Windows Phone 8.1 Features Leaked; JavaScript, VPN, SD Card Install Coming

Right after Windows Phone 8.1 SDK invites were sent out to developers, it seems the features are getting leaked now. Reddit user wpthroaway has posted loads of stuff but he is doing it smartly, it’s being edited all the time so nobody can get it down. Here is a list of features you can expect in Windows Phone 8.1

VPN support confirmed.
Default messaging app can be changed. Hopefully many would like whatsapp to become default.
SkyDrive renamed to OneDrive.
There is a new app model called Universal App which will contain templates to build Windows RT and Windows Phone apps. More details below.

Xbox Music, Xbox Videos replacing Music + Videos App.
Battery sense API to find out which app is consuming more battery.
Calendar has Weekly View with Monthly view enabled inside it.
Option to hide location icon.
Text Backup now allows you to download all messages or choose a time period i.e. last month.

Finally a Podcast app.
The camera app has 3 new modes: camera, burst and video
NFC payment has some fine controls which lets you choose if rhe payment will work when the phone is locked or only when its unlocked.
Option to turn off vibration in silent mode and ring mode.

Lots of new transitions by default.
Apps can be installed on SD card but similar to Android model, the developers can prevent users from doing it for their apps. This is important because games perform better on phone memory. You can choose to store music, videos, podcasts, photos, new apps, new downloads on phone or SD card.

No new tile size from what I’ve seen in the default apps and the SDK
File manager? Docs talk about a file picker and saver. So there maybe a file manager in the RTM!

New youtube player! compact player | Landscape
WebGL Support
HTML5 test results: http://html5test.com/s/202c9b1e39583685.html ( 372/555)
New USB Settings 1) Ask me before using USB data connection. 2) Notify me when I connect to a slow USB Charger.
Navigation Bar Settings
Slide Down to Close Apps instead of having a cross icon on top right.
Wi-Fi Direct
Audio/video transcoding, Hardware accelerated
It will be possible to edit media files like audio and video; Add effects to audio and video including slow motion.

Apps will not be able to record video on their own.
Stereoscopic 3d support
Single sign-in for apps which is similar to Windows 8
Location based API for reminders.

Microsoft is definitely merging Windows Store and Windows Phone Store.

JavaScript is being supported by using a module in SDK called as Universal App. This can be used to build both Windows App and Windows Phone App making it possible to share codes between the apps.
Windows Phone and Windows RT are categorized now under Store Apps in Visual Studio. So you can see how MS is trying to merge them. Main templates are universal apps that create both WP8 and WinRT project.
Splashscreen for Windows RT and Windows Phone look same.
XAP is being discarded for APPX.
Back button doesn’t terminate the app. The whole life cycle is like Windows RT

According to documents WP8 is now called WinPRT — That’s even more confusing.
Pivots, now called Hub, have smaller title. More screen space!

Build 2014 is due April 2nd and now I am sure we will see all the details to show up then. However the general availability of Windows Phone 8.1 wont show up before June ( IMO) as we see a new model for JavaScript and common code for Windows RT.

Update 1:

Here is an image of the new volume control in WP 8.1

Facebook integration is removed in WP8.1 as the information we have right now. Users can no longer share broadcast to multiple apps. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc, users must have the respective apps installed for sharing. Facebook Blue is integrated into WP8.1

Via Reddit