Microsoft has just launched its new and revamped mobile phone operating system called Windows Phone 7 Series.
The world’s biggest software company, which aims to earn back market share from the iPhone and BlackBerry, said new phones featuring Windows Phone 7 would be in stores by Christmas.
“In a crowded market filled with phones that look the same and do the same things, I challenged the team to deliver a different kind of mobile experience. Windows Phone 7 Series marks a turning point toward phones that truly reflect the speed of people’s lives and their need to connect to other people and all kinds of seamless experiences.” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer at Microsoft.
The version 7.0 of its mobile operating system will have a newly designed homescreen and elements from Microsoft’s Zune HD music player, as well as gaming elements from its Xbox. Office software is redesigned as well, and Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, is also integrated in the new software via a one touch search button at the foot of the OS’s UI.
The OS is divided into six area’s or “hubs”:
- People. This hub delivers an engaging social experience by bringing together relevant content based on the person, including his or her live feeds from social networks and photos. It also provides a central place from which to post updates to Facebook and Windows Live in one step.
- Pictures. This hub makes it easy to share pictures and video to a social network in one step. Windows Phone 7 Series also brings together a user’s photos by integrating with the Web and PC, making the phone the ideal place to view a person’s entire picture and video collection.
- Games. This hub delivers the first and only official Xbox LIVE experience on a phone, including Xbox LIVE games, Spotlight feed and the ability to see a gamer’s avatar, Achievements and gamer profile. With more than 23 million active members around the world, Xbox LIVE unlocks a world of friends, games and entertainment on Xbox 360, and now also on Windows Phone 7 Series.
- Music + Video. This hub creates an incredible media experience that brings the best of Zune, including content from a user’s PC, online music services and even a built-in FM radio into one simple place that is all about music and video. Users can turn their media experience into a social one with Zune Social on a PC and share their media recommendations with like-minded music lovers. The playback experience is rich and easy to navigate, and immerses the listener in the content.
- Marketplace. This hub allows the user to easily discover and load the phone with certified applications and games.
- Office. This hub brings the familiar experience of the world’s leading productivity software to the Windows Phone. With access to Office, OneNote and SharePoint Workspace all in one place, users can easily read, edit and share documents. With the additional power of Outlook Mobile, users stay productive and up to date while on the go.
Engadget has had a chance to play with the new OS first hand, highly recommend you read their initial impressions.
Update:
Video of the new OS, more videos here.
That looks awful, sorry
Very interested in the Xbox Live logo. That's still an area Microsoft has the advantage over Apple and Google in.
Does whatever version of internet explorer they have on their support CSS for anything other than fonts yet?
as Steve said in 1996: “the problem with Microsoft is that they have absolutely no taste”. Apparently no change since then :-)
I'll bet it will still use scrollbars, though! FAIL.
nice interface but i hate IE as the browser. mozilla devs please develop firefox for this mobile OS, thanks.
You must be blind to think it is a nice interface. It is old fashioned and ugly!
I don't think it's uglier than the iphone interface, it has the advantage of not being a copy paste of it, i think you say so because you don't like microsoft, to the people who say it's ugly just give me one example of what you find pretty as a phone interface…
Yes, you're right. I think it is ugly because I don't like MicroSoft. Not because it looks most of the time like all the content doesn't fit onto the screen. Neither because the screen looks cramped in, nor because of the nearly unreadable text written on top of images. And that is only based on the highlights. Wait until we see the real phone!!
I tried to image what it would look like with a Apple logo on it, but that's almost impossible to comprehend, because Apple put a lot of effort into designing user interfaces. This looks like something Steve Balmer asked his 15 year old son to design.
youre right on some points, apple puts a lot of efforts into his interfaces ( i work on an imac ), i really like macosx and i own an iphone, but i have a pc at home under windows 7 and i dont think it's better or worse, just different, so like you said let's wait for the real phone, but as for the interface on the vid i find it nice, maybe i don't have as much taste as you (too bad for a webdesigner)…
and the movements of the interface are much nicer than the iphone…
WOW!! so simple yet so Awesome!
Apple puts a lot of efforts in the interfaces to him , and I love her life and I own an iPhone, but I have a computer at home under Windows 7 and I do not think it is better or worse, is completely different, so like I said Let's wait for the phone is real.
sd card