The Mobile World Congress is in full swing, and as expected, there’s a lot of stuff happening in the mobile arena. But there’s one big headline story that is easily the biggest of the bunch: today’s the day Microsoft finally officially announced Windows Phone 7 Series (woohoo, an official name, no need to keep calling it WinMo 7). Now, we all know that many people have said Microsoft needs to completely break with the past, to make their phones relevant and exciting again. So, have they done that?
Oh dear god, have they ever!
Let’s say it in simple terms, right from the start: Windows Phone 7 Series is absolutely, completely different to any previous version of WinMo. And unfortunately, the first thing to note is that I called something wrong, annoyingly. In the last post I did about Windows Phone 7 Series, I predicted Microsoft wouldn’t stop third parties adding their own interfaces, so we’d still see HTC Sense and SPB Mobile Shell, for example, running on Windows Phones.
I was wrong. Microsoft did just that.
That’s right, folks, third party interfaces on Windows phones are no more. They have ceased to be, shuffled off this mortal coil, and gone to join the bleedin’ choir invisible (in hindsight, that probably explains why SPB are porting Mobile Shell across to Android and Symbian). So, if there are no more third party interfaces, Windows phones are going to have to stand on the strength of Microsoft’s own interface. But how much of a break is it from previous versions of Windows Mobile? How much new ground does it break?
Well, there’s a reason I’ve actually started calling it by its proper name, instead of WinMo 7. Put simply, the interface on Windows Phone 7 Series is absolutely nothing like any previous Microsoft interface. Or like any other third party interface. It’s totally new, in the same way the Palm Pre was new when it was first unveiled. Slide up the lock screen, and you’re presented with a series of live tiles, that put your key things (like important people, or the browser, or your music link) front and centre on screen. Oh, and those tiles auto-update, so if a person’s Facebook status changes, it shows it on your home screen. But don’t just take my word for it, Microsoft’s done a whole video about the new interface:
Nice, innit!
Past the front end, everything is organised into ‘hubs’; you’ve got the music and video hub, the pictures hub, the people hub and the Office hub (a brilliant touch for business users, as it gives them full business functionality that LOOKS like an out-and-out consumer phone). The most exciting hubs, though, are the music and video hub, which is basically Zune on a phone (that’s why Microsoft aren’t making a Zune phone… every Windows 7 Series phone is a Zune phone), and the games hub. The games hub is easily the most exciting thing about the new platform, though, for one very good reason:
Full Xbox Live integration…
Yes, not only is your 3D avatar from Xbox Live displayed in the games hub, you can customise it on your phone, just as you would on the Xbox. And it pulls in your gamerscore. If we’re talking mobile gaming, it doesn’t get any more exciting than having Xbox Live on there, especially when (and you know they will) they get actual, proper games on there. They haven’t announced any titles yet (that’s for the MIX conference next month), but the possibilities are getting me all hot and bothered. Hell, I can think of some possibilities for integration myself: consider something like mineral mining in Mass Effect 2. You could do that on your phone, through Xbox Live, in your spare time, and then, when you get on the console itself, spend that time killing alien nasties, instead of doing all the tedious mineral mining that you’ve already done, on your phone, on the bus.
They’ve also announced a load of hardware and network partners, for Windows Phone 7 Series, and the list is rather extensive. And intriguing, since as well as the usual suspects like HTC (and the rumour still persists that the HTC HD2 will get a 7 Series upgrade), it includes people like Dell. And I like Dell hardware. I really like Dell hardware. As for networks, they’ve got two big partners on board for special agreements, and one of ‘em is Orange (the other’s AT&T, who are in America, so I don’t care about them). And I’m on Orange. Therefore, this makes me happy.
So, in conclusion, Windows Phone 7 Series has been announced, and although people were expecting something new, I don’t think anyone was expecting it to be as new as it is. Sure, there are things I’m not keen on, chief among them being the fact that third party interfaces aren’t allowed. Although, if pressed, I can understand why they’ve made that decision. Consistency between phones, y’see, and so they can establish themselves as a specific interface brand. Y’know, so when you think of a Windows phone, you’ll think of that one interface. We’ll have to see how it works in practice, but I’m, shall we say, cautiously optimistic.
However, I can give you one piece of evidence that firmly proves that the new OS is something special, and is a complete, clean break from the past. Consider iPhone users, and how critical they are of other phones. Now consider how many comments I’ve seen on various sites, with iPhone users saying their iPhone is getting binned, and they’re switching over to Windows Phone 7 when phones using it go on sale (which will, incidentally, be around Christmas this year).
Think about that, confirmed iPhone lovers are saying they’re going to buy a Microsoft-powered phone. That’s rather telling, that is…
[To see the product unveiling for yourself, visit the Windows Phone 7 Series homepage. But be warned, it's huge, so it'll take about 9 years to buffer]
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