Leaked Windows Phone 8.1 Update specs tease details of Nokia's next mobes The website wranglers at Microsoft appear to have accidentally let slip some details about the forthcoming update to Windows Phone 8.1 – as well as some hints at what we can expect from future handsets running Redmond's mobile OS. A page on the software giant's site – first spotted by the Windows Phone watchers at WPCentral on …
Evolutionary updates will soon require daily updates to .NET (x.x.x.x) which will require 3 successive reboots per day.
The Dual Sim Support will only work with 1 telco which MS has not currently decided upon yet. Or worse will require the installation of TIFKAM in order to work correctly
"1280-by-800 resolution modes will be supported for devices with six- and seven-inch screens.
Bluetooth support will be enhanced with support for the Personal Area Network (PAN) 1.0 profile, the aptX codec for the Advanced Audio Distribution (A2DP) profile, and browsing support for the Audio/Video Remote Control Profile (AVCRP).
Mixed GSM and CDMA radios will be supported for dual-SIM phones, and voice over LTE (VoLTE)"
And 1080p. Full HD remains the maximum supported resolution with GDR1, according to the reports, but 1280x768 and 1280x800 will also be supported on 6" - 7" devices.
The 1280x800 is added into the mix to allow for the inclusion of soft buttons (i.e. on screen buttons, like Android) as opposed to hardware buttons, without the developers having to change their applications to cater for a reduction in available screen area.
I'm hoping they will sort out the other Bluetooth problems they have - if you have a 3.5mm jack stuck in, the Lumias will switch the BT microphone on, but not BT audio, when you make or recieve a call - annoying when your car has BT handsfree but no A2DP. It also cuts the connection too early with my Citroen, when reading SMS - if I say "reply", it promptly turns off the microphone!
They're not leaks. It's a deliberate attempt at MS's marketing department to try to create buzz about a nonstarter. I'll pass on the closed-source code which cannot be inspected for backdoors which it most likely has, not to mention that MS tips off the NSA about flaws in Windows before they're patched so they can be exploited. To top it off, Windows has a kill switch which leverages an unjust amount of power of the user and it's MS who decides what will be on your phone or device, not you.
I use CyanogenMod on a rooted device with an unlocked bootloader; no backdoors, no kill switches, and fully customizable. And what's with the butt-ugly tiles? Get rid of the tile bullshit already; there's nothing special about displaying a 1990's font on a 16 color tile, and to boot, they're annoying and flash usless twats in the users face!
"I'll pass on the closed-source code which cannot be inspected for backdoors"
Because Open Source worked so well to protect you from say Open SSL flaws for instance...
"To top it off, Windows has a kill switch "
According to the adverts, so does Android.
"I use CyanogenMod on a rooted device"
You can do that because your device and OS are inherrently insecure. You have to run bolt ons like Knox on top to even begin to approach the security model of Windows Phone.
"Because Open Source worked so well to protect you from say Open SSL flaws for instance..."
Oh yeah, let's take one underfunded open source project and create a straw man argument, and fail to bring up a very recent huge IE vulnerability and others in Windows and other MS software that we don't even know about because the source is closed, not that a cracker doesn't know about it. Yes, I think that is a real compelling argument!
"According to the adverts, so does Android."
CyanogenMod does not have a kill switch; it's Google Play that has the kill switch.
"You can do that because your device and OS are inherrently insecure. You have to run bolt ons like Knox on top to even begin to approach the security model of Windows Phone."
No, the device is not inherently insecure. You don't have to have an unlocked bootloader; that's just my choice. This is senseless babbling by a Microsoft shill who will try everything in the book to prop up your favorite failing mobile platform.
"Oh yeah, let's take one underfunded open source project and create a straw man argument"
The point is that its much easier to go and find new holes when you have the source code. Especially if you have the resources / money. The vast majority of Open Source projects are 'underfunded' compared to commercial software.
"CyanogenMod does not have a kill switch; it's Google Play that has the kill switch."
Google Play is part of Android last time i checked. You are saying that Windows Phone having a kill switch is bad, but actually Android (and IOS) are exactly the same. And if someone can disable the Android kill switch by flashing the firmware then that's another Android security hole to add to the list.
"No, the device is not inherently insecure. You don't have to have an unlocked bootloader; that's just my choice."
The device is inherently insecure or you wouldnt be able to unlock your bootloader and install your own OS in the first place. Not to mention that it runs an OS built on Linux and Java - two of the highest vulnerabiity count products in their respective class. Hence largely why Android has had many exploits and lots of malware - and Windows Phone 8 has had zero known vulnerabiltiies and zero malware. Andrid also requires a vendor specific bolt on in Knox to be in anyway secure.
"The point is that its much easier to go and find new holes when you have the source code. Especially if you have the resources / money. The vast majority of Open Source projects are 'underfunded' compared to commercial software."
Obviously if you had some credibility you would post under your real name, but you don't because you're wrong and weak. Security through obscurity was proven to not work a long time ago. Google Play is not part of Android; Google opens the source to Android after they release it and anybody can build anything out of it -- therefore, no kill switch. There's plenty of documentation about Windows' insecurity and security problems, starting with the Windows registry which is a huge point of failure. Your beloved Windows is an insecure platform that is an ad hoc mess that wasn't built from the ground up with security in mind. They attempted adding it later, and MS's idea of "security" is a dialogue box coming up that mindless users click without reading. As I said, crackers can be exploiting closed-source systems without I.T. administrators knowing about it, and nobody knows how many bugs are going unpatched because Microsoft cannot be trusted. The only true way to trust what a program is doing is to have the source available, and any true software engineer knows this. Why is it MS opens parts of the soruce up for government agencies? Can't they just trust everything that MS puts out without looking? Are non-government people not allowed to have the same desire? And even if MS allows a governmental agency to look at source, is it truly the source the agency thinks is the source in question? I'm sorry you don't understand security.
http://rwmj.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/why-the-windows-registry-sucks-technically/
ok then... so we are comparing two distintly separate operating systems here... desktop windows and windows phone? lets stay on target here... direct your ranting at the Phone OS
the registry in windows phone? I believe its there, but not used by third party software, applications hold their own configs - so its no different to all the config files that float around in Linux, except for the system all the data is stored in one place.
Security - you are again getting your OS's confused, Desktop windows has its share of vulnerabilities, but lets concentrate on the mobile OS's again
all the security issues that have been flagged up in windows phone? there are pages of android vulrabilities, compared to virtually no WinPhone ones...
I expect if you were to hand your phone and a windows 8 phone over to a bunch of people intent on creating mischief that your phone would be the one that would succumb to infiltration first...your open-ness and unlocked-ness is a perfect entry point to sideload software with full system level access...
"ok then... so we are comparing two distintly separate operating systems here... desktop windows and windows phone? lets stay on target here... direct your ranting at the Phone OS"
The point was, which went over your head, that we cannot inspect the source code for WP, and it's coming from the same company that creates insecure desktop/enterprise OS's and shares kernel code.
"the registry in windows phone? I believe its there, but not used by third party software, applications hold their own configs - so its no different to all the config files that float around in Linux, except for the system all the data is stored in one place."
You believe it's there, or it not there? Pick one. And I am sure some apps use the registry, otherwise it wouldn't exist! And /etc is _not_ the same as the discombobulated registry! One flipped bit in the reg and a whole system can be brought to its knees, and here's proof of how much it sucks and how disorganized it is. The registry combined with Windows' insecurity is a double whammy! /etc is neatly organized by folders according to program, and you can just easily open up a config file and edit it yourself! The registry is like an entire office's paperwork all thrown onto one desk!
http://rwmj.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/why-the-windows-registry-sucks-technically/
The point was, which went over your head again, that the registry was created by a company which does bad security; it was a total security no-no, and that same company did other security no-no's in Windows, therefore WP cannot be trusted because it's from the same company! Would you buy a vacuum cleaner from a store that sold broken vacuums? Come to think of it, based on your posts, you probably would!
"all the security issues that have been flagged up in windows phone? there are pages of android vulrabilities, compared to virtually no WinPhone ones..."
I haven't checked, but it's probably because barely anybody uses it and MS is keeping stuff quiet because they don't want the same bad wrap they get with Windows.
"I expect if you were to hand your phone and a windows 8 phone over to a bunch of people intent on creating mischief that your phone would be the one that would succumb to infiltration first...your open-ness and unlocked-ness is a perfect entry point to sideload software with full system level access..."
Passing my phone around? Seriously? Is that the best argument you can come up with? Please, go troll somebody at your own level.
Yes, you did open your comments with open vs closed source, but then every example you used referred to a different operating system to the one in question.... it wasn't over my head, but more akin to having a discussion about the merits of orange juice vs mango... then using pomegranate for your arguments - there is plenty to ssay about oranges and mangos, why bring in a third party to muddy the waters.
I am not and don't claim to be a developer so I cant say for certain that there is or is not a registry, its just information that I have picked up... as far as I am aware the registry is there purely for the the phone OS as a repository for its settings, read only for third partys and not for all and sundry to play with - which is where instabilities arise... Im sure if I wandered in and randomly edited the /etc folder I could bring a Linux system to its knees too....
"I haven't checked, but it's probably because barely anybody uses it and MS is keeping stuff quiet because they don't want the same bad wrap they get with Windows." - its true, there are less people beavering away, trying to force the closed code of Win Phone as opposed to the legions of nerds sifting through accessible lines of open source - that is because there is less in it for them... les money and less notoriety - which in turn makes the OS more secure - security through obscurity, one of the few perks of small market share
I am not trolling - you are the one that introduced your own phone to the discussion as the pinnacle of openness and security so I was just using that as my example - which seems to have hit a nerve somewhere....
"Google Play is not part of Android..."
... but it seems like Google is attempting to make this the case...
"There's plenty of documentation about Windows' insecurity and security problems"
Windows - yes. But we're talking Windows Phone here...
"MS's idea of "security" is a dialogue box coming up that mindless users click without reading..."
Not too dissimilar to all those permissions requests that come up when you install a new app on your device (for any platform) that most "mindless users" agree to without reading? And now we have a proof of concept that will circumvent some permission requests...
Ultimately, the problem is twofold - educating the users regarding security, and the fact that anyone can get an app onto the Play store for just $25, no questions asked.
The only thing that suggests to me that this wasn't intended for public consumption is the mention of the App Store Tile being able to be resized. While it may be interesting, it's like saying "This car has a pink nut on the driver's side front tyre". Actually, the points about operators being able to restrict handsets' functionality with regard to software updates also suggests to me that Microsoft wouldn't have wanted this in the hands of tech journos.
Of course, I'm speculating and it isn't as though Microsoft is actually good at marketing.
Can we get a kill switch for that bloody bing button, an audio control that's not tied to ring volume and a way to stop texts etc showing up on top of the lockscreen....that's all I really want, then they can whizzbang the thingumybob via an LTI GD diaphragm or whatever. Note to MS, no one cares about techno gubbins anymore...they expect all that to be in there but not talked about. What users do care about is that most of Bing's use statistics seem to be generated by people hitting that bloody button by accident, that you want to turn your ring volume down but not your music volume and that you don't want your missus seeing texts from your mistress when the phone is locked.( or at anytime really)
Calm down, WP8.1 has the required separate volume control.
As for toasts:
With the Windows Phone O.S. 8.1 is possible to disable such kind of notification. Follow this steps:
1.Go to Settings
2.notifications+actions
3.Find the app you want to change the way notifications work
4.Just change the "Notification sound" to "none". Optionally you can disable the banner too in the checkbox you will find just above. You can go further and disable it from show in action center.
So, it would appear that this is possible soon or already depending on whether you have updated your phone. It s possible that 'texts' do not come under an app, if it does, it will be Messaging I suppose.
Oh, and you can choose Google to annoyingly appear when you press the button accidentally instead of Bing.
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