Updated 26 May, 2012, 4:18 pm IST

Windows Mobile 7 Getting Ever Closer to Reality

13 Jul, 2010, 5:19 pm IST | by Shayne Rana |

Personally the Windows Mobile OS isn’t on my list of top mobile operating systems but with since Windows Mobile 7 was announced, I have to say my interest has been piqued. There’s quite a bit that the new OS will bring to the table especially since there will be a certain amount of Zune like control. So far all we’ve seen are demos of what the OS is all about, noting concrete has made it out.

Here’s what we know so far, Dell has plans to launch a couple of devices that will run the new OS. A report has also recently mentioned that Microsoft’s Front Man slash CEO Steve Ballmer has spoken of plans to release Windows Mobile 7 powered tablet/slate devices along with mobile handsets. I would imagine the slate devices taking on a Windows 7 OS, but with Android powered tablets making the scene at frequent intervals, it certainly wouldn’t surprise me to see a WinMob 7 tablet that will incorporate voice calling of course.

We also know that the Developer Tools in beta are already available for the Windows Phone 7. That means developers can get cracking on those games and apps for the new OS. Microsoft has even said that even though it’s in beta stage it’s “the near final version of the tools.” Windows Phone Developers Tools beta here.

The Developer Tools beta contain:

Windows Phone 7 API (it’s “close to completion”)
Developer Registration Utility (it unlocks Windows Phone 7 devices for development purposes)
Microsoft Expression Blend for Windows Phone
XAP Deployment Tool
Control Templates
Additional Controls

The Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington D.C. is a-buzz with a lot of strategies for business development through the new OS. The Windows Phone Blog has Paul Bryan saying that the capabilities that Windows Phone 7 will offer partners will certainly offer better notions and ideas to creating mobile solutions and applications to help them grow their business.

Some sites have found 'evidence' that HTC will be the dominant figure for the Windows Mobile 7 OS from the manufacturer’s point of view. That’s very interesting considering they’re quite ahead already on the Android OS front. A couple of devices have made their names known unofficially – the HTC Mondrian and HTC Mozart. Both handsets will feature high-resolution touchscreen displays, Stereo Bluetooth with a Internet Explorer Mobile 7 browser.

On the downside, Mozilla has stopped working to port their Firfox browser to the Windows Mobile 7 OS. Microsoft has a limitation when it comes to being ‘too open’ with WinMob 7 and this makes it difficult for a Firefox browser to be part of the native range of apps for the OS. This is not something Mozilla is taking to so they’re out. Opera is still a viable option, at the moment. Another downer is that Skype is also not planning on developing an app for the upcoming OS. And maybe it’s for the same reasons as Mozilla. Of course things could change, but for now, we can only hope.

Nevertheless it’s an exciting time folks with iOS4 that’s already here from Apple, Android’s Froyo and Gingerbread on the horizon, Symbian ^3 and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 7. It’s going to get harder to choose a handset come December.