When Microsoft announced their Windows Phone 7 series line earlier this month, it became apparent that they were going to be heavily involved in the hardware side of things this time around. After what was revealed today, there should be no doubt that this is the case.
While full specifications weren’t released, the information released by Frankly Speaking is interesting nonetheless because it paints a very clear picture of what Microsoft is trying to do with their new mobile line.
There are only going to be three different chassis types when it comes to Windows Phone 7 series phones. It remains to be seen what kind of freedom the phone manufacturers are going to have but these are going to be the starting points Microsoft is giving them to work with.
Chassis 1 is going to be the standard for Windows Phone 7 series. It was the phone that was shown off at the Mobile World Congress and frankly, as bare minimums for handsets go, this is pretty awesome. It’s going to have, at the minimum, a 1GHrz processor meaning Snapdragon and a dedicated GPU. This model will be the first to appear in stores at the end of this year.
Chassis 2 will have a sliding keyboard as well as a touchscreen, think Palm-Treoesque. Chassis 3 was not mentioned although it was thought to be a candy bar style phone. Neither Chassis 2 or 3 was given a release date.
So as you can see, Microsoft is essentially locking down how each phone is going to be made. Truthfully, it might make more sense to have only one type of chassis a-la the iPhone, but it will be interesting to see what manufacturers pull out of their sleeve. If the bare minimum has a Snapdragon, they are on the right track.
It also will be interesting to see how Windows Phone 7 series does in the Apple heavy market of San Francisco. If you want to jump on the Microsoft train right now, you can head here and find the closest place to get a WinMo phone here in the city.
For more info, contact Adam: admillios@gmail.com
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