Windows Phone 7 Series – a complete reinvention for Windows Mobile
With Windows Phone 7 Series, Microsoft has set its stall out, creating from the bottom up in an effort to better compete with the likes of Apple iPhone, Google Android, and RiM Blackberry. Can it possibly pull it off or is this too little, too late?
Windows Phone 7 has arrived, having been unveiled by Steve Ballmer at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Monday as expected. The name is uninspired and a little clunky but everything else about Microsoft’s new mobile operating system for smartphones is new, different, and exciting. In other words, it’s a complete reinvention of Windows Mobile. Which can only be a good thing.
Most of the leaked details for Windows Phone 7 Series turned out to be correct.
The biggest difference right out of the gate is the user interface. Microsoft has moved away from trying to replicate the PC experience on a mobile phone, with everything present for a reason rather than because Microsoft felt it should be. Having a ‘Start’ page is the one throwback.
Everything looks cleaner, clearer, and more user-friendly. The Zune-style interface looks modern and inviting, rather than daunting and confusing. Customers are clearly at the heart of the design rather than an afterthought playing second fiddle to functionality. The new ‘Live Tiles’ act as shortcuts and take the user from one task to another in as smooth and stylish way as possible.
There is social networking support, Xbox Live syncing, and topic hubs. The Internet Explorer browser is functional, and Bing gets a new showcase for its abilities.
Microsoft’s rules to handset makers looking to use Windows Phone 7 Series are sensible without being harsh, and should ensure a certain level of quality and performance across the whole range. And while the new OS will not support existing applications, this should only serve to inspire a whole new set of apps in time for the launch of Windows Phone 7 Series.
Unfortunately, Windows Phone 7 Series will not make it to market until holiday 2010, which is a long time away in the world of technology. It means everyone else has ample opportunity to fine-tune their offerings before Microsoft’s new effort even gets into consumers’ hands.
Microsoft has done a solid job of reinventing Windows Mobile. And the response has been overwhelmingly positive. But there’s still a chance it’s too little, too late. We won’t really know until it hits the marketplace later this year. Could 7 really be Microsoft’s lucky number?
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