14 DAY TRIAL // It seems that Christmas indeed came early this year for some Windows Phone 7 developers, as some of them already received an actual working LG Panther prototype to test out their software solutions for the upcoming operating system. The LG Panther (GW910) is among the first Windows Phone 7 devices to have been unveiled to the world back in February when Microsoft officially announced the launch of the new operating system, and might also become one of the first such handsets to hit the shelves in the fourth quarter of the ongoing year.
According to a recent article on Innovative Singapore, two such units were delivered in the hands of developers for application testing purposes, of course, and both of them can be found at the Microsoft Innovation Centre in Singapore. Those who work on Windows Phone 7 applications and happen to pass by the Microsoft Innovation Centre should be able to put their solutions on one of these babies to see how they work outside of the emulator.
However, there are a few things that should be noted here, including the fact that the two units are nothing else but prototype devices, and that they still have some areas that require some attention. The OS on these handsets is being updated with new builds “almost every other day,” and the mobile phone is quite responsive and fast, while looking almost feature complete, even if it is only a prototype. The animations in the OS are also said to be very smooth.
The said article makes other observations as well on the device, including: - Even the packaging and box is expected to be different before the final product ships. For example, the current box is not even using the correct Windows Phone 7 logo. - For the time being, you need a special build of the desktop Zune software (Dorado) to sync with the device; the current released version of desktop Zune software won’t work. - The camera works pretty well, and the resulting photo is sharp (the last photo below comes as proof).
More details on the Windows Phone 7 LG Panther prototype, along with additional photos with the packaging, are available here (via WMExperts).
