Windows Mobile 7 with Zune Integration Coming Soon?

Today has seen a swell of news that makes me think that Windows Mobile 7 won’t be a complete bust after all. MobileCrunch is reporting that Microsoft may debut the new mobile operating system, along with new hardware, at the Mobile World Congress on February 15. If not then, AllThingsD predicts that they could be revealed at the CTIA Wireless convention in March.

Regardless of when the details are actually announced, both sites seem to be running with the assumption that the new WinMo 7 phones will be released shortly afterwards. Not only does this mean that we could see the OS far ahead of its previous release timetable (we expected it towards the end of 2010), but both sites are also claiming from different sources that WinMo 7 will see aspects of the Zune HD’s user experience — which lends credence to all of the Project Pink phone rumors.

MobileCrunch’s tipster also laid down some potential details on WinMo 7 and the new hardware:

• It’s “essentially a copy of the Zune HD’s kernel”, and the UI is very much like the Zune HD
• Microsoft is regimenting screen size and RAM amount, and minimum processor speeds
• Expect no background processes, system resource access, and no threaded processes (very iPhone-like)
• It won’t run Windows Mobile 6 code
• They’re aiming for gaming and multimedia consumers with Xbox Live integration, instead of the business types
• There will be an MS app store with a simple approval process

Aside from the potential lack of multi-tasking, WinMo 7 looks to be falling in line with the predictions I made back in October. We haven’t heard much about what will be powering these potential new devices, but Microsoft will surely want to stick with nVidia’s Tegra technology which drives all the UI goodness in the Zune HD.

If MS had continued along with their end of 2010 release for WinMo 7, they likely wouldn’t have stood a chance in the mobile market. Now they could potentially build some buzz and release their new phones before Apple’s next iPhone revision, and be in a good place to compete with the rising Android threat. It’s a shame MS didn’t make these big announcements at CES, because they could have easily ruled that event much like Palm did last year. Most likely they didn’t have much to show at the time, and they’re probably burning the midnight oil to make a big splash at one of these upcoming events.