Our friend Michael Gillett from My Microsoft Life recently had the chance to meet with Oded Ran, head of marketing for Windows Phone 7 in Microsoft UK, and was given the chance to play with a devices with the RTM version of WP7 OS installed. During the briefing, Michael was able to confirm with Oded that there will indeed be a Windows Live Messenger app coming to Windows Phone 7:
One of the few questions I was able to ask was for LiveSide who wanted to know if there will be a Messenger app. There will be. I was also told that partners are working on Messenger apps too, not sure what this means but I wonder if there will be Messenger integration into hubs like the leaked/rumoured HTC Hub.
Following the news, MobileTechWorld also showed off a screenshot showing the Messenger app installed on WP7:
However, no further details were given, and we’re not sure whether the Messenger app will come pre-installed on your phone, or become downloadable via the Windows Phone Marketplace. What’s also unknown is whether or not it will integrate with the People hub on WP7. But at least we now know that Windows Phone 7 users are not left out of the Windows Live world – and we hope that this app will take full advantage of the WP7 hubs integration and outperform the “siloed” Messenger iOS app. We’re only weeks away to find out!
Thanks to our partner WMPoweruser.com for the news!