A Hands-On Look at Windows Phone 7

By: Bonnie Cha
Topics: In The News ,; Tech Talk

It's been six months since Microsoft introduced Windows Phone 7 at Mobile World Congress 2010, and we still have several months to go before we see any devices hit the streets.

Developers can use the training kit to learn to write apps for Windows Phone 7.

(Credit: Microsoft)

At the time, we were excited and hopeful about Microsoft's revamped mobile operating system, but a lot of time has passed since then and the rest of the smartphone world hasn't stopped, so we were, and still are, a bit worried that Windows Phone 7 may be too far behind to catch up.

Well, we recently had a chance to find out. On July 19, Microsoft began shipping preview devices from Samsung and LG to developers so they can begin real-world testing of their apps before the big holiday launch. We were treated to one of said devices and had a few days to take Windows Phone 7 for a test-drive.

A couple of caveats before we get into the preview. First, this isn't final software, so some services, such as Windows Marketplace and Xbox Live, weren't available for us to test. In addition, Microsoft said it's continuing work to improve general performance and battery life, so though we made some general observations in these areas, this isn't indicative of the final experience. Last but not least, the handset we used, the Samsung Taylor, is only a prototype device and will not be released to market. It does, however, meet the hardware specifications that will be required on all Windows Phone 7 smartphones, including a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and the three navigation controls (back, start, and search).

Given that Windows Phone 7 is essentially a new operating system, there's a lot to go over, so we're going to break up our preview into two parts, starting with the phone's user interface and core features. As we continue our coverage throughout the week, please let us know what you'd like to hear about the OS and send along your questions, and we'll do our best to address them in following posts.

A fresh start
As we said at Mobile World Congress, Windows Phone 7 is a complete and refreshing departure from previous versions of Windows Mobile. Microsoft essentially pressed the restart button and worked with a team of designers to create a mobile operating system based a number of principles, including elegance and simplicity, typography, motion, and relevance, which we mostly saw during this preview.

Windows Phone 7 preview

The change is immediately noticeable as soon as you pick up the phone. Microsoft stripped away all unnecessary information (almost too much actually--the status bar displaying battery life, signal strength, and so forth goes into hiding after a couple of seconds) and soft buttons, and created a Start screen that consists of "live tiles," which are essentially dynamic widgets to your favorite apps, contacts, and hubs and also display alerts, such as new e-mail and missed calls. You can rearrange the order of the tiles and remove them by doing a long press on the screen. You can also "pin" new tiles, but to do so, you must first navigate to the list of apps or the People hub, find the item that you want to add, and then pin it to the Start screen.

The look is simple, to be sure, and provides easy one-touch access to information. However, customizing and navigating the screen can sometimes be a cumbersome task. For example, when you're moving one of the smaller square tiles, it doesn't swap places with the tile above or below it; instead, it creates one or more empty spaces and consequently, takes more of your time to get the arrangement right.

More importantly, we're just not sold on the layout. As it is, the Start screen and the app list, which you can access by swiping to the right, reads as a long long list and requires a lot of scrolling up and down. As you add more tiles and presumably as you add more apps, we can only see it getting more unruly, particularly the apps list. True, Android employs a similar list view but it also better utilizes space with a grid layout.

Read the full review on CNET

Bonnie Cha is chief correspondent for Crave, covering every kind of tech toy imaginable (with a special obsession for robots and Star Wars-related stuff). When she's not scoping out stories, you can find her checking out live music or surfing in the chilly waters of Northern California.
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