Windows Phone 8 handsets to use Qualcomm's S4 Plus MSM8960 SoC

It seems that Microsoft will continue its partnership with Qualcomm to provide SoCs for Windows Phone handsets and their announced Windows Phone 8 devices will use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 Plus SoCs. The actual chipset is the MSM8960, which packs in two Krait-based CPU cores running anywhere between 1.5GHz and 1.7GHz. It will also pack in an Adreno 225 GPU onboard, along with an LTE chip. This makes it one of the most efficient system on a chip solution in the market and is highly sought after by many top OEMs. For instance, Samsung will be using the S4 chipset in their U.S variant of the S III, while the HTC uses the S4 in the international version of the One S. Qualcomm’s SoC continues to power 100 percent of all Windows Phone devices to date and it doesn’t seem like that’s going to change anytime soon. With WP8, Microsoft will continue to set a strict guideline for OEMs, which means they probably will not be able to use other SoCs in the new WP8 handsets. While this could seem a bit restrictive, think about it this way, with Microsoft allowing just a single series of chipsets to be used with their new OS, they can fine tune the SoC to work best with WP8 and also avoid fragmentation. This will deliver a uniform experience across OEMs.

Continuing to power WP devices

Here is a look at some of the highlighted features available on Windows Phone 8:

• Multi-core processor support – Windows Phone was a slick OS that ran smoothly on handsets with a single processor. The latest OS now features multi-core support with Belfoire claiming that they’re ready for whatever hardware makers conjure.
• Bigger, sharper screens - Windows Phone 8 supports two new screen resolutions—1280x768 and 1280x720, making it compatible with new handsets that will feature high-definition 720p displays.
• More flexible storage - Windows Phone 8 supports removable microSD cards, so users can stuff their phone with extra photos, music, and whatever else is important and then easily move it all onto their PC.
• NFC wireless sharing - In Windows Phone 8, NFC helps make sharing photos, Office docs, and contact info easier. One can achieve this by tapping their phone on another NFC-equipped device.
• Internet Explorer 10 - The next version of Windows Phone comes with the same web browsing engine that’s headed for Window 8 PCs and tablets. Microsoft claims that IE10 is faster and more secure, with advanced anti-phishing features, like SmartScreen Filter to block dangerous websites and malware.