Microsoft released a lot of exciting and new information regarding their new mobile platform at the MIX 2010 conference. Windows Phone 7 has the following minimum spec requirements:

Capacitive Touch: 4 or more contact points
Sensors: A-GPS, Accelerometer, Compass, Light, Proximity
Camera: 5 megapixels or more, Camera with a flash and dedicated camera button
Multimedia: Common detailed specs, Codec acceleration
Memory: 256 MB, 8 GB Flash or more
GPU: DirectX 9 acceleration
Processor: ARMv7 Cortex/Scorpion or better
2 screen sizes: 480×800 WVGA, 480×320 HVGA
Keyboard: Optional
Hardware Buttons: Must be fixed on the face

Remember, these are MINIMUM requirements. As you can see, at least in my opinion, this is great news. The main technical aspect I am concerned about is the CPU or processor. If you know your processors, you might know that the ARMv7 is a kind of processor technology that focuses on power conservation. In 2007, 98% of all mobile phones used a processor that used ARM technology. The Nexus One and iPhone uses these processors as well. Mobile processors have only advanced in efficiency since 2007. Microsoft went ahead and made ARMv7 CPUs a firm requirement for Windows Phone 7. The Cortex/Scorpion processors range from 600 MHz all the way to 1.5GHz. Because of the advancing core speeds, we can almost certainly see streaming HD movies and video on the rise in 2010 and with the release of Windows Phone 7 devices.

Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 team made an aggressive move last week in the mobile OS market. In an attempt to bring popular mobile applications to Windows Phone 7, Microsoft is offering iPhone Developers CASH to develop games for WP7. While it is still technically a “rumor” because Microsoft will not confirm, many popular iPhone developers have been surfacing their [new] relationships with Microsoft. Multiple sources are reporting that Microsoft is approaching popular iPhone developers with ‘significant cash offers’, in order to motivate them to switch allegiances.

Microsoft’s strategy is genius. In order for WP7 to be [more of] a success upon its release date (still unknown, but i’m guessing July), they need GAMES to compete with iPhone. Cash is King to mobile developers. Why develop apps for the iPhone and wait for revenue, when Microsoft will pay you up-front for your work? If you were approached by Microsoft and get asked to switch mobile platforms, would you do it? What if there was a $10,000 cash sign-on bonus? I’ll answer for you: yes you would switch. Microsoft knows that mobile applications are only as good as the developer that creates them. With this in mind, Microsoft most likely started this campaign as an aggressive move to gain back mobile market share (mostly from Apple). This is very similar to dangling a carrot in front of a horse. I’m not at all trying to compare developers to horses, no that can’t be my main point.  Well in a way, I am. Cash is something that everyone wants, and with the right amount you can “make friends” with almost anybody… even Apple fanboys.

So how many games does the iPhone actually have? Hovering around 200,000 as of this post, the iPhone blows Android, Palm, and Windows Mobile 6 right out of the water. Palm is like a little firecracker that will make your ears ring. Android is like TNT, it can cause some damage.  But the iPhone, at least at this moment in time, is like a Tsar Bomb relative to the other mobile operating systems in regards to available applications.

The competition is getting heated, and it’s getting more and more obvious to consumers like us.  Overall, I’m content with Microsoft paying developers to switch from the iPhone to WP7.  It shows me that Microsoft has not, and will not, bow down to the iPhone.  But at the end of the day, the winner will be the platform that has the most applications available for its users.

Windows CE 7, aka "Chelan"

This article has been proven to be false.  Microsoft’s new Windows Phone mobile operating system will not be backwards-compatible with WM6.

This is very exciting news for me. Why? Because I’ve spent over $300 on Windows Mobile 6 applications over the past two years! Many confirmed internet sources are saying that WM7 is based on an improved version of Windows CE (nicknamed “Chelan”). Some people may be turned off to this fact because people seem to think that Windows CE was a lost cause since inception. This is simply not true, guys. In my opinion, yes Windows CE is antiquated. But a newer version means a newer version. This isn’t going to be a 6.5 to 6.6 update… this is Seven.

The upside to the backward-compatibility news is that:

1. Your WM6 apps will work with WM7,
2. We KNOW Internet Explorer 7 for mobile will be improved, and
3. We KNOW flash support will be improved.

That’s really the only thing most consumers are asking for right now (a better browsing experience). The only sad news is that ActiveSync isn’t going away .

“We spoke with representatives from Microsoft, Lenovo, Qualcomm, TI, Nokia, nVidia, HTC and many more and they all had just one message — Windows Mobile 7 is delayed until 2011,” a story posted to BSN’s site said. “We’re now certain that we won’t be seeing Windows Mobile 7 before World Mobile Congress in Barcelona in February 2011.” [bsn]

“If they were going to slip it [past 2010], they would have let us know [but] I don’t know why they’d miss because they know that every minute they miss, they’re losing partners,” Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. [in]

HTC Russia, I mean. They’re still Russian. While most people probably can’t read the language, they’re leaking sensitive information about the new Windows phone. Also, the HTC HD2 will be getting the very first Windows Mobile 7 upgrade download.

Since Windows Mobile 7 will have new hardware expectations, only a select few of WM6 phones will actually be able to upgrade to WM7. I believe Microsoft and HTC are working closely together, in order to plan the release date of the new Windows Mobile operating system.