Event Coverage

MWC 2010 - A Look at Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 Series

By Seow Tein Hee - 16 Feb 2010

Microsoft Unveils Windows Phone 7 Series

Microsoft Unveils Windows Phone 7 Series

For two long years, Microsoft has left its Windows Mobile platform on the version six. At this year's Mobile World Congress, the Redmond company has decided to take on the lucky number seven with the introduction of its updated mobile operating system. And for some of us, it's time to shed our old ways and remember this: we are now looking at not Windows Mobile 7, but what shall be known as Windows Phone 7 Series.

Just a few months ago, Microsoft revealed its Windows Mobile 6.5 update. Back then, the Windows Phone branding has already been set in place, and updates were soon made available for various Windows Mobile devices over the months.

Ready. Set. For Windows Phone 7 Series, having it ready and setting it out for the masses might be a while more.

At this year's Mobile World Congress, Microsoft is looking at its largest crowd ever for its Windows Phone 7 Series announcement.

At the Microsoft press conference, Steve Ballmer was on-site to officially unveil the company's new Windows Phone 7 Series. To put it simply, we are looking at a whole new experience on this updated OS.

Unlike its earlier iterations, Windows Phone 7 Series will be holding a tighter reign, looking to unify the user experience across a variety of devices. In essence, Ballmer states, "With hardware vendors, we raise the bar with more consistency in hardware platform." On a similar note, Microsoft isn't able to confirm that WM6.X phones that satisfy those requirements will be upgradeable. However, every 7 Series device will be upgradeable with improvements and features delivered with subsequent 7 Series releases.

To give you a better idea of what to expect, here's a list of features found on Windows Phone 7 Series.

  • Dedicated hardware button for Bing search
  • Integration to Xbox LIVE games
  • Dynamic live tiles showing real-time content updates
  • User interface similar to Zune
  • Specific pages within Windows Phone known as hub - Peope, Pictures, Games, Music + Video, Marketplace, Office

For more details about these new features, hop on over to the next page.

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