Update Windows Phone SDK 7.1.1: 256 MB devices and Windows 8

Update Windows Phone SDK 7.1.1, which allows to develop for devices with 256 MB of memory , and under Windows 8 , is available for download .

Support for the development of devices with 256 MB of memory, allows developers to begin now to adapt their applications for this type of device intended for the mass market. On the other hand, it is possible to indicate that your application will work only on 512 MB of memory.

In my opinion, the emergence of new devices with less hardware requirements is an opportunity for a developer to enter a new, more mass market (+23 new countries), so it is important to check how your application works on such devices.

It also became possible to install and use all the capabilities of the development tool for Windows Phone on Windows 8. This feature is not officially supported until Windows 8 is released, but after installing this update, you can fully develop Windows Phone applications for Windows 8 using the features of emulators.
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This is a very useful opportunity for me personally. She removed the last barriers to the transition to the daily use of Windows 8, as a working OS. Before the release of the update, I could not do this, as I demonstrate and test Windows Phone a lot, and it’s most convenient to do it in the emulator.

I will list the other changes that the update gives:

• In the Visual Studio IDE, the ability is added, at startup, to choose from the list of emulators (256 MB / 512 MB);
• Windows Phone emulator image (512 MB) updated to version 8773;
• Added an image for emulating a Windows Phone device with 256 MB;
• updated Microsoft Advertising SDK;
• Added support for new languages ​​for Visual Studio and emulator.

And since I started talking about devices of a new type and the importance of supporting them, here are a few links where you can find additional development information for devices with 256 MB of memory:
Developing for 256-MB Devices
Optimizing Apps for Lower Cost Devices
Best practice tips for delivering apps to Windows Phone with 256 MB

Habr articles on Windows Phone development:
Using HTML5 and JavaScript to develop applications for Windows Phone
Work with HTTP in 3 lines, or make your RSS Reader with WebClient and WebBrowser
A few words about the Motion API
Live Tiles and Background Agents
Maps and location data on Windows Phone
Windows Phone Development Course

Useful links:
Windows Phone SDK 7.1
Windows Phone SDK 7.1.1 Update
Windows Phone Development Center on MSDN (Windows Phone course)
Forums on development for Windows Phone in Russian