With more Windows Phone 7 Series news than you can shake a stick at, MIX10 saw developers get the lowdown on what exact features to expect on the handset, as well as being introduced to the new Windows Phone Marketplace.
The marketplace will have a panoramic design and supports one-time credit card purchases, mobile operator billing and advertising-funded applications.
It will also allow customers to try out different apps before deciding to buy it and lets developers cross-promote their apps through deep linking.
Aside from this, the juicy details of the Windows Phone 7 Series were announced: “It brings together a rich application environment, powerful hardware, a fresh approach to software and a smart new design,” said Joe Belfiore, corporate vice-president, Windows Phone Program Management.
“With the best developer tools, an established ecosystem and marketplace, and a path for developers to use their Silverlight and XNA Framework skill sets, we are delivering an application platform that is simple, powerful and inspiring.”
Key features of the Windows Phone 7 Series:
· Accelerometer
· Microsoft location service
· Microsoft notification service for pushing information to the phone, regardless of whether or not an app is running
· Hardware-accelerated video with digital rights management (DRM)
· Internet Information Services Smooth Streaming for high-quality content viewing experience
· Multitouch
· Camera and microphone support
What phones won’t make the grade
As we know by now, the Windows Phone 7 Series will work on handsets that have three physical navigation buttons on the bottom, including a Bing button.
While HTC is one of the official Windows Phone 7 Series partners, the shiny new HD2 will not run the new operating system and no backwards compatability is foreseeable given the hardware constraints to existing smart phones running Windows Mobile 6.5 will most likely miss out. If you want a phone running on the new system you’ll have to buy one because upgrading is not an option.
By Marie Boran
Photo: Windows 7 Series phone
