Tech Ed NZ 2010 is in full swing and during all the hustle and bustle, Neowin was able to take an exclusive hands on look at a prototype Windows Phone 7 device running the Windows Phone operating system.

Microsoft was at a loss when the original iPhone was released, it’s Windows Mobile platform was years behind at best, and needed to do huge amounts of catching up to be competitive. A few new versions of the iPhone were released, as well as Google’s Android Mobile OS, and Microsoft was left in the dust.

Then, earlier this year, Microsoft announced it’s successor to the Windows Mobile platform – still based on Windows CE, but entirely incompatible with the previous platform. The Redmond software company is reportedly pouring almost a billion dollars into the platform and plans to “make it succeed.”

Enter Windows Phone 7, a new, unique phone experience.