Will all Xbox games work on Windows Phone 7 devices?
Summary: I got a couple of answers (and many "Wait until Mix 2010" non-answers) from Casey McGee, Microsoft Senior Marketing Manager, to my long list of questions about Microsoft's just-unveiled Windows Phone 7 platform.
I got a couple of answers (and many "Wait until Mix 2010" non-answers) from Casey McGee, Microsoft Senior Marketing Manager, to my long list of questions about Microsoft's just-unveiled Windows Phone 7 platform.
Windows Phone 7 series phones are due out before the end of 2010 from a variety of Microsoft partners, Microsoft officials confirmed today during a press event at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona. Microsoft officials are saving the details about the development story around the platform for its Mix 2010 conference in Las Vegas in mid-March. Which version of IE is WP7 running? "It doesn't map cleanly to any version number." It sounds like something between IE 7 and IE 8. Right now, WM 6.x phones running an IE 6 variant (that isn't the same as IE 6 on the PC)
Will WP7 devices be able to run Windows 6.x applications? Wait until Mix 2010 for more on that, McGee said. (I'm betting the answer is no -- at least not without a lot of work.)
Can phone makers change the default search engine to something other than Bing in Windows Phone 7 handsets? No. The button on the front of phones is a Bing button. Users who want something else will have to use the browser to access a different search engine. Will Zune HD apps run on WP7 devices? No comment for now. Also no comment from McGee as to whether Windows Phone 7 apps will be able to run on Zune HD devices.
Will existing Xbox games run on Windows Phone 7s? "A select number of games will be available." Microsoft isn't saying at this point which ones will be on that list.
Are Windows Phone 7s able to multitask? McGee and other Microsoft execs note that during the demo at MWC, Microsoft execs showed music playing while performing another function. But McGee wouldn't say whether only Microsoft services that are part of the "hubs" will be able to do this, or whether third-party apps also will be able to multitask.
How is Microsoft going to change the "Dorado" Zune software to support Windows Phone 7s running Zune music/video? No comment. Wait until Mix 2010 for more on that, McGee said. He also declined to say whether and when Dorado software would run on Macs.
What happens to My Phone, Microsoft's backup/restore service announced for Windows Mobile 6.x phones last year? No comment for now. Sounds like another topic for Mix.
Will Microsoft make the Zune music/video service available outside the U.S.? Yes, McGee said. "It will be available in all countries where Windows 7 Phones will ship." Microsoft is not yet disclosing that list of countries.
Update (February 16): McGee e-mailed me with a point of clarification to his comment: "It’s the playback experience on the phone and the use of the Zune PC software that we announced yesterday as available in all the regions that Windows Phone 7 Series ships in. We are not yet discussing additional Zune services."
What is the OS underlying Windows Phone 7 devices? The operating system running these devices is now officially known as Windows Phone OS 7.0. McGee was not allowed to talk about whether Windows CE is still at its core, or which version of CE it was.
What's with the word "Series" attached to the Windows Phone 7 name? "Series" refers to phones running any version of Windows Phone OS 7.x, McGee said.
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Talkback
too much M$ news
This is my objective ranking.
Not too much news. This is a huge turning point for MS and everybody wants
for mobile phone OSes for Microsoft. If this flops,
it is game over.
Then turn of Teh Interweb if you don't want to see what most others do
In terms of smart phone operating systems, Linux is not minuscule at all.
is Windows Mobile :(
Then why would Motorola scrapped
a corporate entity massaged product for profit by selling services, of
course not the OS.
--Ram--
Motorola just decided to use a different distribution of Linux, one that
it was not worth it to try to go their own way, with
their own app store, doing all of the final UI
design on their own, integration of the phone stack,
etc.
In any case, Motorola went with Linux.
they scrapped it because
user experience. See they struggled to get iTunes and iPod on one of
their failed phones. It took a while for them to realize. If Windows Phone
seems compelling I surely hope Motorola will realize they made big
mistake dropping Microsoft, and will definitely go sign up for
partnership. It is all in the game, aka, business.
--Ram--
Nah
he would not see fault in Microsoft even for a death of an ant, which
happened to be crawling on his chair while he was resting his b--t there.
;-)
--Ram--
You...objective? An a$$hole maybe...but NOT objective. (nt)
Come on, he was just giving his opinion. Yes, misguided opinion, but,
Explaining to him or to every freetard in here is like talking to tree...
another nail in the b--t of L G.
--Ram--
RE: Will all Xbox games work on Windows Phone 7 devices?
Remember, 2 major topics during MIX 2010: Windows Phone 7 Series and the next generation Windows Live (the one with the "Devices" tab). Hmm...
So, is MS going to enforce via contract that OEMs can NOT launch any other
very easy to implement the option to switch the default search
engine launched with the hardware button.
But, MS willing to hold their Windows Phone software hostage
to promote Bing is very interesting.
Maybe not...
That said, I have been using Bing more and more over the past several months, and I am starting to like it more as I use it.
Re Bing
And, frankly, this is Microsoft's phone. They are free to choose which search engine they offer. They don't own a monopoly on phone OS' and so don't need to beholden to EU or other anti-competitive crusaders.
Don't like using Bing, choose a different phone.
Well, that is the point. MS is already way behind, so, it is really
market share to promote Bing.
And, YES, you are 100% right here that there are no
legal problems here. It IS Microsoft's phone OS, it
is NOT a monopoly, and they can do what they please.
I don't understand your statement:
Are you suggesting that Microsoft will lose market share by promoting Bing? I don't understand your rationale as to why that should be.
I can't imagine anyone saying "I love EVERYTHING about <insert name of phone here> but I can't use <insert name of search engine> so I am going to use <insert name of other phone>".
People adopted Google because it was far better than AltaVista/Ask/Yahoo/MSN search.
However, Bing is AT LEAST on-par with Google on the vast majority of searches and in some cases and to some people is better. Anyone who choses one phone over another just because they claim to not like one search engine over another is making a choice for irrational/religious reasons. Those people aren't Microsoft's target customer anyhow.
The VAST majority of people who choose WinPhone7 over other phones will be chosing those devices because of an number of other factors: UI feel, wide and deep integration of social networking, Zune music, XBox Games, etc. Which browser they'll get to use by default won't bother most people.
Well, it would be rather easy for the OEM making the phone, so, it would
But, the most interesting part, is that MS is
willing to take chances with the success of Windows
mobile by allowing ONLY Bing to launch from the
hardware button. Is Bing worth it?
Donnie boy ive asked you several times to leave