Native screenshots coming to Windows Phone 8

One of the more important features I’ve utilized on my Android devices is the ability to take a quick screenshot of what’s happening on my phone. Google built that functionality into the Android OS a few versions back, and users can now press the power and volume up buttons at the same time for a quick capture.

This feature has been noticeably absent from the Windows Phone platform, though WP7app.de dove into the Windows Phone 8 emulator and found that Microsoft will be adding the service to the Windows Phone 8 platform when it launches later this year. Folks who purchase Windows Phone 8 devices will be able to hold the start and camera buttons simultaneously to perform a screen capture. This will come in handy for when you want to share something on your phone, say your live tile setup on Windows Phone 8′s wicked new homescreen, which allows for similar level of customization found in Android.

While not an earth-shattering addition to Windows Phone, added features are always welcome, especially one that has the potential to come in handy. Here’s hoping Microsoft has a few tricks up its sleeve, and that they’ll also unveil a Samsung S-Pen like functionality that will allow you to add annotations to your screenshots.

[via Engadget, WP7app.de]