Dubbed as the cheapest Widows phone ever, Microsoft releases Lumia 430 for Windows 10 for just $70 and it wears a 4-inch 800x480 WVGA display, which works on a dual core of 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 200 chip. It also features a 2-megapixel back camera as well as a VGA front camera, with an 8 GB phone storage capacity and expandable to as much as 128 GB with the use of a microSD memory card. Though, the phone is using 3G connectivity only, reports by Bidness ETC.
Its OS is Microsoft Windows 8.1 which is upgradable to Windows 10 though features are limited. Besides Microsoft offering new users a free cloud storage with Lumia 430 as much as 15GB of free storage, existing users would be given an additional 15GB cloud free cloud storage. But they will have to use Microsoft's OneDrive.
Meanwhile, Microsoft seems to be in need of a new alternative for mobile payments for phones using the upcoming Windows 10 OS.
Tom's Hardware stated that Google has recently acquired Softcard from the three big US telecommunications companies (Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile). Further Microsoft will also support "Host Card Emulation" in the operating system, which has since been in Android 4.4, for NFC payments in phones with Windows 10 OS so that credit card information (such as Visa, MasterCard, and AMEX) could be kept safe.
It was also revealed that the Windows 10 for phones will also support "Tap to pair", enabling it to pair with NFC-capable devices and would then be connected through WiFi Direct in a WiFi Protected Setup. In Shenzehn, Microsoft reportedly announced different features of Windows 10 for phones.
During the WinHec conference, Microsoft unveiled that Windows 10 OS can support 4K video recording with various video-related capabilities, reports by Nokia Power User as cited in International Business Times AU.
Windows 10 mobile will also include WiFi Direct and WiFi Hotspot 2.0, different audio enhancement Bluetooth features (such as Wideband speech and apX audio codecs), smart dial and Yellow Books, Battery Saver features (with UI improvements), USB Dual role and USB Type-C connectors, activity tracking, and a variety of sensors (barometer, altimeter, pedometer, etc.).
More features about Microsoft's latest technology could be expected in the Build 2015 conference this late April.
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