NEWS: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series - All you need to know

Mar
19
2010

NEWS: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series - All you need to know

No really - all you need to know about Microsoft’s new mobile OS
Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series - All you need to know

Microsoft?has now wheeled out?Windows Phone 7 Series?on two occasions, detailed a stack of information at both Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and MIX10 in Las Vegas, as well as giving us plenty of food for thought as to what the new mobile phone operating system will be capable of doing.

Here we try and put all the facts, that we know so far, in one place to help you get a better grasp of the new operating system that will be taking on Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android later this year.

The core questions

What is Windows Phone 7 Series?

Windows Phone 7 Series is Microsoft’s latest smartphone operating system that is due out later this year and will offer a consumer focused phone OS for those that aren’t looking to go Android or iPhone.

When’s is Windows Phone 7 Series out?

The official line from Microsoft on this one is “The Holidays” 2010, that really means in time for Christmas to make sure that you can buy it for your loved one. Judging by the chatter from Microsoft employees at both events, the company is going to keep to this time frame even if that means missing out key features and then adding them later.

Will I be able to bring Windows Phone 7 Series to my current phone?

No. You’ll need a new phone to run Windows Phone 7 Series, with strict guidelines to adhere to. That means even handsets like the HTC HD2, which meet most of the hardware requirements are still out of the question when it comes to upgrades.

Why’s it called Windows Phone 7 Series?

Microsoft like the number 7, and following the success of Windows 7 on the desktop is keen to emulate that success and popularity. It’s also the next number after Windows Mobile 6. The series element is because the company plans to have different variations. Expect, like its desktop operating system, to see starter and possible tablet versions announced in the run up to that “Holidays” launch.

Will it be an operator exclusive?

So far Orange in the UK and AT&T in the US have said they plan to be heavily involved and support the new mobile OS at launch. That doesn’t mean to say that it will be exclusive to those carriers. While it is likely that some handsets will be exclusive there should be such a bevy of devices at launch that you can expect to get the OS on your operator of choice. Whether that means you’ll get the handset you want is still to be seen.?

Hardware

What hardware will Windows Phone 7 Series run on?

To ensure a consistent experience regardless of who makes the handset, Microsoft is putting in place strict guidelines to what phone makers can do to classify their handset as Windows Phone 7 Series ready. That means that you’re not going to see current Windows Mobile 6.5 handsets get an upgrade.

Must-have phone specs confirmed by Microsoft include:

- 3 hardware buttons

- Start, Search, and Back

-Capacitive touch screen with 4 or more contact points

- Only two possible screen resolutions:? 800 x 480 and 480 x 320

- A-GPS

- Accelerometer

- Compass

- Light sensor

- Proximity sensor

- 5-MP camera with flash and dedicated camera button

- Codec acceleration for multimedia

- 256MB RAM with 8GB Flash for storage

- DirectX 9 accelerated GPU

- ARMv7 Cortex/Scorpion CPU

Who is making hardware for Windows Phone 7 Series?

So far Qualcomm, LG, Samsung, Garmin Asus, HTC, HP, Dell, Sony Ericsson, and Toshiba have all said they are developing phones for the operating system with LG and Asus to currently have physical handsets in the wild. Leaked concepts/data sheets suggest that HTC could release a HTC HD3 in time for the launch of the OS, while early sightings of a Samsung handset at MIX10 by Microsoft has been debunked by Samsung as Microsoft hacking an older i8910 model.

Will I be able to get a Windows Phone 7 Series phone with a keyboard?

Yes. The LG Panther has already been shown (see image above). Windows Phone 7 Series handsets will come in two main flavours with a full touchscreen keyboard like the HTC HD2 and with a slide out QWERTY keyboard like the Motorola Droid/Milestone.

What won’t Windows Phone 7 Series offer in terms of hardware?

Microsoft has confirmed that there won’t be support for swappable memory cards. Instead phones will have stacks of onboard memory instead.

Will I still have to use a stylus?

Ha. Your Windows Mobile days are far behind you my friend. Microsoft has thankfully dumped stylus support when it moved to solely supporting capacitive touch screen technology in the chassis guidelines. You’ll have to use your finger, or a sausage if you want to interact with this OS.

Will it work with my Mac?

Probably not. Microsoft has said that there won’t be any desktop software to sync with, it will just sync - whatever that means. However Microsoft’s Windows Mobile and the company’s Zune HD products have never played nice with the Apple OS. Anyway if you’ve got a Mac, won’t people just laugh that you’ve gone all Microsoft on them?

How will I sync it with my PC?

It will all be done over the air with the phone automatically syncing with your contacts and other files via the cloud. This does offer some hope for Mac, but not until it gets its new version of Office some time in 2011.

Usability

Will Windows Phone 7 Series have Multitouch?

Yes. The good news is, that judging by all the demos and our first hand look you will be able to multitouch your way through the interface. How integrated that will be in the OS and the third party apps has yet to be fully detailed however.

Can I copy and paste?

No is the short-term answer, with Microsoft following Apple’s initial train of thought. Strange considering you can with Windows Mobile 6.5, and even though this is a fresh start it’s kind of a given that in 2010 a phone should be able to do this basic task. According to the latest reports on the matter (as of 18 March) Microsoft has confirmed that it will come at some point as a “person close to the den explained that copy & paste is definitely a scenario and feature that the team is putting a lot of thought about and hope to bring to the platform soon after initial release.”

Can I multitask??

Given the impressive processor and graphics capabilities as standard you would expect a Windows Phone 7 Series device to be a multitasking demon, not so it seems. At launch Microsoft confirmed that while applications will be able to offer notifications, you aren’t going to be multitasking your way around the OS like you can on Android or webOS from Palm. Like the iPhone, built-in apps will have multitasking capabilities however. As a consolation, third party apps will have the ability to be suspended rather than closing completely when you switch out to another task.

Will Windows Phone 7 Series run Adobe Flash?

No, like Apple, Microsoft has decided to shun Adobe’s video format and instead will base the interactive video swishery around its own variant Sliverlight. That means you’ll get funky flashy graphics within apps and the menu system, but won’t be able to watch videos online in the browser. Microsoft is hoping that HTML 5, which allows video playback without a plug-in within the browser, will be everywhere come the end of the year.

What’s this I hear about hubs rather than a grid interface?

Rather than offer users a traditional grid like interface as found on the iPhone, Symbian or any phone from the last decade really, Microsoft has opted for a very different approach, which it refers to as Panoramic tiles.

These panoramic tiles, first seen in the Zune HD released in 2009, are pages that are wider or taller than the screen real estate available but are accessed by you swishing your finger around them revealing new information as you do.

Based on this design approach, the phone has been split into a number of key hubs to help you find apps quickly.

Those hubs are: Pictures, People, Browsing, Games, Music, Marketplace and Office.

What about search in Windows Phone 7 Series?

Bing will be the main search element built in to the handset as standard, with a big search button being one of those three required buttons. No word as to whether you’ll be able to change that default to something else, but given Microsoft’s run ins with the European Union expect Europe to insist on users being able to change this to suit their human right.

Will I or an operator be able to customise the UI in Windows Phone 7 Series?

Like the hardware Microsoft has said that it will be fairly tied down to allow consistency across a range of handsets by different makers. That means no Sense UI skin by HTC or Motoblur from Motorola. What you can expect and will probably see is operators attempting to change the colour; so a Vodafone offering will come in red while a Sprint version will be covered in bright yellow.

Apps

Will I be able to buy apps?

Totally, like Android and the iPhone, Microsoft is gunning for the success of its app store, called Marketplace, to drive adoption of Windows Phone 7 Series handsets. Microsoft has already confirmed that a number of major software companies are developing apps for the OS already, as well as demoing how easy it is to make them. Microsoft has already shown in a live demo on stage that you can build a basic Twitter app in under 10 minutes.

Can I get third party apps?

Yes. The platform already has loads of support from leading companies such EA, Netflix, Foursquare, imbd.com, Sling Media, Shazam, and Namco.

Others include The Associated Press, Archetype International Inc., AWS Convergence Technologies, WeatherBug, Citrix Systems Inc., Clarity Consulting Inc., Cypress Consulting, Fandango Inc., frog design inc., Glu Mobile Inc., Graphic.ly, Hudson Entertainment Inc., IdentityMine Inc., Larva Labs, Match.com LLC, Matchbox Mobile Ltd., Microsoft Game Studios, Namco Networks America Inc., Oberon Media Inc., Pageonce Inc., Pandora Media Inc., Photobucket Inc., PopCap Games Inc., Seesmic, SPB Software Inc., Stimulant, TeleCommunications Systems Inc., Touchality LLC and Vertigo Software Inc.

What apps will be available?

So far we’ve got Twitter apps, apps that let you stream Netflix TV shows and movies, and a news app from AP. EA’s involvement means plenty of games will be coming, while the Sling Media signing means, in theory, you’ll be able to access your Slingbox via the phone. Keen to nurture the Marketplace, Microsoft is offering the development tools to create an app to anyone for free. Developers only have to pay $99 once they decide to publish the apps in the Marketplace.

What apps will I get as standard?

You’ll get the usual bevy that you would expect from a smartphone released in 2010. That means calendar, email, a browser, SMS functionality and of course the ability to make phone calls. Microsoft seems keen to push the social networking aspect of the operating system, and so will offer you facebook and Twitter integration, with you being able to see what your contacts’ latest status updates are at the flick of a screen.

Other nice features is the ability to email people at a meeting with a message that you’ll be running 5 minutes late from your calendar app, rather than having to look up their details individually. All of this functionality of course works on the understanding that your contacts book is in perfect order.?

What will apps be able to do?

Microsoft officials announced that developers will be able to make use of the following features within their apps:

- Accelerometer, an intuitive control that responds to motion

- A Microsoft Location Service to provide developers with a single point of reference to acquire location information

- Microsoft Notification Service for pushing information to the phone, regardless of whether or not an application is running

- Hardware-accelerated video with digital rights management (DRM)

- Internet Information Services Smooth Streaming for the industry’s highest quality content viewing experience

- Multitouch

- Camera and microphone support

How will Marketplace work?

Like the App Store from Apple, Marketplace will serve as a store to all the apps available. You’ll be able to buy or get free apps via the store with Microsoft promising to do its best to make it easy to find apps that you’re looking for. It’s already said that it will be highlighting apps on a daily basis to encourage you to try new things.

Can I get apps any other way?

If you’re a developer you’ll be able to side load your apps on the phone for testing purposes, but for the rest of us - that’s you and me - no. The only way you’ll be able to get apps on the new phones is to download them via the the Marketplace app store.

Where will Apps live on the phone?

Rather than just let you dump your apps in a mish-mash grid system like the iPhone or Android, Microsoft is taking the approach that apps will live in their respective hub areas. So photo apps will live in the photo hub and music apps in the music hub. It should, hopes Microsoft, make everything a lot easier to find. Luckily for those that like to multitask their life on the phone, the OS will provide an option for favourite apps to live on your home screen.

Will there be many apps?

With 150,000 apps available for the iPhone, and 30,000 for Android, Windows Phone 7 Series has a lot of catching up to do. It also has time on its hands with an estimated 9 months to launch. That’s a lot of time to create an app, so expect there to be a good couple of hundred in the app store from day one. Whether or not they will be globally available, however, is yet to be confirmed.

How can I develop for Windows Phone 7 Series?

Download the developer tools and get building. While you won’t be able to play with your app on any dedicated hardware (well not through official channels) Microsoft has created an emulator on the PC to be able to see how your app works and performs. It’s free to have a play and if you’re into that kind of thing, well worth the effort.

I like spreadsheets, will it have an Office app?

There will be a whole hub around Office apps. But more importantly, it wouldn’t be a Microsoft product if it wasn’t office friendly, and while the focus here is mainly on appealing to the 30-something (38 actually) consumer, Microsoft knows where its bread is buttered. Yes, you will be able to get and edit Word and Excel documents and for those IT admin dudes; exchange support will come as standard.

What about VoIP?

Microsoft is reported to have said that there won’t be VoIP support.

Will it come with Bing Navigation?

No. Microsoft has said that while you’ll get Bing Maps support it isn’t about to offer a turn by turn app in conjunction with Bing Maps. Expect CoPilot and TomTom, who’ve yet to say anything yet about the platform, to offer dedicated apps so you don’t get lost.

Games

What’s this about Xbox Live support?

The games element of Windows Phone 7 Series will be tied into the company’s Xbox live offering and that means the ability to access your Xbox avatar and gamer points. Games will be able to offer users the ability to earn achievement points which will be synced with the games you play on your PC or the Xbox 360.

Will I be able to play 3D games?

Yes. Microsoft has already demoed 3D games at MIX10.?Based on the XNA Game Studio 4.0, it means you’ll be able to play games on your phone on the way home, transfer your efforts to your Xbox 360 and then play on a big screen when you get home.

Sounds cool, but will it work?

The concept and implementation means that if MS gets it right this could be a massive portable gaming platform in the making as well as something you make calls on. Apple has already proven that games are a big draw for the platform and expect this to be the same case.

Music

What about the Zune phone??

No matter how many times Microsoft says it wasn’t happening the rumour mill kept circling, that’s because the Zune service is found here on Windows Phone 7 Series for people to use. Available globally from launch all the phones will be able to access the Zune experience via the music hub.

Will I be able to buy music like I can on iTunes?

Yes. Regardless of whether you are in the UK or the US you’ll be able to buy and download tracks on the go. Thanks to App support you’ll also no doubt be able to stream music to the handset as well via services (not yet confirmed) like Spotify or last.fm

First Impressions

It’s far too early to talk about whether this is the best OS or whether it beats others in usability because we have not had any decent time with it (sorry 20 minutes to us doesn’t count as decent) to determine that fully. There is still so much that could change. Come launch day it could be buggy as hell, or sluggish, or the fastest thing on the planet.?

That said there are already some shocking omissions. No copy and paste, no multitasking and no memory card support will all work against the success of the OS. While to some they are not important, it’s still fuel for the fire.

That aside, what we can say is that Microsoft has created something that is like nothing else seen on previous phones. While the iPhone and Android are still talking grids this is a very different approach to accessing your information and getting the most out of the handset.?

The question is: will it make getting that information any easier? If it doesn’t then it fails at the most basic request.?

Up against the competition, namely the iPhone and Android, from a user interface point of view it trumps anything out there hands down. There are some really interesting and certainly innovative elements here that will make a lot of people sit up and want to learn, see, and touch more.?

But 9 months is a long time. You only have to look at Palm to see that failing to get out of the gate quickly means you’ll soon be left behind.?

Yes it is a game changer, yes it will change the way we interact with our phones, and yes it does look great, but let’s hope that Microsoft can keep it that way.

The opportunity is in Microsoft’s hands.

What next?

We sit and wait. Microsoft has another round of demos and previews in the UK in April, which is likely to cover a lot of the ground already touched on, however we expect more titbits to come out at the same time.

Furthermore with a possible 9 months to go before the official launch a lot could change, with new information about the apps, hardware and user experience coming to light.

Whether the plans and features laid out above come to light is anyone’s guess, especially when development is in the shadow of new versions of Apple’s iPhone interface and Android, possibly coming before the end of the year.

We will keep you posted.

Tags:
Phones Mobile phones Windows Phone 7 Series Microsoft