When Microsoft launched Windows Phone 7 back in 2010, many users lamented the absence of features in the new OS which had been present in its defunct predecessor, Windows Mobile 6.5. Even some of the most basic functionality was missing in WP7, including copy and paste, and smart dialling.
This latter feature uses the alphanumeric phone keypad to facilitate a quick search of your contacts - for example, by tapping 2639 to bring up all of the "Andy"s in your contact list right from the dialler, without having to go through the process of separately opening up your phone book and scrolling through to find the person you want to call.
While copy and paste made its way to Windows Phone 7 in the NoDo update a few months after launch, smart dialling is still absent from the platform four years later. But it looks like this handy feature will finally be making its way back to Microsoft"s mobile OS with Windows 10 for phones.
ITHome reports that Microsoft showed off a demo of this functionality at the WinHEC conference this week, and the site published a video which reportedly shows the new dialler in action (which was later copied to YouTube):
The report additionally claims that the new smart dialler will also include an integrated "Yellow Pages"-type feature, which will allow you to easily search for people or organizations not already stored in your contacts list.
Source: ITHome via Windows Central