Windows Phone 7 is Launching: Everything You Need to Know

Why Windows Phone 7 today? Because Microsoft running full-force with launching a new product, a little something we have been paying close attention to called Windows Phone 7. Windows Phone 7 is Microsoft’s new mobile operating system, and can arguably be called their re-entry into the mobile world. It becomes apparent that Microsoft is aiming for a new level of integration with this OS as Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said during today’s media event, “Everyone should be able to take a look at Windows Phone 7 and say, ‘This represents me.’”

What do you need to know about WP7 before launch? Let’s Take a look:

1) Carriers

Of course the first thing many consumers look as is carriers. will Windows Phone 7 be available with my carrier? Well, here is your answer:

In the US, it’s going to be AT&T and T-Mobile.

Here is Microsoft’s official list for carriers around the world:

The following devices will come to North America, Europe and Asia Pacific in the holiday 2010 timeframe.

In North America:

TELUS

América Móvil

In Europe:

O2

Orange

SFR

Movistar

Deutsche Telekom AG

Vodafone

In Asia Pacific:

SingTel

Telstra

Vodafone

2) Manufacturers

HTC, Samsung and LG are all going to be providing hardware for Windows Phone 7 handsets.

3) Phones That Will Be Available at Launch 

Five phones equipped with Windows Phone 7 will be hitting the US market when the new operating system ships this November. Let’s take a look at those phones:

AT&T

LG Quantum:

LG Quantum‚Ñ¢ ‚Äì designed for work, play and everything in between. With a slide-out keyboard for quick use of Office Mobile¬Æ, users can stay active and up to date with work. The LG Quantum also features DLNA technology through a preloaded application called Play To, which allows users to wirelessly stream videos, music, and pictures from the phone to a DLNA-enabled TV, stereo, Windows 7 PC and other consumer electronics devices.

This device launches late November for $199.99

HTC 7 Surround - premiers as the first smartphone to include integrated Dolby Mobile and SRS surround sound speakers. The HTC Surround speakers slide-out and reveal a kickstand for watching video beneath its 3.8-inch touch screen. HTC Surround blurs the line between home and mobile entertainment, making games, music and video on the go more enjoyable than ever.

Samsung Focus‚Ñ¢ ‚Äì debuts as AT&T‚Äôs thinnest Windows Phone and offers a visually stunning experience with a Super AMOLED‚Ñ¢ screen on a sleek 9.9 mm-thin touch screen phone. With the Focus‚Äô‚Ñ¢ amazingly crisp, brilliant screen, photos, games and videos come alive.

T-Mobile

                
HTC HD7 - This phone has GPS functionality from the TeleNav GPS Navigator, IE8, 16GB of internal storage, HD video recording, 5MP camera with autofocus and a dual LED flash. Microsoft Exchange and the Office Hub (Word, Powerpoint, Excel, OneNote and SharePoint Workspace). This phone also has built-in Netflix and T-Mobile TV. Other Apps include Slacker Radio, Xbox LIVE (of course) and Zune.

The phone has a full-QWERTY sliding keyboard as well as a 4.1-inch screen. Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor will be giving the phone plenty of speed. The phone should be available Mid-Novemeber.

Dell Venue Pro – This phone will be available in time for the holiday season. It has a full-QWERTY slideout keyboard. The 1GHz Snapdragon processor.

Here are some features listed by Dell, who said they aren’t yet ready to share all the details:

• Stunning 4.1‚Äù WVGA AMOLED capacitive, multi-touch display
• A full portrait QWERTY keyboard to provide a  better viewing & messaging experience
• Supported with T-Mobile service
• Elliptical, slender form provides elegance in a pocket-friendly size
• Gorilla Glass for unprecedented durability and scratch resistance

4) Advertisements

Microsoft is also rolling out the advertisements for Windows Phone 7. There are already a couple of TV Spots which are viewable online. You know, just in case you are that interested in the commercials:

5) Notable Apps From All Our Favorite Platforms 

Just a handful of the thousands of popular applications that are making their way to WP7:

Netflix, IMDB, Ebay App, AT&T U-Verse App, Facebook, YouTube, iHeartRadio and Slacker Radio are all here.

6) Microsoft’s Apps

Microsoft is also going to be providing  WP7 users with their own set of Apps. Many Xbox LIVE Arcade games are making their way to WP7.

The Photos app is another nice one that is built-in to your handset. This one shows your photo library, but the interesting part is that it allows for the user to view their stored photos as well as their Facebook photos side-by-side within the same album.

Microsoft is doing their best to give users the full Outlook experience on their phone.

Zune Pass seems to work much like Pandora and Slacker Radio. Type something up and the phone will start streaming the music you search.

7) Xbox LIVE Integration 

The WP7 Games Hub houses games, namely those found within Xbox LIVE Arcade (XBLA), and Microsoft has done a good deal in ensuring that there is a healthy library of compatible games ready to roll out before the end of the year. Electronic Arts (EA) is on board to provide Need for Speed Undercover, Tetris and The Sims 3 from the start.

Worth a quick mention is that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 will be getting AT&T’s U-Verse in November and as Microsoft’s Corporate VP, Joe Belfiore, said, “Windows phone will be the only phone that gives you access to games that work with your Xbox.” That’s right, they are taking this one seriously.

Users/Gamers can check out their Avatars and customize right from their phone as well as manage their friends on Xbox LIVE and play some of their XBLA games directly from their phone.

Other Bits of Useful Information

- It seems that we may see some carrier-exclusive applications. A game called Llo Milo is for their Xbox LIVE Arcade service, but is only available on AT&T phones. It will be interesting to see how this is used in the future.

- The company announced that copy and paste will be coming early 2011. No big deal, it will come when it does.

- Phone can take pictures even while locked by simply holding down the camera button. This will make those picture moments much better. We’ve had our own times when something worth taking a picture of happens but by the time we get past the iPhone’s unlock screen and launch the camera App, the opportunity is gone. This will be fun.

- Unlock Screen has calendar/event data, making it easy to see things while simply pulling out your phone, and minimizing the need to launch applications to check dates.

- Outlook will detect scheduling conflicts within an email. For example, if  a friend invites you to a party and gives you a date and time, but your calendar says you have a meeting that day at that time, your phone will alert you and link you to the conflicting time on your calendar.

- Uses Bing search, which is likely no surprise, as Bing is Microsoft’s search engine.

- Holding the search button will prompt a voice search.

- Cloud integration. Phone has sync-to-the-cloud function, and content can be quickly synced via your profile on Microsoft’s Live.com. This will also be handy if you lose your phone. You can make it ring remotely.

Overall

Microsoft is hitting the mobile market head-on with their new OS. They have the carriers and the manufacturers. They are hoping to simplify the experience by giving users less things to tap on as they navigate the phone’s menu. Their goal seems to be to simplify the whole process and make one of the most easy-to-use consumer phones on the market so that users spend less time looking down at the screen and more time with the things that matter in life, friends and family. It’s an interesting approach and it’s how they are marketing the OS in their ads. We will have to see if that approach helps them sell the phone.

It begins early November.