Posted on February 24th, 2010In what can be considered as one of the most important announcements Microsoft has made this year, the company recently unraveled its newest smartphone OS. Check out Some of the Videos from Microsoft:
Windows Phone 7 Series Features Video:
The new Windows Phone 7 Series user interface features a new holistic design system that brings together form and function based on key principles.
Windows Phone 7 Series Demo:
Get a first-hand look at the latest Windows Phone that brings your people, photos, music, and video into an unrivaled mobile experience.
Microsoft for the first time revealed what many people are terming to be the ‘iPhone Killer’. Here’s what we should know about the new smartphone OS which can be Redmond’s final chance to get things right in the rapidly growing smartphone market.
Is It The Zune Phone?
Future devices that will be powered by the new OS won’t be marketed as “Zune phones,” as had been previously speculated. The OS will be known as “Windows Phone 7 series.” At this moment, Microsoft is sticking to its current business model of developing the OS and providing it to phone makers, rather than manufacturing its own phones.
How the Interface Will Be Arranged?
The new platform uses a ‘live-tile’ arrangement, showing updated information dynamically. The tiles are used for calendar, e-mail, playlists and individual people, pictures and other apps and information types. The OS organizes information in 6 sections: Pictures, People, Music and Video, Games, Office and Marketplace. For example, the People section is essentially a contacts list. However, it’s not your typical contacts feature. The People section is connected with the contacts’ social network accounts and the phone owner can see their wall posts and updates right within the contact list.
Will It Be Widely Supported by Manufacturers?
Windows 7 Phone series will be supported by HTC, Garmin-Asus, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba, Qualcomm, Sony Ericsson, LG and Samsung.
What are the Basic Features for Windows 7 Phones?
Microsoft is imposing certain basic features for Windows 7 phones. Manufacturers are required to include three buttons for “home,” “back” and “search”; a high-resolution capacitive touchscreen display; and a 5 Mp integrated camera. A QWERTY physical keyboard is optional.
Will It Use Icons?
The iPhone’s successes have spurred plenty of look-alike devices with screenfuls of little square icons representing each application. Just as what Microsoft did with the Zune, the company has tried to stay away from an icon-intensive duplicate of that setup. Rather, it relies more on clickable images and words extracted from the content itself.
For instance, if you put a weather application on the device’s main page, it shows a constantly updated weather snapshot of your area, instead of a static icon to open the app. Windows Phone 7 Series adopts the clean looks of the Zune software. Although the OS is intended to be used with just fingers, Windows 7 Phone users may need to pull out a stylus for more accurate control.
How Windows 7 Phones Will Perform as Gaming Devices?
The games tile connects to user’s Xbox Live account and users can play games against laptop and desktop owners. Microsoft will turn to the Zune platform to power the phone’s entertainment hub, just like the iPhone’s music library is known as iPod. And when users connect the phone into a computer, the Zune application pops up to manage songs, podcasts and movies.
When Will It Be Released?
Microsoft said that manufacturers have started building phones based on the OS; the first devices will ship in winter 2010. HTC announced that it has already started development on the new operating system.