Microsoft Steps Up Its Mobile Phone Game

. Microsoft's Windows Mobile division was struggling to maintain its marketshare, let alone have a breakout success. With Windows Phone 7, Microsoft really steps up its game, and has produced a mobile operating system that can finally compete with products from mobile heavyweights like Apple and Android.

The most noticeable change is the user interface; Microsoft has spent a significant amount of time developing what it calls the "Metro" interface. This new look is simple, colorful, and has large print which makes a quick glance both easy and informative. The phone's home screen is composed of "tiles" which show the basic information that every phone user checks regularly: new text messages, unread emails, calendar events, missed calls, and a shortcut to the phone's Internet Explorer web browser.

The same attention to detail that resulted in an improved home screen has been brought to Windows Phone 7 email and social networking information syncing. Windows Phone 7 email supports hosted Exchange email almost fully. Contacts are synced effortlessly and without a hitch; however, it only supports syncing the primary calendar in a series of calendars. So, if you separate your daily agenda by calendar, you'll be a bit disappointed that all of your appointments and meetings aren't automatically carried over to your phone. This limitation is something Microsoft says they are aware of and working on, however it is really an unacceptable limitation in a smartphone market that is so mature.

Despite the shortcomings of its hosted Exchange accounts, Windows Phone 7 still excels in many areas. Microsoft has fully embraced the syncing of email, social networking accounts, contacts, and calendars. Windows Phone 7 is intended to be a deeply social platform; to this end, emails are automatically pushed almost instantly, and push syncing can be enabled for Facebook contacts and photos. The phone's photo gallery automatically populates with the user's Facebook photos, as well as photos their friends have taken. And every contact gets synced with their online accounts, meaning that browsing the phone's contact list is also a way to stay up-to-date on a friend's Facebook posts, latest photos, and much more.

Overall, Microsoft has developed a strong product that embraces the social web and hooks into the company's strongest technologies, like Exchange accounts and contacts. Microsoft finally has a product that can compete with the big names in the smartphone industry - and even win that competition when it comes to social applications and information syncing.

by: Melissa Smich

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