Windows Phone joins the Windows 8 and corporate parties

Today, Microsoft revealed Windows Phone 8, which has long been rumored under its "Apollo" code name. As expected -- and long hoped by both developers and IT -- Windows Phone 8 will share the same core OS as Windows 8, as well as graphics drivers and Direct3D. And developers will be able to write apps using native C and C++ code, instead of being restricted to the HTML, Silverlight, and Xbox frameworks, though Microsoft continues to recommend use of XAML and its support of C# and Visual Basic via its Visual Studio 2012 IDE.

And -- finally! -- Windows Phone will support key enterprise security needs, including on-device encryption, corporate app distribution, IPv6, MDM (mobile device management) tools, and secure boot. Microsoft also promises a real version of Office for Windows Phone, based on the Windows RT Office version being developed for ARM-based Windows tablets. Read more...