Former Nokia and Microsoft engineer Justin Angel has discovered references to 1080p Windows Phone support in Microsoft's recently released Visual Studio 2013 preview. Angel, who previously detailed methods to pirate games from the Windows Store, revealed his findings on Twitter. The files within Visual Studio 2013 include skin support for Windows Phone 8 at a 1920 x 1080 resolution.

The Verge previously revealed that Microsoft is planning to update Windows Phone 8 to support 1080p resolutions later this year. General Distribution Release 3 (GDR3) will enable the resolution, along with support for 5-inch and higher devices. Windows Phone 8 currently supports WVGA, WXGA, and 720p resolutions so adding 1080p will complete the range. GDR3 will also provide support for new quad-core Qualcomm processors on Windows Phone.

Windows Phone Blue on the horizon

Alongside the GDR3 work, Microsoft is also working towards a future Windows Phone release that will likely include a notification center and other OS improvements. A recently leaked build, running on a lost device, demonstrated early work towards the final Windows Phone "Blue" release that is expected to ship in early 2014.