The pieces are starting to fall into place for the upcoming Microsoft Windows Phone 7 and we just got a sneak at what will fill up the Windows Marketplace for Mobile.
On Twitter, a Microsoft employee showed off a few Windows Phone 7 testing apps and names and this includes the usual suspects like YouTube and Yelp. Interestingly enough, the YouTube app is labeled as a “Music Hub add-on” while Yelp appears to be a standalone app.
The testing screen also shows an icon for Bing Translator and we’ve already seen a few examples of this cool service. With this Microsoft Windows Phone 7 app, you’ll be able to speak or type a phrase into your phone and it will use cloud-services to translate it into another language with the accent and all. The cool thing is that it will store frequently-used phrases so you won’t have to worry about connectivity.
Apps are going to play an important role if Microsoft Windows Phone 7 will be a credible competitor with Research in Motion’s BlackBerry, Apple iPhone and Google Android but Microsoft’s platform is already a bit behind. The new smartphone operating system will use XNA, Slverlight and other tools to create apps but I’ve heard rumblings from developers that the APIs are not robust yet and there’s an overall sloppiness to the platform.
It’s a good thing Microsoft is making it worth developers’ while to create Windows Phone 7 apps, as the software giant is reportedly paying content creators for mobile programs. This isn’t just big bags of cash, as it is also includes revenues guarantee.
The Windows Phone 7 platform will use a “Metro” user interface that uses “hubs” on the home screen. Users will be able to create their own standalone apps but it will be fun to watch how developers integrate with these hubs.
[Via Mobile Tech World]