14 DAY TRIAL // The USB on-the-go feature was tipped for Windows Phone 8.1 a few months ago, but the Developer Preview does not offer this functionality yet.
Perhaps the final version of the operating system might bring the highly anticipated feature later this month or perhaps sometime this year.
Microsoft is expected to deliver at least two new major updates for Windows Phone 8.1 by the end of the year and one of them might include the USB OTG feature.
Anyway, at least one application hints at the fact that Windows Phone will eventually offer USB OTG and offers users a glimpse of what they could do by detailing some of its features.
Dubbed Ninko, the application is published by Pudince and doesn’t cost anything. However, as the developer mentions, the application only works with Ninko-branded devices. Sadly, it is not yet ready to support conventional USB drives.
Apparently, Ninko is the official companion application for Windows Phone compatible Ninko devices. As long as you plug a Ninko USB into a Windows Phone handset, you will be able to use this application.
According to the developers, users will need to download dedicated drivers in order to be able to take advantage of the USB OTG feature. Still, given the fact that USB OTG does not seem to be enabled in Windows Phone 8.1, we doubt that any drivers will allow users to take advantage of the feature.
All in all, once Microsoft enables USB OTG, when Windows Phone 8.1 gets released for the general public later this year, or via another update for the platform in the coming months, Ninko app should be fully usable.
We haven’t been able to attach a Ninko USB to our Windows Phone device, as suggested by the application, but other USBs did not work, which means that the application needs users to download and install specific drivers for specific USB drives.
Apart from the USB OTG feature, Ninko also includes a built-in file manager that will allow users to browse through files on the SD card or phone’s memory.
It has also been recently improved with email support option and Windows Phone Software Recovery tool. In addition, the application has been updated with SD device driver support and the option to access file manager without having devices connected/inserted.
You can now download Ninko for Windows Phone for free via Windows Phone Store. Keep in mind that the application should be fully compatible with all devices powered by Windows Phone 8 and up.