Week of February 7, 2010

EXCLUSIVE Breaking News : Windows Phone 7 Details Emerge From The Depths

-The User Interface is based upon codename “METRO”. It will be very similar to the Zune HD User Interface with a complete revamp of the “Start” screen. The UI is “Very Clean”, “Soulful” and “Alive”
-Unfortunately there will be no Flash support at the get go as there was not enough time to implement these features.
-Windows Phone 7 will only support application installation through service based delivery. (i.e Marketplace). Application installation via storage card will not be possible.
- No Multi-Task support. Applications will “Pause” when in the background, however will support notifications via push notifications.
-Marketplace will now support “try before you buy” as well as an API
-No NETCF backwards compatibility. This means the original rumor of no backward compatibility for applications holds to be true. That being said, there are high hopes of porting the NetCF to the newer platform easily.
-Microsoft is confident that devices will be ready by September 2010
-Full Zune Integration
-Windows Mobile Device Center will no longer be used. Zune software to take over syncing via PC.
-OEM Interfaces will not be allowed to run on the device. Say goodbye to Sense UI / SPB Mobile Shell / Point UI / Infinity, etc, etc
-Full XBOX Gaming Integration (Gamer tag, achievements, friends, avatars, merchandising, etc)
-Full support for social networking(Source: MightyMike, PPCGeeks)
Posted Friday, February 12 2010 by ChrisD
Rating: 3 Comments (1)

Windows Phone 7: No Multitasking, Stricter Microsoft QA

Obviously, the big shocker is no multitasking. The rumours states that applications can "pause" instead, but what exactly that entails it doesn't say. To me, that sounds like quiting the applications but saving their state, so that when you relaunch them, you can continue where you left off. For example, if you were busy editing a Word document, then Pocket Word (or does it have a new name?) would save the state when it quits. If you re-open Word, you would be right back where you left off: cursor in the right place, document properly scrolled/zoomed, etc. Push notifications will be part of the package as well.

Application installation will go through things like the Marketplace alone; so you won't be able to 'side-load' applications onto the device. This seems like a major step backwards to me, but hey, it worked for Apple, right? I doubt this part of the rumour is true - there will probably (hopefully...) be an advanced switch or something. (Source: Thom Holwerda, OS News)
Posted Friday, February 12 2010 by ChrisD
Rating: 2 Comments (0)

Microsoft MyPhone 2.0 overhaul tipped for Windows Phone 7

The My Phone service is the initial release in a bigger vision to combine these two critical areas into a compelling customer experience, enhancing the Windows Phone platform with powerful web integration scenarios around data protection, device management, social networking, location awareness, ease of use, integration with partner services, and much more.” Microsoft job advert (Source: Chris Davies, SlashGear)
Posted Friday, February 12 2010 by ChrisD
Rating: 2.71 Comments (0)

Microsoft Targets Phones

Windows Mobile, 'Pink' Project Are Latest Attempts to Revive Wireless Efforts

New devices based on Windows Mobile 7, due out later this year, will be the first to reflect a much tighter focus at Microsoft on how its software works with hardware made by other companies. In the past, Microsoft has taken much the same approach in mobile software as it has in the PC market, licensing its operating system to nearly any hardware maker that wanted to install it on their systems.

With Windows Mobile 7, similarly, Microsoft has gotten more involved in hardware design by creating detailed plans for a small number of handset "chassis" on top of which hardware manufactures can build their devices, people familiar with the effort said. The idea behind the plan, these people said, is to limit the wild variation in quality of Windows phones and to make it easier for independent application developers to write software that runs well on them. (Source: Nick Wingfield, Niraj Sheth and Cassell Bryan-Low Wall Street Journal)

Posted Friday, February 12 2010 by ChrisD
Rating: 2 Comments (0)

Microsoft Bets on Phone-Software Upgrade to Fight IPhone, RIM

On Feb. 15, Microsoft will unveil its latest effort to get back into the game. The renamed Windows Phone operating system, set to be introduced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, will “move the bar forward,” said Robbie Bach, president of the company’s entertainment and devices division.

Microsoft’s updated software has the advantage of easily handling word processing and spreadsheets sent from PCs. It also will be more integrated with the company’s Xbox game machine and Zune music player, so users can share music and videos among Microsoft devices. (Source: Cliff Edwards and Olga Kharif, Bloomberg.com)

Posted Friday, February 12 2010 by ChrisD
Rating: 3.33 Comments (0)