Windows Phone 7 hardware is classified in “chassis”. The main Chassis that all current test devices have been are Chassis 1 devices which basically means a large screen covering the face of the device with just three physical buttons below the screen. An optional slide out QWERTY keyboard also falls in to the Chassis 1 category with the LG C900 and LG GW910 being the only Windows Phone 7 devices that currently use that option.
Chassis 2 details have now been revealed. The screen resolution on these devices will be 480 x 320 which leaves room for a physical QWERTY keyboard on the front of the device, ie like a BlackBerry or E series Nokia.
WP7 devices will have one of two screen resolutions – either 800 x 480 for large touchscreen devices with the potential for slide-out Qwerty keyboards, or 480 x 320 for ‘BlackBerry’ style handsets that can incorporate a Qwerty on the front of the device. Microsoft expects the majority of WP7 devices to have the larger screen resolution at launch, with smaller resolution handsets coming later, said Foster.