Well, what do we have here? We’ve seen the Asus Windows Phone 7 phone before but now it’s being shown off in all its glory in video form.
There’s still no direct word on the specs from this device that was spotted at Gnomedex but it’s safe to assume that it will have a 1 GHz processor and at least a 5-megapixel camera because those are the hardware chassis Microsoft is requiring for the Windows Phone 7 platform. There’s no concrete word on pricing but Asus said the device will be available in time for the holiday season. The video mainly goes over software features we already know about, but it’s still a good viewing.
As you know, Microsoft Windows Phone 7 is a reboot of the platform because it breaks away from the Windows Mobile operating system. There’s a new user interface which emphasizes the content – there will be a customizable “live tile” start screen that will present you with various live information like weather or appointments. It looks pretty clean and I enjoy the break away from the icons-in-a-grid interface that has become standard thanks to Apple iOS and Android.
Microsoft Windows Phone 7 will also come with the Zune software for multimedia playback and management. It will also come with a version of Xbox Live for gaming – it probably won’t allow you to play against Xbox users at first but some form of that should go live down the road.
Because it’s Microsoft, the Windows Phone 7 platform will launch with strong integration with Exchange and it will be preloaded with Office. We’ve looked at early builds and it’s pretty solid but there are a few negatives like the lack of copy and paste as well as no Twitter integration. Those will be coming with future updates but first-day buyers may be disappointed.
The platform is expected to officially launch Oct. 11 and we know that manufacturers will support this. Along with Asus, companies like Samsung, LG Electronics, Dell and HTC will eventually have devices with this latest smartphone operating system.
[Via Lockergnome]