Microsoft announced on Monday that its third Windows update the year would include support for higher resolution screens, paving the way for their new "phablets", a combination of phone and tablet, USA Today reported.
Microsoft announced through it's blog on Monday morning that part of the update will include 1080p HD display screens for their five and six-inch over-sized phones. The bigger screens will allow more room for the Window's phone signature "Live Tiles", with an increase to six tiles instead of four.
Joe Belfiore told USA Today that the third Microsoft update this year addresses some top user complaints, like more applications and custom settings.
According to USA Today, there are currently 175,000 available apps in the Microsoft store. The company is making progress in expanding the "app universe" which has to compete with Google Play and the App Store from Android and Apple devices, and has been a large source of complaint for users.
Although Microsoft is behind Google's Android operating system, and Apple's iOS, the Windows Phone has begun to mark its position as the third on the list of mobile operating systems, surpassing BlackBerry, USA Today reported.
According to Belfiore, in a couple of months consumers will be able to find almost any app theyre interested in, like Pandora, Tumblr or Hulu Plus, which were not available in the Microsoft store before, with Vine and Flipboard expected shortly after, USA Today reported.
Microsoft bought Nokia's handset business in September in a $7 billion deal, according to USA Today, and new mega-sized handsets are expected to emerge as their popularity heightens.
The rotation lock and app user control have been long-time features of Apple and Android phones, and has been one of the top user complaints, USA Today reports.
Some of the key features coming to the Windows 8 update will be a new driving mode, new accessibility apps, including a screen reader, a manual control over closing apps and a rotation lock to keep screen orientation fixed. There will also be new storage management settings that will allow users to free up space on their phones.
