Windows Phone 8.1 Truly Redesigned Windows Phone 8.1 is now stable and here to stay. Announced during Microsoft’s BUILD conference in April 2014, this version is truly redesigned around you, offering chic features to match up the requirements of users.
Cortana – Your Personal Virtual Assistant Windows joins the bandwagon of digital assistants by launching the smart and sleek Cortana, a virtual assistant who helps to call people, check the calendars or configure reminders. Cortana can be accessed through Voice Recognition and the Search Key itself. She is powered by Bing and assists you to search the web too and keep your preferences handy for the next use.
Action Center & Notification Center Personalizing actions is a newest thing. One swipe to check notifications and another to handle WiFis , modes and other settings. Notifications have been the fashion this year right from Windows, Android and iOS. But for the records, Windows probably got it the first with its Action Center. The Notification Drawer is a group of notifications for new emails, missed calls, reminders, messages and also special notifications from Cortana.
Custom Tile Backgrounds Windows gets a personal touch with custom tile background for the Start Screen tiles. The user gets to decide the tile backgrounds and the layouts and not the manufacturer.
Updated Lockscreen Thanks to new open APIs, Windows Phone 8.1 allows applications to take control over the lockscreen and change the theme or alter its functionality altogether. Cool lockscreen can be personalized with say calendar entries or preferred designs.
Internet Explorer 11 The default browser now becomes IE 11, with the trending features which need no introduction now. • Reading View o Grabs websites and extracts their text for easier reading • Password Manager o Syncs passwords across multiple devices • InPrivate mode & Incognito browsing o Disables History storing and cookie information is deleted once session is over, maintaining privacy • Upload File feature • Supports WebGL and YouTube’s HTML5 video player
Enterprise, Security & Office Windows Phone 8.1 comes with VPN support to surf safely and securely. Support for S/MIME allows signed and encrypted emails. Password protected office documents are an addition to the Safety features. Office Lens feature lends the capability to scan documents with the device camera and import into Office with OCR. Certificate management to enroll, update and revoke certificates for user is integrated into this OS for authentication. Better and stricter controls are awarded to the enterprises through the enhanced MDM features in Windows Phone 8.1.
Sense Apps Cool new Sense Apps makes the sensing abilities of the devices more intuitive. • Battery Sense o Battery Power Sense – App to monitor which apps draw the most power o Battery Saver has an app exclusion list which shuts down battery culprit apps when the battery level dips below the threshold • Data Sense o Monitors data plan usage to keep a tab on phone bills o Smartly switches from WiFi to data plan and vice versa in WiFi proximity zones • Wi-Fi Sense Provides the ability to share the internet connectivity of your secured Wi-Fi networks with your Skype, Facebook and Outlook contacts without having to give the password o Wi-Fi auto re-enable o Wi-Fi Direct
• Storage Sense o Keep a check on storage space and transfer apps from phone to card
Quiet Hours Windows Phone 8.1 gives you your space and time where you are in control of who can reach you and not. Quiet hours can be configured from the settings.
Wordflow Keyboard Wordflow – a Swype-like input method allowing quick typing by swiping of words. It has supposedly set the new Guinness World Record for fastest writing on a smartphone. Correctly said by Microsoft that Windows Phone 8.1 is on the path of becoming the world’s smartest OS for smartphone!!!