Windows Mobile users will be able to upgrade their phones to Windows Phone 7 depending on the handset and the operating system installed – older versions of Windows Mobile (ie versions prior to Win Mobile 5x) will not be able to be upgraded. Microsoft has not yet announced the hardware requirements for Windows Mobile 7 so these will be critical to any upgrade process.
A mobile version of the Internet Explorer browser will be available with the Windows Phone 7 OS which is due out towards the end of 2010. A key feature of any mobile OS is the web browser and Microsoft highlighted the fact that the Win Phone browser would be a paired down version of Internet Explorer. At the MWC, demos of web broswer showed the browsing speed to be very fast but a little buggy. The screen resolution looked fantastic and far superior to that on the iPhone.
OneNote – Microsoft’s popular note taking and organization tool will be included in Windows Phone 7. Microsoft gave a demo of the capabilities of Win Phone and highlighted the full Office suite of products (including Word, Excel, and Sharepoint). OneNote has long been a major demand for users of the previous Windows Mobile operating systems. There was no live demo of the OneNote application but it is likely that there will be more details available at the Mix conference in mid March.
Microsoft Excel will be a dedicated application in the forthcoming Windows Phone Series 7 OS. A full Win Phone Office suite is in the phone OS. Microsoft did not demo the app or give details on its feature set and what capabilities it will have. It will likely Sync with the online Office suite which will debut in April. Word, OneNote and Sharepoint are also included on the Win Phone OS which will make it a very appealing platform for enterprises.
At MWC Microsoft showed a working demo on the Windows Phone Series 7 OS which contains a full office suite . Microsoft Word will obviously be a key component of this and there will be a dedicated application built into Win Phone 7 and likely sync with Microsoft’s forthcoming office online service.
Twitter is likely to be a key app in the forthcoming Windows Phone 7. There was no demo of how to integrate with your Twitter account and how you can send tweets through the phone. Microsoft promised more details and demos of this at Mix and how to integrate your Twitter account with other Windows Phone apps.
At MWC Microsoft introduced Windows Phone Series 7 OS which had several social media applications inbuilt. Facebook integration is central to Win Phone 7 and will be featured on the home page of the device. Facebook updates will be streamed the Windows Phone and the app will have all the standard features such as friends, chat etc.
Syncronization with email (Gmail, Hotmail, Exchange Server etc) will be a key feature of the Windows Phone 7 Series. At MWC Microsoft demoed the OS with an Email client which syncs to desktop of webmail clients – no further details were released and the Win Phone OS was noticeably buggy when using email.
Microsoft announced Windows Phone Series 7 will have XBox LIVE integration. The Games Hub will deliver an “XBox LIVE games experience” according to a spokesman from Microsoft which includes Xbox LIVE games, Spotlight feed and the ability to see a gamer’s avatar. There will be a Spotlight section, the user’s Xbox Live avatar and updates on the user’s friends’ achievements. Hopefully games will be multiplayer connected to other phones, PCs and Xbox 360 consoles. But Microsoft did not demo this capability at launch.
