Officially announced in June 2012 after being in development under the codename Windows Phone Apollo, Windows Phone 8 is a mobile operating system for smartphones and other mobile devices that serves as the successor to Microsoft Windows Phone 7.
Windows Phone 8 officially debuted in late October 2012, adding support for multicore processors, a new secure “wallet” system for managing sensitive credit card and other financial data, turn-by-turn navigation capabilities, support for high-definition displays, a new Start Screen with customizable tile sizes and more.
The new mobile OS is also based on the same core technologies as the Windows 8 operating system, sharing common networking, file system, security, multimedia and similar technology, including the Internet Explorer 10 Web browser.
Windows Phone 8.1 Update and Windows Phone 10 on the Way
Microsoft released the Windows Phone 8.1 update, codenamed “Blue,” in April 2014. The company is expected to forgo a Windows Phone 9 release, instead choosing to go with Windows Phone 10 as the official name of the next major update of Windows Phone.
