Late tonight here in Redmond, but very early over in Germany we took the wraps off our first wave of game titles making their way this holiday to Windows Phone 7.  I know there has been lots of anticipation about XBOX Live on Windows Phone 7 so I hope this first drop of news is welcome!  First, head over here to get all the latest on the announcement including titles like Crackdown 2: Project Sunburst. This is a tower defense game that uses real locations as the gaming world thanks the Bing maps. Defend the big landmark in your city or even your own house!

In addition to the games, we also announced enhanced Games hub functionality in store for Windows Phone 7 including a rich avatar experience, messaging using Xbox LIVE and the ability to see all your friends’ play status, Gamerscore and latest achievements. If you don’t have a Xbox LIVE account when you purchase a Windows Phone 7 you can sign and up and deck out your avatar all from the phone, no Xbox console required!

This is just the first in many great announcements we have planned for Xbox LIVE on Windows Phone 7 so be sure to stay tuned for the latest. I will drill into some of the specific titles announced today in the coming days, and also try to get some guest posts or interviews with our publisher friends in coming weeks. Also head over to the Windows Phone Developer blog to hear from Michael Klucher on the ground in Germany!

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Microsoft has confirmed the hardware partners that will be launching Windows Phone 7 handsets, at a one-to-one briefing with Pocket-lint.

Although the company still wouldn't be drawn on any specific dates for the launch of the new mobile phone operating system, beyond some time in the "Holidays", it was happy to tell us who was making the devices for day one sales.

Greg Sullivan, senior product manager for Microsoft, told Pocket-lint that we could expect handsets from Dell, Asus, LG, HTC, and Samsung at the launch later this year.

It confirms certain former rumors.

We always thought Dell would be launching a Windows Phone 7 device, the Dell Lightning. And HTC exclusively confirmed to us that it was also launching a Windows Phone 7-powered handset too.

In our meeting, Sullivan referenced an LG Pacific, possibly a renaming of the LG Panther doing the rounds, but refused to be drawn further.

Microsoft is using a Samsung device for developers to preview and work with the new OS, but has categorically stated that Samsung isn't releasing the handset (pictured) in that form.

Continue at pocket-lint

Looks like the iPhone era is over at Microsoft.

OK, probably not entirely, but the company's decision to give every employee a new Windows Phone 7 device -- announced this afternoon at its big sales meetup in Atlanta, according to tweets from employees -- should at least reduce the odds that any of them trying to take Steve Ballmer's picture with an Apple device.

A Microsoft spokesman confirmed the news, saying that the specific devices will vary by market. And yes, they will be actual Windows Phone 7 devices -- this is not Microsoft's attempt to get rid of its surplus Kins.

Follow-up: Read the full text of the memo

Continue at TechFlash

Here’s a link to the release notes for the beta, but I wanted to talk about a few top level items:

• Microsoft Expression Blend for Windows Phone – Blend is now integrated completely into the Windows Phone Developer Tools Beta.
• Developer Registration Utility – Now you can unlock you Windows Phone 7 device for development purposes.
• XAP Deployment Tool – if you want to deploy XAP files directly to an unlocked device, now you can.
• The Windows Phone 7 API – we’re getting close to completion.  Many namespaces that were previously distributed over several different DLLs have now been consolidated into one.  In addition, there have been realignments and changes in several other namespaces as well.  Push Notifications, Accelerometer and App Bar APIs have all been updated.
• Additional Controls – There are some additional controls coming in the next few weeks (i.e. Panorama and Pivot) which didn’t make the beta release.  They are coming soon.
• Control Templates – Silverlight for Windows Phone control templates have been updated to match evolutions in the overall OS.

Full Story here

After having gone to public beta late last year, Office Mobile 2010 is now available in conjunction with the retail release of the full desktop version of Office 2010, bringing comprehensive Word, Excel, and PowerPoint editing capabilities to the pocket -- on Windows Mobile 6.5, that is.

The download is available today from Windows Marketplace for users of 6.5 devices with an older version of Office Mobile installed -- so go on, Tiger, whip up the hottest quarterly reports the world has ever seen. We know you have it in you.

Full Story At Source

 

Microsoft’s WindowsPhone7.com site has unfortunately been put to the side by MS since they announced WP7. There is an area of ‘exclusive content’ for people that have registered and they recently posted a video explaining why copy and paste is not needed in WP7.

It shows a few scenarios where copy and paste would traditionally be used but because the OS is designed to take action with addresses and hyperlinks, for example, you can get the same functionality without the need to copy and paste. Take a look at it in action:

Check out www.kin.com for all information about Kin One and Kin Two. Click Image below to go to site.

Microsoft today announced KIN, a new Windows^® Phone designed specifically for people who are actively navigating their social lives. Brought to life through partnerships with Verizon Wireless, Vodafone and Sharp Corporation, KIN is designed to be the ultimate social experience that blends the phone, online services and the PC with breakthrough new experiences called the Loop, Spot and Studio. KIN will be exclusively available from Verizon Wireless in the U.S. beginning in May and from Vodafone this autumn in Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.

“Working closely with our partners, we saw an opportunity to design a mobile experience just for this social generation — a phone that makes it easy to share your life moment to moment,” said Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. “We built KIN for people who live to be connected, share, express and relate to their friends and family. This social generation wants and needs more from their phone. KIN is the one place to get the stuff you care about to the people you care about most.”

KIN is a new social experience from Microsoft Corp. that combines the phone, online services and the PC.

Continue at Source for full information.

Last year we released Microsoft Office Mobile 2010 Beta, a suite of productivity applications for Windows Mobile 6.5 phones, on the Windows Marketplace for Mobile. First and foremost, we want to thank everyone who has tried Office Mobile 2010 Beta and has given us valuable feedback.

The Beta expired on April 5, 2010. We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused. While the expiration date was mentioned in the product terms of use, we realize that you may have questions and we decided to answer them in today’s blog post.

Does this impact me? If so, how?
If you installed Office Mobile 2010 Beta on your Windows Mobile 6.5 device, then this does impact you. As of April 5th, you are unable to launch the Office Mobile applications on your phone.

Full Story At Source (Via http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=5833)

Charlie Kindel, one of the key thinkers behind the Windows Phone 7 Series development platform that’s being unveiled today here at MIX10, admits he’s the kind of guy who wears his heart on his sleeve. Talk to him about technology, and his passion bursts at the seams. Onstage at MIX, Kindel will announce the availability of Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone, which is specifically designed for building Windows Phone applications and is now available free in a single download at http://developer.windowsphone.com. Visual Studio 2010 Express includes an emulator that will allow developers to build and test their applications directly on their PCs in a virtualized Windows Phone 7 OS environment. That means developers won’t need the phone hardware to get started at building phone apps. Kindel will also tell attendees they can get a free version of Microsoft Expression Blend specifically designed to help them build apps for the new phone. They can use it to build graphical interfaces for Silverlight applications. As Kindel views it, the aim of the new tools is to give developers a “friction-free” way to build Windows Phone 7 Series applications and games. The goal is to make developers “super-productive very quickly” building “innovative and beautiful user experiences.” Perhaps no one is more prepared to tell developers what the new suite of Windows Phone tools can do. Full Story At Source

Today at Mobile World Congress 2010, Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled the next generation of Windows^® Phones, Windows Phone 7 Series. With this new platform, Microsoft offers a fresh approach to phone software, distinguished by smart design and truly integrated experiences that bring to the surface the content people care about from the Web and applications. For the first time ever, Microsoft will bring together Xbox LIVE games and the Zune music and video experience on a mobile phone, exclusively on Windows Phone 7 Series. Partners have already started building phones; customers will be able to purchase the first phones in stores by holiday 2010.

“Today, I’m proud to introduce Windows Phone 7 Series, the next generation of Windows Phones,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer at Microsoft. “In a crowded market filled with phones that look the same and do the same things, I challenged the team to deliver a different kind of mobile experience. Windows Phone 7 Series marks a turning point toward phones that truly reflect the speed of people’s lives and their need to connect to other people and all kinds of seamless experiences.”

Designed for Life in Motion

With Windows Phone 7 Series, Microsoft takes a fundamentally different approach to phone software. Smart design begins with a new, holistic design system that informs every aspect of the phone, from its visually appealing layout and motion to its function and hardware integration. On the Start screen, dynamically updated “live tiles” show users real-time content directly, breaking the mold of static icons that serve as an intermediate step on the way to an application. Create a tile of a friend, and the user gains a readable, up-to-date view of a friend’s latest pictures and posts, just by glancing at Start.

Every Windows Phone 7 Series phone will come with a dedicated hardware button for Bing, providing one-click access to search from anywhere on the phone, while a special implementation of Bing search provides intent-specific results, delivering the most relevant Web or local results, depending on the type of query.

Windows Phone 7 Series creates an unrivaled set of integrated experiences on a phone through Windows Phone hubs. Hubs bring together related content from the Web, applications and services into a single view to simplify common tasks. Windows Phone 7 Series includes six hubs built on specific themes reflecting activities that matter most to people:

People. This hub delivers an engaging social experience by bringing together relevant content based on the person, including his or her live feeds from social networks and photos. It also provides a central place from which to post updates to Facebook and Windows Live in one step.

Pictures. This hub makes it easy to share pictures and video to a social network in one step. Windows Phone 7 Series also brings together a user’s photos by integrating with the Web and PC, making the phone the ideal place to view a person’s entire picture and video collection.

Games. This hub delivers the first and only official Xbox LIVE experience on a phone, including Xbox LIVE games, Spotlight feed and the ability to see a gamer’s avatar, Achievements and gamer profile. With more than 23 million active members around the world, Xbox LIVE unlocks a world of friends, games and entertainment on Xbox 360, and now also on Windows Phone 7 Series.

Music + Video. This hub creates an incredible media experience that brings the best of Zune, including content from a user’s PC, online music services and even a built-in FM radio into one simple place that is all about music and video. Users can turn their media experience into a social one with Zune Social on a PC and share their media recommendations with like-minded music lovers. The playback experience is rich and easy to navigate, and immerses the listener in the content.

Marketplace. This hub allows the user to easily discover and load the phone with certified applications and games.

Office. This hub brings the familiar experience of the world’s leading productivity software to the Windows Phone. With access to Office, OneNote and SharePoint Workspace all in one place, users can easily read, edit and share documents. With the additional power of Outlook Mobile, users stay productive and up to date while on the go.

Availability

Partners from around the world have committed to include Windows Phone 7 Series in their portfolio plans. They include mobile operators AT&T, Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange, SFR, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telstra, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone, and manufacturers Dell, Garmin-Asus, HTC Corp., HP, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Qualcomm Inc. The first phones will be available by holiday 2010. Customers who would like to receive additional information about Windows Phone 7 Series and be notified when it is available can register at http://www.windowsphone7series.com.

To watch the full replay of Steve Ballmer’s press conference at Mobile World Congress, and to experience Windows Phone 7 Series through an online product demo, readers can visit http://www.microsoft.com/news/windowsphone.

 

 

More on the Windows Phone Image Gallery

Now  you can stay connected to those that matter most with Windows Live™ for Windows® phone. Windows Live Messenger, Hotmail®, Photos and the “What’s New” feed are now all available on your 6.x Windows® phone. Windows Live™ for Windows® phone (Pro) is for use with a touch phone.

Alternatively you can browse to http://wl.windowsmobile.com using Internet Explorer on your device to install using direct download.

Version: 10.7.0061.0500

Windows Live for Windows® phone (Pro)

Windows Live for Windows® phone (Std)

I’m pleased to introduce a few much anticipated upgrades for Windows Marketplace for Mobile going live today. We introduced Windows Marketplace with the launch of Windows phones on October 6^th and promised a second wave of features in November. Today, we’re adding more advanced anti-piracy protection and an improved developer portal for our registered ISVs, as well as introducing PC based shopping and account management for Windows phone customers.

Developer portal improvements and stronger anti-piracy protection
We’ve been gathering input on what we can do to improve the developer experience and have made some subtle but important enhancements to the developer portal to enable easier uploading of images, greater insight into account status and several other refinements based on feedback from developers. Today’s update also provides more advanced anti-piracy protection.

Browse and buy applications from the PC
While we’ve heard great feedback on the Marketplace experience on Windows phones, sometimes people just want the benefits of a shopping on a PC. Starting today, Windows phone customers can browse, buy and download applications online at the Windows Marketplace for Mobile site. The selected applications are delivered wirelessly to the customer’s Windows phone and install the next time the Windows Marketplace client runs on the device. This creates another way for customers to easily find and purchase applications and gives developers a whole new level of exposure.

Marketplace has been extremely active and I couldn’t be happier with the reactions from both developers and customers. We’ve been open for just over one month and already we can see that there’s demand for an application marketplace that doesn’t compromise on quality or experience. I look forward to providing a more detailed update on Windows Marketplace for Mobile when we extend the service to Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 customers later this month

Source: Windows Team Blog

Ballmer may have wanted it to be out yesterday, but it looks like the initial release of Windows Mobile 7 may now finally, actually be in sight.

According to ZDNet Taiwan, the mobile OS is now on track for a release to OEMs for testing (the so-called "Maldives" program) sometime in the first quarter of 2010, and will be launched publicly sometime in the third quarter of the year (or about a year after the release of Windows Mobile 6.5) -- all of which more or less lines up with earlier rumors of a release to manufacturing in Spring 2010.

ZDNet via Engadget