[Update] – [Video] Windows 7 Series is official, Zune, Xbox Live, and a phone all in one!

Today was the highly anticipated Windows phone 7 Series unveiling. Well Microsoft did just that. The new phone OS is very Zune-like and very unlike any other phone on the market. They were able to integrate your Xbox Live, Zune Social, social networking sites like Facebook, and the entire Zune experience in a Zune app all in one. They totally threw out Windmo 6.5 to redesign an entirely new OS. Dive in and see just what Microsoft was able to come up with after the break!

The OS is very simplified as far as heavy graphics and transitions go, however this design makes it look very nice and is easy on the eyes. It has almost the exact same interface as the ZuneHD, but it is much more robust and has a few more features. It has OS wide multi-touch which makes for a pleasant experience while browsing, looking through the gallery, or using maps. Navigation is identical to the ZuneHD where you can slide your hand left and right to get to and from screens or up and down to scroll through lists. You have a similar Quick launch bar on the left side of the home screen where you can pin shortcuts to apps, web pages, photos, videos, or music. Throughout Microsoft’s demo, the OS seemed very snappy and had no problems getting through any of the screens at all. Very fast just like their Zune. This could be a result of the almost inevitable Tegra 2 inside (which is not confirmed yet) or it could be the work of their simplified style of the OS. Whatever the case, it is fast!

Windows Phone 7 is integrated with Bing search for not only web content, but maps, images, video, news, travel, and history. The Bing app will geo-locate you to help find search results near you. Microsoft’s example was in the maps. The results also will display information about that place when you tap on it. The information is coming from places like Wikipedia and other sources like that. Microsoft says it will help a user make a choice on where they want to go without having to do a whole separate search or reference.

Like we said, the entire phone experience looks just like the ZuneHD. The ZuneHD’s software is all basically bundled inside one app called Music and videos. In this app you can browse through your music collection, video collection, podcasts, radio (both HD and FM), and Microsoft even has some sort of partnership with Pandora, because it’s also included within this app under ‘radio’. So as far as media goes, this thing could easily replace your personal media player whether it be an iPod, iPhone, Creative, Zune, or even the ZuneHD. Windows Phone 7 has you fully covered when it comes to media.

The home screen also has a ‘People’ application which will show your favorite contacts. This can include email contacts, phone contacts, or contacts from social services like Facebook, Twitter, and/or Myspace. I suppose the app is an extension of the contacts within the phone in a more robust, photo friendly view.

Xbox Live! Yes there were rumors some years ago saying that Microsoft is going to put out an Xbox Phone. If they were to have done it, this would be it. Within the Xbox Live app you can keep in touch with your Xbox friends, update your profile, or play games. Microsoft did not go into detail on what games you can play here, but we are thinking it is some of the less graphic intense games you will find in the Xbox Live arcade. Also you will be able to play games developed for the ZuneHD. We don’t know if any previous Windows Phone 6.5 games will also be available. Whatever ends up being the case we hope Microsoft can keep it simple for the users and the developers alike.

On screen keyboard! Microsoft decided not to stick with the onscreen keyboard on the ZuneHD. It looks more like a mix between the iPhone OS and Android OS keyboards. It works similar to both and we are pretty sure it is also multi-touch based. The keyboard looks usable and probably is. It can be used in both portrait and landscape mode. It definitely is one of the nicest looking onscreen keyboards we have seen.

”]Microsoft Office. Yes of course Microsoft included almost the entire office suite that comes with 2010. That means, Powerpoint, Word, Excel, and even One Note. One note is a very finger friendly note/journal like app where you can draw, take notes, drag and drop pictures just like you would in a scrap book. The office suite looks very nice and is definitely one of the strong points for business users in this brand new phone OS.

Finally Microsoft was able to pull all of its teams together to make one unified phone OS. Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 Series will be launched in the holiday season of 2010. They will definitely be launching on at least AT&T and Orange according to their presentation. AT&T was actually there on stage to say how eager they were to have Windows Phone 7 Series on their network. So all in all the new phone looks fantastic and is finally going to be in direct competition with the modern OS’ such as iPhone, Android, and WebOS. We are so excited to get our hands on some of these devices and we are also excited to see what manufacturers like LG, HTC, and Samsung do to customize the OS. If this picture/text description wasn’t enough for your eager eyes, we also have a couple videos from Microsoft themselves.

This video is from the presentation in Barcelona:

This video is Microsoft’s demo/walkthrough of the OS:

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[Update] – Here is also a lengthy video interview/walkthrough with Joe Belfiore on Windows Phone 7 Series [Interview]

Another Windows 7 Series video taking a swipe at Apple.

And even more video (courtesy of Engadget):

Vodpod videos no longer available. Vodpod videos no longer available.

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