14 DAY TRIAL // Redmond-based Microsoft has been rumored quite a few times before to be working on something more than just the software of its upcoming Windows Mobile 7 operating system. Rumors ranged from the existence of a specific Microsoft handset to that of a project including the hardware specs, the software and the services that would come with future Windows phones, and it seems that at least some of them were true.
James McCarthy, Microsoft’s business marketing manager, recently stated that the company was actually working with its partners on defining a minimum set of hardware requirements for these future devices, an article on ITPro states. Basically, the software giant came out with a chassis concept “familiar to the work Microsoft does with hardware partners in the PC industry to create high quality products,” is what James McCarthy said.
The first question that comes in our mind after learning this is what the specs list of this chassis will actually look like. A series of possible specifications for the upcoming Windows Phones, at least for those running under Windows Mobile 7, emerged back in May, and they were pretty impressive. Interestingly enough, only details on Windows Mobile 7 Chassis 1 were unveiled at that time, which means that this is not the only concept Microsoft might be working on.
However, the ITPro article also gives some details on the possible specs of future “Windows Phone 7” devices, though it's not clear whether they come from Microsoft or not. A powerful processor appears to be one of the requirements, so that the handsets will support multi-tasking, as well as Wi-Fi and HSPA, not to mention GPS, though these were present on the Windows Mobile 7 Chassis 1 specs too. Pre-installed software and services should be present on these handsets too.
In a nutshell, all that James McCarthy does is to confirm the fact that Microsoft's Windows Mobile 7 Chassis 1 is a real concept. Other than that, no exact details on what the company will ask from its partners in terms of minimum hardware specs for the phones running under Windows Mobile 7 have been offered, nor a specific launch time frame for the future OS. We still have to learn if support for capacitive touchscreen displays comes our way, or if the platform also includes non-touch gestures support.
All should be unveiled in about one year from now, in case the software giant doesn't delay WM7. “Steve Ballmer has mentioned publicly that Windows Mobile 7 is slated for release in 2010 and we’re always working with our key OEM and operator partners on future products, although we have nothing formal to announce for now. In the future, we are looking to deepen our development work with a handful of key OEMs at the hardware design phase, with much more carefully defined hardware specifications to match software requirements, which in turn will deliver even more powerful mobile experiences for our customers,” McCarthy says.