MIX10: Netflix, Twitter apps and a cannon are coming for Windows Phone 7

MIX10: Netflix, Twitter apps and a cannon are coming for Windows Phone 7: "

LAS VEGAS -- Although Windows Phone 7 will not start selling until the holiday shopping season, Microsoft began showing off apps for Windows Phones at the MIX Web developer conference.

'In February we had a very big day for Windows Phone 7 Series when we unveiled our new user experience [in Barcelona, Spain]. Today for us is an equally big day as we announce our developer platform,' said Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president of Windows Phone Management Program. 'We hope to enlist you to build a great set of experiences for users who will bring home a Windows Phone 7 device.

One of the linchpins of Windows Phone success is whether developers will build applications for it. The ability of developers to build and sell apps on iTunes drove the success of Apple's iPhone.

Here are some highlights of application possibilities from the MIX demonstration, which ran on real code.

• The Calendar feature included an 'I'll be late' button that shoots an e-mail to meeting attendees if the phone user is running behind.



• AP News Reader, built by Archetype, allowed users to pan between top stories, news categories, most shared stories, a photos page and commenting page.



• Advertising opportunities are built in. In the AP demo, an animated Ford car rolled in at the bottom of the screen.



• A Netflix app issued an alert that a new DVD has arrived in the mailbox, and shows a preview of the episode on the phone.



• A comic book reader application from Graphic.ly showed how the phone is able to zoom in and out and adjust for high resolution and low resolution images.



• A cannon rolled on stage, controlled remotely by a Windows Phone, and fires red shirts into the audience. The app is from Code for Fun.



• Scott Guthrie, who was a keynoter, made an animated South Park-like puppet of Steve Ballmer on a Windows Phone, dressing him in his standard red V-neck sweater over a blue-collared shirt, with Ballmer shouting 'find developers!'



• A Twitter client builder Seesmic showed a Windows Phone 7 version that mashes tweets with a map.



• Belfiore showed a diary app called Hush Hush that his son used to record entries and photos during a vacation to Mexico.

The development tools will be free, and Guthrie, a corporate vice president, said the goal was for a developer to download the tools and build an app in 30 minutes flat. The tools are available now at developer.windowsphone.com.

(Screenshot of AP News Reader app on Windows Phone 7 Series: Associated Press)

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