Windows Phone 7 handsets land in hands of teens

If you were hoping to be the first non-Microsoft person to get a Windows Phone 7 handsets, you’re out of luck because the software giant has already given two teens smartphones with its upcoming mobile operating system.

These kids deserved it though, as Christian Hood and Eric Lo, 17 and 16, won a developer challenge to get the coveted Windows Phone 7 handsets. The teens created a game called “Droid Assault” for the Windows phone and you can check out a brief demo of it here.

Beastware Droid Assault Demo from Anand Iyer on Vimeo.

We know that Microsoft wants Windows Phone 7 to be a gaming beast and this game shows off how easy it could be to create games for the platform. The teens created the game for a PC and then (ingeniously) used a Wii remote paired over Bluetooth to act as the phone’s accelerometer.

“Once you’ve finished the PC version, it’s very easy to port to a phone,” Lo said.

We know that Windows Phone 7 will use Silverlight and XNA 4.0 for development and this should lead to 3D games and Xbox Live integration. We’ve also seen some cool demonstrations in the past that show you’ll theoretically be able to start a game on a phone and resume it on your PC or Xbox. Cool beans.

As for the device itself, it looks like the Samsung Windows Phone 7 smartphone we scooped a few months ago. While there’s no word on the specs, it’s safe to assume it rocks a capacitive touch screen, 1 GHz processor and all the connectivity goodies you’d expect from a device of this class.

We could see Microsoft Windows Phone 7 debut as early as October and there should be devices available from LG Electronics, Samsung, HTC and maybe even Dell at launch.

Are you guys excited about Windows Phone 7 or is this too little, too late?

[Via Erictric, Windows Phone Developer Blog

About The Author

Marin Perez

Marin Perez has torture tested cell phones and smartphones for industry leaders like CNET and InformationWeek. He remembers when 4G was just a screen on PowerPoint presentations and is fascinated with the amount of innovation out there. Marin has spent a lot of time with BlackBerry and Android but he finally broke down a bought an iPhone to see what all the hype's about. He also has too many tablets.

Brent

Too little, too late. Lots of ground to make up.
Tim

I'm still excited! we should see tons of games if even a couple of teachers can do it
Joe

I feel that MSFT has missed the boat and had a few chances to make up lost ground, but WM 6.x was not what i expected from them. Granted, i am using a device running 5.0, but when iPhone was immanent to its first announcement, MSFT should have already overhauled the OS.

I think though WM 7 will be a great OS, but it will be hard for them to keep afloat since they are already facing fierce competition. I am both both excited and conflicted with this new OS b/c i really like the functionality of Windows Mobile 6.x and below. I like side-loading apps, keeping their cab files as back up, I like the plethora of apps available, and i like how it is just like the desktop. I know how to fix a problem if something goes wrong. I like the fact that WM is a robust OS. The problem was that there was no “eye-candy” and that it was left up to the OEM’s to design a UI skin. It may look nice, but devices do take a performance hit. The OS as a whole does not manage memory well, for instance it does not close off apps that may not be needed once memory does begin to fill up. I do have to reboot my device more often than i would like to (depending how much i use it that day).

WM 7 though i feel does offer vastly superior features and i think Xbox Live connectivity would be a great selling point. My hope is that MSFT can have a robust and expansive marketplace at launch. I don’t really like the fact that it is not backward compatible to some of my favorite apps i like to use. It is understandable though as to why that is. I like the fact you can have multiple e-mail accounts and have them automatically pushed from the network to your device. I like the User Interface and i find it refreshing. I like how MSFT does have stricter guidelines for minimum specs of hardware, but i hope they push through updates that support future hardware (gyroscope, better graphics chipsets, etc.). Lastly, i hope that their devices last a good few years rather than 6 months later your phone is already obsolete.

One very last note is how good they market and advertise their products. I felt when they relaunched windows mobile with 6.5, and they did have good commercials yet short lived. They were good but not great; they were not memorable. They need something epic.
P Freeman

I'm really excited for it! It looks great!
Parley

looks awesome!! Not too late…
Bob Slob

Nice job guys, you'll still have to take your Mom's to the prom, but enjoy the phones
Markmwf

Too little too late. Isnt that what they said abiut Xbox?, office, Windows 7, Bing? Never write Microsoft off.