After months of rumour and intrigue, the first solid evidence of a dedicated notification system in Windows Phone 8.1 has surfaced.

Related: Microsoft's Cortana, the Windows Phone version of Siri, is powered by Foursquare

Top secret screenshots from Microsoft's newest flagship phone have appeared on the Winphollowers website, apparently having been pulled from a confidential Microsoft Powerpoint presentation.

Known as the "Action Centre", the screenshots (above) reveal a customisable display of four control shortcuts for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, systems settings and more. Like its Android and iOS cousins, the menu will be accessed by dragging your finger a short way down from the top of the screen.

Drag the screen the full way down, and you'll gain access to a full notification centre with alerts from all your apps. The screenshots would suggest that these notifications will be separated by app type rather than timing.

There will also be a "Clear All" option, "All Settings" and the possibility of setting up "Ghost notifications" so you're not inundated by unwanted alerts from certain apps.

Related: Nokia plans three Windows Phone 8.1 smartphones for MWC 2014

Most sources agree that the Windows 8.1 Phone will be officially unveiled at Microsoft's Build Conference in April. The second big cloak-pull is expected to be a brand new voice-recognising personal assistant called Cortana, not dissimilar to Apple's Siri sotware.