Well we’ve just gotten a look at some of the first third-party applications written for Windows Phone 7 Series with Silverlight — and they’re looking pretty darn slick. Corporate VP Joe Belfiore first showed off the Associated Press newsreader app while demoing the new OS in front of an audience at MIX10 (Microsoft’s developer pow-wow). There wasn’t a lot to glean from the quick look, but it’s clear that the developers are hewing very closely to the UI paradigms of WP7S with a multi-panel system that lets you jump through various news stories and topics. Joe touted the ability to view photos and video (utilizing some pretty slick animations) and also showed off breaking news alerts which allow you to jump to news stories as they break. We also saw a sneak preview of the monetization scheme for the AP, an animated, fly-over Ford ad that was actually a little troubling — think annoying Flash ads… but in your apps and on your handset. Lots more info and pics after the break.
We already got a look at Microsoft’s little XNA show-and-tell as relates to Windows Phone 7 Series, but our colleague Andrew Yoon over at Joystiq had a chance for longer sit-down with Xbox Live general manager Ron Pessner and XNA Game Studio manager Michael Klucher at GDC today, and he’s been kind enough to share the interview with us. The main topic of conversation was the company’s plans regarding Xbox LIve and, specifically, how it would be integrating it into Windows Phone 7 Series. And believe us, there was plenty to discuss — including the sweet science of porting games from Zune HD to 7 Series phones (“it’s 90, 95 percent code reuse… in an hour or couple of hours, we’re taking games that were written for Zune HD and putting them on the phone”), the importance of maintaining a consistent gameplay experience amongst different hardware, and the reasoning behind limiting devices to asynchronous multiplayer. What are you waiting for? Hit the source link to embark on this miraculous journey of discovery.
Alright, we’re going to be straight with you: you’re not going to like this. See, Microsoft just showed us a pair of 3D games running on its ASUS Windows Phone prototype and built with its brand new XNA Game Studio 4.0, but wouldn’t let us nab a single photo or video of the process. What we can tell you is that they exist, they work, and at least Microsoft tossed us some screenshots to wave in your face. The two titles are The Harvest (pictured), a good looking touch-controlled dungeon crawler with destructible environments, being developed by Luma Arcade; and Battle Punks, a less impressive one-on-one sword fighting Facebook game by Gravity Bear that’s being ported over. We didn’t get to see any full motion 3D camera moves, since Battle Punks is just composed of two characters duking it out, and The Harvest has a fixed camera and some pre-rendered elements, but there were indeed some real polygons being crunched before our eyes at a full resolution (no upscaling), alpha-rev, choppy framerate, and we were assured that full screen 3D was possible. We also got to see one of our first glimpses of universal notifications on Windows Phone: Achievement unlock notices (also pictured above) that slide down from the top of the screen in a black bar and then slide back, and can’t be interacted with. Follow after the break for some more nerdy details, along with a video of VisualStudio in action, and screenshots of the two games are in the gallery below.
We’ve all had a feeling that Microsoft is holding back some pretty big surprises (or at least completely reasonable revelations) when it comes to Windows Phone 7 Series and gaming, and here at GDC this week it sounds like we’re going to get a little glimpse into that. Microsoft is unveiling its new XNA Game Studio 4.0, which lets developers work on games for Windows Phone 7 Series, Xbox 360 and Windows PC. The integration with Visual Studio 2010 that we saw the other day allows developers to build a single project and then make slight modifications to let it run on each platform respectively. Most importantly, Microsoft specifically mentions that 4.0 will include hardware accelerated 3D APIs for Windows Phone 7 Series — not stunning, giving the fact that Zune can do 3D games (and is supported by XNA), but relieving just the same. Other phone-related tidbits are also telling: there will be fairly deep Xbox LIVE integration, including unlocking achievements from phone-based games and push notifications for asynchronous turn based gaming. Hopefully we can get some real live multiplayer gaming going as well, but there’s no mention of that just yet. Microsoft promises “much, much more” will be revealed at MIX 2010, but for now we’re gonna dig for all we can here at GDC.
Guess we don’t have to wait until MIX to have all our Windows Phone 7 Series questions answered! Microsoft’s Eric Rudder, speaking at TechEd Middle East, showed off a game developed in Visual Studio as a singular project (with 90% shared code) that plays on Windows with a keyboard, a Windows Phone 7 Series prototype device with accelerometer and touch controls, and the Xbox 360 with the Xbox gamepad. Interestingly, not only is the development cross-platform friendly, but the game itself (a simple Indiana Jones platformer was demoed) saves its place and lets you resume from that spot on whichever platform you happen to pick up. Pretty impressive stuff, and while the words “Windows Phone 7 Series” weren’t spoken by Eric, the use of the prototype ASUS device and the clear emphasis that this would place on Xbox Live for making the magic happen make it obvious that this is the “wave of the future” for all three platforms — at least for casual gaming. Check out the demo on video below the fold.
The eagle-eyed folks of learnbemobile have come across this stupendous leak of Microsoft’s forthcoming Windows Mobile 7 OS. It would appear that some last minute alterations were taking place under the covers in Barcelona, though apparently no one bothered to check if there were cameras around before lifting said covers. You can see what appears to be some kind of Xbox Live integration — which was heavily rumored already — taking up a corner of what’s presumably a new home screen for the OS. There are also big, finger-loving notice icons for calls, text messages, and email, with sections for Facebook, Pictures and “Me” filling out the rest. We don’t have any more info than these few shots, and the aforementioned site just has the images camped out on its Facebook page, but it definitely looks to be the real deal. If this is the new face of Windows Mobile, color us excited for today’s event — it looks like a radical departure (or at least a crazy skin). You can check out a few more shots in the gallery below.
[Thanks, HJ Willems]
Update: The official announcement has now been made and fully corroborates the visuals leaked here. Check out our hands-on experience with the fresh new software to learn more.
While DigiTimes isn’t our go-to source for all things Microsoft, the Taiwanese tattler does have its finger on the pulse of the Taiwanese / Chinese manufacturing juggernaut. As such, we expect it to be privy to information related to HTC, Acer, and ASUS handsets. So lean in close when it cites “sources familiar to Microsoft’s roadmap” in claiming a September 2010 release of Windows Mobile 7 to its handset partners — the same month pegged by that LG leak last week. That should translate into consumer availability by the end of Q4, or Q1 2011 at the latest. As it’s stated, WinMo7 will bring an improved interface, browsing, and multimedia experience with integrated support for Zune, Xbox Live, and Silverlight; nothing we haven’t heard before (and long wished for). DigiTimes claims that only English and “common European languages” will be available initially with Asian localization coming in 2011. Oh, and it’ll be announced at Mobile World Congress.
One thing’s clear: the rapid convergence of the rumor mill around dates and feature sets has us very excited about Microsoft’s chances at resurrecting its smartphone soul in time for the holidays. As such, we’ll be at Mobile World Congress in force to bring you the full story starting February 15th. It’s going to be good.
We don’t want to get our hopes up again, after having them repeatedly bashed against the rocks by a merciless Microsoft that’s spoke quite highly of the potential synergy of its brands and yet so far held its mobile and gaming segments far apart, but this sounds promising. Apparently a slide from some internal Microsoft marketing material is making the rounds that says Xbox Live Games is the “mobile version” of Xbox Live for Windows phones, speaking in the not-yet-accurate present tense, and matching up with a recent job posting we’ve seen. Of course, that seems a completely obvious move for Microsoft, particularly with Windows Mobile 7 right around the corner, and we would assume it would bring along with it not just the social features of Xbox Live but also some gaming for these next-gen smartphones that can most certainly handle it. Shoot, there we go being logical again.
The hints were already pretty strong on this one, but now Microsoft has come right out and said it, albeit in a job posting — the Xbox Live gaming platform is extending beyond the console and specifically onto WinMo phones. Seeking a Principal Program Manager who would be responsible for bringing “Xbox Live enabled games to Windows Mobile,” Redmond is particularly interested in “avatar integration, social interaction, and multi-screen experiences.” That leaves an awful lot of room for imagination as to how the two modes of gaming will complement each other, but at least we now (sort of) know that it’s going to happen.
