Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer says that Windows Phone 7 is going to be good not only for the general users, but also for specific markets as well, and it all starts with the new services that MS is going to offer in the coming months.

At the Worldwide Partners Conference, Microsoft was proud to announce that the new Windows Phone 7 mobile platform was not only months away, but it is going to completely change the reputation that Microsoft has in the smart phone industry. Originally, many felt that Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system was simply not meant for general users. And it was not. Microsoft was second only to BlackBerry in terms of control of the business market –a range with far different needs and taste than general mobile phone users.

But as more and more people switched to using smart phones, the pressure was on Microsoft to find ways to adapt to new users. Despite the Windows Mobile 6.5.3 update which developed support for capacitive touch screen controls, the OS was still predominantly based on the old WinMo OS. With the WP7, the developers of MS get to start fresh, and the results show it.

Aside from the integrated social networking capabilities of the handset and what might be special pre-installed applications, Microsoft is also going to establish the Windows Phone Live service, which is exactly the same as the Apple MobileMe; except that Microsoft’s service is going to be offered for free. According to Ballmer, Microsoft will allow users to sync and back up their messages, contact information and other important phone data online without having to pay any fees (though it is believed that the service would only be free for a limited time –like for the duration of a contract).

Various reports indicate that the new Microsoft mobile OS will be released by September this year.

Microsoft is getting ready to come out with their first “made for the public” mobile platform. While the company has taken plenty of criticism for the previous Windows Mobile OS, they will be the first to admit that their previous platform has been designed with the needs of business clients in mind. But now, with the number of people using smart phones growing steadily to include non-business users, it is time for Microsoft to adapt a new strategy.

The Windows Phone 7 is all about the user experience. From the stylish new OS to the easy to use interface, the end user is given utmost priority with the handset. While the restricted and closed system is easily felt by the developers, people using the phone will find it easy to jump around the device link from one menu to another and accomplish plenty of tasks without having to move back to the home screen after every step.

Each part of the new OS has been interconnected, from the contact lists to the media files and even the maps feature.

Of course, it also helps that services such as Bing search, Zune media and Xbox Live Games are also connected to the device. In this way, a user can instantly invite a friend to play an online game, send a quick media file and arrange a quick meet up with other friends to a new place you found on the maps feature.

Microsoft is also planning to move the launch of the OS from October to September. This is pretty surprising move since they had originally announced that the OS will be coming out during the holiday season –and an October launch date already seemed too ambitious. But now, it seems that they are pushing themselves further by moving the date to September.

Microsoft’s new mobile platform is due to arrive on October and from the looks of it, several handsets will be ready by that time.

It is already known that the LG Panther has been ready for the past few months. A mock version of the device has already been seen as early as March while what seems to be final version of the smart phone has been seen in images in the recent weeks. And the Korean manufacturer is not the only one making a WP7 device. Taiwan based HTC has dropped two names, the Mozart and the Mondrian as WP7 handsets, though no details were given if the two phones were indeed separate or this is simply one device with two nicknames. Sony Ericsson’s name has also been added to the list with the announcement of the SE Jolie.

The new operating system from Microsoft focuses heavily on general users. While the older Windows Mobile operating system is a more business-centric mobile platform, the WP7 leans towards media playback, internet access, social networking, games and general functionality.

Considering the most recent demonstrations of the operating system, WP7 has proven to be a well composed OS, with various functions leading and linking towards each other. Users can jump from the map to the contact list to the calendar if the user has associated linked entries for the various contents.

In the above trail, a map could potentially show the addresses of nearby contacts that when clicked, can bring up the details of the individual. From there, a user can set a schedule to visit, call or simple email the contact and have the task marked on the calendar. All of these processes are done directly, without having to go back to the home screen even once.

Expect to see more updates regarding Windows Phone 7 as October approaches.

Microsoft’s Hotmail email service has to come a long way. Now, MS is giving new life to their old service in order to attract more users –Google has also been gaining more users and it is time that Microsoft steps up their game.

So far, the initial changes are worth looking forward to, the new hotmail features are a treat for anyone who needs to easily organize large quantities of emails that come in. Better folder and filter organization that would include possible origins and, as well as an instant email search functions.

Brandon LeBlanc has posted about the changes at the official Google blogs. His biggest favorite is the addition of the new filters:

“I absolutely love filters. And the new Hotmail brings filters front and center. I’ve since turned off automatic sorting and am now relying solely on the new Hotmail’s Social updates filter.”

He goes on to describe how the new filter automatically sorts out content in your inbox, allowing for streamlined viewing of mail that you actually want to see –no need to wade through large amounts of mail when you are just looking for a single one.

Another new addition to Hotmail is the Quick View which gives users an instant view of the content that is found in the email, allowing for users to easily which one they should be reading first –it also helps figure our which emails you should not be opening from your office computer. The best part of this is that it allows users to instant view various file formats such as images and documents from within the web browser itself. There is no need to manually download attachments on public computers that you will have to delete later on.

The new Hotmail features are part of an ongoing improvement across Microsoft’s many web services such as Silverlight and more.

Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Phone 7 mobile platform is due to come out later this year. LG has already revealed the details on their Panther handset –making it the very first WP7 device to be formally announced and now, HTC is joining the roster.

The HTC Mondrian smart phone is more than just an upcoming WP7 handset, it is also the first handset to be announced that will have a CPU running over 1GHz, the QSD8650-A Snapdragon processor that will be used in the Mondrian is clocked at a speed of 1.3 GHz –this hardware will prove to be useful specially when it comes to the gaming capabilities of the mobile platform. It has already been shown that the new OS will have 3D games. Microsoft’s XNA technology will allow for full 3D games to be playable even on a mobile phone.

Other details of the device include a 4.3 inch capacitive touch screen display and a camera with video and image recording capabilities. Of course, usual smart phone features such as Bluetooth, GPS, media playback, 2G/3G support and more are present in the Mondrian.

This device is definitely remarkable because of its high speed CPU. Though there are also rumors that a dual core Snapdragon may be in the works, the real focus is on technology that already exists.

In other HTC related news, the Taiwanese company is suing Apple for 5 patents that have been used in Apple’s touch screen devices. With Apple previously filing a similar case against HTC (which included 20 patents for hardware and software technologies), it makes perfect sense that they will now file their countersuit. The company has recently teamed up with Microsoft –presumably to arrange a deal for using MS patents. Many believe that with this move, HTC has secured its position against the larger Cupertino based operating system.

It is common knowledge that the Windows Phone 7 GUI looks sweet. And since Microsoft is no dummy when it comes to design, the company apparently filed a patent application for their panoramic type GUI.

Patent serial number 240,729 pertains to a “contiguous background” that is able to extend beyond what is shown on the screen. It was filed back in September 2008 and refers to how the GUI works wherein the image glides either horizontally or vertically (but not both at once) when switching panels. The “mixed media” elements are found anchored on top of the background which will be accessed via a launched media playing device.

That would be Microsoft’s legal speak to prevent any conflicts with other patents. Remember how the Windows Phone 7 layout works. The icons are strategically and uniquely placed on each section’s layout and the background does not tile or repeat. The background design works much like a horizontal or vertical slideshow without cuts. Each section of the interface is tied up to the other in sort of wrapped fashion from the back to the beginning. And why exactly is Microsoft doing this? This is what they had to say:

“Most cellular telephones, personal data assistants, and personal media players utilize a series of discrete, cascading screens to present information to a user. Some users may find such screens and such lists to be uninspiring. Further, some users may not proactively explore such screens and such lists because of the unrewarding user experience.”

There you have it, straight from Microsoft. The design is to encourage people to view the content on each screen. The Panoramic User Interface patent was made public by the US Patents and Trademark Office on April 1 and the detailed terms will prevent other companies from waltzing in with a Windows Phone 7 UI lookalike without having to answer to Microsoft first.

Read more about the patent on Engadget.

Just a couple of days ago, we got treated to seeing some of the most promising developer tools –from a consumer’s perspective. With particular focus on the XNA Game Studio and the Visual Studio for gaming apps, it seems like we will get to see some pretty inventive new gameplay mechanics using the motion sensitive smart phone and the Microsoft Xbox game console.

Now, further demonstrations on the new features for WP7 have revealed that aside from the first set of phone functions shown at the Mobile World Congress, new features are still being added in. The most prominent of all the new additions is the inclusion of an Application page –missing in the original demo.

New Apps for the OS are based either on Silverlight which delivers impressive web based displays and the XNA studio which is geared more towards games. Speaking of Silverlight, there is a new Media Diary function that looks utterly impressive –it is reported to be created from the ground up using Silverlight.

The Microsoft Location Service will provide geo-sensitive news feeds and other similar data. Users can also hunt down specific feeds to be used for this. Combined with the Microsoft Notification Service, this creates a steady stream of real time news updates. In addition to these new features, WP7 will retain all of the original functions announced with the device.

The new OS was first unveiled last month and is due to be release late this year. The LG Panther and a yet to be named Samsung super AMOLED touch screen smart phone are already confirmed devices that will be using the new mobile platform. It is also reported that HTC is working on its own Windows Phone 7 device.

For more details about the new WP7 features and applications go to GSM Arena.

Microsoft is launching a new mobile operating system later this year and while there is plenty of buzz about this new platform, let us take the time to run through some of the core facts that we have already confirmed about this new device.

WP7 is a new platform and not a sequel to WinMo. No doubts about it, the new user interface, features and style of the mobile platform is quite promising. Compared to the older Windows Mobile operating system, the new platform combines many of the best features of touch screen capabilities.

The user interface is fully customizable with the Tiles system. Tiles are like widgets, controllable contents and user defined positioning. While the anchoring of tiles are limited to OS defined locations, the overall feel of the phone can be set with images and colors of the user’s choosing.

Xbox Live is coming to mobile. As you may have already seen in screenshots, the new WP7 OS will support XBL connectivity. Mobile phone game achievements are already reported to be implemented so expect mobile players to start comparing gamer scores.

Speaking of games, the Visual Studio and the XNA Games Studio will be bringing some impressive new changes to the way we look at mobile games. On the graphics side, the XNA Games Studio will be enabling full 3D graphics on games. No full demos have been seen, but the initial tests with basic two-character 3D games are already graphically impressive.

We can expect to see some new 3D games from developers being announced once the OS comes out. Developers will certainly love the new Visual Studio as it allows for game progress to be carried over between smart phones, the Xbox game console to a PC.

Read more about the new WP7 OS at GSM Arena.

That demo at Tech Ed 2010 totally blew us away.

Yes, Steve Ballmer put up a breathtaking show at the Mobile World Congress that showcased what we now consider to be the most revolutionary mobile platform ever made. But while we were too busy in MWC coming to grips with the reality that Microsoft actually made a great operating system for the mobile phone, by the time Tech Ed arrived we thought we knew what to expect.

We are so happily wrong. Eric Rudder and company once again showed us that they are truly living up to the concept that the “phone is not a PC”. The user interface is as impressive as ever, moving impressively smooth (though a couple of momentary visual hiccups were noticeable) and featuring plenty of active, real time updating tiles whose content are fully customizable.

You can literally turn anything in your phone into a tile, from Facebook updates on a single specific contact to web pages, you can set your phone’s home screen to show exactly what you need (though you will need to wait for the internet download time in order for the tiles to refresh –so expect to see some sluggishness if you are on a slow network).

The new games feature is also impressive. Again, these are not hardcore game titles. Despite the fact that Microsoft’s XBL service is available there is still a limit to the number of actual hardcore gaming titles that can be played on a mobile device. Anyway, the demo showed how one can play the same game on the PC, the Xbox 360 console and the Windows Phone 7 device. For a developer, this is major advantage as the programming for all versions are pretty similar and you can even share code across all platforms.

Read more about the WP7 at Softpedia.

The latest version of Adobe Flash is stirring up some questions as to whether websites will actually be using it and which mobile phones will be able to support it.

What originally made Flash successful was that it used very little resources on computers, had very low requirements, and of course, it looked incredibly stylish. In terms of looks, Flash has been improving more and more with each update. The move from Macromedia to Adobe has further extended the features of the web platform. The only problem with Flash is that the better if becomes, the more resources it needs as well.

Apple has already taken a firm stand on support for Flash. Steve Jobs is vocal about not making the iPad support Flash since he feels that HTML5 would be the next big thing for web. On the Android home front, it has already been confirmed that the latest version of the Google mobile platform will support version 10.1 of Adobe Flash.

As for Windows Mobile it looks like Adobe has decided to skip the current generation and wait for the coming Windows Phone 7 OS. No word yet as to why Adobe has decided to go all out with the wait, but it appears that Microsoft’s early unveiling of the WP7 may have caused more problems since it has brought too much attention to the new OS. This has now left the Windows Mobile OS high and dry when it comes to general public interest.

On a technical note, Adobe has indicated that Windows Mobile does not have the necessary files (API) needed to run the new version of Adobe Flash. No word yet if the Bada and the Maemo will also get the new version.

Get to know more about the new Adobe Flash 10.1 system at Softpedia.