Today is the day that the Windows Phone team has been driving towards, and we’re very excited to say that we’ve reached the biggest milestone for our internal team – the release to manufacturing (RTM) of Windows Phone 7! While the final integration of Windows Phone 7 with our partners’ hardware, software, and networks is underway, the work of our internal engineering team is largely complete.
Windows Phone 7 is the most thoroughly tested mobile platform Microsoft has ever released. We had nearly ten thousand devices running automated tests daily, over a half million hours of active self-hosting use, over three and a half million hours of stress test passes, and eight and a half million hours of fully automated test passes. We’ve had thousands of independent software vendors and early adopters testing our software and giving us great feedback. We are ready.
I last posted on this blog when we reached the Technical Preview milestone, and we’ve received some great feedback since then which we’ve been able to respond to and improve the smart design throughout the OS. For example, folks loved the Facebook integration in the People Hub, but they also wanted ways to filter their contacts so only the Facebook friends they really know will show up in their contact list – we’ve added support for that. We’ve also made it easy to “like” a post right from the People Hub, or quickly post a message to someone’s Facebook wall directly.
This has been one of the most incredible product development efforts I’ve ever been a part of. Today’s milestone is exciting not just because of what we’ll deliver to customers later this year, but how it sets us up for success over the long term in the mobile space… we’re really just getting started.
We reached today’s milestone because of the tremendous efforts of the entire team including our partners, early adopters, and independent software developers providing feedback. I want to send a huge THANK YOU to this extended team– we couldn’t have done it without you!
Terry
Late tonight here in Redmond, but very early over in Germany we took the wraps off our first wave of game titles making their way this holiday to Windows Phone 7. I know there has been lots of anticipation about XBOX Live on Windows Phone 7 so I hope this first drop of news is welcome! First, head over here to get all the latest on the announcement including titles like Crackdown 2: Project Sunburst. This is a tower defense game that uses real locations as the gaming world thanks the Bing maps. Defend the big landmark in your city or even your own house!
In addition to the games, we also announced enhanced Games hub functionality in store for Windows Phone 7 including a rich avatar experience, messaging using Xbox LIVE and the ability to see all your friends’ play status, Gamerscore and latest achievements. If you don’t have a Xbox LIVE account when you purchase a Windows Phone 7 you can sign and up and deck out your avatar all from the phone, no Xbox console required!
This is just the first in many great announcements we have planned for Xbox LIVE on Windows Phone 7 so be sure to stay tuned for the latest. I will drill into some of the specific titles announced today in the coming days, and also try to get some guest posts or interviews with our publisher friends in coming weeks. Also head over to the Windows Phone Developer blog to hear from Michael Klucher on the ground in Germany!
Brian [@brianseitz]
This weekend, the Windows Phone 7 team will hit the big apple for the 6th annual BlogHer Conference at the Hilton New York. This year is the largest ever, with more than 2,400 female bloggers from around the world in attendance. The conference is the brainchild of the BlogHer Network, the largest community of women who blog, and we couldn’t be more excited!
We are, as they say, conference newbees, as this is our first year attending BlogHer. We will be at BlogHer showing off what Windows Phone 7 has to offer some of busiest women around and how they can use their mobile phone to make their lives simpler—and more fun! Personally, I am excited to learn from these women and show off the promise of Windows Phone 7.
Throughout the conference, we will host group demo sessions in our suite, Hilton room 4331. These Snack on 7 sessions are informal ways to swing by and get an idea of why Windows Phone 7 truly us different!
Snack on 7 Session Schedule
Friday, August 6:
Saturday, August 7:
We will also be in the BlogHer GeekLab, so you can drop by during the day to say hi and see Windows Phone 7 for yourself! While there, you can also check-in to the GeekLab on FourSquare!
Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for the latest Windows Phone 7 updates from the conference. You can also connect with us on Facebook!
Get excited NYC and hope to see you soon!
For all you in the Seattle area, Windows Phone will join the Windows team and Zune tonight at GDGT Seattle at the Showbox SoDo from 7-10pm. We have participated in several of the GDGT events but it is safe to say we are most excited about this one since we are on the shores of Elliott Bay in our home town of Seattle. Swing by and say hello, get your eyes on Windows Phone 7 and tell us what you think! Also for the developers out there, check out Brandon Watson’s post this morning. Bring your Windows Phone 7 app to the event and see it deployed on a prototype device and you just might walk out of the room with a test device to take home and keep on coding! See you tonight!
@brianseitz
Ah Friday, what a good friend. Before we head out for the weekend I wanted to share a couple Windows Phone 7 bites that you might have missed. Erik over in the Online Services Division [the folks that bring you Bing] posted some great screenshots of the Bing experience in Windows Phone 7. As a power user of Windows Phone, I can attest Bing rocks. It’s really nice to have that high fidelity search experience you get from Bing on the Web, now on Windows Phone.
For another cool peek at Windows Phone 7 head over to this video snippet from the Microsoft Tellme team. They do a quick demo of some of the ways you can use speech in controlling your phone. Find a restaurant, dial a number, or launch an app, all using your voice rather than your fingers. Good stuff.
Have a great weekend!