First Windows Phone 7 sold in the world! To a Kiwi!

A New Zealander is the first in the world to snap up the hotly-anticipated Windows Phone 7.

The Windows Phone 7 launch kicked off in Auckland’s Aotea Square this morning in Vodafone’s Mobile Showroom – a 32 tonne Mack truck known as ‘Optimus’ – giving New Zealanders the opportunity to buy the new smartphone before the rest of the world. Orders were taken on the Vodafone website at 12.01am to make New Zealand the official first location for Windows Phone 7 sales.

Jourdan Templeton from Waikato was lucky enough to purchase the first Windows Phone 7 and is very excited about being the first in the world.

The new mobile operating system is designed to do more in less steps, simplifying the mobile experience with “glance-and-go” functionality, as well as allowing users to work and play with mobile versions of Microsoft favourites such as Outlook, Office, Internet Explorer and Xbox Live.

“Windows Phone 7 is designed to integrate social networking and entertainment, incorporating Microsoft’s traditional strengths in messaging and productivity in a simple and intuitive mobile experience,” says Mark Bishop, Windows Phone Business Manager at Microsoft New Zealand.

Windows Phone 7 has already become a huge hit with New Zealand developers, with more than 1,700 downloads of the developer toolkit for building Windows Phone 7 applications.

“The Windows Phone 7 platform is easy to use and has a lot of advantages for software developers,” says Leigh Roberts of DesignerTech.

“We often find ourselves rewriting programme code from other platforms and the environment is much more productive. The Windows Phone 7 platform allows us to leverage our existing .Net code, as well as utilising our WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) and Silverlight abilities to create rich applications.”

Local applications such as All Blacks, Subway, BluesBox, Welly Walks and AlphaJax have already started to appear in Microsoft’s online app store, Zune Marketplace, while another 30 local apps are expected to be added before the end of the year – including TradeMe, Air New Zealand mPass, Open Home Finder, Yellow and Flybuys.

The Windows Phone 7 platform gives developers the ability to create applications using free design tools and familiar Microsoft technology. Local developers have been supported by the Microsoft New Zealand team to help train them on how to make the most of the tools.

Microsoft also launched the Windows Phone 7 Challenge at the beginning of October to give New Zealand developers the opportunity to submit screencasts of their application ideas. This includes a TradeMe category.

“We’ve been overwhelmed with how New Zealand developers have responded to the Windows Phone 7 Challenge and we’ve received great feedback from the developer community,” says Nigel Parker, Microsoft New Zealand’s Acting Developer Platform Group Director.

Windows Phone 7 will launch with a comprehensive list of international applications, including:
· Red Bull Racing
· Newsroom
· BBC News
· ESPN
· Weather Channel
· Seesmic
· Sportsmanager
· Archtype Guitar Tuner
· Photobucket
· Flixster
· Where is My Car?
· Tripmate247
· Shazam
· 50 Xbox games including Star Wars: Battle for Hoth Try 4
· Bejeweled LIVE
· Foursquare
· Frogger

Visit www.windowsphone.co.nz for more details.

The Windows Phone 7 is only available in selected Vodafone stores on the HTC 7 Trophy handset from midday today around the country. For information on prices and plans, please visit www.vodafone.co.nz.