Microsoft today has finally announced the long awaited successor in it’s Windows Phone line, as was anticipated; and after watching the announcement unfold all I can say is– WOW! Yeah, if you were thinking this was similar to the tired and true Windows Mobile that we’ve seen over the years you’d be really wrong, like dead wrong. Take notice everyone– Microsoft is back in mobile, and it looks like they’re gonna be here to stay.

Microsoft changed up a lot here in this latest version of Windows Mobile– called Windows Phone 7 Series, and from the early looks of it, all for the much, much better.

The Interface

Let’s start with the overall interface. Like was rumored, this new interface really resembles that of the Zune HD (though in a much deeper way than we though,t as this looks nothing like the rumored pix of the OS); heck it pretty much is the Zune HD’s (look at the start menu in the pic above). And you know what, I’m really digging it. Not only is the Zune HD’s interface sleek and slick, but with the new enhancements added onto it in the Windows Phone variation, it’s a really nice change from the iPhone and Android OS’s of the world, and looks to be something that will appeal to many users.

You see, unlike with phone like the iPhone and Nexus One, where the homescreen is mainly icons, the Windows 7 Phone Series is made up of a bunch of  icons for “hubs.” These icons, are kinda like live widgets when viewed from the homescreen, giving you live information such as how many new texts or emails you got, or a mini photo slideshow for the photos app– more than just an icon. The hubs are instead of the usual apps and make up the bulk of the phone, for pretty much everything:

• Zune– aka the Media part of the phone for music and videos. And this is the full Zune experience– we’re talking Zune Pass and even the requirement for all phones to have built in FM radios like the Zune line.
• Pictures– for viewing pix, just like the People hub, this isn’t just for the photos on your phone, but also those on your Facebook and Windows Live social networks. Yeah, insanely cool). And yes, there is multitouch. (you can see the picture hub in the top pic)

• Xbox Live– for gaming. No, this isn’t an “Xbox Portable” with full intense games like Halo (though who knows, maybe one day we will have Halo in our pockets– let’s hope), but you do have Xbox Live on your phone which is pretty big by itself. Not only do you get to view all your achievements and gamer points which is done by using the same Xbox Live account you have on your 360, as well as customize your avatar even more. But here’s the kicker– you also will be able to get Xbox Live games on here that you can play and which will sync your achievements with your 360 (which could definitely kill the iPhone’s gaming). Now this is still the basics of what to expect from the Xbox part of the phone, but hopefully more will be revealed soon at Microsoft’s Mix developer event next month (which already is gonna have a huge focus on Windows Phone).
• Me– Basically shows you what you’ve been doing on social networks such as pix your in, things you wrote, etc. (like say, you just became a fan of TeenTechBlog on Facebook), and also let’s you update your status’s for Windows Live and Facebook.

• People– think of this as a Contacts app on steroids where you don’t just see your contacts list, but also your social networks with built in support for Facebook and Windows Live. And this is the full Facebook and Windows Live where you can view status updates from both and even post updates to post at the same time.
• Marketplace– for downloading apps. Worth noting: as you can probably already tell, this is an entirely new animal than older variations of Windows Mobile, and therefore not all (if any) of the older apps will work without being redone for the new OS. Though don’t worry, there will be apps for this phone, and a lot more info on the developer process will be announced by Microsoft next month at their Mix Conference.
• Office– with programs Word, PowerPoint, Excel as well as OneNote for notes, as well as other office apps like Outlook for handling email.

These hubs are on top of normal apps like the dialer for phone calls, Bing and Bing Maps for search and maps (with multitouch!), as well as the much improved Internet Explorer Mobile– which when I say much improved, I mean leaps and bounds above the older versions and near the iPhone’s Safari and the Android browser. Pages finally load fluently as they would on your computer’s version of IE, and of course there is multitouch here as well, which is absolutely great.

Navigating the interface also looks to be fairly simple, with a tap on the icon to launch the hub, and a tap on the bottom Windows key to get back to the homescreen. Now once your inside the hub, well, that’s where things are really interesting. The inside of the hubs are really cool– with navigating between different options and menus not in clicks and menus, but rather swipes right and left to reveal different options (as you can see in the pix of the hubs above).

And what about syncing your phone back with your PC? Well, Microsoft made that easier today as well– announcing that Windows Phones will sync with the Zune Software, which is also a much needed improvement from previous Windows Mobile phones and should make this a lot easier to use. All of this is very cool, and honestly (and ironically), something we would have first expected to see from someone like Apple rather than Microsoft.

Here’s a complete video walk through of how everything looks in the new OS:

Hardware

So unlike some rumors, Microsoft didn’t announce their own phone here (some say that will happen sometime this Spring), but they did make a big step in terms of hardware– setting a minimum requirement for phones to run Windows Phone 7 Series (we know, it’s a long name, even longer to constantly type!). And this is a pretty powerful bar I must say; in order to run this new version of Windows Phone the phone maker will need at least a capacitive, multitouch screen with support for at least 4 points touch (think like the iPhone screen, just with better multitouch), 5 megapixel camera, FM radio, as well as 1 GHZ Snapdragon processor (like in the speedy Nexus One) to keep things running fast and smooth under the hood.  There also will need to be a Windows key and a search key for the built in Bing search.

As you can see, these are pretty powerful specs to say the least, but remember these are just the minimum Microsoft needs the phone to have. They’re not saying it has to be all touchscreen or have a slide out keyboard, the design of the actual phones will be up to the manufacturers– and boy do they look to have a bunch of the big guys signed up. We’re talking HTC, Dell, HP, Sony Ericsson, LG, Samsung and Toshiba to name a few– so you can be sure someone will make the type of phone your looking for. Oh, and while we’re talking hardware, don’t expect anything like HTC’s TouchFlo 3D or Sense to come to Windows Phone 7, as Microsoft has offically banned the idea of custom phone skins ontop of the standard homescreen– a call we can’t really argue with as this homescreen and OS look 1000x better than the standard Windows Mobile homescreens we’ve ever seen before.

Availability/ Wrap Up

So when can we expect some of this Windows Phone 7 to come our way? While Microsoft didn’t set an exact launch date, they did say we can expect them to begin rolling out until the end of the year. And unlike the Droid, G1, Pre and iPhone which were exclusive to there respective carriers at launch– all 4 major carriers are on board with Microsoft here (with AT&T being a “Premier” partner– though don’t worry that doesn’t mean they’re exclusive), so wherever you are– you should have no problem being able to pick one of these up (at least, none on Microsoft’s end).

Now what does this mean in terms of us and buying a new phone? Well, between now and the end of the year (Microsoft is saying it’s coming “Holiday 2010″) is a HUGE amount of time, particularly in the fast moving cell phone world. I mean, think about it– there will probably be a new iPhone with all new software, and who knows what else from the likes of Google, Palm and RIM (the makers of the BlackBerry), so it’s to early to say whether or not this is the device of the year (we also haven’t yet seen any actual Windows Phone 7 phones, as Microsoft demoed this today on unnamed prototypes). However, one thing we can say– Microsoft is back in the mobile space with something that is not just innovative, but cool too– and I personally can’t wait to see what comes next.

Info from Windows Phone 7 Series.com

What with Facebook, Netflix and Twitter already playing on Xbox Live, and with a new Halo and, of course, Project Natal coming out later this year, you’d think Microsoft has done enough to pump up 360 owners for another great year. Well, for all us 360 owners who love all things sports and ESPN, things look to be getting even better.

According to the New York Times, Microsoft is having “super secret” meetings with Walt Disney Co. (the owners of more than Disney land and Disney channel—they also own ABC and ESPN) in order to bring live streaming of ESPN to the 360 (think kinda like the current ESPN360, we know—a perfect name, that lets you watch live games on you computer).

The rumors also say that, unfortunately, this may require some sort of subscriber fee, though if its any consolation, it might be live streaming and some interactive games. Of course seeing as neither Microsoft and Walt Disney haven’t said anything on the topic, take this as an awesome rumor for now.

And I believe this very well could happen. Microsoft over the past couple of years have pushed something called IPTV, or TV over the internet, with the 360 helping drive its case. Getting ESPN and perhaps other Disney-owned channels would be a great way to really build this service up and really make the case for people to ditch their regular cable or satellite.

What you think? You think/want this to happen? You watch any movies or do other things with your 360 beyond gaming? Do you want the 360 to become your “cable box?” Sound off in the comments.

Info from the New York Times. Pic from Engadget

On day 1 of E3, Microsoft began the video game bonanza with some opening shots. And by shots, I mean cannons. Or nukes may be the right word. Some seriously cool stuff was announced, and there was a lot of it: games, NXE updates, and some insanely cool new hardware. So bear with me as I try and cover some of it. (The best is at the end of it.)

Games: Microsoft showed off a ridiculous amount of games here. So here’s a brief rundown.

The Beatles: Rock Band gameplay

• The Beatles: Rock Band – The first gameplay of the game was shown off, with guest appearances from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Yeah.. they had the REAL Beatles THERE. Looks like an improved Rock Band, but with Beatles songs. Also being added is support for 3 mics, and custom, Beatles instruments (time to clear out that living room again…) There will be 45 Beatles songs included, with some more exclusive, Xbox 360-only songs available for download.

The Tony Hawk Ride board

• Tony Hawk RIDE -Pretty cool, using a motion sensitive skateboard controller which was shown off by Tony Hawk himself, and apparently, it’s pretty much like riding a real skateboard. And one more massive chunk of plastic to fill up your living room.
• Forza 3 – Update to the popular racing game, with even MORE cars and more realistic gameplay. Seems like you actually can crash this time around.
• Halo 3: OSDT – More gameplay footage shown, release date announced: September 22. We’re looking forward to this one, as it should be interesting to see Halo from the perspective of someone other than the Chief.

New Halo announced!!!!

Above: EVERYTHING we know about Halo: Reach.

• Called Halo: Reach. Umm… thats all we really know. Coming out in 2010, with multiplayer beta included included in OSDT. Seems to be taking place during the Battle of Reach, as prequel to the series. Oh, and it has been confirmed as a 1st Person Shooter. Excellent.

Metal Gear Solid Rising

• Metal Gear Solid Rising – New Metal Gear Solid, but for 360! The once PlayStation only series is finally coming to the 360, and it will have Raiden in it! Again, not giving a whole lotta info here. Oh, and it’ll have “Lighting Bolt Action.”

Moving on to updates on the system itself.

New Xbox Experience (NXE) Updates

Being added to NXE is Twitter, and Facebook integration — allowing you to access them from your Xbox — complete with avatar integration as well as the ability to challenge your friends to games and see if they can beat your scores. There were also minor updates to Netflix, a re-branding of the video store to be Zune Video, which will be full 1080p HD quality for all shows and movies, and the ability to stream Last.fm, the world’s largest online music catalog, straight to your 360, as well as to share with your friends.

There also was the announcement, that starting in August, you can download full 360 games straight from the Xbox Live Game Marketplace, to your 360, a similar feature to the already existing functionality for the Xbox Classics.

Some fairly cool stuff. But Microsoft had one last major surprise for us – a new motion controller called Project Natal. So what is Natal?

Project Natal. Awesomeness, Reinvented.

If you remember, we mentioned in our E3 rumors post that Microsoft was rumored to be working on some major motion-sensing software. Well, its real, and to be honest – awesome. Basically, its one sensor bar that you put on/ in front of your TV, which very accurately tracks the motions of yours and others motions throughout a room. A fighting game? – punch out the enemies yourself. Baseball game? Smash a home run yourself, trusty bat in hand, out of your living room. NO controller needed! Just you…. and if this can be used to it’s potential by game developers, it could totally revolutionize the 360 as a gaming device.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9tmr8VDqN8]

For all Xbox 360 E3 coverage, see their site here.

So that’s the round-up for Microsoft. Sony and Nintendo, as well as other assorted news on the way, but before we end, we’d like to know your thoughts on Microsoft’s announcements, particularly Natal, and if your not a 360 owner, you going to buy one now? Go on, we’re great listeners.

The Zune HD

It’s been rumored for a while, and here it comes. Microsoft’s next shot at it’s multimedia line, the Zune. And it seems that they actually  might have something here. Details on it are few and far between right now, with more coming at Microsoft’s E3 event (a major tech event next week, June 2nd) but here’s what we know so far:

• New hardware-- 3.3 inch OLED touchscreen, built-in WiFi and web browser with multi-touch, HD radio, ability to play back movies in HD with a dock (sold separately), and the usual ability to play movies, music, and photos.
• Xbox Live interactions– Microsoft’s not giving a whole lotta info here, but the Zune Marketplace and the Live Marketplace on the Xbox are apparently merging, along with other Xbox/Xbox Live integration. Again, more info at E3.
• Coming in the Fall– When exactly we don’t yet know.

So, what do I think? At this point, its hard to tell. Without knowing some more info, like the extent of the Xbox integration, or even the storage capacity, and of course, price, it’s hard to guess where the Zune HD is going. Personally, I think that it looks pretty cool, but without more details or trying one out personally, I can’t call this one yet. More stuff to come next week as Microsoft announces it, so hang tight.

The new Xbox 360 Dashboard Update

Tired of that old, blade Xbox 360 interface and looking to change it up to something a little cooler like a nice flip interface?

Go connect your Xbox to Xbox Live and start your mandatory (yes, Microsoft is making you do this) update to that sweet new interface and all the goods that come with it– avatars (similar to the Mii’s on the Wii), game loading off the Hard Drive, and of course that great new interface. For a full recap of the features, see here.

I’m downloading mine now, and will post a review on it soon.

What are you waiting for? Go download this new update and let us know what you think of it in the comments.

Ad for Sen. Barack Obama in Burnout Paradise (Pic from GigaOM)

I don’t know about you, but I like to play my video games as a temporary escape from the “real world.” You know, controlling a team of your favorite players in Madden or MLB 2k8, or destroying some random alien in Halo 3 — things that you just can’t do in real life. To my great dismay, that barrier between “real world” and the “virtual world” of video games is starting to get really blurred. What am I talking about? Read on!

There have been many reports — and pictures — of video games on the Xbox 360 being filled with ads promoting Senator Barack Obama (and soon, most likely Senator John McCain if that’s the way things are headed). I know this might not bother most people, and it isn’t terribly annoying to me, but I fear this path and where it may lead.

It’s one thing to see a Snickers or Sprint ad in a game of Madden (they’re both 2 big NFL sponsors), or a T-Mobile or Sprite ad in a game of NBA Live 09 or NBA 2k9 (T-Mobile and Sprite are big NBA sponsors- NBA 2k9, by the way, is not yet listed anywhere as receiving these in game ads); those ads give the game a more realistic feel.

But now that the ads are expanding to other topics not related to the game (i.e. politics), this new direction isn’t really not sitting well with me. I don’t wanna start seeing an ad play during halftime of one of those games telling me the problems with the other candidate. And if they are putting in these little ads on the sidelines 3 weeks away from the election, whats to say they won’t put in other, bigger ads as we get closer to November 4?

Obama Ad in NBA Live (Pic From Reuters.com)

I understand video games are insanely popular — especially with us teens — but if the companies and sponsors want to go out and start filling our games with ads to make a little more $$$, why can’t we the customer see the price of games drop and not have to pay $60 per game. That, or keep the ads to a minimum (and if at all possible- relevant to the game like T-Mobile in the NBA and Sprint in Madden).

What you think- are you noticing some of these election ads popping up in some of your games (particularly Madden 09, NBA Live 09, Guitar Hero 3, and Burnout Paradise) you seeing them in other games (if so which ones)? More broadly, do you mind the increasing appearance of ads in games or believe the games should be cheaper in light of them? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Info and Pix from Joystiq.com, Reuters.com, and GigaOM.com

Remember a couple weeks ago we wrote about a price cut rumor for the Xbox 360? Today, according to this Radio Shack flier on the web (see later), those price cuts were spot on. Just a recap on what those price cuts would mean:

1. Xbox 360 Elite for $399 (down from $450). The top bundle, including:

• 120 GB hard drive
• black casing with black wireless controller
• HDMI cable–only one cable connected to the TV need for full HD quality

2. Xbox 360 Pro for $299 (down from $349). The middle bundle, including:

• 60 GB Hard Drive
• white casing with white wireless controller
• HD component cable– several cables need to be plugged in for both audio and video and quality is slightly lower than with the HDMI cable–with a slot for an HDMI cable which must be purchased separately

3. Xbox 360 Arcade for $199 (down from $279). The basic bundle, including:

• 256 MB memory card- no Hard Drive- with
• 5 Xbox Live Arcade games preloaded
• White casing with white wired controller
• Regular TV cable–regular quality without HD from either a HD component or HDMI cable like the other two but includes a slot for the HDMI cable on the system

These price cuts are expected on September 7, so we recommend holding off that 360 purchase for just a bit longer.

We’ll follow this and of course keep you updated, but overall, the Xbox 360 is looking more and more affordable– the Arcade version is now cheaper than the Wii, not to mention the fact that the former can actually be found in stores – and is looking like an even better option for next gen gaming.

Radio Shack Ad- click on it to enlarge, and see circled items (they’re not in the real ad, just to show where to look for this info)

Info and Pic from Joystiq.com

The new Star Wars game- The Force Unleashed- demo landed today on Xbox

Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. Being the die-hard Star Wars fan that I am, I immediately downloaded the demo today and played around with it. Since I am a die-hard fan of the Star Wars series, this review may be a bit biased. For the whole review hit the More link.

The demo has you running around an Imperial facility as Darth Vadar’s secret apprentice, smashing things and fighting enemies. Overall, playing as the Apprentice was rather fun, as you get to use the Force’s powers in such over the top ways that are just fun. The ability to do things like grab an crate and smash through a brigade of stormtroopers, blow through a door with a blast of energy, or electrocute your lightsaber and bring it crashing down on a group of enemies is just plain fun. Graphics aside, I get the feeling that this is going to be one fun game to play. Even at the early point in the game the demo is at, the abilities you have are incredibly cool, and one can only guess as to how they will progress through the game.

Overall, this is a demo that does its job well, which is to make me want to download the game. Check it out and let us know what you think.

Microsoft kicked off the E3 conference on Monday, with a whole bunch of new games and updates for it’s Xbox 360. Some of this stuff is pretty major (and at the same time very sick- in a good way), so hit the more link for all the details!

There is a lot of stuff here so we”ll break it down for you into those two parts- Updates and Games. Now let’s get started.

Updates:

• Entirely new 3D Dashboard- We said this info was huge, and you don’t get any bigger than updating the interface for the Dashboard. This new 3D Dashboard, drops the old “blades” interface for a new “panel” and “channel” interface that looks a little similar in my opinion to the “Flip 3D” in Vista. It looks pretty sweet and I can’t wait to update my 360 to this “mandatory” update as Microsoft puts it. O, and two other things on this- 1. The old interface won’t be going away entirely, as it will be going to the new Xbox Guide, which will give easy access to whats on your 360, and 2. This update adds….
• Avatars!- You know those virtual you’s like Mii’s on the Wii and on the Playstation 3′s Home. Unlike those avatars though, the 360′s will not be used in their own special game, and rather will be characters in games like UNO, and other Xbox Live Arcade games.

The new Xbox 360 Dashboard with Avatars- the guy waving in the first tile- and Downloaded Game- see below in Games, the game in this case is Lego Batman- (Pic from Engadget)

• Netlix support- Thought it would be worth mentioning, that with the new Dashboard, you will be able to use Netflix to rent and download movies straight to your 360, and thereby turning the 360 into a real media center powerhouse. Yes, Microsoft gave the Xbox Live Marketplace a video download store with loads of movies and TV shows, but even with the new addition of NBC/Universal to that marketplace, it still doesn’t compare to the offerings of Netflix. Note on this new feature: To use this, you will need both a Xbox Live Gold subscription (costs about $50 for a year), and a Netflix account and subscription.

Netflix on Xbox Live (pic from Engadget)

Look for both of these to come with the free Dashboard update in the fall.

Games:

• Some already known games like Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero 4, also the addition of more downloadable games from Xbox Live. These games include Geometry Wars 2, Galaga Legions, a game based on the TV show  South Park, a game based on the TV show 1 v.s. 100, Portal: Still Alive- a follow-up to the hit EA game- Orange Box, and Grand Theft Auto IV mini games (or episodes), as well as more games to take advantage of the new Avatars.
• New game from Microsoft called Lips- This game is actually pretty interesting. It is a singing game that uses only a motion sensitive mic (Lips= singing). No guitar, or drum set, just a mic. Before you turn away thinking we have no sense of what interesting is, you may wanna listen to this- in this game not only do you get to use the included songs, but you can use ANY song from your iPod, Zune, or other Mp3 Player. That is something that hasn’t been put into the games like Guitar Hero or Rock Band yet (yes we know Guitar Hero offers the ability to make your own songs, but that is only from scratch and not from a preexisting song you own). The game will also come with two of the mics in the box so you can karaoke with friends. We don’t know much more about this game yet (i.e. price), but you can expect it to come by this holiday season. O, and after watching the trailer of it (see bottom), you’ll definitely will be interested.

Lips for the Xbox 360

• Ability to save your games to your Hard Drive- This is also HUGE. For those of you with Arcade versions that don’t have a hard drive, we recommend that you start saving money to go and buy one, because you will definitely want this. What this new feature does, is it lets you download a game (after you buy it of course) onto your Xbox 360 for easy, quieter- I know personaly from my own 360, that thing gets loud when playing games- and overall better playback. You will still need to have the game in the system when you play- in order to prevent people from renting or borrowing games and downloading them without buying it- but the game will play off the hard drive and not the DVD. This new feature also probably explains the upgrade to 60 GB over 20 GB in the Pro (though if you ask us for which console to get, we’d still say go and spend the extra $100 if you can for the Elite which offers 120 GB, and comes with an HDMI cable in the box for better High Def gaming). Look for this to also come in the Fall with the Dashboard update.

There you have it, some info on the Xbox 360 E3 Conference. All in all, I’m now actually looking forward to the fall to get this update because it really looks pretty cool.

Keep checking back, as we got lots to tell you about, including PS3 info from Sony’s conference, more Guitar Hero 4 and Rock Band 2 info, some new Halo (yes, Halo) info, as well as other E3 info.

O, and check these sites out for more info, pix, and videos of the Lips game, and the new Dashboard.

New Dashboard on Video- Joystiq.com

Photo Gallery of New Dashboard- Engadget.com

Lips Trailer Video- Lips’ game site

Big W - Price Drop

Being Australian has never been so bitter sweet. Microsoft has just announced that it has lowered the price of its Xbox 360 console in Australia, reducing it to become available for $278 AU (Australian Dollars). The core console (aka Arcade) includes the Xbox 360 console with High Def HDMI port, a 256MB Memory Card and standard AV cables, being the bare minimum for the consumer. However, the Pro system which offers a 20GB HDD (Hard Drive), a Xbox Live headset and enhanced Standard HD AV cables, as well as the HDMI port, is quite a splendid deal. The price for this remains at $499 AU in Austraila of course.

I recently bought a Core console for 400 AU dollars, and this price drop of over 100 AU dollars is enough to make me horribly angry, but also proud that at least Microsoft are some what noble in their price drops.

For the majority of the readership who are American, a price drop for you is expected today, only for the Pro console though.This price drop brings the Pro version down to about $300 from $350. The Arcade and Elite prices are the same respectively (about $280 and $450). This US move is expected to clear out room of the 20 GB version in favor of a 60 GB one. That last part about a 60 GB version is right now only a rumor, but all should come out this week at the E3 Video Game Conference, so keep checking back for all the info.

More (Kotaku)