Microsoft’s Ballmer Unveils Win Phone 7; 9 Phones At Launch (Updated)

The Samsung Focus will be the first Windows Phone 7 device available at AT&T in November, for $199.

Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer took to the stage inside a big loft space on West 22nd Street in Manhattan this morning to introduce the company’s Windows Phone 7 operating system for smart phones.

Ballmer said the company had two main goals: making one’s phone “Always delightful,” and “Wonderfully mine.” He’s repeating those phrases several times while ticking off things one might do such as seeing photos of kids to seeing one’s avatar – in this case an illustration of Ballmer in cartoon fashion.

There will be nine phones out with Win Phone 7 when the software ships next month. Devices will be offered in more than 30 countries.

AT&T (T) Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega is up next. AT&T will have three phones initially, starting with the Samsung “Focus” on November 8th, following with LG and HTC units a few weeks later. All three will be offered at $199. The company will also offer ability to watch its U-verse TV service on the phone “for a low monthly fee.”

Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore, who runs the company’s mobile business, demonstrated the use of PowerPoint and other elements of Office from a Phone 7 device. “I really could be doing my presentation from my phone,” he said. He also demonstrated the ability to type rapidly using an on-screen keyboard with Phone 7.

Belfiore also demonstrated Outlook integration. You can check conflicts in an e-mail invitation by looking at the lineup of events in the calendar apps. He notes that there’s an “I’m running late” button in email in case you’re rushing to a meeting.

The phone features several “hubs.”

• The Office hub will let you store photos, contacts and OneNote notes you take on the phone in the cloud, and work on collaborative documents.

• The Zune hub let’s you stream music if you have a “Zune Pass.”. Think of having access to all this music in the cloud that you can just listen to right away, says Belfiore.
• The Game hub has games that tie into Xbox Live. Program are built with XNA, a development tool common across Xbox and Phone 7. One of the first titles with be The Sims, from Electronic Arts (ERTS).
  

Coming early next year, Belfiore says, will be a copy-and-paste feature.

After Belfiore left the stage, Ballmer returned.� “What we’ve really done here is make a different kind of phone,” he said.

Note: AT&T this afternoon wrote in to point out that U-verse will not be live TV on the new devices, only downloadable content.