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Designed for Life in Motion

Coming this Winter Xbox Live goes on the move with the Windows Phone 7 Series, one of the many features of this stylish new phone will be Xbox Live.

For a while now developers of Xbox Live applications have been using Silverlight and the XNA Framework to create applications using the Xbox Live data, which brings over your friend's lists, achievements, avatar data and even joins people across platforms, these being at the moment PC and Xbox 360, but another platform is soon to be added and this being the Windows Phone 7 Series which uses both Silverlight and XNA to provide access to Xbox Live.

Soon you'll be able not only to play games and register achievements to your Xbox 360, but also on PC and whilst you are out and about with the Windows Phone 7 Series, so no matter where you are you can bump up that gamerscore and keep a check on what your friends are playing.

Major Nelson demonstrated in March how a game such as The Harvest (picture below) could be played on all three platforms.



Whilst this alone would make an Xbox Live user want to buy one, the phone will also have other popular applications Twitter using the Seesmic client and Foursquare among others making this series a very sociable one indeed.

Also included will be Netflix (if you are in the US), popular movie rental service and thanks to Silverlight it will be possible to stream movies, Zune also will be available.

With Windows Phone 7 Series, Microsoft takes a fundamentally different approach to phone software. Smart design begins with a new, holistic design system that informs every aspect of the phone, from its visually appealing layout and motion to its function and hardware integration. On the Start screen, dynamically updated “live tiles” show users real-time content directly, breaking the mold of static icons that serve as an intermediate step on the way to an application. Create a tile of a friend, and the user gains a readable, up-to-date view of a friend’s latest pictures and posts, just by glancing at Start.

Every Windows Phone 7 Series phone will come with a dedicated hardware button for Bing, providing one-click access to search from anywhere on the phone, while a special implementation of Bing search provides intent-specific results, delivering the most relevant Web or local results, depending on the type of query.

Windows Phone 7 Series creates an unrivaled set of integrated experiences on a phone through Windows Phone hubs. Hubs bring together related content from the Web, applications and services into a single view to simplify common tasks. Windows Phone 7 Series includes six hubs built on specific themes reflecting activities that matter most to people:

People. This hub delivers an engaging social experience by bringing together relevant content based on the person, including his or her live feeds from social networks and photos. It also provides a central place from which to post updates to Facebook and Windows Live in one step.

Pictures. This hub makes it easy to share pictures and video to a social network in one step. Windows Phone 7 Series also brings together a user’s photos by integrating with the Web and PC, making the phone the ideal place to view a person’s entire picture and video collection.

Games. This hub delivers the first and only official Xbox LIVE experience on a phone, including Xbox LIVE games, Spotlight feed and the ability to see a gamer’s avatar, Achievements and gamer profile. With more than 23 million active members around the world, Xbox LIVE unlocks a world of friends, games and entertainment on Xbox 360, and now also on Windows Phone 7 Series.

Music + Video. This hub creates an incredible media experience that brings the best of Zune, including content from a user’s PC, online music services and even a built-in FM radio into one simple place that is all about music and video. Users can turn their media experience into a social one with Zune Social on a PC and share their media recommendations with like-minded music lovers. The playback experience is rich and easy to navigate, and immerses the listener in the content.

Marketplace. This hub allows the user to easily discover and load the phone with certified applications and games.

Office. This hub brings the familiar experience of the world’s leading productivity software to the Windows Phone. With access to Office, OneNote and SharePoint Workspace all in one place, users can easily read, edit and share documents. With the additional power of Outlook Mobile, users stay productive and up to date while on the go.

For more information http://www.windowsphone7.com/