Remember last month’s comparison between mobile OSes, where we compared iOS 6 with the existing Android 4.x ICS and Windows Phone 7.5 Mango platforms? Well, in the time that has passed since then, we’ve since learned some newer official information about iOS 6, along with the upcoming versions of the other two mobile OSes. So now, a new chart has been concocted which compares and contrasts iOS 6 with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and Windows Phone 8.
So, what will be new once these upcoming OSes are released? Well, let’s start with what’s coming on the Windows Phone front. The most major under the hood change that we’ll see in Windows Phone 8 is the switch to the Windows NT kernel. This means that the OS will heavily share code with its desktop counterpart (networking and multimedia code is pretty much the same across platforms), and it will take advantage of many under the hood performance enhancements made in Windows 8 for mobile devices. Apps can be easily ported across platforms, and desktop-grade features such as UEFI secure boot, BitLocker, and a more phone-optimized version of Internet Explorer 10 are all made possible because of this. Put simply, Windows Phone will become more of a brother to Windows 8 than a cousin.
Also coming to the Windows Phone platform is a revamped, more useful version of Tellme, smaller home screen tiles, the phasing out of the Zune services with Xbox-branded media services taking its place, OTA updates, and NFC support, among other things.
As you can see, some pretty major improvements are coming to Windows Phone. So major, in fact, that the update will not be able to run on existing devices.
That being said, what’s new in Jelly Bean? Some pretty major things are in the pipeline with Android’s upcoming OS as well. There are a few improvements that we were unable to really mention on the chart. For one, Google touts that some pretty significant performance improvements were made in the OS, particularly to create “fast, fluid and smooth” transitions between apps or the home screen. Notifications have also been revamped. Described as “actionable“, they now allow you to view and react to a notification by taking the appropriate action (such as being able to reply to an email).
What we didn’t mention, however, is an updated version of Android Beam, an NFC-based feature that makes it easy to share between Android devices in close proximity to each other. Also, Google has concocted its own voice assistant to rival Siri dubbed Google Now.
iOS 6 is the upcoming major update for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. It brings with a bunch of new and handy features. To name a few, we have Facebook integration, 3D maps, a smarter Siri, better Mail app, shared Photo Streams, Passbook etc.
So, before I jot down the details of the three OSes and spoil the fun altogether, take a look at our comprehensive chart below:
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