Windows Phone 7 Series

Windows Phone 7 Series is the successor to Microsoft's line of Windows Mobile phone operating systems. It's based on the Windows CE 6 kernel, like the Zune HD, while current versions of Windows Mobile are based on Windows CE 5. Microsoft announced the new OS at Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona, and says that the first handsets to run it are supposed to be released by the holiday shopping season of this year.

Part of what makes Windows Phone 7 Series a departure for Microsoft is that the company is taking a much bigger role in dictating what hardware is allowed to run the OS. While we still haven't seen an actual device produced by a manufacturer for retail (the demo unit being shown off is a prototype slab allegedly made by Garmin-Asus, but not a device that might ever come to market), Microsoft has a very clear picture of what they want these units to be built like. Still, while the company is laying down the ground rules in an attempt to create a more consistent experience across phones, it doesn't mean there won't be variety. You'll see variation in devices (yes, some with and some without a keyboard), but there will be a much more steady tone in the nature of Windows Phone 7 Series handsets. Here's a look at some of the minimum specs detailed to us thus far:

• Large WVGA screen with a single aspect ratio (which means BlackBerry-style devices won't be readily available to begin with)


• Five specific hardware buttons required: Start, back, search (a dedicated Bing button), camera button, and power -- no more, no less


• Capacitive multitouch


• CPU and GPU requirements (beginning with Qualcomm's Snapdragon as the go-to processor)


• WiFi


• AGPS


• Accelerometer


• FM radio


• High resolution camera

As we said, Microsoft is showing the OS off on unbranded prototype hardware. It's a simplistic slate phone with a 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen, what appears to be a front-facing camera (a point we haven't heard the company sound off on yet)... and not much else. We still have plenty of unanswered questions on hardware, not just about that camera, but storage specs, whether or not we'll be able to use microSD or some form of removable storage, and how we'll go about connecting these devices to our laptops.