Windows Phone 10 is widely tipped to make an appearance at Microsoft's big Windows event on Wednesday. We round up the UK release date, price and new features rumours. Also see: Windows 10 UK release date, price, features.
Windows Phone 10 or Windows 10 Mobile?
With Windows 10 it's thought that Microsoft wants to unify its operating systems, with the same Windows software running on phones, tablets, laptops, PCs and even the Xbox. The new operating system will work on devices with screen sizes ranging from 4- to 80in, according to the company. In this case, it makes sense for Microsoft to scrap the 'Phone' part of Windows Phone 10 and just go with Windows 10. Also see: Best Windows Phones 2015.
Behind the scenes it's unlikely things will be so straightforward - the hardware is different, for a start, and a full-blown Windows experience on your smartphone isn't going to be very intuitive. But that's how Microsoft is selling its latest all-encompassing OS, so for now we can only wait and see what it has in store.
Windows Phone 10 UK release date
Microsoft is holding a big Windows event Wednesday (21 January), in which it will unveil the Consumer Preview of Windows 10 and, so we hear, Windows Phone 10. Or not Windows Phone 10 - merely Windows 10 running on phones (see above).
The arrival of a Phone Insider app on the Windows Store that lets phones check for and install pre-release versions of operating systems adds fuel to this rumour.
Although Microsoft was alleged to have been issuing builds of Windows Phone 10 to its partners back in November, whatever is shown on Wednesday won't be a finished version of the software. That won't arrive before Windows 10 itself, which should be here around the late summer/beginning of autumn, and it may even be later.
Way back in May 2014 Myce.comrevealed a leaked document that suggested a Windows Phone 9 (which we now know as Windows Phone 10) would be released in 2015 Q2 to Q3.
We'll be covering Windows event live and will update this story as more information is provided.
Windows Phone 10: UK price
You won't be able to buy Windows Phone 10; it will come preinstalled on new phones and be a free upgrade to current Windows Phones running Windows 8.1.
Windows Phone 10: New features
One of the first Windows Phone 10 handsets is expected to be the Microsoft Lumia 940which, although itself still a rumoured product, is notable for its beefier hardware than its predecessors. This phone is tipped to have a 2.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 chip and 3GB of RAM - maybe we will see full-blown Windows on a phone after all.
Eldar Murtazin, who has previous ties to Nokia, famously claimed via Twitter that with Windows Phone 10 Microsoft would scrap Windows Phone 8's live tiles and opt instead for a design more akin to Android. However, he is notoriously unreliable with his product leaks, and often gets things very wrong. Even the Windows Phone Design team chirped in to say he was wrong. While the UI probably will change, any changes will not be so radical as a complete overhaul.
According to The VergeWindows Phone 10 will be a cross between Windows Phone 8 and Windows RT, with new light and dark themes on phone and tablet.
GSMArenahas leaked the following images, which originally surfaced in China, and supposedly show Windows Phone 10 with the Start screen, Office, new transparent tiles and a redesigned settings menu.
The legitimacy of those shots has not been confirmed - nor has that of those below, which come from Windows Phone Italyand show a heavily tiled interface and an app drawer.
That's really all we know about Windows Phone 10 or Windows 10 Mobile for now. Again, we'll update this article as more details become available.
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