If you want to follow what Microsoft announce at the keynote (seeing as most people I have spoken to about it are free to follow) you can watch it streamed live from Microsoft or read some of the Live Blogs from the likes of Long Zheng and Tom Warren or Engadget(no link posted yet).

I am very excited to hear what Microsoft have planned for their mobile devices (and maybe the wider consumer market) but I’m very disappointed I shall be missing it.

I had said I wasn’t going to post much more about what Microsoft may or may not announce at MWC but when seeing such compelling evidence as the pictures from Engadget I can’t help but start thinking how this could all work together.

Caution all ye who read on from here, there be some serious speculation up ahead.

Windows Phone 7 Series

Over the past few hours I’ve been wondering what could constitute a “series” from Microsoft. If you look at Windows 7 there are several versions in the market but that is only marketed as one product. Therefore I think the idea of the series only being different version of Windows 7 doesn’t make sense.

As suggested in an earlier post Microsoft will be announcing Windows Mobile Starter Edition that is thought to be a version of Windows Mobile 6.x. It makes sense that Microsoft would want to avoid any confusion with having several versions of Windows Mobile by having all versions of Windows Mobile branded under one name, Windows Phone 7 Series.

Another aspect of the “series” name is that it could incorporate Microsoft branded hardware too such as “Zune Phone” or Project Pink running variations of Windows Mobile 7 (making it part of the series) but with very different interfaces.

The “series” idea could actually answer one question I have had about Microsoft and its phone plans which was how they could avoid confusing within the marketplace when offering what looks like several very different experiences. Rather than making it a “Windows Phone” which suggests a device that will run the same OS a “series” suggests differences within a collection, exactly what could be the case.

The there is the question of “7”, yes the next version of Windows Mobile is scheduled to be 7 but I think Microsoft is trying to use the good publicity about Windows 7 in its mobile branding. I personally don’t like the sound of Windows Phone 7 Series, the number suggests a single experience and series suggests variation; unless, of course, there are 7 different components that make up the series (ie 7 different products that make up the series).

…although having just seen this tweet from @jont84 I really shouldn’t get ahead of myself, things might change.

Microsoft Store Announcement

One unrelated idea I have had about other possible announcements by Microsoft during its keynote is news of more Microsoft Stores. For me part of this poster (from Engadget) bares an extremely close resemblance to the Microsoft Store logo.

If Microsoft is serious about bringing Windows Phone to consumers in a big way then being able to showcase and sell the device through their own stores would be a great way to achieve this. If, as rumoured, the first phone running Windows Mobile 7 aren’t released until September then there is plenty of time for Microsoft to open several more stores across the world than just the 2 in the US.

I am concerned of an iPad situation where the rumours make the final product seem very bland, but at the same time I am too much of an optimist and want the best from Microsoft and to share my ideas.

Below you can see the sticker over the poster against the effect of revealing what it say below.

*Sigh* Another rumour now to add to the mix for MWC, not sure what believe Microsoft will announce any more, things just keep changing today. My guess is that there will be a business version and media version just like I have stated a few times.

I wonder if this series idea also explains this morning’s news of Windows Mobile Starter Edition running a Windows Mobile 6.x variant so the various OSs in the series don’t all need to be running Windows Mobile 7.

As always, roll on Monday!

“Zune Phone”

For anyone looking forward to the rumoured “Zune Phone” or who are waiting for Microsoft to release a Zune app for their Windows Phone.

Windows Mobile 7

For anyone looking forward to Microsoft announcing and demoing Windows Mobile 7.

Mobile World Congress 2010

If you are looking forward to Mobile World Congress or are attending the event you might want to use this Twibbon.

Windows Mobile 6.5.3 or 6.6

It is very likely that Microsoft will officially announce and release the latest version of Windows Mobile 6.X. The update will most notably include a revised UI across the whole OS and support for capacitive screens.

Microsoft have already announced this update to Windows Mobile.

Zune

Zune Windows Mobile Software

Steve Ballmer promised, via The Engadget Show, that when Microsoft next release a version of Windows Mobile (6.5.3 or 6.6) they will also release a Zune app for their mobile OS. As far as I can tell in the US and Canada the app will link in with the Zune service, as the Zune HD does, however outside of those countries the Zune app, if there is one, will only play music synced from a user’s PC.

“Zune Phone”

Rumours have been growing over the past year about a Microsoft branded phone(s) firstly beginning with Project Pink, well documented by Mary Jo Foley, and has recently taken on the form of the “Zune Phone”.

This phone, whatever it may be, is likely to be Microsoft branded with heavy Zune integration both in terms of the UI design and how to sync content on the phone. The operating system is likely to be a scaled back version of soon to be announced Windows Mobile 7 and will use a the same Nvidia Tegra chip as in the Zune HD.

There is likely to be a brand new set of premium services on devices(s) from Project Pink but what exactly these service will feature is unknown.

Windows Mobile 7

Probably the most anticipated announcement Microsoft could make at MWC is about Windows Mobile 7 which they have described as “more than evolutionary”. Little is known about what Windows Mobile 7 will be like and what new features Microsoft will be adding but it is rumoured that there will be two versions of the OS; a business version which will allow OEMs to replace the default UI and a Media version which is likely to have close integration with several Microsoft services such as Zune and Xbox Live.

Windows Live Wave 4

There has been no word on whether Microsoft will demo any parts of the new Windows Live release however I expect and hope Windows Mobile to make use of Microsoft’s social network, online service and features to enhance Windows Mobile. I hope that Live Mesh technology is used to backup data to the cloud and user’s computers and things like contacts and calendar can be easily kept in sync across the whole suite and all devices that can access the services.

If you have heard or hear of any other rumours about what might be announced by Microsoft at MWC then please let me know via comments or Twitter.

Keep up to date with all the latest “Zune Phone” and Windows Mobile 7 news.

I’m introducing a countdown to the event as a widget in the sidebar so you know how long we have to wait until the event kicks off .

[LCT-|-embed]

Thanks to @Dovella for the idea of the counter :)

Windows Live Wave 4 Mail

From Twitter it appears as though the next version of Windows Live Mail will support Gmail’s labels, archiving and stars, this comes from @fxshaw, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President of Corporate Communications, in reply to a tweet from @joshuatopolsky, editor in chief of Engadget.

More info from Liveside.

Zune to have more formats than just XviD

It transpired about 2 weeks ago that the Zune HD would soon have XviD support and now it looks like it could well gain OGG and MOV support in an up coming update. If this is true I wonder what else could be coming soon to Zune that we don’t yet know about.

More info from Zunited.

Windows Mobile 7 Tested

Well apparently at least one person, Eldar Murtazin, outside Microsoft has used an early build of Windows Mobile 7 and found that apps from the previous versions of the mobile OS aren’t compatible with the newer OS. For me its not surprising that older apps weren’t working on the build of Windows Mobile 7 as its very likely the new OS has a completely different back end from the older versions. But because old apps didn’t work does not mean they wont, I wouldn’t be surprised either way with allowing older apps to run on the new OS. However, Microsoft would be rather silly to fracture their mobile OS ecosystem in such a way; I expect that when the mobile OS comes to market it will be possible to run older apps, maybe not all but certainly some. We know Microsoft like their compatibility modes and legacy support, through XP Mode, on Windows and I think a lesser version could well work on powerful phones with a 1 GHz processor or better.

More info from Engadget.

LG give a more precise release date for Windows Mobile 7

Again it is LG stating when Windows Mobile will be on the market, first it was by the end of 2010 and now they say they will be releasing devices in September running the new mobile OS. Of course this could well be wrong but its always interesting to hear such things, its also a surprisingly early date as I was thinking by the end of 2010 meant very late in the year.

More info from Engadget.

Windows 7 SP1 screenshots

Not sure why this made it on to quite a few sites, its only a couple of screenshots that show nothing interesting to me but such is the unquenchable thirst for tech news.

If you want to see the pictures then head over to MuyWindows.

From a recent interview with BetaNews it would seem Microsoft see the HD2 as a prime example of a device capable of running Windows Mobile 7 which demonstrates the new strategy Microsoft have for their mobile OS and partners.

It seems increasingly more likely we will see an official update for the HD2 seeing as HTC tweeted about such a thing just over a week ago.

Zune to get Xdiv video support

Further to a previous about new features for the Zune HD, including a Facebook app and SmartDJ functionality on the device,  it would appear that the device will get XviD support in its next software update.

Its good to see Microsoft are still adding features to the Zune HD, it is certainly making it a more attractive device for customers in markets it can be bought.

Bing adds enhanced health information and display

Continuing Bing’s constant updating they announced yesterday that they had refined and improved their health search section. Bing now provides information about related conditions, medications and medical centers for health queries.

As ever its good to see more and more features in Bing, it really is quite impressive how much work they have been putting in to improve how search results can be displayed.

I think the reason we have heard so little about Windows Live Wave 4 is because aspects of the suite are closely related to Windows Mobile 7 and as such Microsoft are reluctant to talk about it until their new mobile OS has been announced and demonstrated. Below I discuss some of the ideas I have had in which Windows Live Wave 4 could, hopefully, integrate with Windows Mobile 7.

Windows Live Devices?

We know Microsoft will be adding a new service, Devices, to the suite when they release wave 4 which suggests to me that many different gadgets, possibly including TVs, will be able to link up to Windows Live. It is also possible that aspects of the devices can be controlled, in some way, through the service. Currently Windows Live links up well with Digital Photo Frames, through FrameIt, and I expect the devices service to incorporate them. It is also understood that Live Mesh will become part of the Windows Live family so we see a place to add computers and mobiles to the service just like in Live Mesh. Finally I both believe and hope that the Microsoft My Phone service will utilise the Live Mesh technology, therefore become a Windows Live service; which should reduce the replication of data, such as contacts (currently Windows Live and My Phone don’t use the same list of contacts). To that end Microsoft won’t want to show off Windows Live Wave 4 yet as it would show the level of integration of phone storage of future Windows Phones and Windows Live.

If Microsoft is serious about the cloud then this is something they really need to do, by combining all their online services into a single place with the ability to centrally control linked devices and their storage it will make using Windows Phones and Windows Live much simpler for consumers.

Windows Live only services on mobiles?

If we now look at Windows 7 we saw Microsoft remove many of the default applications like Mail and Calendar so the company couldn’t be sued for bundling applications with the OS. Now the only way to access similar applications from Microsoft is to download the Windows Live suite. Microsoft could well follow a similar idea with Windows Mobile, but not for fear of being sued. It makes more sense to me to have a single calendar accessible on any Microsoft platform, whether that is Windows, Windows Mobile or on the cloud; the same can be said for contacts, tasks and several other aspects of Microsoft services. Instead of Microsoft providing downloadable applications to access these services I expect they will embed them within the OS with mobile calendar being the Windows Live Calendar. Some people could be concerned with the integration then between Windows Mobile and Office Outlook, however through the merging of Office and Windows Live in the cloud, through Web Apps, I can see a closer integration between Windows Live and Office Outlook.

It makes sense for Microsoft to only provide highly integrated services on their phones which link up with the cloud services of Windows Live; for example I would love to be able to sync my Windows Live Calendar with the calendar on my Windows Phone (why this has not yet been done still amazes me).

Windows Live going Social?

From job postings we know Microsoft are aiming to make Windows Mobile social by integrating several Social Networks deep within the OS, this could indeed mean an expansion for Windows Live. Microsoft My Phone already allows sharing photos on several Social Networking Sites from within the service. If then, as I predict, My Phone becomes part of Windows Live Microsoft will be making their online suite of services even more social. It makes sense that Microsoft would use Windows Live as the platform to share content, for a start they already have a good Photo service which I expect to soon be joined by a Video service. I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if we see the launch of a URL shortening service from Microsoft, probably along the lines of WinLi.ve. Messenger is one of the most used Instant Messaging services and if Microsoft were able to leverage those social interactions through more aspects of Windows Live they could stand to gain quite a lot. Again if Microsoft were to use Windows Live as the means of consumers sharing content to Social Networks then they wouldn’t want to show parts of Windows Live before Windows Mobile.

For me it would seem Microsoft is gearing Windows Live up to be a platform for sharing content, they already have a lot of websites partnered up to allow people to keep informed of “What Is New” with their contacts; it would therefore be logical for Microsoft to provide a means of reversing the exchange of information and allowing posting of information to those services via Windows Live.

I am really looking forward to information on both products from Microsoft and would hope my ideas would only scratch the surface of what Microsoft has really been up too. I guess we shan’t be hearing much with regards either of the products for over a month until the Mobile World Congress kicks off in Barcelona on 15^th February; seems a long way off yet.