Microsoft’s Phone 7: Only Months Away

Okay. So it might be something like six months away, but that is still just months away—isn’t it? And, lets face it, in these high-tech high-speed days six months will zoom past in about three months of relative time.

Microsoft are taking a huge gamble with the Windows Phone 7 Series—which other writers seem to just call Phone 7 for short. Phone 7 is going to have a user interface like no phone before it. It neither looks nor works anything like Microsoft’s existing Windows Mobile operating system for mobile phones; or any other existing mobile phone user interface.

Following, taken from the Engadget site, are some pictures of the Phone 7 as it looks at this point in development. Ctrl+Click the image to go to the Engadget site (in a new Tab).

Microsoft are going for a “bigger, bolder, crisper interface”. They are calling this new user interface “Metro”.

If you are the least bit interested the guys at Engadget have a series of pictures walking-through part of the Metro interface. Do Ctrl+Click on the image at left to open the walk-through in a new Tab. Use the left and right arrows to move through the various Metro (Phone 7) screens.

Remember that this is how the Metro interface looks at this stage. It is highly likely that many tuning and polishing changes will be made by Microsoft between now and when the Phone 7 is released.

The other big question is “How long will it take after the Phone 7 is released in America for it to be released in Australia”, and I can’t find an answer to that question anywhere at this point.

If you go the the actual Phone 7 Engadget review, which is here, there is a video showing the interface being used.

At this stage the early beta reviews of the Phone 7 are very positive. The new Metro interface is getting some serious applause, unlike the old Windows Mobile interface before it.

At this point there is no firm information about battery life or responsiveness (performance). Previous Windows Mobile phones have typically had pretty pathetic battery life. This is one area a new phone from Microsoft would need to improve in—especially if it is going to be of any interest to me.