Alleged Windows Phone Blue screenshots reveal Notifications Center, new multitasking view

Windows Phone users who've been missing a centralised Notifications Center might have some reason to cheer, if recent screenshots of the alleged incoming Windows Phone 8 update are accurate.

A Reddit user who bought a Nokia Lumia 920 from eBay discovered that the phone was running an internal Windows Phone build (12084) compiled on May 9 that had a Notifications Center app that displays all app notifications under one place.

The build also includes a new way to manage multitasking, complete with the ability to close running apps through the multitasking view that's invoked when the users presses and holds the back key of the phone. Presently, the operating system does not offer this feature. The phone has a number of test apps starting with the alphabet 'Z'. The phone also includes a Here Drive beta "BLUE" navigation app, so it could be possible that the app has been designed for the upcoming Windows Phone Blue update or the phone's experimental build is an early version of the Blue update, but one can never be too sure.

The build of the OS also features a revamped calendar interface that offers a new Week view with a month calendar. The Windows Phone 8 build also allows sorting of applications by name and by the frequency of use in the app list.

Online tech publication The Verge cites independent sources to confirm that the build is indeed an early version of the Windows Phone Blue update, though Microsoft has refused to comment on the matter as it "doesn't comment on rumour or speculation. So, it looks like a case of a developer device falling into the hands of someone it was not meant to be for. But this suggests that Microsoft is definitely listening to consumer feedback though it's difficult to say whether these features will make it to the final Windows Phone Blue build when it releases.

The Windows Blue update, is expected to bridge the gaps between Microsoft's Windows 8 OS and Windows Phone 8 mobile operating system when it releases later this year.