windows phone 8 packed full of new features

Things have been pretty quiet for HTC on the Windows Phone 8 front since we last heard that HTC was denied the opportunity to build a tablet for the upcoming mobile operating system. While we do not have any new HTC Windows Phones rumors for you to nibble on we do bring you bite crumbs of some new features Microsoft plans to unveil in the upcoming Windows Phone release that have surfaced thanks to the development kit for programmers and the included emulator. Several new items that are worth looking at are listed below.

Start Screen – Tile sizing will bring users the capability to resize the squares on the start screen to your liking. There is also now a total of 20 color schemes available to fit whatever mood you are in.
Data Sense – Basically, we have a monitoring application that allows the user to keep track of data usage and can configured for unlimited data, a cap per month, and a one time use option. To set a data cap the user is promoted during the setup with the size and date of the cycle in which to recur. This is handy for those with limited data plans which most US carriers enforce.

Backup – This function has graduated and will now include SMS, photos, videos, and applications to be available for upload to the cloud, specifically to Microsoft’s SkyDrive.
Xbox Music Store & Hubs – Microsoft has a new hub for music to replace the Zune marketplace and it is called the Xbox Music Store plus the interface of most hubs have been refreshed and beefed up with more functionality.
Camera – The built in camera app received some attention as well. A new feature called Lenses has been added and sounds like a way for users to add filters from third party developers through a single interface, but I am sure there is much more to it. On the gallery side, sharing has been enhanced to allow for multiple selections per sharing instance.
Want to see video coverage of the new features in Windows Phone 8 then head over to our source.