Microsoft unveiled the third update to its Windows Phone 8 platform, which will enable device makers to offer devices with full HD (1080p) displays and using quadcore processors.

In a blog post, the company said that the release “paves the way for future Windows Phone devices with 5- and 6-inch touch screens”, with the added size enabling “jumbo-sized Start screens with room for six Live Tiles across instead of four”.

And this will also mean that users can pin “even more of the people, info, and apps that matter”, with built-in apps “carefully scaled to take full advantage of the additional real estate on 6-inch screens”.

To date, the lack of 1080p support has limited the potential for Windows Phone to compete in either high-end smartphones or phablets. In the former category, screen sizes have generally crept up to 5-inches (Apple’s iPhone as ever proving the exception), while in the latter, the larger screens make high-resolution displays essential.

It was this hardware limitiation that is believed to have been behind Nokia’s decision not to offer a phablet (its largest Windows Phone device is the 4.7-inch, mid-tier Lumia 625), with the rumour mill strongly hinting that it is set to unveil a device in this category next week – driven by the new Windows Phone release.

The update also adds support for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quadcore processor, which is rapidly becoming the silicon of choice for high-end smartphones. While quadcore chips have been common for some time in Android devices, dualcore has remained the order of the day for Windows Phone, again leaving the platform lagging in terms of bragging rights.

Again, Nokia is expected to offer a device powered by this chip next week.