With the latest itera
tion of its mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7 Series aims to narrow the gap between its OS, the iPhone OS and Android.
Built to focus on consumers, Windows Phone 7 Series — or WinPho7 — was designed from the ground up. “We made a very big decision to re-examine everything because the industries surrounding mobile are at an inflection point,” said Andy Lees, senior vice president of Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business, about the operating system.
A core concept for the design was building a broad platform of software that works across whatever device each user is on at any time.
WinPho7 is tightly integrated with other Microsoft apps, ranging from Xbox Live games to Zune music and video to Bing search to the software giant’s Office productivity software.
-Many Apps Make WinPho7 Work-
That tight integration may well boost WinPho7 ahead of its predecessors in the Windows Mobile 6 series.
“The one thing I thought was really cool about the product was that Microsoft had finally nailed the fact that it’s got all these properties — SharePoint, an email client, document integration — and managed to integrate them all together,” Maribel Lopez, principal analyst and founder of Lopez Research, told TechNewsWorld.
“Microsoft’s existing operating system wasn’t going to cut it any more; it needed a total refresh,” she said.
-Taking On the iPhone and Android?-
WinPho7 has been a long time coming, and its launch has been repeatedly delayed over the years. That delay, was due to the mobile operating system’s overhaul.
Like the iPhone operating system and Android, WinPho7 has strong links to social networks like facebook and Twitter and features a multi-touch screen. It also offers users live updates on their friends’ status.
“Microsoft took a look at both Android and the iPhone OS, figured out what the next generation might be and built it,” Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, told TechNewsWorld. “It’s both simple and elegant; it’s kind of hard to believe it came from Microsoft.”
“They’re targeting the holiday season, which means that other people still have another six months to announce their updates,” she pointed out. “For example, we’ll probably see an update for the iPhone around June. So, Microsoft’s operating system refresh looks caught up today, but we don’t know where it’ll be in six months.”
Random Thoughts About WinPho7
Microsoft may well need those six months to shore up the weaknesses in WinPho7. “The solution isn’t complete yet, and there are still a number of things that needs to be done before it hits the shelves,” Enderle said.
For one thing, Microsoft’s application store is light on apps, although it’s well executed, Enderle pointed out. For another, this is going to be the first run of a brand-new platform, so there probably will be some teething problems, he said.
However, the platform may be less buggy than feared. “Microsoft does better beta tests than Apple or Google, so you would expect its new platform to have fewer problems than the initial iPhone or Android versions have historically had,” Enderle said.
More enterprise apps should be announced during and after the Microsoft MIX10 conference, which will be held Mar. 15 to 17 in Las Vegas, Enderle said. MIX10 attendees will be introduced to the platform, shown how to work with the WinPho7 development tools, and be given a tour of the Windows Marketplace. MIX10 attendees will also get free developer support for the WinPho7 development tools.
Whether or not WinPho7 will be on par with Android and the iPhone when it’s launched later this year is still an open issue.
(Source: TechNewsWorld).
- I like to try to keep myself up to date with cell phones for the most part, sometimes thinking I may even be a “Cell Snob” as I call it, but I’m not sure I’m going to go back to a windows based OS phone, EVER. I have been using an Android phone for about a year now, and I am relatively pleased with what Android has done. There are certain things I would like (Flash 10) but overall they have taken a good idea from the iPhone’s platform and made it better (in my opinion), but is Microsoft trying to do the same here? Don’t get me wrong, I do like the iPhone for it’s own reasons, but the Droid (which I have previously posted) is promoted for open-source developing, which is a huge advantage to the consumer when it comes to Market apps. Microsoft however, has stated that there will be no customizations from users, carriers, or phone manufacturers. What a mistake, it’s always going to look the same no matter where you buy it or who you buy it from (just like the iPhone). Essentially, these phones will be clones, even if a person owns one from AT&T and another person from Verizon they will look identical. Apple can get way with this, because it is the Apple iPhone, so it’s always going to be the same no matter the carrier, but it’s slated that WinPho7 phones could all look the same even if built by different manufacturers like HTC, Samsung, or LG. Basically, if you’ve seen one, you’ve pretty much seen them all. LAME! That is where Android still has the edge over Apple and Microsoft, they are totally open to innovation, new design, and new UI’s, as to where Apple and Microsoft have failed and left their phones so proprietary that they just simply cannot be altered, and there is no freedom with expression. That is very limiting as to what can be done in the future with those phones in terms of development.
It sounds like the only real standout points for this OS is that it has integrated Xbox Live services and seems to be integrated with some pretty cool PC functions, but that all remains to be seen later this year I guess. The WinPho7 OS based phones should be available just in time for X-mas, but I don’t forsee them doing so well. No idea on starting prices for these devices just yet, but my guess is around $300-$500 to start out. Not sure who will be carrying them either, but I assume it’ll be most of the same carriers that are currently selling Windows 6 phones now.
-Lazy idiot-
It's O.K. to be lazy here!
