With Kid’s Corner, SkyDrive, Data Sense, Rooms, Wallet and more

Oct 30, 2012 12:31 GMT  ·  By

On Monday, Microsoft officially launched its new mobile operating system, Windows Phone 8, said to be the most personal smartphone platform in the world.

At an event held in San Francisco, the company provided in-depth details on some of the main features of the new platform release, including its new lockscreen, resizable Live Tiles, Live Apps, and brand new software to deliver a great experience to all users. Windows Phone 8 was designed to provide users with information they need at a glance (such as Facebook updates, deals, flight information and news headlines), all straight on the Start Screen, courtesy of Live Apps.

Moreover, the platform comes with a brand new feature that enables users to share their smartphones with their children, namely Kid’s Corner.

“Parents can now hand over their phones to the kids without worrying about deleted photos, misdirected emails, unapproved purchases or accidental phone calls,” Microsoft explains.

“After a simple setup, parents can activate a specialized place on the phone for kids to play — complete with their own customizable Start screens — where they can access only the apps, games, music and videos picked by parents.”

Furthermore, the new OS flavor comes with Rooms, so that users can share content only with a select group of people, and not with the entire social network.

Windows Phone 8 also comes to the market with a Wallet and with NFC (near-field communication) capabilities, so that users can make payments with their smartphones.

There is also a new way to navigate the Internet at lower costs, namely Data Sense. Meant to compress Web images, defer data tasks to Wi-Fi hotspots and the like, it will help users stay below their data limit. It will be available through select carriers this holiday (such as Verizon in the US).

Microsoft also integrated SkyDrive in Windows Phone 8, so that users can stay connected to their personal files stored in the cloud at all times. Skype and other Microsoft services were also packed inside the new platform release.

Users will also benefit from a series of highly appealing smartphones running under Windows Phone 8, including the Nokia Lumia 920 and Nokia Lumia 820 (Lumia 810 and 822 versions as well), Windows Phone 8X and 8S by HTC, and Samsung ATIV S. Other devices should be unveiled soon.

These phones are set to become available for purchase as soon as this week and should benefit from wide global availability in November. For additional info on the Windows Phone 8 platform, check out the video embedded below.