Microsoft presented his Windows Phone 7 Series today at the Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona and one thing I can tell you: it’s amazing.
When you watch videos about the Windows Phone 7 Series experience you’ll immediately see that the UI (User Interface) has a lot in common with the Zune HD, but is also very different.
The Windows Phone UI goes much deeper than the Zune HD’s. I was already amazed by the UI of the Zune HD, but this design takes mobile Operation Systems to a whole new level. You wanted a Zune Phone, well here, you got it. Not as a hardware device, but as a piece of software. This video makes me want to bury my old Nokia 3220 – which still works great after 5 years – and buy a Windows Phone right away.
The Windows Phone 7 Series will feature Zune and Xbox Live integration. So you’ll be able to get the best mobile video and music experience along with games on-the-go from Xbox LIVE, this means your phone will automatically be a “Xbox portable”.
According to Microsoft’s press release partners are already building phones for the new mobile OS and consumers would be able to buy a Windows Phone from Holidays 2010. Mobile operators AT&T, Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange, SFR, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telstra, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone, and manufacturers Dell, Garmin-Asus, HTC Corp., HP, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Qualcomm Inc are working on future Windows Phone 7 phones.
Microsoft tried to make a phone-experience that worked the way people want, they did that even from the hardware. Every Windows Phone will feature three buttons on the front: a back button, a home/windows button and a search button. Something else that’ll be on every Windows Phone is a capacitive touch screen (finger friendly) that enables multi-touch.
The great UI experience is brought to us by what Microsoft calls Windows Phone hubs.
This is what Microsoft says about them in their press release:
Hubs bring together related content from the Web, applications and services into a single view to simplify common tasks. Windows Phone 7 Series includes six hubs built on specific themes reflecting activities that matter most to people:
•People. This hub delivers an engaging social experience by bringing together relevant content based on the person, including his or her live feeds from social networks and photos. It also provides a central place from which to post updates to Facebook and Windows Live in one step.
•Pictures. This hub makes it easy to share pictures and video to a social network in one step. Windows Phone 7 Series also brings together a user’s photos by integrating with the Web and PC, making the phone the ideal place to view a person’s entire picture and video collection.
•Games. This hub delivers the first and only official Xbox LIVE experience on a phone, including Xbox LIVE games, Spotlight feed and the ability to see a gamer’s avatar, Achievements and gamer profile. With more than 23 million active members around the world, Xbox LIVE unlocks a world of friends, games and entertainment on Xbox 360, and now also on Windows Phone 7 Series.
•Music + Video. This hub creates an incredible media experience that brings the best of Zune, including content from a user’s PC, online music services and even a built-in FM radio into one simple place that is all about music and video. Users can turn their media experience into a social one with Zune Social on a PC and share their media recommendations with like-minded music lovers. The playback experience is rich and easy to navigate, and immerses the listener in the content.
•Marketplace. This hub allows the user to easily discover and load the phone with certified applications and games.
•Office. This hub brings the familiar experience of the world’s leading productivity software to the Windows Phone. With access to Office, OneNote and SharePoint Workspace all in one place, users can easily read, edit and share documents. With the additional power of Outlook Mobile, users stay productive and up to date while on the go.
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Microsoft is not any stranger to having partners galore within the phone enterprise, but its lineup of producers for the upcoming, surprisingly promising Windows Cellphone 7 launch is no much less impressive. After loads of rumoring, Microsoft has confirmed that Dell and HTC might be making Windows Phone 7 telephones, in addition to ASUS, LG, and Samsung who had already been confirmed. All of these companies ought to have their stamp on hardware by the top of the yr, with the launch of the OS still vaguely slated for the “holidays” We have little doubt that each one five manufacturers can build some compelling, sexy hardware, but we’re notably enthused to see Dell actually stepping into the sport after the impressive Streak and that drool worthy leak a short while back. read more at http://www.wp7forum.com followers group.