Windows Phone 7.8 is the next big thing for all Windows Phone owners, and now there's yet more information to share.
Per reports, Microsoft, ahead of releasing the first Windows Phone 7.8 updates for its users, has begun readying itself by pushing out the Windows Phone 7.8 SDK (software development kit) for its development community.
Although the new release doesn't really add any new APIs, and will still offer apps aimed at WP7.5 devices, it will give developers the opportunity to tweak their apps for supporting the new Live Tile options that will arrive with WP7.8.
"Today we are releasing the Windows Phone SDK Update for Windows Phone 7.8, an optional update that adds two new Windows Phone 7.8 emulator images to your existing SDK installation," the official page states. "These two emulator images should enable you to fully test how your Windows Phone 7.5 app's Live Tiles will look and behave when they are run on a device running Windows Phone 7.8."
The new SDK for the developer community will now get both the Windows Phone 7.8 emulator and Windows Phone 7.8 256MB emulator. The Windows Phone 7.8 emulator offers OS image that emulates the developer's app running on a 512-MB device running Windows Phone 7.8 (build 8858). The Windows Phone 7.8 256MB emulator, on the other hand, has OS image that emulates Windows Phone 7.8 (build 8858) running on a 256-MB device.
Alongside, there's also the Windows Phone SDK 7.1.1 update for those who are running a Windows Phone SDK 7.1 installation, and it is a must for them download and install it. Interested developers can check here for the SDK 7.1.1-based developer tools and options that will help them develop and test applications for 256-MB Windows Phone devices.
Microsoft writes: "The Windows Phone SDK 7.1.1 Update provides additional functionality to the existing Windows Phone SDK 7.1. Using this update, you can more easily develop apps and games that are optimized to run on 256-MB devices. This update includes a new 256-MB version of Windows Phone Emulator, an updated 512-MB version of Windows Phone Emulator, and IntelliSense support."
The company further states that after installing the Windows Phone SDK update and starting the app in one of the new Windows Phone 7.8 emulators, developers will be immediately greeted by the familiar minimalistic UI experience (with only the Internet Explorer on the start screen) and Windows Phone 7 device skin.
After pinning the app to the start screen, developers will also notice that 7.8 now offers the option to make the app's tile smaller. It is to be noted that by default, the OS simply shows a smaller version of the standard app tile.
To customize the appearance of the small tile, developers will need to do some additional work.
Head over to Windows Phone Developer Blog for more details.
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