Microsoft announced Windows Phone 7 today. It looks pretty amazing. The only negative point is that it won’t be out until the fourth quarter of 2010.

Windows Phone 7 - Prototype Hardware

Below are my notes from the launch:

Approach

  • WP7 changed approach, focused on end users, business and otherwise
  • visual design is called “metro” graphical intense, high motion ui
  • home screen is called the “start bar”
  • focuses on tasks rather than apps – tasks form a hub
  • Syncing to social networks seems to be a hands-off experience, sign in and it does the rest
  • Microsoft want to maintain stricter control of the look & feel of the device while still allowing for third-party innovation

Hardware

  • three hardware buttons (back, start, search)
  • require capacitive touch (minimum 4 point touch)
  • WVGA screen
  • FM (or digital?) radio

Search

  • context sensitive – different results based on where you are in the phone (contacts, email etc.)
  • automatically uses GPS
  • search can be of three types, attempts to choose the most appropriate one automatically (local, news, web)

Web Browser

  • based on PC code for maximum compatibility
  • pinch zoom
  • tap to zoom (zoom to column on page)
  • sub pixel positioning for text)
  • recognizes phone numbers and addresses and makes them linkable
  • supports tabs

People Hub

  • Aggregates all your contacts from social networks (no twitter yet by the looks, I imagine this will change)
  • Shows people you have communicated with recently
  • “What’s new” feed: feed from all your social networks

Office Hub

  • Access to Microsoft Office apps like OneNote, Excel, Word etc.

Games hub

  • Syncs with Xbox live
  • Focus on social gamer experience
  • earn gamer score, achievements

Me tile

  • Simultaneously update your social networking status to multiple sites

Email

  • Supports all common providers including gmail, yahoo as well as Exchange (of course)
  • Never see a loading bar, works against a local cache (very fast experience)

Text

  • Supports SMS, MMS
  • Supports portrait/landscape typing modes

Calendar

  • Automatically merges your personal and work calendars

Pictures

  • gallery lets you browse all pictures
  • “mosaic” shows recent or favourite pictures
  • “What’s new” feed shows latest pictures from your social networking sites (Facebook, Windows Live etc)
  • Album view combines folders from photos synced from Zune software on your PC with albums from Facebook, Windows Live
  • Social networking comments are displayed when you view a picture

Music and Video

  • Full Zune HD experience
  • Supports Zune pass/subscription

Other

  • toolbar is always available at the bottom to access “enhanced” commands
  • UI is not completely done (especially some of the buttons you see)
  • one press to correct words you’ve messed up in keyboard mode

More information:

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/LauraFoy/First-Look-Windows-Phone-7-Series-Hands-on-Demo/

http://www.windowsphone7series.com/