MICROSOFT PHONES HOME: Microsoft unveiled its long-awaited Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system today at a news conference in N.Y.C., hosted by CEO Steve Ballmer. The new system will be available on nine handsets from manufacturers like LG, Samsung and Dell on AT&T’s network, starting Nov. 8, and later on T-Mobile. Verizon and Sprint will offer the phones in 2011 at $200 apiece. Microsoft lags behind such smart-phone manufacturers as Apple iPhone, Google Android and RIM’s Blackberry. Apple recently announced that their iPhone, once an AT&T exclusive, will be available on Verizon Wireless early next year. (10/11p)