Microsoft has taken the wraps off of Windows Phone 8, the latest update to its smartphone platform.

The revised version of Windows Phone shares its DNA with Windows 8, letting developers create apps quickly and easily for both platforms.

Plenty of additions

Windows Phone 8 introduces a slew of features, with support for up to 64 cores (up from single-core processors in Windows Phone 7), smaller live tiles, HD screen resolutions, microSD cards and in-app purchases.

The mapping service has been given some attention with Nokia's mapping solution and offline maps powering the platform. Additionally, the acquisition of Skype has also been put to good use, with deep integration into Windows Phone 8. 

Program manager Joe Belfiore also showed off support for near-field communications, such as the ability to initiate multiplayer games across platforms.

Nokia, Huawei, Samsung and HTC are confirmed to be the first Windows Phone 8 hardware manufacturers.

On the app side of things, Zynga will be porting hit games Words with Friends and Draw Something to the platform.

What about Windows Phone 7?

As for existing Windows Phone users, customers will receive a Windows Phone 7.8 update instead of the fully fledged WP8 platform.

"Because you don't have a multicore chip and don't have some of these other elements, it didn't make sense for us to make those investments for devices that couldn't really exploit them," Microsoft's Greg Sullivan was quoted as saying by The Verge.