Windows Phone 7, expected to release next month, is the next major smartphone platform from Microsoft. Windows Phone 7 is a complete operating system re-design, borrowing more from their Zune media players than their existing Windows Mobile 6.5 platform. The big question that we have here at CompanionLink is how Windows Phone 7 will sync with the PC.

A recent post from pocketnow.com details the current situation for Outlook sync with Windows Phone 7. Unlike the previous Windows Mobile 6.5 platform, Windows Phone 7 will not use Windows Mobile Device Center/Active Sync for direct PC-to-phone sync. Windows Phone 7 will use the Zune PC software to sync media, but for Outlook contacts, calendar and tasks, an Exchange server is required. While this presents no problem to large organizations with dedicated Exchange servers, standalone Outlook users are left out in the cold.

Both Gmail and Hotmail now offer free Exchange Active Sync support for most popular smartphone platforms. Thus, Windows Phone 7 should be compatible with both these services to sync contacts and calendar via Exchange (since Windows Phone 7 has not yet been released, this is educated speculation).

CompanionLink offers a solution that will sync Outlook contacts and calendar with any Gmail, Google, or Google Apps account. Once the data is synced with Google, supported smartphones can easily be configured to sync wirelessly with that Google account using the Exchange protocol. If Windows Phone 7 can sync with Google, as indicated by initial impressions, then CompanionLink will be able to offer support for Windows Phone 7 upon launch.

An official announcement regarding CompanionLink’s support for Windows Phone 7 will be released soon pending our testing of the platform. Look for announcements on our homepage at www.companionlink.com