Looks like the guys at PocketNow have stumbled upon gold dust! In an exclusive story PocketNow has detailed all the critical features of Windows Phone 8, codenamed, Apollo, all thanks to a video featuring Joe Belfiore, VP of Windows Phone, who was showing off the OS to Nokia’s partners. While we have not seen the video the guys at PocketNow claim it’s absolutely authentic, so read on further for all the juicy caveats.

Multi-core support. Finally!

While we all knew it was coming, this report just about confirms that Windows Phone 8 is going to support multi-core processors. In-fact according to the report there is going to be multi-core support, so there are no specifics on dual-core or quad-core processors. Anyways I think this is not going to be a big deal as by the time Windows Phone 8 is ready for launch Qualcomm’s Krait processor will be ready boasting of all new ARM-Cortex A15 technology. And you know what’s the kicker? It’s going be dual-core (Not Quad-Core like Nvidia’s Tegra 3) atleast the first few variants of the processor, which will keep the Windows Phone 8 devices on par with its Android and iOS competitors in terms of the specs war.

Multiple Screen resolutions

Another bit of information that signals a good change is support for four resolutions. Currently Windows Phone is locked in at a pretty underwhelming 800×480 WVGA resolution, though judging by the latest smartphone trends a 1280×720 display should be supported along with a qHD 960×540 display and a much low-end 480×320 should also come in. Having said this one should note it has been reported that Windows Phone Tango which will arrive before Apollo is also supposed to bring in support for multiple screen resolutions. So what does this mean? Well there is not a lot of clarity, perhaps this feature was chopped out of Tango at the last minute and added in Window Phone 8, nonetheless it’s a welcome feature and we can’t wait for it.

Windows 8 integration

Possibly Window Phone 8’s biggest draw will be its tight integration with Windows 8.  Microsoft is apparently calling it ‘Windows Re-Imagined’ will be the ‘The New Familiar’.  The OS will not only share its UI with the latest version of Windows, but will also share a lot of the underlying coding architecture enabling developers to reuse a hefty chunk of the code while porting applications from the desktop to phone or vice-versa.

Apparently the change is drastic. All the way from the kernel, to network stacks, security and multimedia support there will be a massive overlap in the underlying architecture of Windows Phone 8, with Windows 8. Heck Microsoft insider Paul Thurrott has also confirmed that despite the change in the kernel, Windows Phone 8 will maintain support for older apps. How did they manage that? Well it looks like the guys at Redmond are hard at work.

Unfortunately the tight integration with Windows 8 also brought about a casualty – The syncing with the Zune desktop client. While Zune is a pretty music app for Windows, syncing is not its forte. I can’t say that I am sorry to see this go away considering Windows Phone 8 will be offering a dedicated companion app, possibly a supped up version of Active Sync.

Xbox integration is another thing that comes to the table. There will be a companion app on Windows 8, which will seamlessly integrate the gaming experience across platforms. In addition to this, SkyDrive support will enable seamless sharing of devices. A cool feature Belfiore showed off in the video was instant access to ones music on a Windows Phone device without a PC-Sync.

Applications galore

Microsoft expects Windows Phone Marketplace to reach the zenith of 100,000 apps by the time Windows Phone 8 hits the markets. This is not a far fetched projection considering we are already at 50,000 apps. Microsoft touted native code support for Window Phone 8, essentially enabling developers to build more powerful apps and also easing the process of porting apps from other platforms. Microsoft will also enable apps to communicate with each other in more intuitive and powerful way.

NFC

With Nokia on being board NFC support was a no brainer, but the question was how long Microsoft would take to implement it. Behold that question has been answered. Windows Phone 8 will be fully NFC capable and will enable users to pay securely via a NFC card.

Data Smart

This one was kind of an Android speciality till only recently. Data Smart, is what Microsoft calls it, is the Windows Phone variant of a Data monitor similar to the one introduced on Ice Cream Sandwich. One could theoretically set data caps to avoid gargantuan 3G bills.

Software enhancements

The biggest calling card app on Windows Phone 8 will be Microsoft’s newly acquired Skype app which will be integrated in the OS. Skype calls will behave like normal telephony, being totally seamless. The camera module on Windows Phone 8 devices will be based around an app called ‘Lens app’. Here Microsoft will offer a basic camera interface, which the OEMs can freely customize or overlay with third-party apps. Apart from most headlining features Windows Phone 8 will offer an enhanced version of Local Scout with recommendations and Internet Explorer 10 will utilize proxies to compress the data required to load pages similar to the way Opera has been doing it for years.

Enterprise Support

Windows Phone 8 will be safe as houses! Atleast that’s what I get from the leaked report. Clearly Redmond wants to rekindle the enterprise magic of the erstwhile Windows Mobile platform, something Windows Phone is yet to cash in on. So firstly it will have BitLocker encryption built-in, the 128-bit encryption we see on Windows. SecureBoot capabilities are also coming the Windows Phone way and businesses will have the ability to distribute apps privately.

On the whole this looks like a pretty comprehensive update, so we cannot wait for it hit the market however one should not expect it before the launch of Windows 8, which is still pegged at Q3 of 2012.

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Tags: Joe Belfiore, microsoft, Nokia, Window phone features leaked