With Windows Phone 8.1 just days away from being announced, the floodgates are starting to open for leaks about Microsoft’s new major OS update. This morning, a new video originally found on YouKu, the popular Chinese video hosting service, and published by the site Coolxap, has been released.
The video, like many leaks, is of abysmal quality, and it was originally shot vertically. We managed to rip the video and reorient it, so it’s easier to watch. See it after the break...
So what exactly are we looking at? The device in question is definitely a Nokia Lumia 630. There are many clues that give it away, including the 5 MP camera on the back with no flash, the rear speaker in the lower right corner and placement of the volume and power buttons on the right. Seeing as the phone is matte black, and there’s little flare on the front, there’s just not much to look at with this phone.
Looking at the OS itself, it’s a seemingly current build of 8.1 with virtual keys on the front of the device, as noted on the Lumia 630 hardware. Some other features observed in the video include:
- Action center
- New Podcast app
- New FM Radio app, pulled out of Music hub
- Video and Music Xbox apps separated into two apps
- New Store layout, as we recently reported
- IE changes, including new Tab section, private tabs
- IE tabs are displayed in multitask view
- Pull down to close apps in multitask
- New stock Photos app, with sections All, Albums, Favorites now on separate panels
- New stock camera layout
- Apps that are installed on the device: Storage Sense, Battery Sense, Data Sense
While the video and OS are in Chinese, we can confirm its authenticity. Surprisingly, the voice-assistant app Cortana is not revealed on the video, which may suggest this is either an older build of the OS that feature won’t ship on Chinese versions of the OS initially – we’re betting on the latter, unfortunately, due to the time required for language localization.
- Read more: Full Windows Phone 8.1 feature list
To wrap up, there is not much revealed as new in this video, but since many of you are yearning to see it in action, there you go. Sound off in comments on what you think though we suggest you wait until next Wednesday for Microsoft to tell the whole story.
Stay tuned for Windows Phone Central’s live coverage next week at Microsoft Build in San Francisco!
Source: Coolxap, YouKu; Thanks, qwe123878, for the tip and translations
Reader comments
New hands-on video shows Windows Phone 8.1 on a Nokia Lumia 630 developer device
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Videocall by network plzz
Look uglier in chinese
Onscreen navigation buttons plus Bezel equal to reduced screen real estate.it will be nice to have the buttons auto hide like windows task bar, and make them appear by swiping from the bottom. It's time to get rid of the huge bezels and have phones like the Galaxy S3,4,5 or the new LG phones
I'm just glad to see Verizon logo on it. I hope this means the 930 is the monarch for t-mobile.
Still no option to turn encryption on and off. Drats.
I can understand taking time to develop full Chinese support for cortana, i just hope they release it with English as an option worldwide rather than restricting it to US/UK.
Once again, as I've said many times, IE tabs are *already* shown in multitasking view ...
@DanielRubino, I keep reading about IE Tabs appearing in multitask view, but don't they already? Whenever I long press the back button I see all the different tabs that are open (the ones I am browsing) while in multitask view. When I close that tab in multitask view the tab basically closes (page link intact for when I open it). So I don't understand why its highlighted as a feature, or if I'm missing something. Can you please clear that?
You're correct, they already do.
Lame quality video showing another fugly Lumia. Thanks for the effort?
I don't like the on screen buttons.
It's looks classier the way it is now. This 630 is very ugly when it's off
Lost interest when I saw the 'loading...' screen. I thought we'd be done with this bullshit in 8.1.
Low end device with a non-final firmware. Shall we wait a little before jumping to too many conclusions?
No kidding.
New video: Customizing home startscreen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16MExHLa0tI&feature=youtu.be
Looks nice! Finally we know that the tiles skin is staying in the background with a little parallax.
Interesting that not all tiles are transparent, at least in this version. Kind of nice actually, enchances the depth feeling, if that's what one wants.
I do generally agree that MS should have gone the other route (as well?) of trying to unify the Windows and WP home screen experiences a bit more.
But having this background picture function removes another reason for whining for some. :P
Looks way better then I thought!
So I didn't see it but is it confirmed now that the WiFi, BT etc indicators in the pull down are in fact toggles and not just shortcuts to the menus?
All these delicious leaks coming in
Why WP was born in US, but leaked in China? Funny.
On 2:09 (youtube video) - that this mean - i can search in phone book with numbers (like some Android devices)? Now we cant- there is abc below numbers, but its only for information...
There is a T9 keyboard in 8.1, so potentially it shares some logic with a T9 contact search.
Did anyone else see the back arrow rotate when he went from landscape to portrait in the camera app? Pretty cool!
Yes it is tooo cool
Why is that cool? It does that now too in WP8.
Chris/Binoy are referring to virtual buttons(back, window and seach). On current devices those are physical/hardware buttons.
That wasn't what they referred to, it was the back button in the camera app. Either way WP8 has rotating buttons now too though. Guess I don't see the big deal.
I think other 2(windows logo, search) virtual buttons rotate too. Pretty neat. <3 <3 it.
Where is the video?)
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjkxMjEwMTU2.html here it is
DELETE
INSERT
EXPORT
I really want to be able to add the internet sharing off and on to the quick pull down, I really hope I can. I turn my hotspot on and off all the time, it'd be nice to be able to do it quicker.
Hub games?
The photo hub looks very bland without background pictures.
Well I don't regret buying 620 now. :):):):)
I will keep it till the next iteration of WP.
not holding my breath... patiently waiting. = )
In the video length is 3.14 seconds, while in the source length is 7.04 seconds!
Link plz
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjkxMjEwMTU2.html
Now is that a Lumia device cause it looks weird, fat
It's not fat. Again, look at how large the micro USB looks relative to overall thickness. Compare how e.g. the 920 USB port looks. 920 looks to be at least 2mm thicker than the 630.
Dan, any final word on cortana??
will it be out soon or in GDR's ...
So no start screen and applist landscape orientation?
The start screen would have to use a wrapping stacks mode like W8 to support landscape, so I'd say no (and don't even want it, personally).
If Win8 has this, then WP8 should have this too, imo. And you can turn off rotation, just in case you don't want it. Also, using a device like 1520 or 1320, navigating to and from some apps that are in landscape mode and off to another ie copy/paste needs some UX consistency. The user should not need to turn his/her phone just because he/she has to navigate to/back to the start screen and applist.
If it is a 620 evolution, why it doesn't have flash and frontal camera?
See my comment above
Because this isn't an evolution of the 620. It's an evolution of the 520. The problem here is that the 620 was REALLY good. Even overall better than the 720. That created a lot of expectations in regards to the 630.
Can anyone update on the Slo-Mo feature, is it coming with the stock camera?
Like the way the onscreen navigation buttons change orientation when the device is tilted....:)
I don't think we're seeing the design of the handset, i think what we are seeing is a device in a cover that hides the design of the device much like what Apple and Blackberry did to hide a device that was still in development.
I think we're still in for a few surprises next week, what we're seeing could be early os leaks and not completely whats coming.
Btw the article says "wait till next Tuesday for Microsoft to reveal the whole story." Isn't //build// on Wednesday?
Did anyone notice the new "phone" section ?
Yes
Guess what?? I have April 2nd off from work!!! Bwahahahaha
Argentina?
Can't wait for update
That cortana pic overlayed on that icon has me excited, weather updates! might be able to replace my weather tile with cortana.
At the 1:21 mark... rotating virtual buttons!
We need one more short cut key in the notifications centre
... Build conference in few months...
Then in few weeks...
Here it comes, Tuesday :D
Is that on screen buttons? Why do they need such a long bezel at the bottom then? Bad phone design.
Choose: fat phone with no bezels of thin phone with bezels. Internals have to go somewhere.
Thin with bigger screen. There..
It will still have bezels though. Also, not everyone likes big phones. This already has a 4.5" display. It's big enough.
1) It's not that big, looks to me smaller than on e.g. 520/620 2) where would the USB port, speaker, screen connectio pins, antennas etc. go? I can promise you its not all just empty space there. Note that the phone looks fairly thin also (compare USB port relative to overall thickness of 630 vs 920 and you'll notice that is the case) for a cheap phone 3) cheaper phones asssembly is kept simpler (and thus, again, cheaper) than high end 4) drop test durability is also a factor in such design choises, as is ergonomics.
But the phone seems to have CBD. That means Glance. Woohoo!
So no one here is gonna rag on Nokia for not having a camera key like you guys did Samsung? Ok...
I'm really excited for 8.1. The action/notification center looks exactly like what i've been wanting and this video confirms it. I'm also digging seeing the updated store in action.
You should see comments above yours...
this is not a high end phone and hence NO for as you say "rag".....or as i would say nagging..
Here in Turkey, youtube is blocked by the government. So I can not watch the video. So embarrasing...
Yes, its time for his regime to go. Vote the right way in the upcoming local elections, and make sure your friends and family do too! Good luck! :)
Do as the Ucranians..... overthrow that government!
oh god. change language to english and then post video. i couldnt understand anything about options.
"Nigga nigga" said the boy
Really? Just because they were saying it in the video does that mean we have to repeat it like a bunch of 4th graders???
seems faster
Actionable notifications ????
Still hoping lol that the dev preview would come next week. Tho it prolly won't
The UI of the virtual keys looks pretty clean.
If china isn't getting cortana then India probably won't get it at first either. Hope we do...
Didn't u read article. The video might be showing early version of 8.1. Cortana is built into OS.
dude just change region to US and enjoy all the stuff .........keep in mind to change all microsoft related accounts to US region. Xbox,outlook,win 8 desktop or laptop region ..everything.........Basically you should be a virtual US citizen.and then BLISSSSSSS
Nice to see they are able to record videos using toasters!
Its Nokia phone doing the recording based on the reflection. Pretty fancy toaster I'd say. Just poor resolution from the way it was uploaded I suspect.
Rock windows phone 8.1 !!!
The new dialer seems to be cool. Could be the stock one or an app like RapDialer. But the missed call notifications (seen in the lockscreen in the video) are not available to third party dialers unless ofcourse MS has loosened the restrictions a bit. Can't wait till April 2.
I gather its now safe to assume that "sort Apps by most used" etc. won't be in this version?
Anyway, who cares, there is so much other good stuff there! And the 630 looks very promising.
How on earth they get the devices earlier.. I know it's prototype, but how? lol
Some factory workers normally get devices for quality tests and to see what needs tweaking.
Thart's cool.
I got a headache watching that SMH
why do they keep on saying nigg@... racist chinese.
<this is a joke people I am asian too>
Then, WTF are they saying??
in pin yin, it's "ne ge"
basically, "um..."
What is more interesting: Where are the screenshots from? Definitely not from the crappy video. Daniel seems to have some other source for them, maybe he even has 8.1 installed already on his device ;)
Silence.. I'll take it as acceptance... Surely he owns a WP8.1.. Those screenshots are watermarked "WindowsPhoneCentral"..
Did abybody see a camera buttonon the side?
I didnt. Please dont remove the camera button Nokia!
This is a low-end device, I wouldn't lose sleep over the idea of Nokia taking away the button for their most-touted feature. In reality, the removal of capacitive buttons and the camera button will only make this device more affordable. That is the joy of 8.1's digital-access options. (Virtual buttons, possible camera access via Action Center, volume controls, etc.)
PureView devices will not lose the camera button.
I cant wait no longer....super excited!
Did not mention anything about cortana!!!!!!
idk how this is exciting, they will announce it in April and release it next year just like Amber and Black updates. I only need BBM to be released and full-instagram.
Because the majority of this site's readers will have done the Developer Preview, meaning by the end of April, a lot of us will have 8.1 on our phones.
Yes I will.. And I don't care if it voids my warranty..
Uhhh... so if something happens just reload 8 and black and uh they will never know....
I've avoided doing this in the past, but after this last episode of waiting for T-Mo... I'm pretty sure I'll be doing it this time.
You have no idea how many times I told people Dev Preview method in the forums. Well, I know you could REALLY quick, but...
How do you get the dev preview?!
well go and search in the forums everyone is tired of tellling ...go to the forums .....
Dan, any final word on CORTANA
will it be in this final version or to be pushed out thru GDR's??
Cortana is definitely arriving with Windows Phone 8.1... It may just be restricted by region for awhile, similar to the Kinect for Xbox One feature rollout. Don't stress.
Dev preview got delayed tho, huh?
Ya that's saddening if it is true.
I'm sure you guys can wait a week, it's not like 6 months or anything.
One week is fine unless they keep stretching it further.
Maybe Win8.1 Update 1 and WP8.1 developer preview and modern apps for Office will be all released together in the April 8th?
Yes that's a possibility. If the Dev Preview is not released on 2nd April itself. Keeping my fingers crossed. Maybe they can manage to pull it off nicely so that it is readied within a week and then released successfully on 2nd itself.
Love seeing that so many features are being moved out of the OS so those things can be updated more quickly and regularly.
Dem load times :P
True, does seem a tad sluggish. Hopefully they can optimize further. Also, some of the apps start with the tutorial the first time - hopefully once you have skipped it, the app would open slightly faster?
Two words - developer preview. I think the purpose of this video was more to demonstrate UI and features rather than performance since it's not final.
I remember reading about grid view of app list. Is it confirmed feature?
I would like that. More options are always better.
Honestly, I don't see how this could in any way be easier or better. Finding things on WP is so much easier than any other OS as it is.
It's thick but seems good
Compare the size of the micro-USB relative to overall thickness on this and on the 920. 630 looks fairly thin, actually. Looks like a promising device for the lower end, hopefully price is right.
You have to keep in mind that it is a developer device, not the final product. It could change a good deal before it gets on the shelf.
Nope. Developer device just means it's factory unlocked so you can deploy apps.. the only thing that changes is software. But it is the same device that will hit shelves
Not seen the video yet, but that's because I want to see it once and for all on April 2nd! Oh didi forget to mention, I cant wait!!! :D
Were gonna leak something quick grab our worst camera
Why ?
Because its a leak
Let's also shoot the video in portrait, not landscape, because you know...it's a leak.
The camera recording it is a Nokia Lumia phone. Which appears to be a white 920. Based on the reflection.
+920
The video is compressed.
Why would they take the radio app out of the music hub?? I like the music and games hubs
Feature discovery. So you can pin to your Start screen. So it can be updated and tweaked if necessary. I can go on...
Then let us be able to manually put it in the hub. I really like not having to have 4 diff music/podcast apps on my home screen. Some might like that. Why not allow both?
Soft key.......... Wtf so pretty!!!!! I want it!!! Why I bought 1520...
So a soft key is worth more than a huge battery, amazing screen, and amazing camera. I see... Priorities
Don't judge. Sometimes I like chubby girls, sometimes I like skinny girls.
+920 gilrs
Wait, FM radio can use speaker? So that means it doesn't need something plugged into the phone to use FM?
Incorrect. The cord is the antenna. But you can redirect the audio to the device speaker.
Ah, I understand now. Thanks.
It can use speaker even now, but not as an antenna, if that's what you're asking.
You still need something plugged in, the cable/headphone acts as an antenna. For example I plug my bluetooth speaker which also has AUX and comes with a cable that plugs into the headphone jack and works perfectly at work, picnics, outings, whatever.
you need the antenna..ie a plugged earphone. all lumia with fm has this option
FM will actually become practical when they figure out how to put the antenna internally, so you don't have to worry about carrying the ear phones.
Also when it gets a good radio receiver. Even with a decent headphone cable the reception is really poor (really unusable on all but a handful stations) compared to my Sansa Clip FM radio.
By now the only thing I really want to know about 8.1 that hasn't leaked yet is if there are changes to the accent colour pallet. If there are more colours, a colour wheel or if everything will remain the way it was in that department...(I'm excluding the skinning, obviously).
A new color and that's all
Nope. Nothing new there.
Well, that's disappointing. Thanks for the info though ;)
I mean, its not like you were staying with Windows Phone anyways...
Yet I'll still own a 1020 as a camera. And I'm likely to get the 930 (if it's released under the Nokia banner). So it's not like I won't be dealing with the OS at all. Only my daily driver will be switched to Sony's Android once Nokia is gone. My photography camera will remain the 1020. And I'm thinking about getting another 620 or a 520 as an mp3 reader since Creative has apparently disappeared from the market.
AND my 920 will still be my daily driver until the 930 comes out or Sony releases the Z2 Compact. So I have tons of reasons to still care about what comes to WP ;)
Good question. From the moment I got my 920 I've never understood why the color choices were so limited. I want to drag my finger over a color pallet and choose whatever color I want. 24 bit, 18 bit, shit I'd even be happy with a 16 bit pallet. This isn't rocket science. Our phones can display these colors. Why can't we select them?
Dan, have you seen any possiblity we will be able to disable the hardware buttons in favor of the virtual buttons? Would love to be able to do this on my 1520.
So - you'd like less space and 3 hardware buttons on your phone to not work? That seems weird...
It's not wierd if you have a 6" phone. Also, this would unintended button pressing. Have you actually picked up and used a 1520?
I have and don't have issues with the buttons. If the buttons are there I would not want to use screen resource for redundant buttons that already exist. But that's just my opinion.
Respect your opinion. Just having the choice/option to customize\disable (say leave the home button on) would be nice. Many times when I hand my phone off for people to view photos or take pictures, they end end up pressing the back or home button. Also, from what I recall, the virtual buttons do not always display. I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong on that.
Any time I hand my 1520 off somebody ends up in Bing... The option would definitely make sense, it absolutely never hurts to offer customization. Especially because the virtual buttons have that slick theme color option... Bow-wow. +1520
Hopefully the tweaks to how buttons behave in different situations will partially address that too.
That's the only time I struggle with my 1520 is when im trying to hit the back button one handed. On screen controls move it 5-9mm higher up and requires less reach, I'd like the option..
oh my god (Janice voice)
Hahahaha...seems legit here!!!
Looks really good! Really interested in the dual sim variant (635).
Just wish the damn thing had a flash - why would they not include that?
To lower the price. Don't think of this as a successor to the 620, think of it as a successor to the 520.
Its more like a predecessor. Only that it has more ram and a newer os... 520 has a camera butoon, and has capacitative buttons :)
But that's because it was a requirement from the OS. If it wasn't, Nokia would have removed those things from the 520 ;)
Alcatel did remove the camera button way before Nokia launched the 520
Given the 1xxx series phones, it looks like they are repositioning the whole lineup slightly. So the old 6xx device spec/price level devices may now be numbered 7xx.
Accordingly, e.g. the 530 may be significantly cheaper than the 520 was (at announcement), as may the 630 relative to 620 . Some rumors on the price points seem to suggest this is the case. e.g. 620 price at announcement sans taxes and subs was $249, whereas some rumors claim 630 would be less thant $200.
We'll soon know.
Seems swift!
HA LAME
Seems faster! :p
No.
It does...
You're blind
Is that WP8.1 on the icon??? :D :D
The 630 looks like the 810 from tmobile.
yup..and both look terrible. Who am I kidding ? My Lumia 822 looks bad, too. :D
Cant wait anymore!!
I wasn't liking the 630 but in this video it is so pretty!
the point of 630 is dual SIM, mate.
Partially. Dual SIM is a variant of the 630. There will also be single SIM for other markets.
630 dual sim?????
Didn't know that....
Really need one like that
NO New live tiles, i don't even care anymore.
Still kept that x to close apps while having swipe down.
Who cares. At least you can close the damn app. Get over it.
Word!
Whoa you mad?
I'm sure lots of people care about having multiple options for closing apps.
Why all the anger?
Yep!! It's about time MS learned to give us options to choose from.. This was the problem with WP7xx- WP8.0... We need more than one way to do some things..
So, the best way isn't good enough?
Who died an left you in charge of determining what the best way to close an app is?!
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