7for7 Archive

This is the seventh and last part in our seven-week series of 7for7, seven reasons to wait for Windows Phone 7 debuting later this Fall.

Before we begin with the number one reason to wait for Windows Phone 7 (and by the looks of it, you won’t have to wait much longer!) I would like to say thank you for following the mini-column. Not many followed it, but the few that did enjoyed it and I’m glad it sparked some discussion and allowed some to learn something new about Microsoft’s latest offering. Hopefully, in the future, we can inspire a variety of columns and allow for much more opinionated articles to be available.

Phones can have all the features in the world and then some but if it’s packaged in an ugly little wrapper, then what’s the point? It’s probably no secret that previous versions of Windows Mobile weren’t exactly the prettiest-looking to critics and users, alike. But it seems that Microsoft has finally garnered Windows Phone 7 out of ugly duckling territory–and everyone seems to agree. Including us.

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This is the sixth part in our seven-week series of 7for7, seven reasons to wait for Windows Phone 7 debuting later this Fall. Sorry, it’s a little late (as in one day) because something came up yesterday. Regardless, enjoy:

Thanks to YouTube user Mathiastech (whom we kindly “borrowed” this from).

There’s no doubt that applications are a huge deal for people when they decide to buy mobile phones–isn’t that always the question you hear? And sure, like last week when we detailed that Windows Phone 7 will have apps, it’s important. People want to know if they can use Facebook seamlessly, update their Twitter, or even rock out to Pandora… but sometimes even more importantly, they just want to play games.

And we’re not talking about just Hexic (although how addictive is that!?), we’re talking full-out games here. The ability to see your and other people’s avatars, their game card, updates, and so much more… including awesome Xbox titles. Microsoft recently announced that at launch, Windows Phone 7 will be seeing 60 titles, some of those include: Halo, Castlevania, Star Wars, Crackdown, and even Guitar Hero.

The company has even crafted an avatar-centric version of familiar phone utilities like flashlight apps and levels, adding some whimsy to what would normally be pretty staid affairs. Additionally, messaging, friend lists / status, achievements, and leaderboards (with friend comparisons) are all here as well, making for a pretty complete mobile Xbox Live experience. And also just like the console, every game will have a try-before-you buy demo to check out before spending your hard-earned cash.

In one sentence: Apple and Google just can’t compete. Sure, Apple’s got Game Center but that only works iOS device to iOS device and is a start up. Here, you’ve got games and stats that you’ve been using for years and can use off your mobile device, as well. And Android… well, let’s just keep those guys out of this argument.

And with Windows Phone 7 supporting the XNA Framework (that also is used for all current Xbox and Xbox LIVE games) there’s no doubt that porting it over can be easy. Well, as easy as coding can be.

So if you like apps and you like games of all kinds–not just Bejeweled, but true gaming as much as a mobile device can–then Windows Phone 7 is where you should look. And if you don’t like games so much, well then try out Hexic like mentioned earlier, it’s a great way to kill time in a waiting room or something. And that’s a game you can only get on a Microsoft device. Always imitated but never duplicated, as the saying goes.

[Source for quote: Engadget]

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7for7 series:
#7: August 24th - Windows Phone Live, SkyDrive, and the cloud
#6: August 31st - Carrier variety
#5: September 7th - Hardware and devices
#4: September 14th - Zune
#3: September 21st – Apps and easy app development
#2: September 29th* – Xbox LIVE services and games
#1: October 5th – TBA
Special: October 11th – Microsoft keynote & Windows Phone event
*posted on a different date than intended.

This is the fifth part in our seven-week series of 7for7, seven reasons to wait for Windows Phone 7 debuting later this Fall.

If you think that Apple and Google have taken the reigns on making applications for their mobile devices, then… well, you’re probably mostly right. But that doesn’t mean that Microsoft doesn’t have a trick or two up its sleeve to give its customers what they want. And according to buzz and general sense, what people want are apps. And lots of ‘em!

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This is the third part in our seven-week series of 7for7, seven reasons to wait for Windows Phone 7 debuting later this Fall.

Image credit: istartedsomething.com

If there’s anything that’s different about Windows Phone 7 than previous iterations of Windows Mobile (besides aesthetically, of course) it’s that Microsoft is controlling the hardware specs. Of course, they don’t have full control over it like Apple’s iPhone, but they do require a minimum standard of hardware to sell a license for the OS. What does that mean? Well, in layman’s terms: it’s a good thing.

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This is the second part in our seven-week series of 7for7, seven reasons to wait for Windows Phone 7 debuting later this Fall.

Carrier variety may not sound all that compelling to get a phone, but when you begin to shop around you’ll start to notice just how important it is. And while this may be a “feature” that rivals only the iPhone, it’s still reason enough to be on the 7for7 list.

Comparing to just the iPhone, which at the time of this article is still heavily-rumored to be on Verizon’s network by early next year, and its exclusivity deal with AT&T we can work with prices from the other three big carriers in the United States (sorry International folk, I don’t know prices outside the US). For this article’s sake we decided to just look at AT&T’s iPhone pricing and look at comparable plans on other carriers.

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This is the first part in our seven-week series of 7for7, seven reasons to wait for Windows Phone 7 debuting later this Fall.

Every competitor has got one: a cloud service for their mobile phones and other devices. Google’s Android devices actually require you to have a Gmail account set up to use their phones, Apple’s own offering of MobileMe is not as strict when it comes to the iPhone but they both offer more or less the same contact sync and email services. Apple steps up the game a little bit more, though, with actual storage to keep pictures, videos, and other documents up in the “cloud.” The same is true for Windows Phone 7 with SkyDrive, but there’s a reason SkyDrive has the advantage here. Read on to find out exactly why.

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7 reasons. 7 weeks. That’s basically the idea for a new mini-column that we’re starting here at Zunited, called 7for7, where we will mention seven great reasons to wait until later this Fall for Windows Phone 7′s debut rather than going with an iPhone, Android, or Blackberry device. You might remember that we asked you why you should get WP7 on Twitter and we will be taking those into consideration when generating our detailed reasons that might just hold you over until the device(s) actually come(s) out!

So what are the seven reasons? Well, that’s part of the fun! Every Tuesday we’ll reveal and review a new reason to wait until mid-October. So join us and be part of the debate: Reply in our comments sections every week, communicate over Twitter, or discuss with like-minded (or even opposite-minded) people in our Forum! And hopefully we can win those over who don’t think Windows Phone 7 is worth the wait.

We hope to begin tomorrow but all things considered we might have to start Tuesday, August 31st.