Microsoft has announced Windows Phone 7 Series - the company's next generation mobile OS.

Steve Ballmer was present for Microsoft's conference at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and the Chief Executive heralded a new era for the company's mobile platform.

He announced the new iteration of the Windows phone platform was called Windows Phone 7 Series and that Microsoft will bring together Xbox LIVE games and the Zune music and video experience on a mobile phone.

"Today, I'm proud to introduce Windows Phone 7 Series, the next generation of Windows Phones," said Steve Ballmer.

"In a crowded market filled with phones that look the same and do the same things, I challenged the team to deliver a different kind of mobile experience. Windows Phone 7 Series marks a turning point toward phones that truly reflect the speed of people's lives and their need to connect to other people and all kinds of seamless experiences."

Microsoft is heralding Windows Phone 7 Series as a different approach to phone software, noting that Windows Phone 7 Series includes six hubs built on specific themes reflecting activities that matter most to people.

These are: People, Pictures, Games, Music and Video, Marketplace and Office.

A breakdown of these hubs - which are described as live tiles, by VP of Windows Phone Joe Belfiore, which are "super icons with connections to the web" - are as follows:

People: Here you will find all your social-networking apps and relevant content on people from their live feeds and photos.

"You can put people you promote an application or a playlist – whatever you want," says Belfiore about this particular tile.

Pictures: Fairly self-explanatory, but the Pictures tile allow you to share pictures to social-networking sites with one click. From the Pictures hub it's meant to make a Windows Mobile 7 phone as "the ideal place to view a person's entire picture and video collection."

Games: It will be the first time you can get an official Xbox Live experience through a phone. And you will also be able to play Xbox Live games through a WinMo 7 handset.

Essentially, you will be able to see your Live gaming avatars over your phone and check out people's achievements and gamer profiles through a handset.

Music and Video: This is where Zune comes into play. Here you will be able to access the online music service and share your music and movie recommendations to other users. There will also be an integrated FM radio into all Windows Phone 7 Series handsets.

Marketplace: This is where you get all your applications and games for your Windows Phone 7 Series device.

Office: The sixth and final tile is one for business users. This is where you can check out Outlook and have access to Office, OneNote and Sharepoint Workspace. Not as fun as the social-networking side of things but relevant nonetheless.

When it comes to Windows Phone 7 Series handsets coming to the UK, it has been announced that Orange will be commited to the platform as will phone manufacturers Dell, Garmin-Asus, HTC Corp., HP, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Qualcomm Inc.

Expect to see Windows Phone 7 Series handsets out in the UK this Christmas.