Mystery still shrouds Windows Phone 7 Series

Microsoft surprised most attendees to the launch of its latest mobile platform at Mobile World Congress with a demonstration of a slick-looking user interface that seems like a big departure from existing Windows Mobile releases.

But after all the razmatazz of the Windows Phone 7 Series demo, which was streamed live over the web, many questions about the new platform remain unanswered. What level of handset hardware is required to deliver the smooth flowing, high-res touch-screen user interface that Microsoft showed off? Will users who have just bought a Windows Mobile 6.5 device be able to upgrade these to the new version?

Microsoft was strangely silent on just what is under the hood of the new Windows Phone platform, and a scan through the online Microsoft literature makes no mention of Windows CE - the core code underlying all extant versions of Windows Mobile.

Is Windows Phone 7 Series based on a different kernel, as some pre-launch rumours suggested? If so, where does that leave compatibility with existing Windows Mobile applications and services?

We hope to get answers to these questions in the near future. Meanwhile, readers can see more information from Microsoft here.

15 Feb 2010