Windows Phone fans, if you think Windows Phone 7.5 Mango was awesome, wait till you see what Microsoft has in store for you in the next major update of their smartphone operating system – Apollo! The folks at PocketNow got their hands on a video hosted by Windows Phone Manager and Microsoft Senior Vice President Joe Belfiore that gives us a closer look at what to expect in Apollo, including Skype integration, Multi-core processor support, NFC features and more.

Here’s a list of key WP8 features revealed in the video:

• Skype integration right into the dialler
• NFC support with beam-like file transfers and Wallet-like payments
• Multi-core processor support
• Support for four newer (and presumably higher) screen resolutions
• Removable storage (microSD) support
• Shared kernel components with Windows 8, enabling easy app portability
• Sync support deeply integrated into Windows 8 rather than Zune
• Skydrive-based cloud syncing of Music similar to Google Music
• Better camera interface for app developers to build on
• DataSmart for smart control and management of data usage
• Opera Mini-like server-side compression in Internet Explorer 10 for reducing data usage
• 128-bit Native BitLocker encryption

That’s more than quite a handful if you ask us and with these features, Microsoft will be in a much better position to catch up with Android. What are your thoughts? Did your favourite features make it to the list? Feel free to let us know in the comments.

Source: Engadget via PocketNow