Visual Recap of the BIG Launch of Windows Phone 7.5 in NYC

So I was fortunate enough to be able to attend this past Monday’s Windows Phone launch in NYC and what an event it was!  This event was kept very quiet until just about a week beforehand when we were notified about it and we started to blog, tweet and share that the event was taking place.  The event took place in Herald Square NYC, essentially on 34th Street and Broadway, right next to the World’s Largest Store, Macy’s.  The event was marked by the use of a 6-story Windows Phone that was placed right next to Macy’s.

There was a Windows Phone Bar that was located in the white tent to the right of the screen where four new Windows Phone Devices were on display for folks to see (the HTC Radar on T-Mobile, the Samsung Focus Flash, Samsung Focus S and the HTC Titan) all of which are now available except the HTC Titan which is coming very soon.

True to all launch events, there were specials available for the “day-of” purchases where AT&T was giving $25 off the price of their phones and other vendors were giving away $25 Windows Phone Marketplace gift cards.

Clearly the centerpiece of the event was the BIG Windows Phone and all of the events throughout the day took place either immediately in front of or actually inside the BIG phone itself.  The phone lit up shortly before 10 AM and non-stop entertainment began right at noon. 

Shortly before noon, the BIG Windows Phone switched to a countdown timer to the beginning of the LIVE entertainment which began at noon.

(Note a close-up of of Johan who runs the NYC Windows Phone User Group at the bottom)

The festivities kicked off with a narrator defining the over-arching focus of Windows Phone being People-centric in its approach rather than a “sea of apps” and how smart phones have lost their way in being devices for and about people rather than about applications. 

In order to make the event a true NY event, the narrator dialed up Famous Original Ray’s Pizza and gave out pizza to all attendees!

After the short narrative, there was an interruption to the entertainment when one of the folks involved with the setup of the phone proposed to his girlfriend from the lower stage inside the phone…

(She said yes )

After the successful proposal, the entertainment kicked into high gear with a LIVE local weather forecast and a visit from “Plants and Zombies.”

The headline entertainment for the day was a LIVE Performance from the Far East Movement, famous for their songs “Fly like a G6” and “Rocketeer” from inside the BIG Phone.

There was much more entertainment throughout the day that took place, with more visits from the “Plants and Zombies”, Ben Rudolph (best known as Ben the PC Guy or @BenThePCGuy on Twitter) giving away phones to folks who traded in their old phones, and much, much more.

Be sure to check back here on my blog for a technical recap of the announcements soon!