We were all pretty intrigued to see what Ballmer would reveal at Mobile World Congress. Ee knew it was going to be Windows Mobile 7, but would it be up to scratch?
Let's face it, we're annoyed at the long-winded Windows Phone 7 Series moniker (not least because it ruins our headlines), but we have to say there's more than a glimmer of hope about what was unveiled.
And now we know more - from the MIX 2010 event where Microsoft shone a few more lights into the murky mysterious of WP7S. It's not a lot to go on, but enough to get a much clearer grasp over Ballmer's vision.
1. Putting developers first
The sheer weight of information unveiled about developer tools at the MIX event (which, admittedly is based around developers) showed that the Windows Phone 7 platform is all set up for apps.
CREDIT: Engadget
Devs will be able to take advantage of elements like multi-touch, the camera, GPS, push notifications and accelerometers to make cool new applications.
Steve Ballmer was also parodied in a demo app using Silverlight - onlookers were given the chance to watch a bobble-headed version of the chief yelling 'developers, developers, developers' over and over again.
2. Marketplace overhaul
If you're making apps, you need a place to put them. To that end, Microsoft has decided to overhaul the Windows Phone Marketplace, so it now features a panoramic design and 'active merchandising' to increase the discoverability of games and applications.
It also supports one-time credit card purchases, mobile operator billing and advertising-funded applications to increase the raft of options on offer - basically offering more ways to pay makes developers happier.
3. Bye bye multi-tasking - for now
For Windows Phone 7 Series, the OS will process Microsoft's core integrated experiences, including music and phone calls, in the background, but NOT those of third-party apps – very much like the iPhone.
The new Microsoft phones (Microphones? Oh, wait...) will, however, support push-notifications so that third-party apps can send you updates and status messages when the app itself is not running in the background.
And don't worry if you're a huge WiPho fan - this isn't Microsoft's final stance on multi-tasking - it's just set this way so the first release doesn't go all unstable and eat your battery.
4. There's real power under the hood
Microsoft used the MIX event to show off what can be achieved with the new WP7S (unsurprisingly).
In the unveiling, it showed off an application from the Associated Press (that included in-app advertising) as well as pointing out the ability to jump to pictures and video.
Basically, it seems that the apps will be able to draw from the phone's resources in a big way and still survive - which makes sense when you think it's going to have a 1GHz processor as a minimum in most devices.
5. No more memory cards
Here's a down side - there won't be any memory card support. Actually, check that - there will be support for them, but you can't get to them.
That's right - the two options will either be inbuilt memory, and gallons of it, with no memory card slot (think Nokia X6) or there will be a 'locked' memory card under the battery.
Why? We have no idea. It seems that if you can support hot-swappable memory cards, you should. It just makes life easier for the end-user.
6. One portal to rule them all
Those of you familiar with Windows Mobile 7 will be aware that you can get apps from, well, pretty much anywhere. Only the other day we think we installed a new alarm clock for 50p and a Crème Egg from the local WH Smiths.
But now, that gravy train has ended. With all the work that's gone into the Windows Phone Marketplace, Microsoft has stopped unlicensed third party apps from making their way on to WP7S devices.
This means app vendors like Handango will have their noses put firmly out of joint - it's a significant revenue stream gone bye bye.
But hey - Apple does it and makes loads of dosh. Why not follow that rich road to success? (See #9 to find out why).
7. Copy and paste dumped
We're used to seeing the functional-yet-frustrating nature of Windows Mobile from previous iterations, with the power of Exchange email and copy/paste ruined by the impossible to use touch systems.
And while the latter appears to have been somewhat fixed, Microsoft has gone the other way with the functional side - copy and paste is gone.
Microsoft apparently thinks its user don't need it - but surely the company learnt from Apple that this isn't the case?
No copy and paste, no Flash video, no multi-tasking - we're a little worried about the road Microsoft is heading down.
8. We still don't know what the first phones will look like
We may have been shown LG's first effort of a Windows Phone 7 Series device, but that's as much as we've learnt so far.
But then we thought we'd seen Samsung's first effort as well - the phone that it would be launching at Christmas to rival LG.
The problem was it looked surprisingly like the year-old i8910HD - so TechRadar did a little digging and found that it actually was just that.
And in a more intriguing twist - Samsung claimed it didn't even create it, that Microsoft re-badged the i8910HD off its own back.
9. We've been saved from a much poorer version
You may have read a few months back that Steve Ballmer knocked some heads together over the design of Windows Mobile 7, and that appears to have been a very, very good move indeed.
Microsoft showed off some slides of what the original version of Windows Mobile 7 looked like originally - it was much like the WinMo versions of yore, complete with hard to reach menus at the bottom and the teeny Windows icon to kick things off.
We're very glad that core was scrapped and a reboot of the system was made - what Windows Phone 7 Series eventually looked like was much, much better, and is a proper vehicle to help Microsoft back to the sharp end of the mobile game.
10. High res screens are still the way forward - for now
You should remember that Windows Phone 7 Series will be only running phones with WVGA (800x480) screens - we like that level of resolution.
But the problem is that that screen res can be a) heavy on the wallet and b) not necessary in some phones.
So to that end, Microsoft will be adding HVGA (480x320) to the mix in the future, which means slightly lower res video, and apps will have to be rescaled to run on lower-pixelled screen.
But Android has managed it with recent reboots, so there's no reason why Microsoft can't be a success with it as well.
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