7 cool things to do with Windows Phone 7

I have been spending a lot of time with Windows Phone 7 and have a few tips to share with you as the launch kicks off on Monday morning. Try these out when you get your WP7 device and feel free to contact me with any questions you might have or actions you would like to know more about.

So, here are 7 cool things you can do with your Windows Phone 7 device:

1. Find My phone: The ability to go to a website to find your phone whether you misplace it in silent mode or leave it behind is a very handy feature that is available for WP7 for FREE.
2. Pinning miscellaneous items to Start: I am sure you know you can pin apps and people to the Start screen, but did you know that you can pin your favorite radio stations, games (even those within the Xbox Live hub), favorite web pages (even shows a thumbnail of the page), OneNote and Office docs, and more so make sure to tap and hold to find out what you can pin to Start.
3. Voice Command: Microsoft included a very powerful Voice Command solution on Windows Phone 7 that is activated by pressing and holding the Start button. You can use this to call people or numbers, find destinations through Bing Maps, or launch applications on your device. As you build up your collection of apps you should find this to be the faster and more efficient option to control your device.
4. Quick calling: You can call people in your Call History or ones that are pinned to Start with just two simple taps. Tap on the Phone tile and then tap the phone icon to the left of their number in the Call History. If you tap their name then you will open up their contact card instead. If they are one of your Start tiles, tap the tile and then tap Call…
5. Change your Pictures Start background: I have had several people ask me about this since it isn't that easy to find. If you tap and hold on a photo there is an option to set it as wallpaper, but this is the wallpaper for the lock screen only. To change the background image in the Pictures hub, that also shows up on your Start screen, simply tap and hold on the main Pictures hub page that opens up and select to change the background.
6. Use Outline view to navigate: Within Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files you can simply tap the Outline icon and see the words to quick navigate to other sections, spreadsheets, or slides within Office Mobile 2010.
7. Let them know you will be late: If you have appointments set up that have attendees, they you will see an option in the bottom menu (access by tapping the More three-dot icon) that shows a person running as an icon. If you tap this as you travel to a meeting then you will see the quick option to inform other attendees you will be late.

Windows Phone 7 has quite a distinct and striking user interface and things may seem pretty simple and straight forward. However, you can dive deep into the settings and other areas to discover there are actually quite a few options, customizations, and capabilities down deep in the operating system.