Windows Phone 7 - low cost version announced and new requirements defined

Microsoft will be introducing a “low-cost version” of its upcoming WP7 (Windows Phone 7) devices for emerging markets, including India’s. This information was revealed by the Director of Developer Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio, India, at the Tech.Ed 2010 event in Bangalore.

The lower-end versions of the phone will only release after the first round of higher-end WP7 devices, and will have a different “chassis”, and different minimum requirements, most notably the minimum RAM, which will be at 128MB as opposed to 256MB. The devices will probably still feature the 5MP camera, but will probably have smaller multi-touch screens of the cheaper HVGA type. A joint branding between Microsoft and the OEM is on the cards, and manufacturers like HTC, LG, and Samsung have been approached

Speaking of minimum hardware requirements, interesting information has been revealed in the Windows Phone 7 Architecture Guide and OS compiling tutorial about how the WP7 platform (both low-end and high-end) will operate, both in terms of architecture and user policy:

User policy:
Windows Live ID and Genuine Windows Phone hardware certificate will be required for:
First Boot-up
End User License Agreement (EULA)
Logging in to Windows Marketplace
Accessing Microsoft’s services
Contact synchronization

Architecture:
Features:
2GB will be the maximum allocation of virtual memory for the phone’s processes
1GB will be the maximum allocation of virtual memory for applications
Bluetooth 3 will not be supported
3D graphics will be supported by DX11
WP7 devices will make use of the Microsoft Unified Storage System (making internal storage and memory card storage indistinguishable to applications)

Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) Policy:
Permissions:
Have only 60MB of space to add a maximum of six pre-installed apps
Not allowed to install trial ware
Have responsibility for Direct3D drivers
Not allowed to change Bing as the default search service provider (except in the browser)

Check out flowchart of the Phone Update Process below: