An Eye on Phablets: Windows Phone 8 Update 3 to Support 6-inch Displays

Microsoft has revealed what’s coming to the next major Windows Phone update over at the official Windows blog today, and for those hoping to get their hands on a larger WP device, you’re soon to be in luck. One of the key features of update 3 is support for 5 and 6-inch devices, which, of course, would offer the obvious perk of being able to see more tiles at once.

“A bigger Start screen means the ability to pin even more of the people, info, and apps that matter to you“, writes Darren Laybourn, manager of the Windows Phone engineering team. He goes on to say, “Built-in apps and Hubs like email, Photos, People, and Music and Videos will also be carefully scaled to take full advantage of the additional real estate on 6-inch screens.“

There have been rumors circulating for months and months about Nokia entering the phablet game, and with word of support for up to 6 inch devices, it seems rather clear that we’ll be seeing such devices sooner than later.

As important as support for larger devices is, there’s a lot more to update 3 than just that. “Driving Mode”, for example, reduces distractions while driving – incoming notifications, such as emails and texts, will simply be hidden until out of driving mode. For convenience, driving mode can be automatically enabled once a paired Bluetooth device is detected.

Further improvements include support for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 SoC, more accessibility features, improved Internet connection sharing, better storage management, a screen orientation lock (how was that not an option before??), and more.

The rollout of update 3 should begin soon, but it will take a couple of months for all applicable devices to receive it.