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Will 'non-touch' be part of Windows Mobile 7?

Windows Mobile 7 phones are expected to require support for multi-touch. But Microsoft originally planned to make some fancy 'non-touch' gesture-recognition capabilities part of WM 7, too. Will those still be part of the plan when WM7 devices debut in 2010?

By Mary Jo Foley, Senior Contributing Editor May 15, 2009 at 1:14 a.m. PT

1 of 5 Mary Jo Foley/ZDNET

This slide and those that follow come from an internal Microsoft presentation on Windows Mobile 7 (WM7) when it was still codenamed "Photon" (and before Windows Mobile 6.5 was even on the Microsoft map. It's hard to know if any of these features will actually make it into the final WM7 feature list and Microsoft is declining to even acknowledge WM7 exists.

2 of 5 Mary Jo Foley/ZDNET

The built-in camera was set to take on additional uses in WM7, based on this internal Microsoft presentation.

3 of 5 Mary Jo Foley/ZDNET

According to these conceptual slides, users would be able to interact with their WM7 phones without holding them. The idea would be to place a WM7 on a flat surface and interact with the device using gestures.

4 of 5 Mary Jo Foley/ZDNET

Users also would be able to turn a WM7 phone on its side and use the light sensitivity of the built-in camera to perform tasks like adjusting screen brightness.

5 of 5 Mary Jo Foley/ZDNET

Non-touch would allow WM7 users to use the phone in new ways to interact with external devices via gestures. The phone could become a remote control for projectors, gaming consoles and more. Just remember: These are conceptual slides dating back a while so lots could have changed on the WM7 roadmap since then....

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