Who here is excited for the windows phone 7

#21 @Ronny: "voluntary" is not acceptable for uncertified home entertainment, that's the law. Mobile devices are a different matter: a mobile user must be over 18 by law in most of the countries and it doesn't qualify as home entertainment, so rating isn't required by law in the vast majority of countries. Windows Phone 7 will cover US + EU + EFIGS countries within months from lauch.

#22 I guess they're ignoring iPod touch and iPad, then, which I'm pretty sure can be bought by anyone (once available) :)

Products are sold on iTunes. Lots of them. They all have a rating. How is it Microsoft can't manage to roll out an equally nice system? It's got to be more than country laws, since Apple rolled out their system hot on the heels of the initial US AppStore release. XBLIG shouldn't be any different, but still no word on when it appears here, if ever.

#23 Ronny, rating costs money. When it comes to home entertainment it's mandatory to be allowed to sell. XBLIG has only one cost, $99 a year and that covers 8 titles. To rate 8 titles in EU only (PEGI) you have to pay more €500 per title (casual game less than 250MB, that is €250 if rated 3), so you can understand the problem: should Microsoft pay that? I don't think so... should Microsoft allow on XBLIG only rated games? Yes, that should be a constraint so to allow XBLIG to be sold everywhere.

#24 Apple got around it. I can release games on a non-phone device and set a rating I feel is appropriate. Apple approve or reject, and that's that. Still waiting for XBLIG to be equally awesome to us Europeans.

#25 Apple doesn't have any home entertainment device, so self rating is good enough. On gaming console there is no such a freedom. No home entertainment can be supplied unrated/self-rated in most EU countries, that's the law. Home entertainment are gaming console and TV sets. Are devices that when turned on suplpy (by design) entertainment the the whole household. Computers are not home entertainment devices, iPods are not home entertainment devices. Nintendo DS/DSi and PSP are (by design) addressed to minors so those software are regulated as well even if the devices don't qualify as home entertainment.

I know... law sucks.

#26 I'm not in an EU country, though. Maybe somebody should remind MS that we have more liberal laws here.

#27 Actually Norway is an EU member... a non voting member because of 1995 arrangements but still has more than 10,000 EU directives in force ;) You should double check with a lawyer about home entertainment rating in Norway :)

#28 We're an EEC member, yes. Different thing. So are you saying Apple are…BREAKING THE LAW?

#29 No, I'm asserting that Apple doesn't sell any home entertainment device :)

#30 @Ronny: out of curiosity (and in the hope to end the OT thread borrowing) I got the answer for you:

From the Norwey Act relating to Films and Videograms

Chapter III Classification and age limits
Section 4 Classification
Films or videograms to be shown on a commercial basis must be approved by the Norwegian Board of Film Classification beforehand. The ministry may issue regulations regarding classification of films and videograms to be sold to consumers.
The Norwegian Board of Film Classification may not approve the showing for commercial purposes of images which in the opinion of the Board offend public decency or violate section 382 of the Penal Code.
Anyone wishing to have a film or a videogram classified by the Norwegian Board of Film Classification shall pay a fee to be determined by the ministry.
The ministry may issue regulations containing further rules regarding classification and payment of fees.

So... have your law changed :)

Edit: in absence of specific video game regulation the above applies.

#31 This applies to people distributing in the country. As far as I've seen, all those Amazon and AppStore purchases are getting into our devices just fine :)

Anyway, I'm still not excited about the WinPhone 7 until MS sort out whatever purported legal tangle it is that causes them to not allow people to sell some dinky little utilities and games in so many countries.

#32 Well... I'm bumping this thread because I guess that Gartner has an authoritative say about this:

Gartner predicts Windows Phone 7 will flop

#33 Here is a public chart from Gartner based on their findings. www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1434613 we had a bit of chat on twitter and many people do not seem to know what a market research company is.

Read the bit at the botom of the page or look up Gartner on wikipedia.5% of the phone market is still pretty big, but that apparently includes other winmo phones.

I am also not too happy with the deal that Microsoft will not have an app store like Apple, where every app is equal. WP7 has two tiers at least of distribution, much like XBLA and XBLIG. Unlike the app store where any dev has access to gamecenter in order to get the cool Xbox live features on the device, you have to be part of the managed portfolio, like XBLA. The mass of us will be in the same soup we're in on the xbox.

#34 Question:
When this WP7 update will be available?

#35 @ Henry

That is unfortunate. I was hoping MS wouldn't do that so my hopes are crushed a little bit.

I have been reading lately that mobile devices are going to merge with consoles. Its an interesting concept and if it is true the XBOX 360 + Kenect + WP7 = win. I would hope that MS would really try and push the WP7 as much as possible. The demos I have seen look like it could be winner.

#36 I look forward to the Apple's iBox in that case ;-)

#37 @John....more like:

XBOX 360 + Kinect + WP7 = Win.....dows! :P hahaha

#38

int Windows = 7;