The first layer of wrapping on the giftbox that is the Windows Phone 7 Series development platform is being teared down today as Charlie Kindel on the Windows Phone team revealed some ever-slight details on what developers might be able to do on WP7S and how.

One detail that caught my eye was a picture attached in the blog post that at quick glance might pass as a general comparison of all the current-generation smartphones with WP7S, but on closer inspection, it’s not the WP7S we’ve come to know and love since Mobile World Congress.

As both images are presumably mockups, the right one resembling the build shown at MWC, I can assume the left one comes from an earlier concept. The striking difference between the two is the way the “start menu” is conveyed. The build at MWC had an arrow in the top right corner which when clicked on revealed a long list of applications that were installed on the device.

In the alternative concept however the menu is “peeking” in from the right hand side which one can assume opens by swiping to the left. The way applications are grouped are also different, as the top five items are the hubs “people, music+video, xbox, photos, marketplace” leaving “apps” in a class of its own.

Personally I actually prefer how the menu peeks in the start screen – it’s much more consistent with the teasing that occurs in the rest of the UI. Which is the “real” start screen, guess it’s one more thing we’ll have to find out at MIX.

Update: Charlie Kindel implies the screenshot is an older mockup.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock without any GPS reception, you might have heard of location-based applications. From the fun to the useful, letting software know where you are in the world is a powerful way to make information more relevant, but why should smartphones have all the fun?

Half a year ago, Firefox 3.5 introduced support for geolocation, a feature allowed the browser to pinpoint the location of the computer using WiFi triangulation. After personally witnessing how well it worked (it located my home, in fact, my room in the house where I use the computer), I started bugging my partner in crime, Rafael Rivera, to port this feature to the platform-level, where it belongs.

As a matter of fact, Windows 7, like most other current generation OSes, has a built-in location platform and API that allow third-party developers to build native application that are location-aware. However unlike other OSes, specifically OS X, Microsoft made the fatal flaw of not integrating a default geolocation provider, thus developers could not take advantage of this until Windows 7 PCs started shipping with GPS sensors, which hasn’t happened yet.

Instead of waiting for OEMs to pick up the ball, Rafael and I are offering an alternative.

Over the past several weeks, we (Rafael did most of the work, I shouted at him) built Geosense for Windows, a Windows 7 sensor driver that connects the location platform with geolocation service providers who include but is not limited to Google Location Services. These geolocation providers work by matching and triangulating known cell towers and wireless access points in its database to estimate a latitude and longitude, with remarkable accuracy and scope.

Today we are releasing Geosense for Windows for free. We believe by offering this tool for free will help enable the most possible Windows 7 PCs to be location-aware, and in turn add incentive for third-party developers to take advantage of the Windows 7 location APIs and make their applications stand out.

That’s enough talk from me, now go get the bits.

Whilst the exciting announcement of Windows Phone 7 Series yesterday raises many questions itself, a lot of existing Windows Phone, specifically Windows Mobile 6.5 users are also left pondering what will happen to the current platform and more importantly the devices we have today. During an interview with Microsoft today, I found out the short answer is that Microsoft is not dropping the ball entirely.

Going forward, Windows Mobile 6.5 (and Windows Mobile 6.5.3) will be rebranded as Windows Phones Classic, and presumably the devices as Windows Phones Classic Series. Although this will not be reflected in retail until the release of WP7S, it does signify that Microsoft is committed to not just sustaining but potentially growing the current platform for some time to come.

To compliment WP7S’ focus on consumers, Windows Phones Classic will shift its focus to emerging markets and enterprise solutions. Notably one of the important reasons for this is to provide legacy support to all the existing investments made by OEMs and third-party developers to this platform.

HTC’s announcement today of the HD mini is a good example HTC themselves are not ready to write-off their investment of HTC Sense on Windows Mobile just yet.

Although Microsoft is not revealing what if any they have planned for updates to 6.5 platform, they did suggest 6.5.3 was indicative of the type of ongoing support the platform is likely to receive in the future.

[flv:windowsphone7series.mp4 670 380]

Here is the Windows Phone 7 Series promotional video which Microsoft showed during their Mobile World Congress 2010 press conference today for your viewing or re-viewing pleasure. In a video clearly positioned against the Apple iPhone, Microsoft insists the industry has “become a sea of sameness and a focus on apps over the phone experience itself”.

Although as short as it may be, it does sum up what Microsoft positions WP7S to be, and that is, an integrated experience across activities and services blurring the boundary between applications.

P.S. I don’t recall the last time people cheered at a Microsoft event as much as they did during this press conference, but there was genuine excitement in the room as this reveal unfolded. A very well-produced presentation throughout.

Although Microsoft is not talking about third party applications or the marketplace on the Windows Phone 7 Series here this week at Mobile World Congress 2010, a promotional interactive banner at the event is indicating that there will be one unified “Marketplace” for applications, games and music.

With the inclusion of music in this marketplace and all the other Zune integration on WP7S, one can only presume this is the Zune Marketplace in which case I’m going to have to ponder if this device is going to be as region-specific as the Zune. Hopefully for all of us outside of the US, the answer to that is no.

Update: From the press release, there will indeed be a “Marketplace” hub which “allows the user to easily discover and load the phone with certified applications and games.”

Tom Warren and I just got out of a short but sweet private demonstration of Windows Phone 7 Series in a series of dungeon-like rooms here at Mobile World Congress 2010. Suffice to say the Zune HD-like user experience looks even better upfront and personal.

Here’s a bunch of closeup photos of the phone, user interface and a Microsoft representative’s hands.

One feature of the user interface that was not explained at all in the press conference was that the arrow button in the top-right of the “home screen” actually takes you to a more traditional Start-menu like list where you can browse all the applications.

Subsequently I also got some photos from the Calculator and Dialer application which show off a more traditional single-screen application experience that reflects the new look and feel although the lack of menu icons on the Dialer might suggest it’s still in development.

Check out Tom’s post over at Neowin.net for the video recording of the demonstration.

Whilst Microsoft representatives made it quite clear the build shown off today is not quite final and that was reflected in a number of minor connectivity issues we witnessed during our 30-minute demonstration, but having said, the OS itself appeared quite solid and stable as the applications that broke subsequently recovered without any intervention.

Overall I’ve been pleasantly surprised and impressed by what they’ve shown off today and it’s a great sign that not only has Microsoft taken a giant leap forward in the mobile space, but also is offering something that is far different to Windows Mobile today if not everything else on the market.