WP8 GDR3 under testing, details leaks !

Nokia Lumia 625 Pics 13

While we all desperately wait for the release of WP8 GDR2 update, info is coming in that Microsoft is already testing the next version of update i.e. the WP8 GDR3 update.

Till now it’s known & well said by Microsoft that the GDR3 update will be more related to Hardware extension i.e. the update will be adding support for Quad-coreCPUs, 1080p screens & likewise rather than bringing in some missing end-user features. However that does not mean that there won’t be anything from users point of view.

In context with the same, some of the features pertaining to GDR3 update have leaked today & are as mentioned below.

  • Orientation lock (controlling your screen rotations)
  • Driver Mode, will turn on automatically when you connect it via Bluetooth. Can reject phone calls / sms and send auto reply back (for in-car use)
  • Ability to have 3 medium sized tiles in a row (UI changes)
  • 1080p / new SoCs, which we knew for quite some time now (support for new hardware)

Other features that are currently being tested and are likely to be pushed to GDR3

  • 80% chance – Ability to actually close the apps via multi tasking
  • 60% chance – Silent NFC (meaning no more constant confirmations for pairing something)

The above info comes via a Reddit post.

In addition to the above The Verge was able to extract additional info as below

  • Slight Changes to Windows Phone UI
  • Changes to Network status icons
  • Update to Live Tiles (for upcoming 1080p handsets)
  • Ability to sync messages between Phone and the PC or Web – the feature will allow the users to view text messages over the Web or PCs (this might not make it to the update in time with it being in finalization stage)