At Microsoft developers Forum in Japan nine new Windows Phone are being presented. It’s awesome to see new and better hardware with solidifying software. Mango release is promised to be big. How big? This big! 500 new features are promised in Japan by Steve Balmer in the Mango release.

“Windows 8″ and “next generation of Windows systems” have now been heard from the lips of Steve Ballmer. These next generation systems should be out next year. New and exciting times are upon Microsoft. New tablets and PCs are also being mentioned. Here is Steve Balmer’s transcript:

“We’re obviously hard at work on the next version of Windows. Windows 7 PCs will sell over 350 million units this year. We’ve done a lot in Windows 7 to improve customer satisfaction. We have a brand new user interface. We’ve added touch, and ink, and speech. And yet, as we look forward to the next generation of Windows systems, which will come out next year, there’s a whole lot more coming. As we progress through the year, you ought to expect to hear a lot about Windows 8. Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors.”

Later this statement was recanted with this bid:

“It appears there was a misstatement. We are eagerly awaiting the next generation of Windows 7 hardware that will be available in the coming fiscal year. To date, we have yet to formally announce any timing or naming for the next version of Windows.”

D9 conference is coming next week and we hope that more light will be shed on some of these questions. Microsoft’s Windows chief, Steven Sinofsky is supposed to feature Microsoft’s demo of Windows 8 Tablet UI. First tech preview or beta of Windows 8 should be available in September.

Who will be building these new Windows Phones? We’ll let you know just as soon as we find out.

Let’s have a listen to Steve Balmer and his outlook on future development of Windows Phone features:

Via engadget

Windows just released a statement about its competitive plans for 2011. They elaborated a number of new updates for the Windows Phone 7 that will arrive in the coming months. The company also highlighted the new partnerships mainly with handset maker, Nokia. The company is set to offer more competitive and faster systems and hopes that the mass market will recognize the position of the Windows Phone 7 in the mobile market. Here are some of the snippets of what the company is planning come 2011 and 2012 and other future plans.

2011 is a notable year in the mobile industry. Instead of hardware, there is great attention over the ecosystems. Right now, there is the move to create a diverse option of intuitive ecosystems that are designed to offer a strong relationship between applications, services, software and hardware. The movement has become very fast. It was just 1 year ever since Windows Phone 7 was shown to the public. Windows Phone 7 offers everything that Microsoft can offer from Xbox Live, hotmail, Bing, Office and Windows Live and integrate all of them with applications such as Facebook.

The team aims to offer a system that is most convenient to use for mobile phone users for the most intuitive mobile experience. In the recent Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer announces different features that consumers will be expecting within the year. The first major update will be available for free for all users within the first 2 weeks of March where they can get added features like copy/paste and snappier performance updates. Another update is the availability of the CDMA networks that allows more customers in other networks. There will also be integration of Twitter in People Hub by the second half of 2011. Windows Phone 7 will also have cloud storage for Office Documents. There is also new generation browsing with the Internet Explorer 9 for more intuitive web browsing. Lastly, there is a better multitasking capability. The additional features will be available across 2011.

Microsoft is gearing towards stronger partnerships between mobile phone makers, developers and operators. These strong partnerships aim to increase innovations and lower price points and finally access the mass market and affect market shares in the long term. Recently, the company already sealed the deal with Nokia as one of its handset maker partners. Microsoft aims to put their skills in software and service expertise together with the hardware know-how of Nokia as well as mapping and imaging. The system will also be backed by Microsoft’s, most powerful labels like Xbox live, NAVTEQ, Bing and Nokia.

The partnership with Nokia and other handset makers really enriches the mobile ecosystem to provide more options for developers, operators and most importantly for consumers. The company will be offering more information regarding its other partnerships in the coming months and by 2012, Windows based Phones will be in full swing in the market, geared as a competitive option for the current hits in the mobile ecosystems battle.

Here are some of the excerpts from an interview with MS CEO, Steve Ballmer at Search Marketing Expo West:

About integration of Bing with Windows Mobile:

"whatever happens will be something that happens in conjunction with, at least in the general case, and certainly here in the U.S., with the operator. My guess is we’re not going to get a huge amount of operator support for Windows Phones who don’t want Bing. I mean, in some senses it’s an essential part of the definition of the Windows Phone, and if you have an operator who would want to do something with another search player, they’ll probably do it with a non-Windows Phone."

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Now that’s a music to my ears. HTC officially announces the launch of HTC HD2 in US through a ‘major carrier.’ Europe and Asia are the destinations where the HD2 has started shipping already. So, a chance to finally get the multi-touch phone into your hands. The HD2 is said to be available in US in the first quarter of 2010.

Have a look at the press release:

TAOYUAN, Taiwan – November 4, 2009 – Today, HTC Corporation chief executive officer, Peter Chou, joined Microsoft Corp. chief executive officer, Steve Ballmer and Harvey Chang, chief executive officer of Taiwan Mobile to announce the availability of the highly anticipated HD2 in Europe and Taiwan. HTC and Microsoft also announced that the HD2 would be available in the United States with a major US carrier in early 2010.

“The HD2′s amazing customer experience is a testament to the close partnership between HTC and Microsoft and we’re excited to be bringing the HD2 to Taiwan and the United States,” said Chou. “The HD2 is the first Windows® phone with HTC Sense^TM, an HTC user experience focused on making the phone more simple and natural to use and by enabling people to personalise their mobile experience in their own unique way.”

“Working with HTC, we’ve delivered great phones that help customers connect to the people and information they care about, wherever they are,” said Ballmer. “The HTC HD2 shows what’s possible through our close partnership with HTC and it breaks new ground for Windows phones by delivering a beautiful multi-touch screen that people will love.”

The HD2 is the first Windows phone with HTC Sense, a customer experience focused on putting people at the centre by making their phones work in a more simple, natural and personal way. With its industry leading, high-resolution, 4.3-inch capacitive touch display, the ultra thin HTC HD2 delivers more visible content in a sharper, brighter and richer way.

The HD2 uses the first capacitive touch display on a Windows phone to make viewing, zooming and resizing websites, Microsoft Office files, PDF documents and pictures easier with just a pinch of your fingers. The large display also enables faster, more efficient and accurate typing using the onscreen keyboard. Utilizing Qualcomm’s new 1Ghz Snapdragon mobile processor, the HTC HD2 offers enhanced performance that improves the speed of applications, videos, games and more.
Developed with a passion for enhancing people’s lives through innovation, design and ease of use, HTC Sense is rooted in three fundamental principles of Make it Mine, Stay Close and Discover the Unexpected.

Make It Mine
The HD2 continues HTC’s drive for personalization by reflecting not only what you want on your phone, but also where you are. Using its large 4.3-inch window-like display, HTC has brought a new dimension to weather with a localized, animated weather experience that utilizes HD2′s entire display without being invasive to your important content and information. The HD2 can also be further enhanced to reflect your needs and style by downloading a wealth of applications at the new Windows Marketplace for Mobile.

Stay Close
The HD2 helps you stay close to the important friends and colleagues in your life with HTC’s people-centric communication approach that provides a single contact view that displays individual communication snapshots of your conversations with the people in your life regardless of whether a call, text, Facebook status update or email were used. While in the midst of email exchange with someone you can easily transition to a call by pressing the call button. HTC has also included a new Windows-based version of its Twitter application, HTC Peep. The pictures you take with the 5MP camera can also be quickly shared via Facebook or Twitter.

Discover the Unexpected
With the HTC Sense experience, the HTC HD2 includes a variety of enhancements that expand and improve the overall phone experience. The HD2 includes a variety of sensors including a proximity sensor that is used to prevent false screen touches when the phone is picked up to answer or make a call. A light sensor automatically adjusts the brightness of the display. Leveraging its 3G broadband connectivity, the HTC HD2 also offers personal Wi-Fi anywhere for your computer or other devices.

Also available for the HTC HD2 is the optional car kit that automatically transforms HD2′s user interface into a finger friendly in-car navigation experience for driving.

Windows phone
As a new Windows phone, the HTC HD2 showcases the powerful messaging, browsing and productivity capabilities delivered by Windows Mobile 6.5. Offering a best in class e-mail experience complete with the ability to synchronize with Microsoft Exchange, you have the ability to check and manage multiple email accounts. Microsoft’s new My Phone service enables you to automatically back up and synch photos, music, contacts and text messages for free from the HD2 to the web.

Availability
Already shipping in Europe, the HTC HD2 is available around the middle of November with Taiwan Mobile and will be available throughout Asia in the coming month. The HD2 will be available with a major carrier in the US in early 2010.

Via Mobiletechworld

Here’s a video by Gizmodo showing what does the MS head Steve Ballmer has to say about the new OS Windows Mobile 6.5, that wasn’t given much ado by the critics.

Ballmer seemed quite hopeful and assertive about the current and prospective OSs, Zune about competition with iPhone and Blackberry. Peek into the video here for more.