14 DAY TRIAL // Many Windows Phone users out there are eagerly waiting for the release of Windows Phone 8.1, the latest version of the mobile operating system, mainly due to the wide range of new features packed inside it, though it seems that not all of them will be available worldwide.
In fact, a recent tweet coming from Joe Belfiore, head of Microsoft’s operating systems, confirms that two of these will be available only in the United States, namely Quiet Hours and Inner Circle.
The reason for that is that both of them are tightly related to Cortana, the digital personal assistant that Windows Phone 8.1 was announced with. With Cortana available only in this country, it’s clear that these two features won’t be available for users in other markets, at least in the beginning.
In fact, both the Quiet Hours and Inner Circle features have been removed from the Windows Phone 8.1 emulator for developers outside the US, it seems.
For those out of the loop, we should note that Quiet Hours will allow users to set their phones to block all notifications from calls and texts during specific period of times.
With the Inner Circle, they will be able to select a set of contacts and numbers to break through this block. The phone will alert when messages or calls are received from these people, provided that it has been set to do so.
Previously, it has been unveiled that users will be able to set their handsets to never let these notifications get through, to allow them at all times, or to have them pop up on handsets only upon interaction.
The Quiet Hours and Inner Circle features should prove great options when sleeping or in meetings, since devices can be set to remain silent and not to disturb. Notifications for calls and texts from contacts and numbers that are not in the Inner Circle list will be completely blocked.
“Right now Quiet Hours is tied to Inner Circle is tied to Cortana. We’ll try to get those all out to lots of countries quickly,” Joe Belfiore said.
As WMPoweruser notes, Cortana is expected to start rolling out to more markets out there in late 2014, which means that both Quiet Hours and Inner Circle will arrive to users outside the United States at that time as well.
Unfortunately, no specific info on the worldwide availability date for Cortana has been provided as of now, and it remains to be seen whether Microsoft will indeed be able to push it to all Windows Phone users before the end of this year.