Windows Phone 8.1 to power 10″ tablets, swallow up Windows RT

We’ve been hearing that Windows Phone and Windows RT might merge but a new rumor suggests it will be more like Phone displacing RT. Microsoft is working on a Windows Phone 8.1 update, which will allegedly add support for 7 to 10 inch screens to enable WP8.1-powered tablets and merge parts of the API so developers can easily create apps for both platforms.

Multitasking is reportedly the biggest issue ahead of this plan – the GDR3 update will let users close apps manually,

but apps running in the background are still a no go. Not until the 8.1 update that is.

Microsoft is working on “universal binaries,” which combine the WP8.1 and RT code in one package. At the moment only 33% of the APIs between the two OSes match, but with WP8.1 that will increase to 77%. This will make developing apps for both platforms much easier.

And it’s exactly apps that are Microsoft’s problem, the rumor claims. User satisfaction with Windows Phone handsets is at 53%, behind iOS and ahead of Android. Apparently, the majority of unsatisfied users claim lack of apps is their biggest issue, but Microsoft thinks it needs only about a dozen key apps to satisfy most complaints.

Finally, an interesting change that will affect the UI is the removal of the back Button – Microsoft will allegedly drop that button and have users exit apps with the Home key instead, as some find the Back button confusing (it’s a common problem on Android too).

Microsoft is reportedly looking to expand Surface 2 availability with trials starting in Australia, so that the company doesn’t repeat the Surface RT fiasco.Keep in mind that this is all an unconfirmed rumor, but with the massive underperformance of Windows RT, I won’t be terribly surprised. In fact, I was surprised to find Windows RT and Windows Phone 8 were separate OSes when they were announced – Microsoft hit the reset button after WP7 anyway, having a combined OS made sense.

Source | Via