Surprising, but true! Microsoft is no longer giving announcements that the new mobile platform will be delayed and has set a solid 2010 holiday release for the Windows Phone 7 series.
“Phone 7”, not to confuse, but the new moniker still refers to the old Windows Mobile operating system. New name and release date aside, the real big news here is that the new operating system is truly impressive and many are expecting WP 7 to go head to head with other platforms such as the Google Android and Apple’s iPhone OS.
Steve Ballmer presented some of the many big changes that the mobile platform will be undertaking. The presentation at the Mobile World Congress last Sunday took a little over an hour, but from what we have seen, there is plenty to look forward to.
The new OS supports capacitive touch screen features. Gestures, pinching and other finger input commands will be fully utilized by the OS. You will get several “areas” (for lack of a better word) that specialize in various phone functions. These areas are much larger than the OS screen, so you will have to pan around with the touch screen to see specific details. While that sounds like troublesome on paper its amazing when seen in application. The new interface scheme works like a charm, delivering a stylized, quick access menu that is both organized and fully customizable.
WinPho 7 (not quite WinMo is it not?) also introduces the new “Tiles” –which are highly customizable widget-like doodads all over your mobile phone. The new OS will also be bringing Zune to everyone (here’s to hoping for full Zune support in Europe) as well as the new Xbox Live Games service.
Get some interesting new information and details on the Windows Phone 7 Series from Mobile Computing News.
