 Hey, this is Chris with The Verge, and today we're looking at Windows Phone 8, the latest generation of Microsoft's mobile platform. Now, Windows Phone 8 isn't necessarily about any one big, major user-facing change. It's about a bunch of little things plus one big change under the hood. Windows Phone 8 uses the NT kernel, which is the same version of the Windows kernel used by Windows 8. In other words, there's a lot more horsepower under the hood. But let's take a look at some of the things that the user is going to see. The first thing you notice when you turn on the screen is that you've got a new home screen experience. Gone is the black bar on the right side. You now have a full-width experience, and you can also resize these live tiles to three different sizes. The lock screen also has some key improvements. You can set the background to come from any number of apps installed on the phone. For example, Bing, which is famous for having a daily image. You can use that image for the background of your lock screen. You can also show music controls, which you could do in Windows Phone 7, 7.5. Rooms is one of the big features that Microsoft is touting for Windows Phone 8. Besides texting, you can also share locations. You can share a group calendar. You can share photos. And then there's Kids Corner, which is the feature designed to make Windows Phone 8 very kid-safe. If a parent or older sibling has a Windows phone, they can enable Kids Corner. And then when the phone is locked, the child can swipe from the left of the screen, which enables what's called Kids Corner. This is basically a limited function version of the phone. Only has access to certain games, certain other apps that the parent or owner of the phone decides. Mobile Internet Explorer has been revamped as well. In Windows Phone 8, Internet Explorer is based on IE 10. It's using the same engine that you find on the desktop. It's faster, smoother, and overall the experience seems to be pretty good. And then there's Wallet. Windows Phone 8 finally includes proper support for NFC. You can think of Wallet a little bit like iOS's Passbook. Different applications can plug into it and offer payment methods that can be exposed through the NFC payments if the phone has that capability. Just tap to pay. And there's a bunch of miscellaneous stuff in Windows Phone 8 as well. Maps is now powered by Nokia's Navtec, which should make the Maps experience a little bit better than it was before in the Bing world. Speaking of Bing, the local Scout service, which was introduced in 7.5, now has something called a 4U mode, which pulls in your preferences, your history, and that of your friends on Facebook to build a more personalized view of things in the neighborhood that you might like to do. For music and video, Zune has been replaced by Xbox. You have Xbox Music and Music Pass, which replaced their equivalent Zune services. You also have SmartGlass, which is the very, very cool controller for your Xbox console that's also compatible with Android and Surface and the like, but it works very well on Windows Phone 8 as well. And the camera in Windows Phone 8 has been enhanced as well. You have these things called lenses, which sound like they're just Instagram filters, but really they're a lot more than that. They're entire apps that plug into the camera and do different things. CNN iReport is an example of a lens that allows you to export your photos directly to CNN's iReport service. All told, Windows Phone 8 isn't about any one big feature. It's about a bunch of little ones, plus the new kernel that allows this platform to run hardware that's competitive with the latest that Apple and Google have to offer. But will it capture big holiday sales this year? We'll find out.
 Hey, this is Chris with The Verge, and today we're looking at Windows Phone 8, the latest
 generation of Microsoft's mobile platform.
 Now, Windows Phone 8 isn't necessarily about any one big, major user-facing change.
 It's about a bunch of little things plus one big change under the hood.
 Windows Phone 8 uses the NT kernel, which is the same version of the Windows kernel
 used by Windows 8.
 In other words, there's a lot more horsepower under the hood.
 But let's take a look at some of the things that the user is going to see.
 The first thing you notice when you turn on the screen is that you've got a new home screen
 experience.
 Gone is the black bar on the right side.
 You now have a full-width experience, and you can also resize these live tiles to three
 different sizes.
 The lock screen also has some key improvements.
 You can set the background to come from any number of apps installed on the phone.
 For example, Bing, which is famous for having a daily image.
 You can use that image for the background of your lock screen.
 You can also show music controls, which you could do in Windows Phone 7, 7.5.
 Rooms is one of the big features that Microsoft is touting for Windows Phone 8.
 Besides texting, you can also share locations.
 You can share a group calendar.
 You can share photos.
 And then there's Kids Corner, which is the feature designed to make Windows Phone 8 very
 kid-safe.
 If a parent or older sibling has a Windows phone, they can enable Kids Corner.
 And then when the phone is locked, the child can swipe from the left of the screen, which
 enables what's called Kids Corner.
 This is basically a limited function version of the phone.
 Only has access to certain games, certain other apps that the parent or owner of the
 phone decides.
 Mobile Internet Explorer has been revamped as well.
 In Windows Phone 8, Internet Explorer is based on IE 10.
 It's using the same engine that you find on the desktop.
 It's faster, smoother, and overall the experience seems to be pretty good.
 And then there's Wallet.
 Windows Phone 8 finally includes proper support for NFC.
 You can think of Wallet a little bit like iOS's Passbook.
 Different applications can plug into it and offer payment methods that can be exposed
 through the NFC payments if the phone has that capability.
 Just tap to pay.
 And there's a bunch of miscellaneous stuff in Windows Phone 8 as well.
 Maps is now powered by Nokia's Navtec, which should make the Maps experience a little bit
 better than it was before in the Bing world.
 Speaking of Bing, the local Scout service, which was introduced in 7.5, now has something
 called a 4U mode, which pulls in your preferences, your history, and that of your friends on
 Facebook to build a more personalized view of things in the neighborhood that you might
 like to do.
 For music and video, Zune has been replaced by Xbox.
 You have Xbox Music and Music Pass, which replaced their equivalent Zune services.
 You also have SmartGlass, which is the very, very cool controller for your Xbox console
 that's also compatible with Android and Surface and the like, but it works very well on Windows
 Phone 8 as well.
 And the camera in Windows Phone 8 has been enhanced as well.
 You have these things called lenses, which sound like they're just Instagram filters,
 but really they're a lot more than that.
 They're entire apps that plug into the camera and do different things.
 CNN iReport is an example of a lens that allows you to export your photos directly to CNN's
 iReport service.
 All told, Windows Phone 8 isn't about any one big feature.
 It's about a bunch of little ones, plus the new kernel that allows this platform to run
 hardware that's competitive with the latest that Apple and Google have to offer.
 But will it capture big holiday sales this year?
 We'll find out.