Microsoft Demos Next Version Of Windows Phone

Microsoft used the second day of its MIX11 conference to demonstrate the next version of its Windows Phone operating system.

The software giant also delivered a beta of the Kinect for Windows software development kit and a Silverlight 5 beta.

Windows Phone Upgrade

Microsoft said that with the forthcoming release of Windows Phone, the company will provide developers with more hardware capabilities, better browsing and improved tooling, as well as expanded opportunities and Windows Phone Marketplace options.

Microsoft also announced that developers will soon gain access to updated Windows Phone Developer Tools. These improved tools include a performances profiler and sensor simulation, enabling developers to build more integrated and high-performing apps.

The new Windows Phone application platform enables application multitasking for background processing, audio and file transfer and fast application switching. It also provides deeper phone integration so apps can better take advantage of things like Live Tiles. And the platform provides access to the camera and Motion Sensor library so developers can build apps the incorporate device hardware and build augmented reality experiences.

The free Windows Phone Developer Tools for the new Windows Phone OS will be available to developers in May.

Silverlight 5

Meanwhile, Microsoft said the Kinect for Windows Beta SDK will come out of Microsoft Research and be available in the spring time frame.

And Microsoft’s Silverlight 5 provides advances in rich media and application development. New capabilities include Hardware Video Decode for enhanced video quality and performance, and “Trickplay,” which provides variable-rate video playback with audio pitch correction.

The Silverlight 5 beta also offers a new Microsoft XNA-based interface for delivering 3-D visualisations within applications.