Microsoft reveals Windows Phone 7 hardware specs
Only three handset types permitted
Since Microsoft unveiled its Windows Phone 7 Series OS to the world at MWC last week, it’s been widely accepted that the company would be providing strict guidelines when it came to third party hardware specs.
Now, according to an Australian source, it seems that Microsoft will be limiting its Windows Phone 7 handsets to just three permitted types.
Microsoft Australia Developer Evangelists Michael Kordahi and Andrew Coates have revealed in the Frankly Speaking podcast that the first type of Windows Phone 7 units on sale will be “big touch screen” phones - touch-only devices with 1 GHz processors and dedicated graphics hardware. Your iPhone/Nexus One equivalent, then.
Type two will be similar, it seems, but with the addition of sliding keyboards. Think the Motorola Milestone.
The pair didn’t have anything concrete to say about the third type of handset, but did speculate that it might well end up being a candybar phone format.
It appears Microsoft is aiming squarely at a hypothetical sweet spot between the iPhone's nailed down (but limiting) line-up and the overwhelming range (to the point of dilution) of Google's Android. It'll be fascinating to see if they hit the mark.
ZDNet