There’s a fresh fan made Windows Phone 8.1 Blue concept, that finally brings a decent notification system to Microsoft’s platform. The renders were created by Yanko Andreev for 1800PocketPC and they show a new approach to the UI and functions of WP.
Andreev added more Live Tile sizes, got rid of the margins on the left and right sides of the Start screen (totally) and also added groups for app lists. There’s also a new Device Center, listing stuff like the device’s battery life, brightness level and this one can be displayed at the top or bottom of the screen.
There’s also the option to have a list of recent notifications from apps. The designer also included cloud syncing here, with all the settings, files, preferences and browser favourites being synced between all sorts of Windows devices. Windows Phone 8.1 is also said to bring Full HD screen support and 5 inch diagonals. We also get a Files app, a file manager that looks very hot, as shown in the source link below.
What do you think of this new version of Windows Phone?
Created by KuanGaa Cheen, the Windows Phone surface N handset has a set of crazy specs, that include a transparent display with 4K resolution. As if that wasn’t enough, there’s also a holographic projector on board, as shown in the video below.
We’re dealing here with an ultraslim Surface phone with a Lumia style format, but much thinner and with an edge to edge display. The Windows buttons have been relegated close to the lower edge of the device and this handset comes with a 0.45 mm thick Gorilla Glass layer. There’s 99.999% transmittance supported by the screen and software modifications are also present.
We’ve got an evolved notification system called the information center, that includes a multimedia controller, fast switcher and sharing methods. There’s also a new app menu, folders and a Lytro field camera with 4K video recording. You can focus after you take the photo and finally we’ve got the Air holographic screen, real world maps and a real 3D display. The Windows Phone Surface N is able to change theme and color of its real edges according to the exterior colors. Crazy, right?
David Jeba sent us an email showing us a concept/vision of what Windows Phone 9 may end up looking like and some of its features. Meanwhile, this summer we should get the Windows Phone 8.1 release aka Windows Phone Blue, so we’re in for a much longer wait till WP9, probably coming in 2014.
The idea of this WP9 concept is that we get to group apps in 1 or 4 (folders?) and get an unified notification system that will launch the respective app. There’s also an individual group lockscreen and settings control, plus a partition manager for the memory. You can also configure the user profile account manager and probably add more accounts/users, like in Android 4.2.
What I want from Windows Phone 9? Well, definitely an improved notification system, tiles that are truly dynamic, not only in name, maybe a system of overlapping tiles to save room on the screen… perhaps a better camera UI, that doesn’t require so many swipes to get around. What do you want from the future OS?
We have seen at least half a dozen Microsoft Surface phone concepts and today we get one more, courtesy of Michael Matteo. He envisioned the Microsoft TacTile, a Surface smartphone pictured below, in several shots.
These are renders of a person who likes Windows Phone and wants to show off his design skills. He’s got a proprietary port on board, a metallic backing with interesting ridges, as well as rubber edges, or something similar. The backplate of the device is CNC machined out of magnesium, like the Surface tablet. On the colored version, the alloy is anodized, apparently.
We’re dealing with a metallic phone with good grip and the windows Logo at the back is backlit, for an unique identity of the product. The front capacitive buttons and the logo are able to illuminate any color in the RG spectrum. I have to say that the colored versions of this Surface Phone render look kind of hot, youthful and would even give the Lumias a hard time. Nothing about specs, sadly…
Designer Michael Dionne imagined a portable Xbox concept or an Xbox phone if you want to call it that way, with the result being the concept below. It was called the X-Mobile, a pretty fine name if you ask me and it adopts a sliding game control area, plus a very crisp display.
For some reason, the design reminds me of a Motorola device, something like the Milestone, maybe because of the width. I like the way the buttons are integrated and I like the analog sticks especially. I can’t really tell if there are shoulder buttons, but there probably are. As far as specs go, Michael Dionne has another concept for an Xbox device, so I’m just going to imagine that the specs are pretty much the same: a 2.3 GHz dual core AMD CPU, 1 GB of DDR3 RAM, 16/32/64 GB of HDHC flash memory and a custom quad core AMD Vision GPU.
There’s also HDMI out, Bluetooth, front and back 720p cameras, GPS and dual rumble actuators. The specs you’re seeing here is for a tablet-ish device that Michael designed, but more about that in a future article. The next PSP Phone or first Xbox Phone will be wider and thinner than all attempts so far, I guess…
We have shown you one or two Surface Phone concepts before, but in 2013 no such model has appeared till now. Yanko Andreev create a very interesting own view on this product, that you can admire below. The designer claims that Microsoft must offer an unique proposal if it wants to draw public away from Android and iOS. He praises the security of the Windows Phone platform and the simplicity of the UI.
The Surface Phone is supposed to provide a real computer experience, when connected to a monitor and keyboard + mouse combo and also using a dock station. The dreams/ideas for the device include it running Windows Phone 8 and Windows RT and having USB and HDMI, plus a big HD screen. The concept smartphone uses a metal unibody design with chrome real metal detailing and it adopts a large HD screen with curved edges. At the back of the Surface Phone we find a 16 megapixel camera with PureView technology and wide angle lenses.
Powerful productivity features are included and wireless is the name of the game, since there are no ports for data connection or charging. This Surface Phone concept measures 11 mm in thickness, weighs a pretty hefty 189 grams and uses an IPS LCD 5.1 inch Full HD screen, plus 3 stereo speakers and a Li-Ion 3500 mAh battery. The battery is non removable and we also get 128 GB of storage, a microSD card slot and a crazy 4 GB of RAM. The CPU here is a 2 GHz Tegra 4, so this is a very powerful device.
I like very much the integration of the Windows buttons below the screen, that’s very, very elegant. Quite an achievement from Yanko Andreev!
Created by Techradar, this Microsoft Surface Phone concept features some high end specs and it’s basically a smaller Surface Tablet, since it even has that cool keyboard. The device packs a 5 inch 1280 x 720 Super AMOLED+ screen and runs a hybrid between Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8.
This handset has a full USB 3.0 port, a 12 megapixel camera with “ultra bright” flash and a kickass kickstand, shown in the video below. The mini touch cover here is the keyboard we were mentioned before and it certainly looks cool, although we’re not exactly sure how functional it is on a phone. If I’m allowed to speculate on other features of the device, well, it may have 2 GB of RAM, a quad core Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU, LTE, NFC and a magnesium alloy case, since we’re keeping the resemblance with the Surface tablet.
I’ve heard a rumor at some point that Windows Phone 9 will actually be a combo between Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8, so maybe this is supposed to be a WP9 flagship device. I would also add a special Skype camera on board, activated by the double press of the camera key on the device, to instantly start video chatting. How cool would that be?
Deviantart user nik255 imagined the next Windows RT already and also the first Windows tablet with a 7 inch diagonal. While people are already dreaming of bringing the phablet and 7 inch slate format to Windows/Windows Phone, the device makers are not quite there yet. Let’s see what this Microsoft Surface Companion has to offer.
As you can see, it involves a stylus, it has a back camera and it even has room at the bottom for a kickstand. It’s clearly related to the original Surface tablet and it has a nice sidebar for various notifications and messages, reminding me a lot of the same bar on the BlackBerry 10 OS. Surface Companion relies on a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad core 1.7 GHz processor, with Adreno 320 GPU, 4 GB of RAM and a 7.9 inch 2K display, meaning it has a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels. Thus, this is a Retina Display Surface tablet, if I may say so.
Just like the previous Surface tablet, this model has a case made from magnesium, the VapoMg case. It also comes with microSDXC, USB 3.0, MiniDisplayPort Video, WiFi (802.11 a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0 and 2 MIMO antennae. Inside there’s a 44 WH rechargeable battery and there’s both a front and back camera on this baby. The rear one is a LifeCam with 1080p HD capture. The 7 inch Surface tablet is available in 16, 32, 64 and 128 GB storage versions and comes with a magnetic digital ink stylus, that attaches to its top.
Microsoft will also craft special technologies for this stylus. So, do you feel tempted by these goodies?
The idea of a Nokia gaming phone isn’t new and the idea of an Xbox Phone has also been approached before. However, combining the two has only happened in recent history, so it’s an idea worth exploring. That’s why we find the Nokia Lumia 0360 Xbox Phone concept pretty interesting, especially with the N-Gage branding also in the mix.
This phone is considered a tribute to both the N-Gage and the Xbox 360 and the result is a pretty bulky gaming smartphone. Nabkawe5 is the creator of the device and in case you’re wondering Nokia 0360, that’s the name of the handset, features an 8 core Snapdragon processor and a GPU With DX11 support, as well as 4 GB of RAM. There’s also 80 GB of storage with SD cards included and 2 x 2000 mAh batteries. Kinect for Windows Phone 8 is here and a PureHD+ Display provides the imagery.
The integrated Kinect camera will allow you to control the Nokia phone with gestures, the ones specific to the famous Xbox sensor/camera system. One of the two 2000 mAh batteries powers the Kinect camera and the heavy consumption areas, like the 5 inch screen, while the other handles normal phone activities. Do you see such a concept happening?
When you think about a gaming phone, either the PSP Phone pops up or the occasional Xbox handset concept. The latter is also the case today, through the Nokia Lumia Play render, done by Antonio Celestino. Describing this as an “Xbox Phone” is not at all far from the truth, since we’re dealing with a smartphone that’s also a pretty powerful console.
Nokia Lumia Play features two game pads at the back of the phone and they can extend out and be used as such, improving the gaming experience. It is also possible to use the device as a gamepad when interacting with an Xbox 360 console. The device features a high definition 1136 x 640 pixel display, a touchscreen with Gorilla Glass protection. There’s also a 5 megapixel front camera capable of 720p videos, while at the back there’s a 10 megapixel camera with Full HD video capture.
This Nokia concept phone runs Windows Phone 8 and measures 7.6 mm in thickness. Lumia Play offers both a directional pad and action buttons, plus there should be some minor shoulder buttons available, although I’m not so sure. The handset has a pretty unusual shape, seen from the front with lots of straight edges and straight lines, so without curves. No specs were mentioned, but a quad core CPU and 2 GB of RAM would be welcome. Is such a phone possible?
(17 votes, average: 3.59 out of 5)
