Windows Phone 7
| Published: July 21, 2010 | Author: Adam Smith |
Windows Phone 7
Windows Mobile has long been left behind in the smart phone race. Once the standard in PDA’s, Microsoft have been left in the dust of the iPhone and more recently Google’s Android platform. But is all that about the change?
After failing to keep up with the advancements from Apple with the stop gap Windows Mobile 6.5, Microsoft began again. They gave the platform a new name – Windows Phone 7 and redesigned the interface from the ground up. To Microsoft’s credit they could have come up with an iPhone knock off, but they have chosen to do something totally different.
To start it has a main page consisting of tiles constantly updating with Email, SMS and Facebook updates. Other horizontally scrolling panels allow easy access to music, pictures, video, email, Office 2010 and Xbox Live. Throw in Zune integration (Microsoft little known iPod competitor that in many respects is better) could allow Microsoft to get back in the game.
A great example of how it works is pictures. If you link your Facebook account and post pictures – they’re on your phone, in the Pictures panel automatically. On other platforms if you want to see the images – you open your Facebook App, find the images and then open them. In Windows Phone 7 – just go to the Picture panel and they’re there – no need to start an App or remember when they were posted, or on what site.
* Video is linked from the Engadget review below
Setup and Configuration
Setup of the phone is easy – configure your Windows Live account, login on the phone and everything linked in your account is setup. Any purchased Apps and configuration settings are also installed automatically when either re-installing the phone or upgrading to other Windows Phone 7 unit.
With development tools based on Microsoft’s own Silverlight platform (Flash like programming language) – designing Apps will be far easier than for either the iPhone or the Android. In the future Microsoft envisage begin able to develop for the PC, XBox 360 and Windows Phone 7 using the same code thus allowing fast development time and cross platform applications.
It is expected that Windows Phone 7 will be much like the first iPhone. It will do a number of things well, but will take a number of revisions to evolve into a more featured and rounded platform. In these fast moving times and for the sake of a competitive marketplace lets hope Microsoft can pull it off.
Review Links
If you would like to read some in depth reviews follow these links below.
Paul Thurrott’s Supersite For Windows – Hands on with Windows Phone 7
Paul is currently writing a new book based around the new phone called Windows Phone 7 Secrets. His review has some great insights into the phone that other’s can’t provide and is well worth reading.
Engadget – Windows Phone 7 in-depth review
From the respected gadget and IT news website, Engadget provides a balanced review of the good and bad points of the phone in what is the most competitive and fastest growing segment currently in the IT world.
