Microsoft yesterday provided new details about the upcoming availability of Windows Phone 7.
This is a fresh start for Microsoft’s mobile efforts; one in which we put the end user experiences at the center of every decision we make, from architecting a new design and integrated on-phone experiences, to taking more accountability for the hardware and application development platform. We’ve implemented a more measured and structured philosophy to bringing phones to market so that customers have a great experience with the scenarios that matter most to them, thereby enabling us to establish a foundation for growth over the long term.
Confirming that they remain on track for a release later this year, Microsoft revealed that Windows Phone 7 will support 5 languages (English, French, Italian, German and Spanish) during its initial availability. The companion Windows Phone Marketplace will offer applications in 17 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, UK and United States.
Also announced was the new Windows Phone Live companion site that will provide access to media, calendar and contacts, 25GB of SkyDrive storage and offer the Find My Phone service for free. Find My Phone (first introduced as a premium Microsoft MyPhone service) will allow users to locate and manage a missing phone with map, ring, lock and erase capabilities right from a PC.