It really looks as if Microsoft have done something right for once. I’m talking about their new and much improved mobile operating system, which they showed off at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona.
What they’ve done is they’ve basically scrapped everything and took a clean sheet approach and if all goes well Microsoft could be a serious competitor for Apple and Google when the Windows 7 Phone Series is fully launched later in the year. It’s just a shame we have to wait so long for it.
“It’s a big step but I think we have a chance to make an impact on the market” said Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer, and I think they do, it’s looking great.
So what is there to know?
Firstly, the user will find the Windows Phone 7 series experience as highly intuitive and which will evolve in real time depending on how you interact with it.
The phones will have location based mapping software to offer suggestions as to where to go and what to do and see.
There’s a “What’s New” section, for getting the latest social networking updates, and this time we have what has been called “Live tiles” which will pull in content from a variety of sources.
Users will also be able to create their own live tiles to keep up to date with anything they are interested in.
Information is centred on six “hubs” which include people, games, music, office, marketplace, and pictures. Within each one content can be pulled together in a single view.
For example, in the people hub, you can access all your contacts from a variety of sources which are arranged in order of importance depending on how often you interact with them.
The games hub incorporates Microsoft’s Xbox live and the music hub brings together music and video content as well as in-built FM radio.
As we tend to use our devices for business as well as pleasure the office hub is available and can be used to open and edit documents as well as email.
Then there’s the picture hub which will allow storage of photos and photo sharing.
Although Microsoft is only providing the software, they will also have a say in the hardware that’s used, and the interface will be standard throughout all the phones. .
It’s not often we can say it but nice one Microsoft.
