14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has already started work on Windows Phone 10, and judging from a rumor perspective, the upcoming mobile operating system is expected to be really exciting, to say the least.
A new bit of speculation coming via Windows Central claims that Windows Phone 10 could bring what is being called “exploding live tiles,” a new concept that was expected to be part of the now-cancelled Lumia McLaren and which is actually under development right now at Microsoft.
McLaren, a Windows Phone project that was expected to debut in the fall of 2014, was said to come with a 3D Touch system also featuring exploding live tiles, but it seems like at least part of this new technology would live on in the upcoming Windows Phone version.
How they work
This new live tile system, also known as “flyout tiles” and internally called MixView, allows users to interact with apps running on their phones in a much easier way and without having to actually open each program.
As the aforementioned source notes, users only have to hover a tile with their finger and wait to see a small “wiggling” animation indicating that the focus has been activated. If you simulate a short tap on the tile, it automatically explodes into several other tiles with options for each app, hence the nickname of “exploding live tiles.”
Such a feature would obviously come in handy to a wide array of users and apps, including Facebook or contacts where information such as phone numbers, emails, messages, and others can be accessed in a much faster way.
They could be inspired by the Zune
Unsurprisingly, when discussing such a feature, some people think of the MixView option offered on Zune, which provided more or less similar functionality.
Zune’s MixView launched an album or song in the center of the screen and displayed related items around it, thus allowing users to find more music similar to what they like instantly. Once users tapped a related item, they were provided with a 30-second sample which could help them decide if they wanted to buy the song or not.
On Windows Phone, however, Microsoft might put a new symbol near the bottom right corner of each tile, and pressing it would trigger smaller and interactive small tiles that could be used for performing a number of tasks without opening the actual app.
Coming next year
There’s no doubt that these new exploding live tiles seem to be somewhat similar to interactive live tiles presented by Microsoft earlier this year as part of their Research division.
Either way, Windows Phone 10 will indeed bring an improvement in terms of live tiles functionality, but more information should be provided in early 2015, when a preview build of the next operating system could be released.
The final version of Windows Phone 10 could go out in late summer or early 2015 if development goes according to plan and no delays are being required.
