Phone
Custom ringtones. You asked for it, we built it—now you can
create your own
ringtones using MP3 and WMA files.
Visual voicemail. See your
voicemails in a
list, then listen to them on your phone.
Battery Saver. Not sure you'll make it to the next charge? Turn on
Battery
Saver to make the juice last a bit longer—you can even set it to
turn on automatically when your battery is running low.
Email + messaging
Send a text with your voice. That's right: with
Speech, you can
text, search the web, and lots more, totally hands- (and sometimes eyes-) free.
Your phone can even read you an incoming text, and then you can use Speech to
dictate and send your reply.
Threads. Start with a text, and finish in Facebook or Messenger chat
(or vice versa). The whole conversation stays in one thread, and all it takes
to switch back and forth is a tap.
See
how
Facebook Chat. It's now built into your phone—you can
set it up in
Messaging in a few taps.
Conversation view. If you're fed up with deleting emails one by one or sifting
through your inbox for related messages, then
conversation
view—emails grouped by subject—is for you. If you'd rather see
your emails individually, you can still do that, too.
Linked inboxes. Juggling multiple accounts for personal or work email?
Streamline things by
linking them
into a single inbox to see all the messages in one view (the
accounts will stay separate).
People + social networking
Groups. Groups
help you focus on the contacts you really care
about—family, best friends, fellow soccer parents. You can pin your top Groups
to Start to see everyone's latest status updates and to send quick texts,
emails, or IMs to the whole Group.
More ways to share. You've got great new options for
posting to social
networks from your phone, including Facebook check-ins,
video
sharing, and sharing a link right from
Internet
Explorer.
More social networks. Never be out of the loop again: Twitter and LinkedIn are now
built into Windows Phone, so practically everything you do on your
social
networks is a tap away. And don't worry—we've also included new
ways to filter
all those new contacts and their social updates.
A better Me card. It's all about Me—and the
Me
card is now one of the most useful spots on your phone for
staying in touch with your friends and keeping tabs on your social networks.
History view. Contact cards now show the
history of your recent calls, emails, texts, and chats with the person. Just
tap in the list to return the call or go to the thread.
Smarter
apps
Multitasking. Keep your place in a game while reading email? Check. Listen
to music apps while texting? You bet. Many apps can run in the background, so
you don't need to shut one down to use another—plus you can switch between open
apps in a flash. Learn how
App Connect. Get the app
you need—sometimes before you even know you need it.
Search the
web, and alongside the usual results you'll see apps you can
use—like a movie app when you're looking up showtimes. You'll also see photo
apps in the Pictures Hub and music apps in Music + Videos.
Improved Live Tiles. The Live Tiles on
Start dish up
more (and quicker) updates on your apps, and they're also a whole lot of
fun—the Pictures Tile animates with a slideshow of your favorite snapshots and
Group Tiles flash your friends' latest updates.
More in Marketplace. Marketplace has an
ever-expanding lineup of standout apps and marquee games, and it's now easier
to find what you want in the online store. So start limbering up those gaming
thumbs!
A cleverer calendar. More ways
to tame that crazy schedule—view multiple sub-calendars within a
single account, see and respond to Facebook events, and create a to-do list
complete with due dates and reminders. Your Outlook tasks will show up there,
too!
Browsing + maps
Better search. Bing helps you
search the
web in more ways, with voice search,
Music
search, and
Vision
search, which uses your phone's camera to look up product info.
Local Scout. Live like a local! Local Scout, powered by Bing, teams up
search and mapping to show you
nearby restaurants, shopping, and activities in a single tap, so
you'll never feel like a clueless tourist again.
Mall maps. Desperately seeking the food court? Zoom in on the mall in
Maps (or go to
its Place card) and you might find an indoor map to help you track down the
nachos.
Driving directions. Your Windows Phone can
get you where
you're going by showing you on the map or giving you directions
from where you are.
Pictures + camera
Video sharing. Send them in email or post them to Facebook or Windows Live.
Learn
how
Picture tagging. Your phone automatically detects untagged faces when you're
uploading
pictures to Facebook or Windows Live—just tap, tag, and post.
Persistent camera settings. Now if you change camera settings—for instance, photo
resolution, brightness, or another option your phone manufacturer might have
included—you can save them for the next time you use the camera.
Learn
how
A redesigned Pictures Hub. The Pictures Hub just got
more personal, more social, and more fun.
Music + videos
Playlists. Add songs to Now Playing and then
save them as a
playlist, all on your phone.
Smart DJ. Play Smart DJ mixes
on your phone—or if you've got a Zune Music Pass, you can stream them from
Zune.
Podcasts. Subscribe to
podcasts—audio or video—on your phone.
Office Mobile
Sync with SkyDrive. You can
sync your
Office docs between SkyDrive and your phone, so you can edit
them on your phone now, then edit some more on your computer later.
An expanded Office Hub. The improved
Office Hub
has more ways to view, navigate, and search for your docs.
Information rights management. Got an IRM-protected email or Office doc? Now you can
open it on your
phone.
Excel improvements. Excel
Mobile on your phone has easier cell selection—just tap and
drag—plus AutoSum for quick calculations.
Office 365 integration. Office
365 takes your business to the cloud—and Windows Phone
supports Office 365 right out of the box.
OneNote to-do lists. Check off your errands one-by-one with this handy new
feature in OneNote.
Games
A revamped Games Hub. Now you can do more in the
Games
Hub—including track your achievements, dress up your avatar, and
get messages from your
Xbox
LIVE friends.
Networking
Internet connection sharing. Turn your phone into a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot by
sharing your
Internet connection with your laptop and other devices.
Hidden Wi-Fi networks. Now you can
connect to
hidden Wi-Fi networks (networks that don't broadcast their
network name).
My Phone
Manage your phone on the web. Find a lost phone,
see your pictures and Xbox stats,
reinstall
apps, and more on the
My
Phone page.
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