the introduction of our first smartphone running on the Windows Phone platform."
Update: Nokia has unveiled its first two handsets to run Windows Phone 8 at a special event in New York.
The flagship Nokia Lumia 920 will head up the Finnish firm's range, sporting a 4.5-inch HD display, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 8.7MP rear 'Pureview' camera, 32GB of internal memory and 1GB of RAM, helping it to run Microsoft's latest mobile platform.
Update: The HTC 8X could be the name of the Taiwanese firm's flagship Windows Phone 8 handset, a device which is apparently known as the Accord internally at the manufacturer.
The problem for Windows Phone is less the existing users – who tend to be enthusiastic as well as demanding – and more selling the phones.
The partnership with Nokia is certainly helping, as will the announcement that the Windows Phone Marketplace is now up to 100,000 apps with more coming - from the PayPal support for Wallet to iPhone must-haves like Words with Friends and Audible, plus Zynga's newly acquired Draw Something.
All Windows Phone 7 apps will run on Windows Phone 8 handsets; but in future developers will have to choose whether to make an app that only uses Windows Phone 7 features and works on both, or one that uses Windows Phone 8.
This means supporting features like Wallet, VOIP, native code or being able to run navigation in the background (which should mean we finally see some full-featured turn-by-turn navigation apps that go beyond what Nokia Drive offers).
There are other advantages, but with the interfaces to components like graphics, audio and sensors being far more similar to those in Windows 8, it's a lot easier to write Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 apps that share features.
Or, of course, they can make two versions, one for 7 and one for 8; how often that happens is going to depend both on how easy Microsoft makes it to share code between versions of apps in its developer tools and on sales of Windows Phone 8 handsets.
Windows Phone 8 interface
There is one feature of Windows Phone you will be able to get on current handsets (with an update that has the strikingly appropriate name of Windows Phone 7.8) and that's the new Start screen. This now uses the whole width of the screen, without the arrow to tell you to swipe sideways for more apps.
With the extra space you can fit in a lot more tiles, which can now be three different sizes. There's a new small size that you can pick for any app, so if you don't need the Office hub or the dialler to have a full size button because there's not that much useful information on them, you can shrink them down.
New start screen: With the extra space you can fit in a lot more tiles, which can now be three different sizes.
And as well as the current standard tile size, any app will be able to have an extra-large tile to fit more details onto the live tile. Along with some new colour schemes, that makes the Start screen look much more personal.
But the overall look of the platform hasn't changed dramatically – you're still offered a list of apps adjacent to the Start screen, and the panorama method of seeing more information by moving horizontally remains – after all, why change one of the best things about the old OS?
Windows Phone 8 – under the hood
Windows Phone 8 is a major new version, running the kernel from Windows rather than from Windows CE.
It isn't the same as Windows 8, or even Windows RT – even though that also runs on ARM processors – and it doesn't have the same look to the Start screen and Metro-style WinRT apps won't run on Windows Phone 8.
But under the hood it's a lot more similar to develop for and Windows Phone gets several key components from 'big' Windows as well as some significant new features and new hardware, which is good news for what developers can make apps do with the increased access they get to the phone system.
Don't expect the same do-anything, break-anything ethos of Android though; battery life and user experience are still priorities for Windows Phone and even native applications run in a sandbox.
Windows Phone 8 browser and security
Key features that Windows Phone 8 gets from Windows include Internet Explorer 10, complete with the phishing filter and SmartScreen application reputation service to make it harder for malicious websites to trick you into giving away personal information like credit card details or downloading malware.
Malware hasn't been a problem for Windows Phone so far, but any platform that becomes successful is going to get attacked.
Windows Phone gets other Windows security features like disk encryption and secure boot, so businesses will be happier to use it (especially as they can now manage devices and sideload their own business applications).
Windows Phone 8 media and gaming
Audio, graphics and media playback all work more like their Windows equivalents, which should make for more powerful games and entertainment apps.
However, this means that current games will need to be re-tooled to take advantage of the new platform – the likes of Rovio can leave their games as Windows Phone 7 versions, but they'll likely want to re-release a more powerful version of the game too.
But given the increased GPU support and power on offer, we'll at least start seeing some more 3D-rich gaming environments that start taxing the Windows Phone 8 handsets compared to their previous counterparts.
Video calling
There's one place where Windows Phone is jumping ahead of Windows; VOIP calls will look just like regular phone calls with all the same features and notifications. Obviously that's good for Skype but other VOIP apps like Tango will get the same support.
We're still waiting to see how deep Skype integration gets into the Windows Phone 8 OS, as given it's already available as an app on the Windows Phone Marketplace it should be shoved pretty deeply into the platform.
Will it lead to a surge in video calling? Probably not, but as there are strong rumours the Xbox platform will be getting a taste of video calling too it seems only fair that Windows Phone 8 devices, complete with their improved front-facing cameras, should be given priority.
Windows Phone 8 CPU
To make all this work well Windows Phone 8 will run on new hardware; still ARM processors, still the Snapdragon platform from Qualcomm but now with multicore processors, with a new generation of GPUs, and with NFC support.
Battery life is still priority for the platform, so we doubt Microsoft is going to allow any CPUs that get too amorous with the power pack – but more power is a big selling point in today's smartphone market, so this makes enormous sense.
Microsoft Wallet
The new Microsoft Wallet app will allow you to make payments by tapping your phone on a credit card reader the way Google Wallet does, and store credit card and membership details securely and tap your phone to send them the way iOS 6 will.
And you're not tied to using a Microsoft payment service; applications will be able to tap into the Wallet system to set up new payment services – which will include Paypal.
The app is a hub for digital coupons and debit or credit cards - plus you can add in loyalty cards and third party apps that will notify you when they become relevant.
NFC support
NFC is there for Microsoft's Wallet payment system, but has other options as well. The OS supports secure SIM, which means users' can swap from handset to handset and take their payment method with them physically.
There are other applications that Nokia is keen to utilise as well, such as being able to pair with its Bluetooth accessories with a simple tap of the phone – it's a trick we've seen on the old Symbian phones and one we expect to feature heavily here too.
Speech recognition
Microsoft has teamed up with Audible to bring speech recognition to Windows Phone 8, allowing users to shout a variety of commands at their handsets.
During the keynote presentation, we saw a demo of the speech platform – which allowed a user to play movies, browse audiobooks and perform searches.
It's also available for Mango devices, so pop over to the Marketplace today and search Audible if you fancy a go.
Windows Phone 8 upgrades
That's the reason that you won't be able to upgrade any existing Windows Phone handsets to 8, because they don't have the hardware to support the new features or deliver the multitasking performance that the Windows kernel and the improved VOIP support needs.
Only two of the rumoured new resolutions are being announced, both widescreen formats: 1280 by 768 and 1280 by 720 as well as the current 800 by 480, which should give phone makers more flexibility when it comes to choosing parts they can use in multiple devices.
And Windows Phone finally sorts out its SD card support; you'll be able to store media files on a micro SD card or install applications onto it.
Take a moment to check out our Windows Phone 8 round up video below.
