Windows Phone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

Mix ‘11 has come and gone but the impact was no doubt felt throughout the tech world. Those announcements included developer-centric updates that will be available to consumers in the ‘Mango' update later this year. The update announcements were detailed in multiple sessions, which are now available for download using the Mix '11 download tool. The application was developed in Silverlight and is available at the link below. Hit the link to see the great news and announcements for yourself.

At Mix 11 today, Microsoft revealed the new chassis specs for Windows Phone 7 devices. The minimum chassis specs have been updated to require at least a 1GHZ Qualcomm MSM8x55, or the Qualcomm MSM7x30. Both of these processors have more powerful Adreno 205 graphics. There was however no mention of the HVGA chassis that had been previously mentioned. Finally, a Gyro is also required for future devices. These spec bumps are great but many phone fanatics are still waiting to hear when dual-core processors and front-facing cameras will hit Windows Phone. Perhaps we'll hear more this summer before Mango is released.

"You heard right -- Skype just went from 'nowhere near' Windows Phone 7, to 'on the roadmap,' to 'definitely coming this fall.'"

Microsoft's Joe Belifore confirmed at the Mix11 conference that Skype is coming to Windows Phone 7 in a few months. It wasn't too long ago that Skype seemed disinterested in developing an app for Windows Phone. But I guess a lot could change in a few months. Especially knowing that Microsoft is opening up key access to ports that Skype would likely be using.

Belifore mentioned that Microsoft has been working closely with Skype, and had a lot of praise to give them. That gives an indication that there is likely more involved than Skype simply deciding to create an app on their own.

It's clear that people at Microsoft do see what customers are asking for, and that they are actively pursuing ways to turn those wants into reality.