The Inside Microsoft blog has what is claimed to be a leaked internal Microsoft document detailing some of the features we can look forward to seeing in Windows Mobile 7 - codenamed Photon.
Now, this may turn out to be an elaborate hoax (albeit one that someone has spent a lot of taking putting together) but assuming it is true WM 7 is going to be really interesting.
A complete interface redesign seems likely, with much more emphasis placed on finger gestures and movements rather than the stylus. So far, so iPhone - but Microsoft also seem to be taking a leaf from Nokia’s book by implementing motion-sensitive controls. Users will be able to control the phone by turning, twisting and shaking it and devices will behave differently if turned face-down or kept in a pocket, for example.
Rather than incorporate an accelerometer, WM7 will instead use the camera to detect motion - how well this will work in low light is anyone’s guess.
The full list of features can be found here, complete with eyecandy.
Gizmodo have a preview of the next two versions of Windows Mobile (v7 & 8). Obviously, a lot of this is speculative at the moment but essentially, Microsoft are aware that Windows Mobile 6 has a few problems and have some impressive-sounding plans in place for the future.
Windows Mobile can be a bit slow, particularly on cheaper handsets, so Microsoft plan to raise the minimum hardware requirements for a WM device so that even the lower-spec models can keep up.
WM 7 will feature new versions of all the basic apps, most crucially a faster, more feature-rich Internet Explorer that can finally compete with other mobile browsers (*cough* Safari *cough*)
WM 8 will be rewritten from scratch and promises a new UI, global search and much tighter integration between the different components and apps that make up the operating system.
Can they pull it off? Well, who knows - Vista hasn’t exactly been the revolution in desktop computing that Microsoft promised either - but now that the iPhone has given the smartphone market a much-needed kick in the shorts, they might not have any choice..
