Microsoft Unveils Windows Phone 7 Series
16 Feb 2010 | MWC , Microsoft , Smartphone , Software | 1 comment
Mobile World Congress 2010 - As expected, Microsoft announced the next generation of the Windows mobile operating system, the Windows Phone 7 Series.
The interesting thing about this announcement is Microsoft's approach to the user interface. They focused on integrated experiences and solved the problem of switching between individual apps by combining multiple applications.
So the Windows Phone 7 UI will have six different "hubs", as Microsoft calls them, that bring together related content.
The People hub includes a list of people you connect with via different social networking sites and will bring you content from each person including live feeds and photos. From here you can also post updates to Facebook and Windows Live.
The Pictures hub allows you to share you pictures and videos to a social networking site. It also brings your photos together by integrating with the Web and PC, making it easy to view your entire picture and video collection.
The Games hub offers Xbox Live directly to the phone. This includes Xbox LIVE games, Spotlight feed and the ability to see a gamer's avatar, achievements and gamer profile.
The Music and Video hub adds the Zune experience to Windows Mobile 7. It includes content from a user's PC, online music services and a built-in FM radio. Users can also share their media recommendations with other music lovers.
The Marketplace hub allows access to Microsoft's app store.
The last hub, and probably one of the most important one is the Office hub, which includes applications such as Office, OneNote, SharePoint Workspace and Outlook Mobile in one place.
Microsoft said that their partners have already started building phones and customers will be able to purchase the first ones by Christmas 2010.
~ 1 comment ~
I had always been skeptical of Windows Phone 7. 6.5 was an improvement on 6.1, but the gap between it and the competition still seemed to weigh quite heavily.
It seems that when Microsoft really work at something and don't worry about the time it takes to develop, they come up with gold which certainly at this point in time seems the case for the Windows Phone 7 Series. Apple have released iPhone after iPhone, each looking like, well, an iPhone. Microsoft have taken a step in a new direction, making major improvements without dropping their business customers with the new improved Office hub.
I think the processor speed is there now with phones like the Google Nexus One, Acer neoTouch / Liquid that by Christmas the phones should certainly be able to handle Windows Phone 7. I read elsewhere that Microsoft are a lot more stringent about the hardware requirements phones use for their OS this time around.