Microsoft has been working with companies big and small to make sure that when Windows Phone 7 launches this month that there will be plenty of cool apps. Here's a look at some of what's in store.
Ina Fried
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley.
Among the third-party titles for Windows Phone 7 is a program from Motolingo that monitors drivers speed and lets them know if they are accelerating too fast. Those that drive safely can score points, while those speeding get dinged.
Motolingo is among the startups that attended a weeklong training Microsoft held in Mountain View for mobile developers to build their Windows Phone 7 applications.
2 of 9Motolingo
Caution: Traffic ahead
Motolingo's app can also alert drivers to traffic issues, as seen in the example here.
3 of 9Clever Sense
Seymour to the rescue
Clever Sense, a 10-person startup has built an application called Seymour that acts as a virtual concierge, helping to connect users to nearby resources.
4 of 9Clever Sense
Feed me Seymour
In this case, Seymour offers to find any of a variety of types of nearby cuisine.
5 of 9Soundtrckr
You are listening to what?
Soundtrckr CEO Daniele Cabrese describes his application as kind of Pandora meets foursquare and Facebook. The streaming music service lets users listen to any of 8 million tracks and also keep tabs on what friends and those nearby are listening to.
6 of 9Ina Fried/CNET
Twitter
Among the other features of Twitter's Windows Phone 7 application is the ability to dive into the details of a tweet, something the company plans to call "tweetails."
7 of 9Ina Fried/CNET
Twitter for newbies
One of the features, unique to the Windows Phone 7 version of Twitter, is the ability to explore the service deeply without having an account of one's one, something previously only available on the Web.
8 of 9Ina Fried/CNET
Nearby tweets
Twitter's app takes advantage of the phone's GPS chip to identify nearby Tweets.
9 of 9Ina Fried/CNET
Twitter's phone expert
Sean Cook is Twitter's mobile expert, typically using 10 or more phones at any one time. Cook praised Windows Phone 7 for its unique design and for an aesthetic that lends itself to long lists of data, such as scrolling tweets.