Recently, Microsoft unveiled the latest version of its mobile OS, Windows Phone 7 Series at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
As for any image you just conjured of a Windows mobile OS (i.e., a mini version of a Windows XP desktop), you might as well forget them — this new OS has been completely redesigned for the better.
The new user interface is slick and almost.. like an iPhone. Overall, the font and layout is clean and easy to navigate. Multitouch gestures like swiping, zooming, and pinching are supported. The OS has taken the best parts of Zune and integrated them with features important to consumers. The OS , whose search and map services include Bing, has been separated into 7 “hubs” based on the type of experience.
People: This hub contains the social networking content such as sharing photos and updating Facebook an Windows Live.
Pictures: The OS syncs photos between the PC and the web, making it easy to share photos via social networking sites and view your entire photo library on the go.
Games: Here is one of the areas where Microsoft is building on the success of XBox LIVE. The Windows Phone 7 Series will connect to your XBOx LIVE account and deliver games, friends, and scores.
Music/Video: As with any smartphone targeting consumers, having an integrated media centre is essential. This OS borrows directly from Zune, brining media content from your PC and online music services to your phone. There is even an FM radio and a social aspect to media sharing and recommendations with Zune Social. So not only is the interface accomplish what has been so successful with iPods, it adds social interactivity.
Marketplace: Like Apple’s App Store, the Marketplace will house approved applications and games that you will be able to purchase and install on your phone.
Office: Since Microsoft’s Office productivity suite is simply unrivalled in terms of sheer number of users, it’s only natural that the Windows Phone 7 Series provides complete support for these applications.
Additionally, there is Outlook Mobile for on-the-go access to e-mail, OneNote for note-taking, and SharePoint Workspace for collaborative projects.
Like Google’s Android OS, Windows Phone 7 Series is not tied to any device. But Microsoft is setting minimum standards for RAM and processor speeds (likely a 1GHz processor).
With this OS, Microsoft has given consumers a serious alternative to iPhones and Blackberries. It won’t be shipping for another 6 months or so, but it might be worth the wait.
