Windows phone 8 handsets uk

LG Optimus 7 review. There's also a 5MP camera and 8GB of internal storage. The device runs on Qualcomm's 1GHz Snapdragon chip and a whole host of connectivity, including: Bluetooth 2. Samsung Omnia 7 review. Specs wise, the Dell Venue Pro offers a 4. Expect the handset to be available direct from Dell as well as a handset partner — much like the Streak is available direct from Dell and also through O2.

North America. Audio player loading…. Dan Grabham. But the move was not without pain. Windows Phone 7 devices couldn't be upgraded to Windows Phone 8, leaving early adopters with phones that were prematurely end-of-lifed and a bad taste in their mouths. Moreover, the mere work of moving to the common kernel and APIs was such a huge undertaking that it didn't give Microsoft much time to actually work on features and capabilities.

Windows Phone 7 had a feature deficit relative to Android and iOS, and Windows Phone 8, rather than closing this feature deficit, was instead focused on updating and replacing the operating system's core.

A company that had more immediately recognized both the threat and the opportunity the iPhone represented, as well as the business transformation that Android made inevitable, might well have avoided these problems.

Quicker adoption of true touch interfaces, a decision to use a common NT kernel platform from the outset, a move to a store-based revenue model rather than operating system licensing; in hindsight, Microsoft could have made better decisions and made them sooner. Doing so might well have made Windows Phone a more successful platform.

In spite of all of this, there was some cause for optimism. The first generation of Windows Phone 8 handsets from Nokia were well received. Nokia had a good selection of phones from the flagship Lumia down to the cheap and cheerful Lumia Strong cameras became something of a Lumia trademark, and Windows Phone-specific design elements—such as a dedicated camera button with half-press autofocus—provided thoughtful differentiation. The enormous Windows Phone 8. As much as the platform had struggled since its launch, the wave of and hardware and software releases appeared to put it on a surer footing.

At the low end, devices like the Lumia offered a true smartphone experience that Android struggled to match. Comparably priced Android hardware wasn't as good: the software felt slower; the hardware felt less carefully constructed.

And at the high end, the attractive software and high-end cameras were enough to pique interest. The domestic story was never as good; Windows Phone barely cracked 5 percent in the US, which for an American company was always awkward.

These numbers still left Windows Phone in third place or, occasionally, second place in markets with particularly weak iPhone penetration. But the trajectory was upwards, with a platform and product mix that was suitable for a wide range of audiences. Now, they can be resized as you like. Four can fit where one square tile was, for instance. This makes the screen pretty busy, but you can customise it as much and as often as you like.

The small tiles can still display information but, for example, you don't get the fun animations on the Games app when it's at its smallest size. What's more, the tiles now fill the screen. Before, there was a gutter down the right side and an arrow to tell you where to find the apps list. Now, it's tiles everywhere. Another update, though not one you'll see directly on screen, are the chassis requirements.

These are what determine screen resolutions, compatibility with multi-core processors and so on. These mean the hardware can be much more capable, with some early Windows Phone 8 handsets, like the Nokia Lumia and HTC 8X having screens that are higher-resolution than the iPhone 5 's Retina display.

There are improvements to lots of core features on Windows Phone 8. The lock screen, for instance, now gives you a range of photos to see when you turn on and there is a wider range of apps which can provide notifications to the lock screen, too. For emails you can choose between black and white inboxes. The new black inbox has white text on a black background. If this sounds a rather petty upgrade, it pays dividends if you have an AMOLED screen which, unlike regular LCD displays, uses more power for brighter, ie whiter, screen images.

Kids Corner is a new parental control feature which allows children to access the apps, music and video you've selected for them. They flick left from the lock screen rather than up. A password screen stops them from getting full access to your phone and if they try to unlock it, the phone won't automatically wipe its data after a series of wrong password inputs.

Which is a relief. There's also Wallet, which is a place to find loyalty cards, boarding passes and more — a bit like Passbook on iPhone — and which will work with NFC as a payment option. But it has to wait for the credit card companies and other providers to catch up. Maps have been given greater usability by being downloadable in advance so you're not racking up data charges when abroad. Nokia has had this for years but is now sharing this and other features with non-Nokia Windows Phone 8 handsets.