Windows Phone 7: Is it worth the wait?

MANILA, Philippines—Microsoft Philippines finally took the wraps off of Windows Phone 7 Series last Saturday, starting its bid here to challenge the dominance of arch-rivals Apple (iOS) and Google (Android OS) in the smartphone market.

“It is a completely fresh start for Microsoft in smartphones as Windows Phone 7 integrates the things users really want to do. It provides them an active and configurable interface elements—called tiles—that update in real time,” said John Bessey, Microsoft Philippines managing director.

Here in the Philippines, Microsoft Philippines partnered with Taiwan-based handheld giant HTC Corp., as well as Smart Communications Inc., to launch the operating system that would first be available in an HTC 7 Mozart smartphone model.

Just like Zune

Holding an HTC 7 Mozart, Bessey explained that those familiar with the Zune HD (Microsoft’s answer to the widely popular iPod Touch) would feel right at home with Windows Phone 7.

The menus and interface have the same fluid animations and clean typeface as the portable media player, he said.

Just like with Zune HD, you may “pan” through menu items with a flick of the finger, and if you want to go back to the previous menu, you only need to hit the arrow key at the top of the interface.

Indeed, the Start screen is a far cry from the old Windows Mobile’s as there is now the presence of large, colorful tiles that serve as shortcuts to the user’s most-used or favorite applications or websites.

“These tiles—that may be an application, image, contact or hub—are live, so that if the content of the application or website is updated, the tile will update on your screen,” Bessey said.

He also showed that even if the phone was locked, a user could still take a picture by holding down the camera shutter button of the HTC 7 Mozart.

Bessey said that the time it would take to unlock the phone could spoil things for a user who might be worried about missing the moment.

Right device

“We decided that the HTC 7 Mozart is the right device to carry our new platform here: It’s equipped with a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 1 GHz processor as well as a large 3.7-inch touchscreen, which is very fast and responsive,” said Bessey.

Napoleon Nazareno, Smart Communications president and CEO, announced that the Microsoft Phone 7-equipped HTC 7 Mozart would be available through several Smart Data Plan options.

Smart is currently accepting reservations for the HTC 7 Mozart (delivery by next year).

So, the big question at the moment is will Microsoft be able to go back into the mobile game? Not an easy question.

However, Microsoft has been watching its competitors and studying how users access their phones.

“The company is able to build a user interface that matches the needs of its user. Take, for example, the Windows Phone 7’s hubs, which are collections of information and applications that go together. The Office hub, for example, has mobile versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint on hand for reviewing or editing on the go. E-mail hub lets you see only unread, urgent, or flagged messages as well as lets you have a streamlined account setup that works with Windows Live, Google, Yahoo! and other popular providers,” said Bessey.

Indeed, Microsoft now has something new on the table and, in the ensuing years, it would not be a surprise if Windows Phone 7-equipped devices were to emerge on top of the smartphone market.
By Charles E. Buban
Philippine Daily Inquirer
source http://technology.inquirer.net