subject: Windows Phone 7 [print this page] In the 21st Century society has gone smartphone mad. There's great satisfaction in owning a smooth sleek phone that does pretty much everything your desktop pc does. Windows Phone 7(WP7) is a surprisingly late entry into the smartphone arena. Surprising perhaps because of Windows previous' attempts at breaking into the mobile phone market not going down too well. Windows is a well known and trusted brand and have dominated the computer scene for a long time they needed to deliver a phone with great attributes and from the recent previews they have. There is a lot of hype surrounding the mobile operating system it would be shame if it flopped like Palm did so famously. It has been largely overdue with Apple taking the lead in 2007 followed by Google in 2008, is it all too late for Windows?
It is fair to say that Apple's OS and Google's Android have set the standards for Smartphone's and Microsoft would have to go a long way to reach their levels and in one way better them if they want a high number of sales. Microsoft has announced five partners that will be manufacturing WP7 based handsets on its release later this year; Samsung, HTC, Dell, LG, and Asus. Their original design idea came from the 500 million people worldwide already using Microsoft Office. Microsoft hope the use of Office on the mobile handset will become hugely popular in the business world. You can run all your favourite Office applications such as Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, Word and SharePoint. The phone is not all work and no play though; the device will feature Zune. Not that well known over this side of the Atlantic but it is Microsoft's music marketplace. Those with Zune passes will be able to download lots of music onto their phones. Zune works alongside a device management system just like iPhone and iTunes. Although it is hard to tell what users will prefer. For gamers there is an integrated Xbox live should prove to be a well-liked hit if it works to plan.
All Microsoft staff have been given a handset and some developers have been handed prototype versions of the system and initial feedback appears to be good. The UI has got everyone interested and the phone is different in every single way from previous Windows phones, with a fresh new design. The keyboard is easy to use and the strict restrictions on what phones the system will be manufactured on will mean only the best usability. WP7 will use Bing search engine with the handy Maps tab which you can also access real time traffic information. Searches can also be conducted by voice, and search results show a combination of SE results, news pages and local results using Bing Maps to get your location and find stuff nearby. So far the disadvantages of WP7 seem to be its lack of multi tasking. Noteworthy that it does support multitasking for Microsoft applications just not third party applications. It is also being criticised for having no copy and paste function where as its former Windows mobile 6.1 did allow for this. Contacts is now called a People App and is a mixture of phonebook contacts, Windows Live Account friends and Facebook friends which isn't something everyone is going to like. Pictures App also works the same way by taking pictures your friends have uploaded. This is all great for social networking but when trying to find a number for someone having to scroll through 450 friends' may get a bit annoying.
Microsoft has wisely decided to go with an app store, dubbed the App Marketplace. Users will be able to download directly to their handsets. As mentioned earlier, multitasking is not supported so multiple applications will not be allowed to run at the same time like they can on Android and WebOS; although rumours are Microsoft will release this in an upgrade after seeing how the handset features once on the market and all initial glitches are sorted. It does seem that the App Marketplace will be a hit and feature a number of apps which is a good start.
Concluding thoughts are if it is as great for business as they claim it will succeed with business marketplace domination that BlackBerry once had and has slightly declined with the ever fashionable iPhone. With the integration of Microsoft Office and Xbox customers will be drawn into their favourite brands in a new streamlined attractive pocket size computer. If there a bit more organization of the People App to differentiate a little between real contacts and not so close Facebook acquaintances then there is nothing to not like about the phone. And as the more WP7 handsets sell I think the number of Apps' available will soon increase, I also think they will reconsider their multitasking ban by releasing an update when sales have reached a steady platform. Additionally, to answer my earlier question of is it too late for Windows? I think not with a clear strategy and clear mind they seem to have produced a well thought out operating system that should do rather well when launched later this year.
