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

Microsoft officials have shared details about two of the three different versions of Office 2010 that are in development: The Office 2010 client and the Office Web Apps. Next week, at the TechEd Europe conference in Berlin, they finally are slated to show and tell more about the third: Office Mobile 2010.

Office Mobile 2010 is the version of Office that runs natively on Windows Mobile phones. The most recently released version debuted in 2007. That release is Version 6.1 and includes mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and a rudimentary version of the OneNote note-taking application.

The Office Mobile 2010 release will include “a refresh to the Office Mobile client apps, an all-new SharePoint Workspace Mobile app and redesigned mobile access to SharePoint site content,” according to a synopsis of the “Microsoft Office Mobile 2010 In-Depth” session that is slated for November 12 at TechEd.

Full Story at All About Microsoft

Have you heard about some exciting new features in Windows Mobile 6.5 that you’d like to try (like enhanced web browsing and improved messaging)? Have you wondered if you can update your older Windows Mobile phone to Windows Mobile 6.5? The answer depends on the model of your phone and conditions put in place by your mobile operator (also known as your carrier).

Phones that can be updated from Windows Mobile 6.1 to 6.5

Over the next few months, our partners may release updates to some of their Windows Mobile 6.1 phones. As the updates become available, we’ll add links here that will guide you to the installation instructions on the web site of your mobile operator or manufacturer. If you don’t see your phone in the list below, check back soon—we’ll be updating this page frequently.

Go Here and checkout if your phone is eligible.

Microsoft today announced the availability of a new line of Windows^® phones around the world that are available in a broad range of styles and prices. With a Windows phone, people can navigate their phone easily with the touch of a finger¹ and browse the Internet on a great mobile browser. People can also connect to two new services that allow them to back up and share data from their phone to the Web and buy a variety of useful applications from the Windows Marketplace for Mobile. Microsoft expects partners to deliver more than 30 new phones in more than 20 countries by the end of 2009.

“We all want to connect quickly to the people and information that’s important to us from across our lives at work and at home,” said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. “A Windows phone lets people take their entire world of digital information, communications, applications and entertainment with them wherever they go.”

In North America:
•HTC Pure from AT&T
•HTC Imagio from Verizon Wireless
•Samsung Intrepid from Sprint, available Oct. 11, 2009
•HTC Tilt 2 from AT&T, available in the coming weeks

In Latin America:
•Samsung Omnia II available in the coming weeks from TIM Brasil

In Europe:
•MDA Vario V, MDA Compact V and HTC Touch2 and the Samsung Omnia II from Deutsche Telekom in select European markets
•HTC HD2 from Orange, available in the coming weeks in France
•HTC Touch2 from Orange, available in the coming weeks in France, Spain, Switzerland and Romania
•A software update for the HTC Touch Pro2 from Orange, available in the coming weeks in France, U.K. and Romania
•Samsung Omnia II from Orange, available in the coming weeks in Poland, Switzerland and Slovakia and from early December in France
•Samsung Omnia LITE from Orange, available in the coming weeks in France and Spain
•Samsung Omnia PRO B7320 from Orange, available in the coming weeks in France and the U.K.
•Toshiba TG01 W from Orange, available as an update to the TG01 in the coming weeks in France, the U.K., Switzerland and Romania
•LG GM750 and Samsung Omnia II from SFR in France
•TMN Bluebelt 2 and TMN Silverbelt, made by ZTE Corp., from TMN in Portugal
•Samsung Omnia II and Omnia LITE from TMN in Portugal
•HTC Touch Diamond2 from Vodafone in Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia, South Africa and Central Europe
•HTC Touch Pro2 from Vodafone in the U.K. and Switzerland
•LG GM750 from Vodafone in Germany, the U.K., Spain and the Netherlands

The following phones are available on the open market in Europe:
•Samsung Omnia II, Omnia LITE, Omnia PRO B7320, Omnia PRO B7330 and Omnia PRO B7610 available in October

In Asia:
•ZTE X60 from China Unicom
•HTC Touch Diamond2 from Telstra

The following phones are available on the open market in Asia:
•Acer beTouch E100, beTouch E101, beTouch E200 and Acer neoTouch
•Garmin-Asus nüvifone M20
•HTC Snap, HTC Touch Pro2, HTC Touch Diamond2 and HTC Touch2
•LG GM730 and LG GM550
•Samsung Omnia II and Samsung Omnia PRO B7320, Omnia PRO B7330

Continue at Microsoft

The concept of a self-branded Microsoft phone (or two) actually making it to market is more believable than ever. A deterrent frequently cited in years past was Microsoft's vested interest in keeping its Windows Mobile hardware partners happy -- but as even their staunchest supporters (think HTC and LG) have turned to Android to shore up their smartphone lineups, it'd be far less of a backstabbing move on Redmond's part to get into the business next year than it would've been in, say, 2006 or even 2008. Add in the fact that the Zune HD shares 99 percent of its DNA with what could be a top-notch Windows Mobile-beating smartphone, and... well, it'd actually be a little ridiculous at this point if they didn't move in that direction, wouldn't it?

This discussion takes us back once again to Project Pink, the oft-rumored secret package of hardware, software, and services (or some combination thereof) allegedly being developed deep within Microsoft's skunkworks. Last we'd heard it'd be based on Windows Mobile 7 Chassis 1 with a heavy dose of 2009-spec components capable of chewing through processor-intensive apps and games, and now 9to5Mac says it's received information that Microsoft will be releasing two Pink devices next year, likely at CES.

Full Story at Engadget Mobile

Today at TechEd Australia I took the opportunity to chat with Loke Uei Tan – program manager on the Windows Mobile team – to talk about the future of Windows phones and the Windows Mobile OS.

As a Windows Mobile user who’s doubted the future of the platform at least once, it’s been very reassuring to learn that not only does the people at Windows Mobile genuinely acknowledge and understand some of the shortcomings of the Windows Mobile platform today but in response to this they are committed to updating the platform more frequently than it has been.

Recognizing the current barriers with the process of upgrading Windows phones today, it’s also confirmed that the Windows Mobile team are indeed working towards modifying the system architecture to enable delivery of OS updates without affecting and requiring the phone ROM – effectively cutting out the OEMs, telcos that currently (and unnecessary) slows down the update cycle.

Full Story at istartedsomething

With PDC 2009 right around the corner, you can probably bet the farm that Windows Mobile 7 will be unveiled there. Every PDC has consisted of major announcements and this one shouldn't be any different. With Windows 7 out of the door, Office 14 all-but-complete, and Zune HD hitting the shelves soon, Windows Mobile 7 stands as the last really hot item to not be even so much as acknowledged by Microsoft. Well, I'm going to take it one step further and guess that Microsoft is not just going to reveal Windows Mobile 7, but they may even make a pre-release build of Windows Mobile 7 available at PDC. The reason I'm stepping out on that limb is comprised of 3 reasons:

Full Story at uxevangelist

Microsoft announced that Windows^® phones will be widely available at retail stores worldwide on Oct. 6, 2009. The new phones will be the first to feature Windows Mobile 6.5, the latest version of Microsoft’s mobile phone software, and will deliver new customer experiences through an improved, easy-to-use user interface, better browsing capabilities and access to valuable services, including Windows Marketplace for Mobile and Microsoft My Phone.

Industry Players Rally Behind Windows Phones

Partners from around the globe are committed to updating or expanding their portfolios to include phones with Windows Mobile 6.5.

•In North America: Mobile operators AT&T, Bell Mobility, Sprint, TELUS and Verizon Wireless, and phone manufacturers HP, HTC Corp., LG Electronics, Samsung and Toshiba Corp.

•In Europe: Mobile operators Orange, Deutsche Telekom AG and Vodafone Group Plc, and phone manufacturers Acer, HTC, LG Electronics, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba

•In Latin America: Mobile operator TIM Brazil, and phone manufacturers HTC, LG Electronics and Samsung

•In Asia Pacific: Mobile operators NTT DOCOMO Inc., SOFTBANK Mobile Corp., SK Telecom, Telstra and WILLCOM Inc., and phone manufacturers Acer Inc., HTC, LG Electronics, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba

Full story at Source

Outlook Live connects MSN Hotmail, the world's largest free Web-based e-mail service with 187 million accounts worldwide, with the advanced e-mail tools of Microsoft Office Outlook, providing customers with a way to more efficiently manage their lives. This is the first Microsoft Office product to be made available as a downloadable subscription service. With Outlook Live, customers can now view and manage all their personal information -- e-mail accounts, contacts and calendars -- in one convenient place, from virtually anywhere. To get it, inside of your Windows Mobile phone, just tap on this link: https://update.outlook.com/cabs/OutlookLiveSetup.cab Continue At Source

Microsoft's efforts to regain lost ground in the mobile phone business will see the company offering two different versions of its operating system next year.

The company will continue to broadly sell Windows Mobile 6.5 to a large variety of handset makers, while working more closely with several handset makers to sell phones built on a new version of Windows Mobile that has been several years in the making, according to a source familiar with the company's plans.

While Windows Mobile 6.5 is a fairly interim update to the mobile operating system that Microsoft has been selling, Microsoft has also been working on more radical efforts to overhaul the operating system. Both its plans for Windows Mobile 7 and its long-running "Pink" project aim to match the kinds of experiences seen on the iPhone and Android, using more advanced voice and touch interfaces and higher-end hardware.

A Digitimes report this week called the effort a "dual-platform" strategy, although I'm not sure I'd use that term to describe two versions of Windows Mobile being sold at the same time.

What is clear is that Microsoft needs to do something serious if it hopes to live up to its mobile ambitions. For years now, the company has made rather modest updates to the Windows Mobile operating system, which dates back to the days of code powered PDAs and other organizers that were neither phones nor, in some cases, even connected to the Internet.

Full Story at news.cnet.com