HTC Windows Phone 8S available for Rs 19,359

Those looking for a budget phone running on Windows Phone 8 now have reason to rejoice. HTC's attempt at a budget phone for Microsoft's young mobile operating system—the HTC Windows Phone 8S—is now available for purchase on some online retailers. The phone is available at a price of Rs 19,359 and comes with a warranty of 12 months.

One of the first Windows Phone 8 devices to make it to India

HTC had earlier confirmed that the phone would be released in November, but so far, hardly any retailers have started stocking it yet.

The HTC 8S comes with a matte finish, unlike most of the black slabs available today. It will be available in Fiesta Red and Atlantic Blue. HTC created the Windows Phone 8S to blend the virtual and the physical, utilising a three dimensional, pure uni-body design based on the Windows Phone Live Tiles. The device has a sculpted, tapering body, which makes it feel quite thin in your hand. It also sports a bright super LCD 4-inch screen with Gorilla Glass.

The Windows Phone 8S by HTC features a Beats Audio driver powering the 3.5mm audio jack and the speaker, boosting the audio signal for even better sound, no matter if you’re listening to music, playing a game or watching a video.
 
Here are some of the highlighted features of the HTC 8S:

• 4.0-inch S-LCD touchscreen with a 480 x 800 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE, Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth v3.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0
• GPS with A-GPS Support and GLONASS
• 5MP AF camera with 1080p video recording and an LED flash
• 4GB internal memory, expandable up to 32GB via microSD card

“Windows Phone has clearly emerged as one of the top mobile ecosystems and is competitive against any other smartphone platform in the world,” said Faisal Siddiqui, Country Head, HTC India. “We are confident that the iconic design and incredible innovation of the Windows Phone 8S by HTC will help consumers fully realize the potential and lifestyle benefits offered by these smartphones.”

Windows Phone 8 is the latest version of Microsoft’s smartphone operating system, launched earlier this week. Microsoft states that Live Tiles are the core of Windows Phone. Users can arrange the Start screen whichever way they like by pinning people, apps, music, games, photos and other tiles. One has the option of customising the Live Tiles; there are three different sizes and 20 different colours of tiles to choose from.

It was recently revealed that the app submissions to the Windows Phone Store have gone up by 40 percent since the operating system was launched. Microsoft also announced that app certification will remain open for most of the month, including what is usually counted as holiday season. The only days apps will not be tested are December 24, 25 and January 1. As the app certification process takes five days, developers are advised to submit their apps on December 17 or December 21.

While the Windows Phone 8 platform is picking up, it is in serious need of apps. Although the applications on the platform seem to be of a higher standard compared to Android, the OS lacks popular games and even social networking options like Instagram. We were told recently by Windows Phone representatives that the number of apps will be hitting significantly higher numbers very soon.