Windows Phone

Editor's note: this is the third and final part in a series of stories on the behind-the-scenes efforts by Microsoft to bring Windows Phone 7 to market.

REDMOND, Wash.--On a rather sunny August day deep within one of the many nondescript buildings that dot Microsoft's campus, a robot taps away at a prototype Windows Phone 7 to double-check that the screen is accurately reading touch input. Another robot, affectionately dubbed Wally, tests the accelerometer and other sensors built into the new phones. A building over, thousands of phones are going through a variety of stress tests, including … Read more

REDMOND, Wash.--Microsoft is making a change to its policies for Windows Phone 7 that will allow applications to more easily run when the screen is turned off.

Until now, applications that wanted to run when the screen was locked had to get the user's explicit permission. Under new rules announced on Friday, programs can do so without permission--provided they first demonstrate to Microsoft that they only use a reasonable amount of battery life (allowing more than six hours of use for an app playing audio and more than 120 hours for a program that does not play audio). … Read more

Microsoft's tight design rules require all Windows Phone 7 devices to have a pretty nice camera on them; they must tout at least 5 megapixels and video capture to boot. Unfortunately, Redmond's new phone operating system has limitations that mean developers can't fully take advantage of the lenses.

Although Windows Phone 7 devices can record and upload video and pictures, application developers can't fully take advantage of those image sensors to do other fun things like video chat and augmented reality.

That means that not only will Windows Phone 7 not have as many apps as … Read more

NEW YORK--Chelsea Kate Isaacs hasn't graduated from college yet. But she's already learned one of the tough lessons of tech journalism: some companies are easier to deal with than others.

Isaacs, a 22-year-old journalism major at Long Island University, came to prominence several weeks ago after a well-publicized e-mail spat with Apple CEO Steve Jobs as she tried to complete a class assignment.

Isaacs turned to Jobs after failing to get answers from Apple's PR department. The e-mails got increasingly terse, ending with Jobs telling Isaacs: "Please leave us alone," according to the e-mail thread … Read more

NEW YORK--When Microsoft failed to announce any Mac software for Windows Phone 7 at its event on Monday, many people assumed that meant that there would be no way to directly load content from an Apple computer onto the new devices. However, that will not be the case.

"Later in 2010 Microsoft will make a public beta available of a tool that allows Windows Phone 7 to sync select content with Mac computers," Microsoft said in a statement.

The statement, released shortly after midnight ET Wednesday, came after a Microsoft employee in the United Kingdom posted a tweet, … Read more

NEW YORK--While Microsoft showed off Windows Phone 7 yesterday as its answer to the iPhone, many are still wondering what the company's response will be to the iPad.

CEO Steve Ballmer has noted on several occasions that there will be some Windows 7 slates this year, but that's not the answer to the question--Microsoft has had tablets for years. The real issue is how Microsoft plans to respond to the iPad's instant-on abilities, it's long battery life, and the fact that it's easily navigated with just a finger and no need for a keyboard.

"… Read more

NEW YORK--Steve Ballmer thinks that Microsoft is going to make up some lost ground with Windows Phone 7. But just how much, he won't say.

"I won't make any forecasts," the Microsoft chief executive told CNET today in an interview following the introduction of the new mobile OS. "I think this is a very dynamic marketplace. You've got a weird eclectic mix of players...We'll have to see where we play in the mix, but I am optimistic about the chance to make some real progress."

Ballmer did say that Microsoft is … Read more

NEW YORK--Just after Steve Ballmer finished up on stage, I cornered some of the development team members and got a look at the copy and paste features that Microsoft said will come early next year to Windows Phone 7.

The current version of Windows Phone 7 lets you move the cursor, but not highlight any segment of text. So I imagined that the copy and paste feature would build on the cursor. Instead, it starts out taking advantage of the fact that, while not visible, the operating system does recognize individual words, something needed for the spell checker and text … Read more

Microsoft hopes to sell its new Windows Phone 7 as something that complements one's life, rather than looks to take it over.

In contrast to ad campaigns that focus on the cell phone and its powerful hardware and software, Microsoft's forthcoming advertising campaign focuses on how easy the new operating system makes it to get information at a glance and then return to what one is doing.

A teaser spot, which will air later this month, shows a sea of people all staring at their phones oblivious to other people or to their surroundings, which include a fallen … Read more