14 DAY TRIAL // Redmond-based software company Microsoft announced on Monday their new mobile operating system, the Windows Phone 7 OS, and stated that the first devices running under the platform were expected to arrive on the market before the holiday season 2010, but it seems that they might actually land sooner. Alfredo Patron, Microsoft Mobility executive for EMEA, stated in a recent interview that the first Windows Phone 7 Series handsets are set to arrive on shelves sometime in the October-December time frame, which means that we might see them available eight months from now.
The interview with Alfredo Patron on Windows Phone 7 Series emerged into the wild via PDA.pl, and, as WMPoweruser notes, it also outlines some other interesting aspects of the new platform, though most of these details have been already unveiled to the world. Among them, the news site notes the fact that there will be a series of Xbox live cross-platform games available, or that the same UI will be present on all Windows Phones 7 Series devices, as OEMs won't be able to put their own solutions on to the mobile client.
However, they still have the possibility to contribute to the experience delivered to users, and the same applies to carriers too, it seems. Mobile phone makers are expected to include different hardware specs with their devices, and they will also have the possibility to add keyboards into the mix, which sounds quite interesting. Most of you might have heard already of the long rumored Windows Mobile 7 chassis concept, which was said to comprise a minimum set of hardware requirements for devices powered by the OS, and Microsoft already confirmed it for Windows Phone 7 Series, but it didn't detail until now.
As said before, Microsoft did a nice job with imposing mobile phone makers to include a minimum of hardware with their new devices, since that will certainly enhance the user experience. However, those who are not so fortunate are application developers, as they will have to rewrite their software solutions to make them compatible with the new platform iteration. Exact details on the matter are expected to be unveiled at the MIX10 conference in mid-March, so stay tuned for more info on this.
Interview with Alfredo Patron about Windows Phone 7 Series from pda.pl on Vimeo.