Microsoft Launches Windows Phone 7 Series, The World Has Officially Changed

I personally never thought that Microsoft would be able to pull this of but hey, they did! They released at MWC the next generation of the Windows Experience on mobile phones — the Windows Phone 7 Series. The different name is exactly what it suggests — a clean break from the Windows Mobile legacy. I know a lot of you breathed a collective sigh of relief there. And it has been completely worthwhile — it is a gorgeous mobile OS that completes the triad of major computing players — Apple, Google and Microsoft.

Windows 7 Phone Series has a very understated, simple and clean UI that is at once really modern and fresh. It does not attempt to show off prettified icons arranged in grid. It actually has a tiled homescreen that has no semblance of the computer desktop left on it. These are live tiles that change in real time to display whatever they are meant to display. So you can have weather, mail, social updates, photos and multiple other thing.

The UI has been completely rethought and the main functions are divided into these major aggregation areas that are names very directly and simply (thankfully). So you have People, Music+Video, Pictures and Xbox Live.

Read that again if you want — a phone with Xbox Live on it. Now don’t start jumping around, you are not going to be playing Halo 3 on it (yet) but it is a good way to make the Xbox Live platform mobile. Apple has already shown that the future of handheld gaming on the phone, so Microsoft is heading in that direction as well.

The People area is more than just your contacts — it is where your social life lives. Every bit social interaction that you do is aggregated here and associated with the contacts you have. You can even pin your favorite contact on your home screen. You also have your very own profile page to view your latest drunken updates and to update apologies where they are due. The sad thing right now is that Twitter is not supported (anywhere on the phone) right now but I’m sure it will be supported soon.

The Music+Videos area is where your media lives and really shows why this would called the Zune phone. It is essentially the Zune software stuffed inside the sleek confines of Windows Phone 7 Series. It is also the only area that you will be syncing through your computer (using the Zune desktop software). Everything else will be done over the air, which many see as a step forward but I say might have its problems. Time will tell.

Pictures get their own dedicated area because they are also uber connected while inside a Windows Phone. You share them directly from this area and go completely with it.

Availability is around the holidays this year and hardware partners are being carefully selected by Microsoft. No more mistakes this time except for the fact that it doesn’t work on a Mac. Enjoy the demo video below.