Windows Phone 8 SDK preview opens September 12th
Microsoft announced that developers will be able to sign-up for inclusion in the Windows Phone 8 SDK (Software Development Kit) programme from September 12th. Microsoft also revealed that the program will be initially limited to a select few at first until the full Windows Phone 8 SDK is publicly available later this year, after Windows Phone 8 has been released.
Microsoft won’t be giving access to just anyone, it will give priority to any developers that have already published apps to Windows Phone. In essence, they’ll be favoring the developers that chose to develop for Windows Phone before there was any major buzz for it. How exactly this will help the company garner better app development remains to be seen.
[quote]”The full Windows Phone 8 SDK will be made publically available later this year when we unveil Windows Phone 8. Until then, we believe this program offers more published developers a way to explore the SDK and get started on the next wave of amazing Windows Phone apps,” said Microsoft in a statement.[/quote]
One should keep in mind, WP 8 apps are on a whole new development platform. While WP 8 devices will continue to support WP 7.5 apps, these apps will not take advantage of the new hardware capabilities of WP 8 devices. Microsoft officials said they wouldn’t be disclosing the full set of Windows Phone 8 OS features until a later, unspecified date.
