Microsoft's first Windows Phone 8 update dubbed Apollo Plus?

Football4PDA Twitter account as the source. The Verge subsequently posted that the code name of Windows Phone OS 8's follow-on would be "Apollo Plus." (Maybe the ban on code names ending with "o" doesn't start till Windows Phone 9 OS?)

The Verge's Tom Warren also reported that Microsoft would share details about the update at the Mobile World Congress show in February 2013. The Verge cited unnamed sources as providing the information and said the coming update could include features like VPN support, a Wi-Fi connectivity fix, and audio improvements.

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VPN support is an interesting one, given Microsoft officials said in June of this year that Microsoft had decided against including VPN functionality in the Windows Phone operating system (even though it had been included in Windows Phone OS' predecessor, Windows Mobile). A Microsoft official told me that Microsoft has decided instead to rely on things like Secure SSL to address this need... as they considered Secure SSL "a better, light-weight approach" to providing this kind of functionality in the new BYOD (bring your own device) world.

I've since heard from a number of business users that no VPN support was a deal breaker for their organizations in adopting Windows Phone. I've also heard from users in countries with governments that censor their citizens' Web-browsing that VPN is a much-desired feature for circumventing officially imposed firewalls.

I asked Microsoft whether the next version of the Windows Phone OS was code-named "Apollo Plus" and whether VPN connectivity will be part of it. Not surprisingly, a spokesperson said only that the company doesn't comment on rumors and speculation.

If Microsoft does refer to the minor, interim update to Windows Phone 8 OS as "Apollo Plus," that might help dampen user expectations a bit. With Tango, many users were expecting a lot more, feature-wise, than ended up being part of that update because it had its own special code name.

Meanwhile, I also asked Microsoft about the whereabouts of the Windows Phone OS 7.8 update -- the one that is slated to allow existing Windows Phone 7 users to make use of resizable tiles on their phones. A Microsoft spokesperson said: "More information on 7.8 will be available in the coming weeks."

As to the rumors circulating that 7.8 might be available this week, I'm doubtful. I think Microsoft might announce the release to manufacturing of 7.8 this week, but I'm hearing the update may not be available from the carriers until early next year (maybe even as late as February 2013).

This story originally posted as "Apollo Plus: Is this Microsoft's first Windows Phone 8 update?" on ZDNet.

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HTC Windows Phone 8x T-Mobile

The HTC 8X is the best-looking Windows Phone 8 handset on T-Mobile, but you'll pay extra for the design.

HTC Windows Phone 8X

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Samsung exec puts Apple on notice: No phone without our patents

coopeydoop A jury in Northern California would say otherwise, but Samsung's mobile chief offered a pointed reminder to Apple that the patent dispute between the two companies is far from over.

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Sinofsky: I Didn't Try to Gain Control of Windows Phone

Former Windows chief Steven Sinofsky, who abruptly announced his departure from Microsoft earlier this week, is denying that he left after failing to bring the Windows Phone division under his control.

Sinofsky made his declaration in the comments section of former Microsoft engineer Hal Berenson's blog, who wrote about Sinofsky's departure on Tuesday. In that post, Berenson suggested that Sinofsky "had apparently lost recent battles to bring both Windows Phone and the Developer Division under his control."

Sinofsky, however, said that was not the case.

"I never initiated any discussions to bring together the organizations/products you describe and no one ever approached me to manage them as part of Windows 7 or 8," Sinofsky wrote.

"If we had worked together you would know that historically, very few things moved into teams I managed," Sinofsky continued.

6 High-Profile Tech Execs Who Got the Boot

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Microsoft Windows Phone 8

Windows Phone 8 (WP8) is elegant, personable, and different. It absolutely shines for those who use their smartphones for a lot of calling, texting, and Facebooking, and especially people who connect to Microsoft anything—whether that's Outlook, Hotmail, Exchange, Skydrive, Office 365, or Xbox. If iOS bores you and Android intimidates you, Windows Phone will likely dazzle you.

But pick up a Windows Phone 8, and you'll be a maverick. There's significantly less of a selection of apps here than for Android and iOS, and the apps are different. The odds are good that you'll find what you need, but the goods are odd. That makes a Windows Phone less of an easy purchase than it could be.

Launched in 2010, Windows Phone 7 wasn't much of a competitor to iOS and Android in large part because it ran on uninspiring hardware, but Windows Phone 8 will help fix that. While WP8 still only supports Qualcomm processors, at least it supports current

Qualcomm processors, along with high-resolution screens and the latest wireless specs. So Windows Phone 8 devices like the HTC 8X and the Nokia Lumia 920 will do a better job facing off against the iPhone 5  and the Samsung Galaxy S III  on power than, say, the HTC Trophy managed to pull off at the end of its long lifespan. (There's one perplexing lack, though: No decent QWERTY handsets yet.)

I reviewed WP8 on an HTC Windows Phone 8X. We'll have a full review of the phone when U.S. carrier models appear early next month, but for now see our hands-on story from when the device was announced.

If this is your first time even thinking about Windows Phone, take a look at our reviews of Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 7.5. While it's built on completely different underpinnings, Windows Phone 8 works much like its predecessors.

The Underpinnings

The familiar interface of Windows Phone 7 hides a radical change under the hood. Windows Phone 8 now runs on the same kernel as Windows 8, including the NTFS file system and the ability for third-party developers to write native code rather than having to go through Silverlight or XNA. It's still compatible with the 125,000 Windows Phone 7 apps, but it's potentially much more powerful because there are more ways to develop for it.

That's mostly potential, though, because Microsoft didn't release the Windows Phone 8 SDK to most developers in advance. So far, it's hard to find Windows Phone 8-only apps that use the new development strategies. Hopefully, they'll start showing up soon.

I'm very excited by an invisible feature called Data Sense, which works like our Editors' Choice Android and iPhone app Onavo Extend. It compresses your data using Microsoft servers, letting you get more out of limited data plans. It also keeps you updated on how much data you've used.

Unfortunately, until sometime next year it's a Verizon exclusive. In the name of "carrier differentiation," consumers won't likely be able to get what they want. Want a Nokia Lumia 920? It's AT&T only. Want a phone with data compression and monitoring? Verizon only. Want a Lumia 920 with Data Sense? Nope.

Windows Phone 8 also backs up your settings, data and apps into the cloud, just like Android and iOS do. You can find, lock, or erase a phone remotely, too. That makes it easy to move between Windows Phone devices or to restore a lost or stolen phone.

The Lock Screen, Tiles, and Hubs

To understand why you would want to use Windows Phone 8, you have to understand tiles. Like icons, but not quite, tiles are squares you plonk on the home screen representing the items you want to access easily. Apps, sure, but also contacts, places, collections of apps called "hubs," media items, or Web pages, among other things. Right now I have a map to my hotel and a FlightStats page about my flight pinned to my home screen, for instance. You can do that on Android, but it's not nearly as simple.

Tiles can be "live," which means they flip around automatically to show new information. Your Me tile is constantly pinging you with new social-networking updates. A FlightAware tile would flip around if your flight were, say, cancelled; a Photos tile usually shows the latest pictures you've taken. (None of this seems to affect battery life much.) You can make tiles in three different sizes, 20 different colors, and snap them together in various ways, so what you end up with is a visually coherent but constantly shifting landscape of relevant data. 

The Lock screen is "live," too. Apps can feed data to the Lock screen, ghosting the latest news, weather, or your travel information behind the standard date and time. You can also set which apps send alerts to the lock screen.

The result is just as configurable as Android, but much more visually striking. Live tiles display information the same way widgets do, but the enforced visual uniformity makes a Windows Phone 8 home screen look smartly configured, rather than like a yard-sale jumble.

Along with tiles, Microsoft's second central concept is Hubs. The People hub, Games hub, Photos hub, and Music & Video hub are places where content, apps, and social networking all come together. In the Photos hub, for instance, you see not only your gallery but your friends' galleries and any photo-editing apps you might have. In Music & Video, you see not only your own videos, but YouTube and Vevo content. The new Wallet hub combines real credit cards, loyalty cards, and local deals. It's all more natural than Apple's fragmented system of apps and activities.

Microsoft's very attractive parental control system, dubbed Kid's Corner, is excellent for small children. Kid's Corner lets you select a certain set of games, music, videos, and apps for your kid to use; they then show up as bold, non-resizable tiles. Kids can't use the phone, browser, or messaging, so it's really more for handing your device over to a smaller child, than for offering a sandboxed experience for tweens. But it's simple, clear, and good-looking.

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How to skip outgoing voicemail and automated phone systems

21 hrs. Melanie Pinola , Lifehacker

The next time you make a phone call and are greeted with a machine (voicemail or automated phone system) instead of a person, save some time and get straight to your message or the extension you need to dial with these simple phone tips.

For voicemail: When you start to hear the outgoing message, press # and it should take you straight to the beep. (Tested and works on my phone.) Alternately, you can try * (should work for Verizon) or 7 for AT&T. When you find which one works for you, add the symbol to your contact's name in the phone book for future reference. [via Reddit]

For automated phone systems (IVRs): There are a number of strategies to quickly get you past the annoying prompts ("press 1 for your account balance, press 2 for directions, press 3..."). The first one is a pretty old technique we've covereda couple of times before and it works on all phones: In the address book for your contact, add a comma after the phone number you want to dial and then the extension or menu options (insert a comma between each menu option). Your phone will dial the number, pause, and then automatically enter the numbers after. (On some keypads, you get the comma by tapping the "pause" button or by holding down the +*= button.)

If that doesn't work, try the semicolon instead of the comma. This will make the phone "wait" for your keypress before dialing the extension. On the iPhone, if you save a contact with the wait semicolon and extension, when you dial the contact, you'll see a new "Dial [extension]" button. 

These tricks are handy if you dial numbers with extensions a lot, hate entering convoluted conference calling numbers, and just want to skip battling or waiting for phone systems.

More from Lifehacker:

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Microsoft Windows Phone 8

I reviewed WP8 on an HTC Windows Phone 8X. We'll have a full review of the phone when U.S. carrier models appear early next month, but for now see our hands-on story from when the device was announced.

If this is your first time even thinking about Windows Phone, take a look at our reviews of Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 7.5. While it's built on completely different underpinnings, Windows Phone 8 works much like its predecessors.

The Underpinnings

The familiar interface of Windows Phone 7 hides a radical change under the hood. Windows Phone 8 now runs on the same kernel as Windows 8, including the NTFS file system and the ability for third-party developers to write native code rather than having to go through Silverlight or XNA. It's still compatible with the 125,000 Windows Phone 7 apps, but it's potentially much more powerful because there are more ways to develop for it.

That's mostly potential, though, because Microsoft didn't release the Windows Phone 8 SDK to most developers in advance. So far, it's hard to find Windows Phone 8-only apps that use the new development strategies. Hopefully, they'll start showing up soon.

I'm very excited by an invisible feature called Data Sense, which works like our Editors' Choice Android and iPhone app Onavo Extend. It compresses your data using Microsoft servers, letting you get more out of limited data plans. It also keeps you updated on how much data you've used.

Unfortunately, until sometime next year it's a Verizon exclusive. In the name of "carrier differentiation," consumers won't likely be able to get what they want. Want a Nokia Lumia 920? It's AT&T only. Want a phone with data compression and monitoring? Verizon only. Want a Lumia 920 with Data Sense? Nope.

Windows Phone 8 also backs up your settings, data and apps into the cloud, just like Android and iOS do. You can find, lock, or erase a phone remotely, too. That makes it easy to move between Windows Phone devices or to restore a lost or stolen phone.

The Lock Screen, Tiles, and Hubs

To understand why you would want to use Windows Phone 8, you have to understand tiles. Like icons, but not quite, tiles are squares you plonk on the home screen representing the items you want to access easily. Apps, sure, but also contacts, places, collections of apps called "hubs," media items, or Web pages, among other things. Right now I have a map to my hotel and a Flight Stats page about my flight pinned to my home screen, for instance. You can do that on Android, but it's not nearly as simple.

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