Windows 10 Release Date Will Unpack These Killer Packages: Maps & Office Apps Plus Flagship Lumias

Microsoft has promised that the Windows 10 on release date will come packed with killer features and three of them are recently revealed. Reports say Maps and Office applications are in the works to bolster the capabilities of Windows-powered phones.

And most likely, once these powerful apps are ready to flex their muscles Microsoft’s signature Lumia is among the first to test drive. Per Phone Arena, the software giant is planning to tussle head on with Apple, Google and Samsung with flagship models of the phone brand that it purchased from Nokia.

Bleeding-edge Lumias

The tech blog site reported that Microsoft is upgrading its existing Lumia phones with high-end siblings that are referred for now as Lumia 940 and Lumia 940 XL. The 940 is a phablet-size device that will match the 5-inch profile of the Galaxy S6.

The 940 XL, on the other hand, is the supersized edition, its reported 5.7-inch screen panel overwhelms that of the 5.5-inch that Apple had deployed with the iPhone 6 Plus last year. Complementing this upscale Windows phones are the Lumia 840 and 740, which Phone Arena said are geared as the mid-range Lumias.

But the focus really is on the twin 940 models that the same report described as bestowed with bleeding-edge specifications. That points to an unboxing that includes a camera combo of 25MP on rear and 5MP on front, a top-tier mobile processor, biometric functions such as eye scanner and on-board stylus that most likely is chiefly designed for the 940 XL.

Phone Arena pointed to Nokia Power User as source of its information. The report added that there was no clear mention of rollout schedule though it should be safe to assume that Windows 10 will come out first.

Office for Windows phones

By the time these Lumias are out in the market, they will likely come pre-installed with Office mobile apps as Microsoft revealed that Windows phone users can begin accessing Word, Excel and PowerPoint by end of April. The announcement was made five months after the same Microsoft productivity suite was made available to iPhone and iPad users.

Dubbed as the Office Universal apps, the suite are optimised for mobile device coming from the desktop platform. “The Universal apps adapt to the smaller form factor. Commands and controls are moved to the bottom of the screen so you can triage your work and make edits one-handed with your thumb,” Microsoft’s Office Blogs said on a report.

Windows 10 Maps

Lastly, Windows-powered devices, whether mobile or desktop, stand to benefit from one major service that BGR said is Microsoft’s answer to Google Map. The Windows 10 Maps is already integrated with the Technical Preview build 10051 of the operating system and is being billed by its maker as the ultimate navigational tool.

The touch-centric application is designed to deliver the same experience on mobile devices and conventional computers and matches nearly all the features that made Google Map the popular navigational instrument that it is today. And like its Android rival, the Windows 10 Maps can be accessed offline provided users pre-downloaded the data they intend to use in the absence of wireless internet connection.

The features mentioned above are virtual shoo-ins to be part of the Microsoft Windows 10 release date this 2015. The event will actually happen twice this year, reports said, likely in July and October, with the final instalment set for 2016 under the codename Redstone.

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