Windows Phone 7 Series - It's About Time, Microsoft!

June 3, 2006 was a extremely big date for me four years ago. On that day, I've purchased my first Windows Mobile PDA, a Dell Axim X51v. Before when I purchased the X51v, in about 2002, I was using a HP iPAQ H3765, which was a Pocket PC 2002 device, yes, they didn't even have "Windows Mobile" at that time.

I remember I was always wanting to get Windows Mobile 5 someday. You see, back in those days, I was beta testing a lot of products (mainly games) from other companies. For this exact reason, I was always wanting the latest and greatest Windows Mobile devices. I made one of the best purchases I've ever made; the PDA ended up lasting me a little more than three years.

The thing is, the X51v was, and still is, a very fast PDA. Well, maybe not compared to the ones with the Snapdragon (1GHz) processors. I've updated that PDA to 128MB of RAM, put in lots of external memory, and even installed Windows Mobile 6.5 on it.

But around four months ago, I sold that PDA for a decent amount of money. I sold it mainly for the reason that every single Windows Mobile PDA now-in-days is a smartphone. And as of right now, I do not currently own a cell phone. So that's my main reason of selling the PDA. I do have an iPod touch, so that pretty much replaced my PDA. I started using my X51v less and less each day. Soon enough where it was just sitting on my desk for a good month without being used.

A lot of the Windows Mobile devices now are also quite expensive. The only way to get them for cheap, and from a known provider, is to get the PDA with a new contract from a cellular provider (Sprint, AT&T, etc).

As of right now, I can say that I haven't used a Windows Mobile device for a while. But I'm coming from a background where I was using a variety of Windows Mobile/Pocket PC operating systems.

Enough of that, and let's get onto the real point of this blog post!

Even up to this day, I still love reading about Windows Mobile devices, preferably HTC devices (my X51v was a HTC device). IF you can remember from a little while back, I've blogged about the HTC HD2. At that time, Windows Mobile devices were then switching over to an capacitive touch-screen and even getting multi-touch for that matter.

I knew that there was something changing that was going to affect Windows Mobile for a while. If they were just getting those features not too long ago, that really says that there's going to be a change in software.

In the news, there was a lot of talk about Windows Mobile 7. The only thing we really have really known about Windows Mobile 7 was that the look is going to be more based upon Windows 7 and with a lot of new touch-screen features like usability.

Now today, in the middle of February, we have some amazing news about the future of Windows Mobile. We really thought the there was going to be a Windows Mobile 7. But from what Microsoft loves to do, they have create a brand new Windows Mobile series named, Windows Phone 7 Series. With that one heck of a long name, it packs a huge punch. Basically, what Microsoft is doing, as shown from the picture above, is taking the aspects of Windows Mobile 6.5 and the Zune HD, and combining it all into one.

Windows Phone 7 Series is really based on the fact to provide a nice clean-cut mobile operating system. In the terms of usability, this really kicks the iPhone OS out of the blue. Throughout this whole mobile phone OS, it's has very large text and with nice and vivid... squares? Yes, that's right, Microsoft is taking Windows Mobile 6.5, and basically throwing its interface out of the door! They're starting from scratch... recreating Windows Mobile.

When it comes to the design of Windows Phone 7 Series, it really cannot be any simpler. From using any phone, it's a bit hard to pick up and start using it. You have to get used to that interface of the phone. The iPhone really revolutionized the way people use phones; it made the interace so simple, easy to use, and really touch-friendly for everyone.

With Windows Phone 7 Series, it adds a new way of multi-tasking and really getting connected. A variety of connectivity functions were added into Windows Mobile 6.5, but now, Microsoft is really taking that and pushing it to the limits. They're even adding the functionality of connecting to your Xbox Live account from your Windows-based Phone!

In the end, I can really feel that this is going to change the way we use our phones. From the videos, it really seems that Microsoft took the current design of Windows Mobile, and basically right-clicked on it and threw it in the recycle bin. I know this is going to make more people use Windows Phone 7 Series more and start to like it. Microsoft always does a very unique kind of job with advertising their products; I know for a fact that they are going to advertise this one like crazy.

Windows Phone 7 Series is really going to take that business-classiness out of Windows Mobile, and make it more friendly for the average user. Let's face it, Windows Mobile right now is really suited for the average business user. Windows Phone 7 Series is taking all the interface design users like the most, and turning it into a nice, clean, and usable  design.

I would think that's enough talking for now. Look at the below content to learn more about Windows Phone 7 Series. Be sure to watch the video to learn more about their new approach for their Windows-based phones! And yes, the screenshots below are taken from Microsoft's videos.

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For more information, be sure to check out their website. And like always, we'll keep you updated!

http://www.windowsphone7series.com/