At MWC Microsoft announced the Windows Phone 7 Series OS which is likely to have a strong following of Windows Mobile developers. No word as yet on the breaking changes from Windows Mobile 6x or what .NET technologies will be included in the phone – SQL Server, Silverlight? Will there be a Visual Studio add-in? Microsoft promised to make more details available at Mix 2010 in March.
The new Windows Phone 7 Series will feature a standard hardware platform that Microsoft has developed in an partnership with hardware vendors. Microsoft worked with Qualcomm in optimizing the phone’s silicon, probably an advanced ARM-based Snapdragon processor. Microsoft has also developed a common hardware architecture for all Windows Phone 7 handsets, with common components such as accelerometers having pre-defined specs.
Windows Azure is likely to be a key pillar of the newly launched Windows Phone Series 7 OS with Azure Storage likely to be the repository for the cloud based storage. Microsoft hasn’t provided details on the integration of Azure into Windows Phone 7 but has promised more Azure integration details at Mix 2010 in a couple of months.
At Microsoft’s demonstration of the Windows Phone 7 OS – an mobile Office suite was highlighted although not demonstrated. These are likely to be inbuilt Office apps and not web versions of the Office.com products likely to debut in April. No details on the Office connectivity options (syncing etc). But Word, Excel, OneNote and Sharepoint were all visible.
Exchange Server will be a core feature of Windows Phone 7 Series OS with push email integration into the Email client. Email demonstration was very buggy at MWC and we couldn’t test out all the features but Microsoft promised to have Exchange Server demonstrations ready for Mix 2010 in March.
At the launch of the Windows Phone 7 Series OS at MWC Microsoft announced its competitor to the iPhone App store – the Windows Phone Marketplace. It is likely to have the same deep integration as the iPHone Apps Store but with less restrictions on the type of software developers can release to the Marketplace.
At the unveiling of Windows Phone 7 Series Microsoft highlighted the integration of one of its core products – Sharepoint. No details as yet on what sort of Sharepoint integration will be available and how dep the integration will be but Microsoft promised more details at Mix 2010.
Silverlight is likely to be the major development platform for Window Phone OS. Microsoft has been relayltively silent on this but Silverlight 4 contains several enhancements that look tailor made for mobile devices such as web cam support.
Microsoft has promised more developer details will be available at Mix.
Microsoft just announced Windows Phone Series 7 at the Mobile Web Developer Conference in Barcelona. Interface-wise it marks a bold departure for Microsoft from its previous Windows Mobile offering. Gone is the shrunk desktop interface to be replaced by oversized sharp-edged squares and a fluid scrolling navigation pane.
Some interesting details, Microsoft will not allow manufacturers to customize the interface so they will have to compete on hardware. No official word on Flash but it is unlikely to be available. A full Zune player will be integrated as well as an Xbox Live implementation although no games were demoed.
Not surprisingly Office and Sharepoint are also integrated but there were no details or demonstration.
No developer details as yet but they are likely to come at Mix in March. Hopefully there will be some Silverlight mobile announcement then too.
Overall it looks more of a consumer phone which a few business features such as Office and Sharepoint.
