Windows Phone 8.1, the next milestone for Microsoft’s mobile OS, is rumored to be announced April 2 in San Francisco, California. That’s only 7 weeks away, putting Microsoft on a tight schedule to line up all of their eggs for the big reveal.
One of those milestones is to open up the Software Development Kit (SDK) to developers for some initial feedback. Windows Phone Central has learned that Microsoft is now inviting a limited number of developers, under NDA, to begin early testing of the new 8.1 operating system and its SDK.
SDK image for illustrative purposes only
SDKs are the tools used by developers to design apps for the OS, leveraging new capabilities, including screens resolutions, APIs, or new features like the previously leaked Action Center and ‘intelligent’ notifications. Getting feedback from developers on those tools and any errors helps mitigate any initial launch bugs that may have been overlooked by ‘dogfooding’ the SDK internally at Microsoft.
Developers who agree to the NDA are of course forbidden to talk about the developer program, including even its existence or whether they are a part of it. Still, we imagine that as Windows Phone 8.1 gets into more hands, more details of Microsoft’s forthcoming OS will inevitably make its way on to the web, similar to this weekend’s leak of the Action Center.
In addition to the confidential SDK Preview Program, Windows Phone Central can now report that the public Developer Preview Program is slated for an April 2nd announcement at Build. That program, an extension of the current Update 3 preview, will allow regular users to download the early bits of Windows Phone 8.1 on that day (or that week) to their current Windows Phone, bypassing the carrier approval process, which could delay the 8.1 rollout by a few months. While users would get the latest OS, they will however be missing any optimized firmware, which would be updated at a later time.
In response to a media inquiry, Microsoft had the following to say regarding the SDK invites:
“We regularly involve our developer community in a variety of private programs. We have nothing to share broadly about our recent developer outreach.”
Finally, Microsoft seems to be ramping up plans for Windows Phone 8.1 in general, including holding an NDA meeting with partners at the end of February for those who can't attend Mobile World Congress. That meeting will feature a roadmap session and technical briefing on Windows Phone, prepping partners before the expected public announcement in April.
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Windows Phone 8.1 – Microsoft quietly sends invites for confidential SDK Dev Preview program
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I have developer account, where I can download the Windows Phone SDK 8.1?
Where's my invite!
Here you can find a screen shot of the icon for pedning push notifications to read.
http://wphoneface.com/2014/02/11/novedades-del-sdk-de-windows-phone-8-1/
New feature for windowsphone driving mode:
http://forums.wpcentral.com/windows-phone-8/263207-vote-my-requested-feature-windowsphone-driving-mode.html#post2346018
http://i.imgur.com/vjIESaG.png
Find the new setting in this image , it seems that Third Party Apps will now be able to manage SMS , like on the iPhone when you Jailbreak it with BytesSMS ( Maybe ?)
From what I've understood from this SDK leaks : WP8.1 will support SD Card Apps Installing , New Apps Called Battery Sense , support of Javascript for Apps
WP8.1 SDK details on reddit : http://www.reddit.com/r/windowsphone/comments/1xloor/wp81_is_going_to_ha...
Thank you
Thank you...thank you so much...SD card app installs in 7 weeks... My life is now complete.
+ all the low ram device users lol
.
Bro please provide the link here!
Lol Microsoft are not crazy they can't ignore Notification Center anymore .
Even just the notification center is a welcomed addition. But lets be honest here folks, preparing for disappointment is your safest option.
Prepare to be disappointed for those who need built in file manager from wp 8.1
Y? What happened?
So this means that i'll get notification center roughly 2years after they "ran out of time" for windows 8, and 3 years after i left iPhone for windows phone. MS, step up your game, this is too slow in tech time.
If any dev confirms app installs on the SD I will personally give them my lifelong servitude.
I have received the invite.
I hope that Microsoft brings some update for wp7...Maybe 7.9
Just to bring the action center...
Like in 7.8, only wide tiles & Bluetooth share was new...
Windows Phone 7 is done. Its never getting additional updates.
Yeah 7 is done now. Technology moves at a rapid pace. We know that once WP 9 will get popular then no one will consider updating wp8.
"line up all of their eggs for the big reveal" that was graphical.
Wonderful
Meanwhile, Samsung Galaxy S5 is coming....and Microsoft is trying to fix missing features.
Its android its the end. Whatever may be the specs wont be able to compete 1520,1020 and even we r getting 2 new launches in april
Goneale...did u recieve any code to enter??..on d connect.microsoft site..??..
No it just becomes available on the "Dashboard" section, pretty unintuitive how they've linked it up on connect.
They did it like this in the past. It worked ok tho
Did u recieve the update??..do u see the features mentioned in d wpcentral blog??
Wohoo!! I really can't wait!
They should invite fb,twitter dvelopers for conference. Twitter is working fine without any update but still we want their interest too. Even fb. Bit of wp8.1 will have better social integrations with html5 then sorted we don't need them.
im sure all the major players have been invited to the sdk preview, dunno about the conference
Hope for the good. We want promises from such developers too. They might call blackberry and also have talks about BES at build. We can gradually kill droid market share. We WP are better in terms of a good budget smartphone with great metro UI and battery life. We will be able to stand head to head with iPhone next year in the terms of market share. We just need good developer contacts so that wp starts charming the celebrity crowd too. We need a little bit pace. But im damn sure we wont be left behind.
I was invited for it. It was sent to top developers only. My app just hit 750,000 downloads too.
My app has, ehem, a few orders-of-magnitude lower downloads than yours ... so I guess I won't be getting an invite.
What I would like to know is if you do the developer preview when the official is released if you will be able to activate the officail cuz I really want 8.1.......... like really bad.
...but idk if I want to kill my phone warranty
I, I.... don't understand, are you trying to make a statement or did you just slam your head on the keyboard a couple of times?
I honestly have no idea what you just means and I'm wondering if this "slaming my head on the keyboard" because what you just said doesn't actually make sense if you read what I wrote.......I asked a question, then elaborated on why I was asking it. No idea how that was confusing asshole..
So wp8.1 rolling out 2nd April and its official version with firmware July right? Considering what happened with the gdr3 preview and black update. Much time gap Nokia
edit: wrong thread reply sry
No, WP 8.1 will roll out by Microsoft for the developer preview program April 2nd.
Firmware updates depend on the phone's manufacturer and carrier, which could takes months.
A common man who buys wp doesn't know what would developer preview except us who are on WP Central. That guy would be sulking till July about lack of features if he's not on wpcentral.
I'm hoping Rudy's 6Studio got an invite for that, he should be at the top of the list!
hmmm..... i have a feeling that "special project" he mentioned he was working on with microsoft and couldnt speak about it a few months ago has something to do with this. Dont be surprised if rudy has all his apps updated on day one with all the new features baked into his apps :).
Can't fucking wait
Received an initial invitation where I had to fill out a survey, I’ve now just had an email stating my invitation has been accepted and I’m currently downloading the WP SDK Preview as we speak. Looks like they’ve started rolling out the downloads..
We are pleased to inform you that we have accepted your application to participate in the Windows PhoneSDK DevPreview Program on Microsoft Connect.
To download the preview of the Windows Phone SDK and get started, sign in at the Microsoft Connect Web site (http://connect.microsoft.com [http://connect.microsoft.com/]).
We value your support and look forward to your participation.
Best Wishes,
Windows platform team
Can you at least say yes or no to this question?
Is 8.1 everything we hoped it would be?
Dont answer if you could get into trouble.
Sorry the NDA is strong with this one, I was even thinking about removing that email quote, but I figured that's not really revealing anything besides what has been announced publicly already. Best of luck to all waiting on invites....
May want to reconsider that, nothing has really been announced publicly here
An announcement has been made here that developers are receiving invites to the Dev Preview.. that's what I was referring to.
I just hope this means a lot of new APIs for the devs to work with.
+521
Posted via the WPC App for Android!
Will there be SD support?
Seems so. There's a great rumor
Best to keep expectations low only then you will be pleasantly surprised. I can see whole lot of rage rant posts cropping up after wp 8.1 on the forum lol. Sure the the past gdr updates didn't bring much, most of the changes are probably bug fixes. Heck, the features that people take for guarantee in ios or andriod, also more or less came through incremental updates.
There are soooooooooo many little things that ms needs to address, if i listed them all I would end up typing a essay several pages long. Im not expecting much, something I've realised, expect to much and you will certainly disappointed. You can plan life with the best of intentions, but nothing ever goes to plan really - we adapt and make compromises etc - same applies to MS - no one is an exception :P.
Tech philosophy
Apparently there are several different branches within the windows phone team. When they rtmed wp8, they branched off into different teams. One working on fixing and adding minimal features within the wp8.0 branch. And the other that branched off to work on wp blue. Then I guess these past few months they have been working on merging the two branches to create wp blue 8.1. Makes sense. I believe the windows team has something similar.
From the tidbits that have been leaked in the past years, they suggest that wp8 gui and features were the bare minimal and most of the work done was on porting windows nt to arm and a bunch of back end work that wasn’t a big jump visually and feature wise from wp7.
If this is all the case, that explains why this big update has taken so long. They have the gdr releases that have added small features here in there to act as a stop gap until the actual true successor to wp7 which will be wp8.1.
It seems like they weren’t on the same wave length as the windows 8 team. So I can see how the same number designation initially could be confusing win8, wp8. But I think we will finally see what I believe will be the wp7.0 to wp7.5 mango equivalent of features with wp 8.1.
If Facebook devs got this SDK then we can expect an official app right
Wp 8.1 release is similar to w8.1 so just guessing
So finally we might be getting an official Facebook app
Are you just being sarcastic? Because I want what you said to be true :)
How much can we really expect from a .1 incremental update? Are we getting too excited? Just don't want to be let down!
The increment used doesn't determine the scale of the update (at least it doesn't in this case). This will be a major update, like Windows 8.1 was to 8.
But more than what .5 was to WP7. That WP7.5 update got us 200 new features and changes. This should bring at least 40.
I'm pretty sure that select few devs that get access will have a very limited version of 8.1 just the bare minimal. Kinda like how they released the mango os under NDA and kept many of the features under wrap.
AHHHH SH*TTTTTT!!!! This thing is heating up ladies and gentlemen!!!! Can't wait to get this on my 1520!
What do u mean by... "While users would get the latest OS, they will however be missing any optimized firmware, which would be updated at a later time." what optimized firmware???
I think he just means that oftentimes OS upgrades are accompanied by firmware upgrades. With the MS program you will get the OS upgrade right away, but will still need to wait for the firmware upgrade like everyone else.
Update 3 vs Lumia Black.
I dont see anything would miss on update 3 compare to black which has lot more aditional features.
I bet I get the 8.1 Preview on my 928 before Verizon approves Black.
Speaking of firmware, have there already been news if there will be firmware updates like Amber/Black for Windows Phone 8.1 for Lumia devices, and what are the features?
I want a 7 inch windows phone
My 1520 feels small already
Wat
Get a 2520
Looking forward to April ! Windows Phone 8.1 & Developer Preview !!!! Also , NYIAS ! Man I can't wait
My excitement for this update has waned as it is dragged along, even now I think WP is moving too sloooow. We should have got this update last year, with a smaller one about now. They need to start taking it seriously. I think you're all too quick to forget how little features we got this year from Microsoft. This is well overdue
I got a whole new core, a desktop OS on my phone last year. Did you miss that update?
Last year = 2013
Year before = 2012
Wp8 was released in 2012. And its not like a 'whole new core' means anything at all to the average consumer. Last year I got rotation lock and . . . . erm, not much else, sounds pretty pathetic to me.
I got 41 megapixels and zoom capability. I'm happy with that. Anything else is gravy.
Which update added 41mp and "zoom capability" your phone ? I'd love to have it
41mp and all the processing was only possible with new apis and further enhancement to the back end. We also got multitasking improvements, Skype back end to messaging, new Outlook, new Windows to match WP etc. These companion apps, backend changes are essential to build an ecosystem. Its not a sprint, its a marathon. Its not a t20, its test cricket.
Multitasking improvements? You mean the 'X' close button? That literally is just a shortcut to the back button. Had nothing to do with multitasking improvements. What new Outlook? And Skype which should have been working from the beginning. I'm sorry but none of what you just stated were enhancements. Sure, extremely minor enhancements to bring new hardware support, but every OS brings features AND hardware support in every update. Why are you excusing Microsoft to alternate and be twice as slow?
You mean like the crappy Sky experience? How nice !
Great suggestion, buy a new phone. Thats called an upgrade btw, not an update.
The point was that before Amber and GDR2 these things weren't possible. Those two updates were critical and Black/GDR3 improved things further.
True that.
To an average consumer, updates mean hardly anything. They just want a phone with browser, angry birds and Facebook.
OS updates mean a whole lot more to EVERYONE rather than an updated kernel. I personally noticed no problems with the last kernel. What I did notice, however, was the huge feature difference between ios/android and WP. Updates fix that, kernels don't.
ok.. so use an absolete kernal that devs are unhappy with.. then you can have a lagdroid...
Mr Toes, you are thinking with your feet. Putting a whole frigging desktop in a phone isn't enough? None of the other phones has that. It takes time to make a desktop OS optimized on phones. From here on all the changes in Windows 8 and/or Windows Phone 8 are to be planned simultaneously. Because this ecosystem is building up like no other. But if you are one of those who jumps at an update with notification center and separate volume controls, you will never see why this new kernel was stroke of a genius two years back.
Once again I am talking about 2013, not 2012. But because you are so insistent I will talk about the updated kernel with a 'whole friggin desktop'. You may or may not know that the iPhone has in fact run on os x since 2007. Amazing right? No it isn't, its just what it runs at the very core of the OS. It does NOT have a desktop, and if it does then why cant I put PhotoShop on my phone.
Actually, if I remember correctly, it's not really OS X, but it's a version of it. And don't forget, OS X is NOT the same as Mac OS X.
Aside from that, I agree with your original post. These updates come way too slowly.
Yeah you're right, its os x, but then again windows isn't the same as the NT kernel either.
Yes. I love WP, but this is long due..
I just need T-Mobile to get one....please Nokia. A 32gb something with a 5" screen, 1080p display, micro SD slot, 20-41mp camera with the new processor in the 1520!!!:)
Tweet the heck out of John Legere. @JohnLegere
At least its April 2nd and not the first...
Lol right!
I'm looking forward to the next Nokia flagship release on Easter! Hahahaha.....
I got an email while I was reading this. And a heart attack.
+Icon
Is it the invitation email or something else?
Tell us more! ;)
He said he got a heart attack.
Hopefully MS refresh the animations. I'm kind of getting bored of them. Aril 2nd is the most eagerly anticipated day for me within the next few months, can't wait!
If animations is what you are after, you will be disappointed!
I was just thinking W8 and X1 like animations.
50 days guys... Just 50 more days
Excuse me , what is NDA ?
Non-disclosure agreement
Non disclosure agreement.
Non disclosure agreement
Non disclosure agreement
I think its a non disclosure agreement.lol
It can be non-disclosure agreement, I'm not sure though.
Not Diagnosed with Anything
Never Discuss Anything
Kinda makes sense lol,
But seriously. Non-disclosure agreement.
No Discuss Anything...
Did I miss the Tell Cuwe it means Non-Disclosure Agreement party?
National Defence Academy
working with Microsoft is like working for the CIA xD
Some sort of DNA, only spelled wrong...
So did you ask Jay about his invite or did you rightfully not want to put him on the spot?
;)
I haven't spoken to Jay, but my guess is he's not a big enough dev to qualify. He hasn't in the past, AFAIK.
How about Rudy ?
How about Rudy ?
How about Rudy ?
I always read that as Uh-Fay-ke hahaha
I got the email and im small fry
Not big enough? I have been on a diet recently Dan thanks for noticing! ;)
I'm curious if wp8.1 will run even smoother/faster or if things get more laggy with all the new bells and whistles.
Many features and updates have been added to the OS since it came out in 2010 and each time, both new phones and old phones that received the update maintained their speed or became faster. I am not worried.
What features are you talking about? Apart from Mango ( great update btw) most of the subsequent updates barely added any features that could impact on the performance of devices. Heck WP7 devices didn't even get WP8 to begin with .
#ThisIsNotAndroid and #ThisIsCertainlyNotiOS7
#ThisisLUMIA
No...it isn't.
#8Xowner
#nobodyCaresAboutHtc
I guess we're not all in this together then...
#fanboyssuck even for WP
There is a reason why Windows Phone has a ton of missing features, once they start adding more features ( to much up android and iOS) things will begin to slow down especially for devices such as a Lumia 520 . No amount of hardware optimization can make up for low hardware.
It wont because WP has had a chance to see how iOS and Android did it wrong. Also, they run on a mobile OS. WP is running on a desktop core, 77% of desktop OS in WP8.1 and in future it will be desktop OS optimised for mobile with support of cloud to conserve battery. So no, it wont lag.
One of two things will happen, either WP8.1 will end up being another crappy update like GDR1,2 3.. ( or whatever they call it ) and maintain the "smoothness" of the OS or they will match the features of iOS and android and suffer performance issues ( at least for devices like 520, and 720 ) . If you want evidence of this , just look at the camera app of Lumia 1020.
Once you start packing the OS with features , performance will suffer, you can always optimize but it gets to a point where diminishing return sets in. The only way to counter this is better specs..
There will of course be quad cores. But feature set will limit. You wont get Pureview on 520. You wont get 41mp with 512 ram.
Performance has very little to do with the number of features an OS offers. Almost infinitaly more important are the types of features an OS offers. Even more important are the types of features an OS deliberately chooses not to offer. How much control an OS has over the software it runs, and the types of restrictions 3rd party software must abide by is also important.
Hmmm what ? You wrote a lot without saying anything . You mean they can add something like notification centre without affecting the memory footprint ?
My Nokia Lumia 925 lags a lot she I'm opening & getting out of an app.. Just saying, it's not as smooth as people say, there is some lag that annoys me.. It may have less lag than other OS's but it still has lag.
I think you're getting confused between SPEED and SMOOTHNESS.
is there any way to get it :D
i have develop account.
Microsoft has to send you an invite! And they make that choice independently by themselves.
Sorry bud.
This is heck of a news! WP8.1 you better be sweet, come with drum rolls and a bang! Finally this year WP should fulfil the app parity and feature parity void! Long haul indeed.
Yeeeeee my 810 will finally live again!! FU T-Mobile!!
+810
+925
If we don't get a worthy flagship....
Right
*fast forwards to April 2nd
Hey, let me in your time machine!
I want 8.1 so badly, that I'm planning on freezing myself up in the mountains, to be thawed out on April 2nd. That couldn't possibly go wrong, could it? :p
Good idea!
And 500 years later, 8.1 will seem pretty irrelevant.
Windows Holographic will be matured by then surely.
Naah ... The whole Windows already morphed into full fledged Cortana by that time :P
You're setting yourself up for disappointment. This is, after all, just a .1 release. Minor upgrade. It is exciting for sure, but keep your expectations in check.
Nah.
This is a major release. The numbering probably isn't well thought of, but this is essentially Windows 9. I think.
Yeah ... like OSX when they go all the way on 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, ..., 10.9 Mavericks. They all minor updates :P
I guess normal developers can't get in, too bad because I wanted to try new SDK and new API-s so I can maybe get some new cool idea and get it ready for release
Is that visual studio on surface 2? WTH?
It would have to be a Pro, but I see white, so I don't know...
Dan works for Microsoft...his "sources" are himself
Hah, no, I don't work for MS, especially after this story. Also, it's easy to get the SDK on a Surface 2...just use screenshot feature ;) You guys are too literal sometimes.
Lol I figured it was either a screenshot or they ninja released it (very doubtful)
Could have also been Remote Desktop; I do all my coding via a Surface RT and Remote Desktop.
Could be:
A. Lighting
B. Remote Desktop to an x86 machine via Surface 2
C. A screenshot on a Surface 2
Remote desktop works
That too.
Oh man.. I really want the rt but if only it ran VS.. :/
Amen! open a request here http://visualstudio.uservoice.com/ and get my votes 8-)
Where's my invite?
lol .. Ask it to Microsoft :D
Printing. Size 60*40
Awesome! cant ducking wait! WP 8.1 will just be awesome!
Watch your mouth, grasshole
Hahaha good one!
Lol
I cannot wait! I'm still waiting for GDR3/Black on my Rogers 920. :(
Ya I hope they get it out to all of use soon.
Yeah. Same here.
Hurry up Rogers! I want the new firmware!
ITS HAPPENING!.gif
I hope Rudy gets invited :D
It would be a bad decision not to invite him.
He probably already has a version out called 6dev and it's way better than the official app.
He might be even doing his own 8.2 by now!
xD
Classic.
Nope, didn't get it...
But haven't got any extra Sky... eeh
OneDrive storing either, so I guess it makes up...
In my e-mail, yeaa! Maybe someday I'll use it, (download games?)...songs, again yeas!
Check your live mail inbox, I got mine there.
Or just login to Skydrive (aka Onedrive), look up in for "storage" and click "Redeem code" or "Redeem" I don't remember. Code will be genereated automatically if you have a WP (920) and you should see 7GB+20GB=27GB instantly.
Yaay 8.1 preview on my 920, april 2nd-ish :D
That's approximately 51-ish days :D
Looking forward to it!
I couldn't have waited 6 months again for the carriers to begin the official release :D
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