Hasta La Gadget!

Up until now, we’d heard and believed that Windows Phone 7 would be based on Microsoft’s time-tested Windows CE 6 kernel — aging, yes, but still considerably newer and more technically modern than the CE 5 upon which Windows Mobile 6.x operates. Thing is, Windows Embedded evangelist Olivier Bloch just dropped the knowledge this week that the company’s all-new phone platform will actually be “based on the Windows Embedded Compact 7 core,” which sounds a lot to us like Redmond skipped right over CE 6 and went straight for the latest and greatest (and still unavailable to the general public) stuff.

[Thanks, Jeff]

Continue reading Windows Phone 7 based on a hybrid Windows CE 6 / Compact 7 kernel?

Windows Phone 7 based on a hybrid Windows CE 6 / Compact 7 kernel? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 May 2010 17:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As much as Microsoft has revealed about Windows Phone 7 thus far in the past two months, one critical, differentiating element that it’s going to be able to lord over its competitors — true Office support — has been a bit of a black box. We’re starting to see a little bit more about the Office team’s next-gen mobile product now, though, thanks to a pair of new videos that have been published this week. The first focuses on the email and calendar experience, but we do see one pretty awesome trick when the demo opens a PowerPoint file inline from the email client, edits it, and sends it back to the original sender. The second video dives deeper on the actual Office hub, where we get a quick look at the Word editor — and as you might expect, it’s squeaky-clean and nearly UI-free, just like pretty much everything else in the platform. Peep the videos after the break.

[Thanks, skipper]

Continue reading Updated Windows Phone 7 videos show Office doing awesome things

Updated Windows Phone 7 videos show Office doing awesome things originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Though much of Microsoft’s technical strategy for Windows Phone 7 materialized at MIX last month, the company stayed hazy on a handful of key details — portions of the hardware specifications were left to guesses and hearsay, for instance, as was the software update strategy. Much of that appears to be coming to light now thanks to a leaked “architecture guide” slide deck where we seeing that retail devices will be required to feature cameras (that could be a problem for corporate devices in high-security environments), FM radio tuners, compasses, and proximity sensors, among other more obvious features like capacitive touchscreen displays; of course, these are requirements for the initial volley of launch devices at the end of 2010, and it’s probably reasonable to assume that future chassis specs will be tweaked.

Moving to software, the deck confirms that a Windows Live ID will be required to set up the handset — much the same way that Android strongly encourages the use of a Google account — and that application purchases will be tied to the ID. The update mechanism, which has all but failed Microsoft in Windows Mobile thus far, looks to be very well controlled this time around — like Kin, small updates will over the air, while larger updates will require tethering and management through the Zune software on your PC. Microsoft will manage the process — not the manufacturer or carrier — though device- or carrier-specific customizations can be pushed through the same mechanism. Speaking of OEM customizations, the deck emphasizes just how tightly Redmond will be controlling them: IE’s default search engine can be changed, but everything else on the phone will still go through Bing, for example. OEMs can add no more than six (or 60MB) worth of custom apps, and while custom home screen tiles can be added, none of the standard Microsoft ones can be changed or removed. It’s pretty draconian, yes — but considering how desperately these guys are in need of a fresh, starkly different mobile strategy, it’s probably a good thing.

Leaked slides show Windows Phone 7’s update strategy, Windows Live ID requirement, more originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Apr 2010 19:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In the weeks since Microsoft’s MIX conference, the company has obviously done a little introspection and refined its message around Windows Phone 7 — there’s no greater example of that than the fact that they simplified the name at the public’s urging. Microsoft’s Charlie Kindel, who’s been leading up developer evangelism for the platform, has gone on record a few times recently with some interesting tidbits around their post-launch strategy, including the very good news that they want to “do the right thing” with copy / paste — not a meaty answer to the problem, obviously, but a heartening sign that they’ll end up adding a clipboard into the mix at one point or another. Managed multitasking — something similar to what Apple has announced in iPhone OS 4.0 — also appears to be on the docket, though it’s not something we can expect in the first volley later this year.

Speaking in more generic terms, Kindel says that the company is well aware that “some things are missing at the launch,” choosing to concentrate instead on getting a limited set of functionality perfectly polished for version 1.0 — a distinctly different philosophy than in versions past. Fortunately, both OTA and tethered updates will be possible, though it sounds like Microsoft will be using a mix of the two depending on the size and complexity of the update — you can’t pick your own poison, the way you can with BlackBerrys and Android devices today.

On a related note, we wanted to take this opportunity to spruce up our complete guide to Windows Phone 7, which you’ll be able to use over the course of the year to stay abreast of the latest and greatest information we have about the platform as we get close to launch. Check it out here!

Charlie Kindel on Windows Phone 7: some things will be missing at launch originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Apr 2010 23:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Regardless of how you feel about Microsoft’s rejuvenated mobile push this year, hatred of the “Windows Phone 7 Series” moniker has been nearly universal — it’s too long, it trips you up every time you try to say it (seriously, just listen to any of our podcasts), and the “Series” bit doesn’t make a whole lot of sense anyhow. Happily, Microsoft has heard the world loud and clear on this one, officially changing the name today to the simpler, happier, more logical “Windows Phone 7.” The branding move doesn’t have any technical or strategic significance, as far as we can tell — it truly is just a name change, that’s all — so you can expect the same software to launch later this year that we’ve already been anticipating… you just won’t have to deal with a tongue twister every time you’re trying to tell a friend about it.

Windows Phone 7 is the new name, ‘Series’ gets voted off island originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Apr 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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