I was able to catch The Engadget Show Live! today where Aaron Woodman showed off Windows Phone 7 Series. The amount of information about the phone and its hardware and software is just trickling out at this point. Many questions are being answered with three words: “Go to MIX”. One thing that has been announced is that Microsoft will have more influence over the hardware for this phone across the various vendors. From what I can tell, all phones must support 3 buttons: Windows, Back, and Search.
Windows Button
The main function of the Windows button is to take you to the Start screen:
The Start screen has live tiles for the hubs and your applications. Applications not as frequently used will appear on a separate application launcher screen.
Back Button
The Back button will allow you to get back to a previous hub or application without going through the Start screen. As it was explained, the Start screen is “above” the apps & hubs:
As you traverse the various hubs and applications, the phone remembers where you have been and the Back button lets you get back there. Let’s say that you are at the Start screen and go to the People hub, then back to Start, then to the Pictures hub, back to Start, then to the Application launcher and finally click on some application. Clicking the Back button once will take you to the Pictures hub and a second click on Back will take you to the People hub. At least that is what I understand from the explanation.
Search Button
The last button is responsible for promoting the search functionality across all hubs & applications. From the Start screen, it brings up Bing search but in the Peoples hub it would allow you to search for individuals. I wonder if all hubs support search. It is likely that search will be available for applications.
Watching The Engadget Show Live! today gave me a little more insight into how the phone navigation works. I am excited to attend MIX10 in a few weeks and get a lot more details.
