Engadget’s Nilay Patel, Joshua Topolsky and Paul Miller, WinSuperSite’s Paul Thurrott, ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley, Adam and Brandon from PocketNow, CNet’s Ina Fried and jJhn from Techno Buffalo. As I kept updating the event over twitter, here are some of the highlights of the event:

My picture set:

Hands-on videos of the phones on display:

My favorite phone that I won’t be buying, the HTC HD7:

Click here to view the embedded video.

As to why I won’t be buying, the phone will be available on TMob and several friends have advised me against TMob.

The rest of the HTC line up in one video. The Surround, Trophy and Mozart:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Samsung Focus, I gotta play NFS Underground on it and it was fun:

Click here to view the embedded video.

AT&T U-Verse and Maps on the LG Quantum:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Dell’s Venue Pro:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I tweeted using most of the handsets I played with taking at least one random picture. Here’s a list:

• HTC Surround
• LG Quantum
• Dell Venue Pro
• Samsung Omin 7 (I love the handset.)

PS: Thanks to the folks at Zune, I got a one month Zune Pass subscription free which I intend to use once I get my WP7 device. Other then that all the attendees got was a cookie and a card with a URL to the press kit.

Published at: I'm Just Being Manan | Subscribe

Windows Phone 7 NYC Launch Highlights

Engadget’s Nilay Patel, Joshua Topolsky and Paul Miller, WinSuperSite’s Paul Thurrott, ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley, Adam and Brandon from PocketNow, CNet’s Ina Fried and jJhn from Techno Buffalo. As I kept updating the event over twitter, here are some of the highlights of the event:

My picture set:

Hands-on videos of the phones on display:

My favorite phone that I won’t be buying, the HTC HD7:

Click here to view the embedded video.

As to why I won’t be buying, the phone will be available on TMob and several friends have advised me against TMob.

The rest of the HTC line up in one video. The Surround, Trophy and Mozart:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Samsung Focus, I gotta play NFS Underground on it and it was fun:

Click here to view the embedded video.

AT&T U-Verse and Maps on the LG Quantum:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Dell’s Venue Pro:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I tweeted using most of the handsets I played with taking at least one random picture. Here’s a list:

• HTC Surround
• LG Quantum
• Dell Venue Pro
• Samsung Omin 7 (I love the handset.)

PS: Thanks to the folks at Zune, I got a one month Zune Pass subscription free which I intend to use once I get my WP7 device. Other then that all the attendees got was a cookie and a card with a URL to the press kit.

Published at: I'm Just Being Manan | Subscribe

Windows Phone 7 NYC Launch Highlights

It’s a short couple of minutes, but Steve Ballmer was on the Today Show beating the Windows Phone 7 drum. I’m not sure how well he did in terms of explaining or showing what makes Windows Phone 7 different, but when the host decides he’s going to be the “tough guy” by starting out the interview hammering on Ballmer about not getting his full bonus, I guess we should be lucky that he left any time left to talk about the product…

It’s a short couple of minutes, but Steve Ballmer was on the Today Show beating the Windows Phone 7 drum. I’m not sure how well he did in terms of explaining or showing what makes Windows Phone 7 different, but when the host decides he’s going to be the “tough guy” by starting out the interview hammering on Ballmer about not getting his full bonus, I guess we should be lucky that he left any time left to talk about the product…

Microsoft officially launched Windows Phone 7 Series (previously referred to as Windows Mobile 7, Windows Phone 7, or even Photon) on Monday, dropping the gauntlet on what will shape up to be a mighty mobile battle come Christmas.

A whole new OS

Windows Phone 7 Series Phones, as the new devices will be officially known (yikes), will be a complete departure from the Windows Mobile devices we are all familiar with and feature a brand-new, possibly revolutionary UI. The Start menu? Gone. Touch elements designed for six-year-old fingers? Gone. In fact, Microsoft’s new OS is aiming to change the mobile phone paradigm by shifting away from an app-centric model to an experience or task-based system that groups your personal data, social networking streams, location-based services, and media sources into what Microsoft calls ‘hubs’ (more later)

Reflecting their determination to re-define the relationship between end-user and their phone, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced at the Barcelona 2010 Mobile World Congress:

“In a crowded market, filled with phones that look the same and do the same things, I challenged the team to deliver a different kind of mobile experience. Windows Phone 7 marks a turning point toward phones that truly relfect the speed of people’s lives and their need to connect to other people and all kinds of seamless experiences.”

Joe Belfiore, vice president of Windows Phone, said it was time to stop thinking about mobile phones like PCs:

“A phone is not a PC, it’s a smaller, more intimate device,” he said. “Too many phones are made to look like PCs. We wanted to come up with a user design that was different, that moved beyond the metaphor of the PC.”

Live Tiles

This ain’t your daddy’s Windows Phone. Microsoft has taken advantage of the fact that it is so late with this product to properly think out how people use their mobile devices. They have no doubt heard for years now about how un-finger-friendly Windows Mobile is and how counter-intuitive it can seem compared to its competition. They’ve seen people complain about icon overload and the app-to-app routine on the iPhone (one app for Facebook, one app for twittering, one app for YouTube, etc); The result? Live Tiles.

The new home screen on WP7 devices will consist of several vertically-scrollable live tiles. The main screen shows 5 live tiles: Internet Explorer, Phone, Text, People. Each of these boxes is “live” and auto-updates with real-time information from all of your various info sources. So when your friend updates his Facebook page, that update shows on the Friends tile. If you miss a phone call, the Phone tile updates to show the number of missed calls, and your most recent photos fade in and out in the Pictures tile.

Hubs

Clicking on any of these main live tiles will bring up the corresponding Hub. There are a bunch of default hubs that will ship with WP7: People, Games, Xbox Live, Pictures, Music & Video (with support for more than just Zune accounts), Zune, Office (with support for multiple exchange accounts), and of course the Marketplace. These hubs pull in data from all of your various sources and present it in a task-oriented manner, rather than using a separate app for each service you use.

For example, the above pic shows the People hub. The first screen you will see when you click on the People tile is the ‘Recent’ screen. Scrolling right will give you all of your peeps, scrolling right again will show you the What’s New tab, which lists all of your friends’ most recent social media updates,

Similarly, when you tap on the Music and Video tile, up pops the Zune menu. Scrolling to the right brings up your History, continuing to scroll brings up the “What’s New” tab, and then Apps that are music or video related. Hubs create an easy way to browse all of your data – both on-device and online – by topic or experience. Very cool.

X-Box and Zune Integration

While Microsoft’s mobile lately may have missed the mark, they have had remarkable success with their X-Box and Zune line. The X-Box model has been a decade in the making and Microsoft has earned a very respectable share of a competitive market – something it needs to do with WP7. The Zune HD was released last year to terrific reviews and great critical, if not commercial, success.

Microsoft is finally taking advantage of these successful platforms and fully integrating X-Box Live and Zune with Windows Phone 7 Series devices. Mobile gaming might be limited initially, but expect this to be a major component and battle ground in the coming year or two, and Microsoft (for once) has a clear advantage over rivals like Palm and Apple here.

As for Zune integration, you can almost thank the Zune for the new UI. Internally at Microsoft, the UI for the Zune HD was referred to as Metro; the same name they use to discuss the Windows Phone 7 Series interface. Beyond that, expect to see complete integration with the Zune service and any Zunes you might have lying around.

Manufacturers and Carriers

Just as with Windows Mobile, Microsoft has lined up a top-notch list of manufactures who are eager to start putting out Windows Phone 7 Series devices. The list includes longtime Windows Mobile supporters HTC, LG, Samsung and Toshiba, as well as Garmin-Asus, on-the-fence Sony Ericsson, and even Dell.

Unlike with Windows Mobile, however, and this is absolutely critical, Microsoft has imposed a Chassis requirement for all WP7 devices. This means that all WP7 phones will need have a minimum hardware spec that – so far – includes several mandatory hardware buttons (home, search and back), CPU and screen size/resolution requirements, plus an accelerometer, GPS, camera and other goodies.

This Chassis system should help maintain a good user experience and avoid manufacturers putting out shoddy hardware that gives Windows Phone 7 devices a bad rap.

Carriers will include all of the Big Four US carriers: AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon – as well as Deutsche Telekom, Orange, SFR, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telstra, and Vodafone. Rogers and Telus haven’t made any comment yet.

WP7: Do or Die for Microsoft

By most accounts, it’s do or die time for Microsoft. For whatever reason, most likely because they simply underestimated the growth of the smartphone/mobile market, Microsoft hasn’t taken the mobile space very seriously for the past four or five years… despite being one of the first out of the gate.

By the time the first Windows Phone 7 Series device hits the market, we’ll be looking at a new iPhone, a new version of Google’s Android, and an updated webOS from Palm… very serious competition for Windows Phones. If Microsoft blunders, they might just miss the last train out of the desktop station.

Peter Chou (CEO of HTC) and Steve Ballmer held a joint conference today in Taiwan to officially announce one of the most highly anticipated Windows Phones so far: the HTC HD2. Much has been leaked and learned already about the HD2’s powerful 1Ghz processor, it’s massive 4.3″ capacitive WVGA touchscreen, and that it will be the first HTC Windows Phone to sport Sense instead of TouchFlo, but this announcement makes it official:

The HTC HD2 shows what’s possible through our close partnership with HTC and it breaks new ground for Windows phones by delivering a beautiful multi-touch screen that people will love.

So says Mr. Ballmer. The full press release (after the jump) says the HTC HD2 is now shipping in Asia and will be shipping to North America in “early 2010″. Honestly, I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these!

HTC HD2^TM SHIPS IN EUROPE AND ASIA
COMING TO THE US IN EARLY 2010

HD2 demonstrates the tight integration between Microsoft and HTC

TAOYUAN, Taiwan – November 4, 2009 – Today, HTC Corporation chief executive officer, Peter Chou, joined Microsoft Corp. chief executive officer, Steve Ballmer and Harvey Chang, chief executive officer of Taiwan Mobile to announce the availability of the highly anticipated HD2 in Europe and Taiwan. HTC and Microsoft also announced that the HD2 would be available in the United States with a major US carrier in early 2010.

“The HD2’s amazing customer experience is a testament to the close partnership between HTC and Microsoft and we’re excited to be bringing the HD2 to Taiwan and the United States,” said Chou. “The HD2 is the first Windows® phone with HTC Sense^TM, an HTC user experience focused on making the phone more simple and natural to use and by enabling people to personalise their mobile experience in their own unique way.”

“Working with HTC, we’ve delivered great phones that help customers connect to the people and information they care about, wherever they are,” said Ballmer. “The HTC HD2 shows what’s possible through our close partnership with HTC and it breaks new ground for Windows phones by delivering a beautiful multi-touch screen that people will love.”

The HD2 is the first Windows phone with HTC Sense, a customer experience focused on putting people at the centre by making their phones work in a more simple, natural and personal way. With its industry leading, high-resolution, 4.3-inch capacitive touch display, the ultra thin HTC HD2 delivers more visible content in a sharper, brighter and richer way.

The HD2 uses the first capacitive touch display on a Windows phone to make viewing, zooming and resizing websites, Microsoft Office files, PDF documents and pictures easier with just a pinch of your fingers. The large display also enables faster, more efficient and accurate typing using the onscreen keyboard. Utilizing Qualcomm’s new 1Ghz Snapdragon mobile processor, the HTC HD2 offers enhanced performance that improves the speed of applications, videos, games and more.
Developed with a passion for enhancing people’s lives through innovation, design and ease of use, HTC Sense is rooted in three fundamental principles of Make it Mine, Stay Close and Discover the Unexpected.

Make It Mine
The HD2 continues HTC’s drive for personalization by reflecting not only what you want on your phone, but also where you are. Using its large 4.3-inch window-like display, HTC has brought a new dimension to weather with a localized, animated weather experience that utilizes HD2’s entire display without being invasive to your important content and information. The HD2 can also be further enhanced to reflect your needs and style by downloading a wealth of applications at the new Windows Marketplace for Mobile.

Stay Close
The HD2 helps you stay close to the important friends and colleagues in your life with HTC’s people-centric communication approach that provides a single contact view that displays individual communication snapshots of your conversations with the people in your life regardless of whether a call, text, Facebook status update or email were used. While in the midst of email exchange with someone you can easily transition to a call by pressing the call button. HTC has also included a new Windows-based version of its Twitter application, HTC Peep. The pictures you take with the 5MP camera can also be quickly shared via Facebook or Twitter.

Discover the Unexpected
With the HTC Sense experience, the HTC HD2 includes a variety of enhancements that expand and improve the overall phone experience. The HD2 includes a variety of sensors including a proximity sensor that is used to prevent false screen touches when the phone is picked up to answer or make a call. A light sensor automatically adjusts the brightness of the display. Leveraging its 3G broadband connectivity, the HTC HD2 also offers personal Wi-Fi anywhere for your computer or other devices.

Also available for the HTC HD2 is the optional car kit that automatically transforms HD2’s user interface into a finger friendly in-car navigation experience for driving.

Windows phone
As a new Windows phone, the HTC HD2 showcases the powerful messaging, browsing and productivity capabilities delivered by Windows Mobile 6.5. Offering a best in class e-mail experience complete with the ability to synchronize with Microsoft Exchange, you have the ability to check and manage multiple email accounts. Microsoft’s new My Phone service enables you to automatically back up and synch photos, music, contacts and text messages for free from the HD2 to the web.

Availability
Already shipping in Europe, the HTC HD2 is available around the middle of November with Taiwan Mobile and will be available throughout Asia in the coming month. The HD2 will be available with a major carrier in the US in early 2010.

About HTC
HTC Corporation (HTC) is one of the fastest growing companies in the mobile phone industry. By putting people at the center of everything it does, HTC creates innovative smartphones that better serve the lives and needs of individuals. The company is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange under ticker 2498. For more information about HTC, please visit www.htc.com

# # #
The names of companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

What is Zune HD? Zune HD is a couple things. Number one, Zune HD is a music player with a nice music service. By the way, the same software will be available on Windows Phones and Windows PCs. You have that today on the PC, you’ll see that in our phone environment as well.

This is huge clue to the future of Microsoft’s service offerings. It has been rumored for a while, or perhaps heavily suggested by pundits and critics alike (including this one), that Microsoft should be pushing for mega-integration among their various platforms, and I think we’re starting to see that happen.

Marketplace and Zune service start to merge as there is less distinction between the Zune and Windows Phone architecture (see the Pink chassis). Zune services coming to X-Box, Zune service on Windows Mobile… all part of a long-term strategy to pull their constituents together…