Windows Phone SDK update for Windows Phone 8.0.10322 (GDR2) now available

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Microsoft has today made available an update to the Windows Phone 8.0 SDK that enables developers to test how their apps will run on devices that have build 8.0.10322 or higher of Windows Phone 8. This is the version of Windows Phone that is also known as Windows Phone 8 GDR2, which is currently available on select devices (e.g. Nokia Lumia 925 and 1020) and has started rolling out as an over the air update to some existing devices.

There are not expected to be any major new publicly accessible APIs in the release, but there are bug fixes for a number of existing APIs. For example, there's a fix for ResourceIntensiveTask, an API that allows for allows apps to perform processing even when the main apps is not in the foreground. It is typically used for tasks that need to run infrequently, but need to run for longer periods than provided for by PeriodicTask.

The GDR2 update does appear to contain some non-public API changes that can be used by manufacturers to enable additional functionality (e.g. Nokia's Glance Screen and Colour Profiles), but these are not found in the generic public Windows Phone SDK.

According to the Microsoft download page the SDK update adds four new emulator images (development targets):

The Windows Phone SDK 8.0 Update for Windows Phone 8.0.10322 adds the following to an existing installation of Windows Phone SDK 8.0:

  • New Windows Phone Emulator 8.0 (10322) WVGA
  • New Windows Phone Emulator 8.0 (10322) WVGA 512 MB
  • New Windows Phone Emulator 8.0 (10322) WXGA
  • New Windows Phone Emulator 8.0 (10322) 720p

These images reflect the four specification configurations currently used by Windows Phone 8. Three screen resolution (WVGA, WXGA, and 720p) for 1GB (high spec) devices, and one screen resolution (WVGA) for 512MB (low spec) devices.

SDK update

The update, which is 920.5MB in size, can be downloaded from the Microsoft Download Center. Do note that the Windows Phone SDK 8.0 and Visual Studio 2012 Update 2 must be installed before you can install Windows Phone SDK 8.0 Update for Windows Phone 8.0.10322.