The first Windows Phone 8 handset was revealed today at IFA in Berlin. Dubbed the Samsung ATIV S, it has a 4.8 inch "HD" (presumably 1280x720) Super AMOLED screen, a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor, 8MP rear and 1.9MP front-facing cameras, 1GB RAM, 16 or 32 gigabytes of storage, a micro SD slot, NFC support, and a 2,300 mAh battery—all in a 8.7mm (0.34") thick device.
The internals are similar, then, to the company's Galaxy S III handset. The externals, however, are very different. The front is Gorilla Glass 2. The back eschews the plastic of the Android handset in favor of brushed aluminium.
Microsoft's Windows Phone blog, which actually scooped Samsung's announcement, has lots of pictures of the device.
The next few weeks should see further Windows Phone 8 handsets announced. Perhaps most eagerly anticipated are Nokia's range of handsets. The company is hosting an event in New York City on September 5th. The Finnish company has also released a teaser trailer promising that "things are about to change."
Even with the first device publicized, we still know very little about Windows Phone 8. In June, Microsoft annouced the product—Windows NT kernel, the ability to escape carrier control of updates, NFC, VoIP, speech control, and a revamped Start screen—but since then has been silent. The company still hasn't shipped a public SDK to developers (though certain partners are being given access to beta SDK builds), nor has it announced all of the consumer-facing features that the new platform will contain.
With Windows Phone 8 rumored to launch on October 29th, this doesn't leave much time for developers to develop apps for the new platform. One possible reason is speculation that the company would rather developers continue to produce Windows Phone 7 apps instead. These apps will run fine on the new platform, but will also run on current handsets. The delay with publishing the SDK could, therefore, be an attempt to postpone the abandonment of the currently shipping platform.
