Microsoft's Windows phones hit the market
After months of talking about Windows Mobile 6.5, Microsoft is announcing on Tuesday that the first crop of phones to carry the Windows Phone brand are ready to hit the market.
A host of new phones running the new operating system are expected to debut between now and the holidays, with many being announced later on Tuesday. AT&T has already announced two Windows Mobile 6.5-based phones--the Pure and the HTC Tilt 2. In all, Microsoft has said to expect more than 30 phones running the OS by year's end.
(Credit:
Microsoft)
With the new operating system, Microsoft hopes to make the case that the devices are not only worthy phones, but also the best option for those who want to take their Windows world with them. The operating system itself features Adobe Flash support, an improved browser, and menus that are easier to navigate with a finger, as opposed to a stylus. Perhaps more interesting are two new services that come along with Windows.
The first, the Windows Marketplace, is Microsoft's answer to the iPhone's App Store. It's somewhat interesting that Windows Mobile has long had more programs than the iPhone--none of which involved approval from Microsoft. But Microsoft has found itself in the position of having to insert itself as middleman to match Apple's approach.
Users will still be able to buy and download applications directly from developers, but Microsoft apparently felt it had to mimic the iPhone's App Store in order to help connect less technically savvy users with the thousands of programs that already exist for its phones.
The second service, My Phone, has been in testing for a while now. Just debuting, though, is a paid "Find My Phone" feature that costs $5 per use (although you pay only when you need the service, unlike Apple's iPhone-finding service, which requires a $99-per-year MobileMe subscription). The service can be used to locate a missing phone, make it ring (even if it is set to vibrate) or even remotely lock or wipe the device.
The big question, though, is if any of these changes are enough to get Microsoft back into serious consideration in a smartphone market that not only includes the iPhone, but also devices running the Android, Palm WebOS, and BlackBerry operating systems.
That challenge--to gain both market share and developer attention--was highlighted by this past weekend's Code Camp held at Silicon Valley's Foothill College. According to one attendee, a session on Windows Mobile 6.5 attracted just six people--three of them from Microsoft--while the iPhone session filled a large lecture hall.
Even some of Microsoft's partners have moved on, with Motorola and Palm among the more high-profile companies to focus their attention on other operating systems.
That said, one recent report suggests it's too soon to count Microsoft out. Market researcher iSuppli projects that Windows Mobile will manage to triple its volume by 2013 and reclaim the No. 2 operating system spot worldwide.
"Windows Mobile is facing a host of challenges, including rising competition from free alternatives like Symbian and Android, the loss of some key licensees, and some shortcomings in its user interface," iSuppli analyst Tina Teng said in a report. "However, Windows Mobile holds some major cards that will allow it to remain a competitive player in the market."
Even after several years of progress that Microsoft executives admit has been too slow, Microsoft still has 15 percent of the market, according to iSuppli. In part, that's because the phones remain an inexpensive and easy-to-support option for many businesses that use Microsoft's e-mail server and management tools.
For its interface tweaks and new services, Windows Mobile 6.5 is an interim update to Windows Mobile, inserted into the product's road map only after a larger overhaul--Windows Mobile 7--got held up in various delays.
Microsoft is now expected to debut that product--as well as Windows Mobile-based successors to the Sidekick family known collectively by the code name Pink--sometime next year.
Teng noted that the lack of support for the kind of capacitive touch screen found on the iPhone is a key drawback for Microsoft's partners.
"This represents a major barrier for smartphone (makers) that would like to produce innovative phones," Teng said. However, she said she expects that to be remedied with Windows Mobile 7.
In the meantime, Microsoft plans to push hard on the marketing front, launching a large ad campaign for Windows Phone that will include some TV spots in addition to print and online advertisements.
The launch of Windows Mobile 6.5 comes both as CTIA wireless show kicks off in San Diego and Microsoft's Robbie Bach hosts a consumer event in New York.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
The Acid3 test is here:
http://acid3.acidtests.org/
If you run the Acid3 test, on the iPhone 3GS & the Zune HD, you should see results like these:
iPhone 3GS - 100/100
Zune HD - 5/100
Nonetheless, your point is valid. IE on Windows Mobile is worse than a bad joke.
These are the results you should see, if you run the test on the major desktop browsers:
Chrome 2.0 - 100/100
Safari 4.0 - 100/100
Opera 10 - 100/100
Firefox 3.5.3 - 93/100
IE 8 - 20/100
IE can score bad but the vast majority of comercial websites are build to work 100% with it.
As websites get more complex and code-heavy, hewing to standards will be the future. IE's programming team is busting its collective butt to reach some semblance of standards compliance, as IE's market share erodes heavily (IE is losing almost a percentage point a month now...)
To succeed in hockey, you don't aim for the puck - you aim for where the puck will be. IE is still aiming for where the puck was.
Let's say:
Safari on Iphone support Flash :Nay.
Windows mobile (iexplorer) support flash :partially YAY.
Nuff said.
"based in a unused standard"
Are you serious? What a ridiculous comment!
Re. Flash & Acid3, they have nothing to do with each other.
Check out the description for Acid3 in Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid3
Article: "Here's some news from Microsoft."
Comments from most stupid people on the internet: "M$ SUCKS!!! IT'S RETARTED CRAP FOR RETARDS!!! EVEN THOUGH I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT, HERE'S SOME BIASED SITES WHERE I GET SOME OF MY STUPIDITY!!! www.windowssucks.com, www.ihatebillgates.com, www.thisisthebestsitetogotoifyoudontknowhowtothinkforyourself.org"
The problem was that it wasn't as straight forward to find an app for Windows mobile. But this means that the new store will have from start a huge amount of apps. I wonder if some of them will come to Zune HD.
One of the advantages that WinM and Andorid have over iPhone OS and WebOS is that these OSes are not restricted to one manufacturer (Palm and Apple). This fact gives them a huge advantage for gaining market share, due to large manufacturer support.
But probably things will drastically change when WinM 7 will come to the market, if it does what Microsoft is promising.
And lets not forget about Nokia. It has a very promising line of new phones and smartphone, and it is still the biggest cellphone company out there. I don't know what are their plans for Symbian, but it is still the most common OS out there in the cellular world.
Entirely correct.
"But this means that the new store will have from start a huge amount of apps."
I doubt that, and for one reason: Microsoft has to convince all those developers to host their stuff on that site. This means changing license terms, payments (to Microsoft), re-arranging prices, assigning joint copyrights in some cases... depending on how Microsoft sets it up. Now throw in Verizon's hatred of losing even the slightest semblance of control over what's in their own online store... Not as easy as it seems, and I doubt that a lot of folks will get on board.
Also, consider that 6.5 is a different animal - this means compatibility issues.
"Microsoft will really have to impress us with WinMo7 next year..."
They should have been doing that this year, as in, right now. They're losing their butts in marketshare to everyone but Symbian, and the damage may be too extensive by the time they cough up the next version (assuming no production slippage, breakage, etc).
it's the most stupidest comment I have ever seen. A+ for you!!
'I just signed a 2-year contract with AT&T for my Blackberry..."
My sincerest condolences.
IMHO Blackberry is the best business smartphone there is. Business smartphones are all about phone/email/calendar/contacts and a good keyboard. If you want consumer stuff then go with the iPhone its leaps and bounds ahead of everything else.
Windows Mobile blows, at least 6.1 and lower. Maybe this version is better.
Which position is WinMO securing? 4th place? Bravo!
So I hope you were quite amused with your quaint little comment, but smarter minds just laugh at your simple pleasures.
As for your comments about WinMo 6.5 and the claim how the "browser works very well". Clearly, just by saying that, you've lost any credibility that you might have otherwise been offered by default. The browser is the weak link of not only WinMo but of Windows desktop itself. Even the few WinMo users I know all switch to something like Opera, etc. because Explorer is so slow and non-compliant with WC3 standards. Try running an Acid test on it and report back how wonderful the browser is. Thanks for the laugh though. In your own words, "smarter minds just laugh at your simple pleasures".
rave reviews is a strong way of putting it. I guess if they deserve a cookie for making something that works, then way to go MS.
I don't think the iPhone is perfect by any means, but I do understand that this entire debate wouldn't even be happening without it so it's kind of dumb to hate on it. I have an iPhone. And I'm digging the fact that there's finally some competition coming to the table. Competition will drive Apple to make their product better. What's funny is that it took years for everybody to catch up and the first thing everybody wants to do is try to make iPhone look like an inferior product.
Don't get me wrong. iPhone is an Apple product which has pros and cons. The biggest con is that it is a very controlled product. But with that control comes quality. I would like my iPhone to have flash support. But I also predict that at least half of all these WinMo phones are gonna chug and be ridiculous when loading flash. People whined that Apple didn't have a video camera for the longest time. But when I played with the video feature on other phones, it was absolute garbage. When video came to iPhone, it rocked. I'm guessing the flash debate will be similar. Apple makes you wait, which isn't fun. But when you get it, it's good.
Oh, and to the guy that said MacBook Pros are stupid cause his friend spent thousands of dollars keeping it running: I don't have any hard data handy, but I think that the vast majority of people are not spending thousands of dollars on their MacBook Pro. I once bought a loaf of bread that had mould in it. I did not declare that loafs of bread are stupid. I realized that most loafs of bread do not have mould in them. I then bought another loaf of bread.
Does WinMo really have over 20,000 apps? Did I read that claim wrong?
I guess what I'm getting at is that of course the newest product on the market is better than the stuff that came before it. It should be at the very least. MS has failed at this simple necessity for so long that people think it's an amazing achievement when a touchscreen Zune comes out and it's better than a product that was released 2 years before. Apple has only had to give the iPhone and Touch modest updates up to this point cause they've been so far ahead. I'm interested to see what they bring out next year.
- by VaxVms October 14, 2009 9:23 AM PDT
- @Super2online - So you're impressed by vapourware, but not by a shipping product with a massive installed userbase that every mobile developer in the world is falling overthemselves to develop for?
- Like this Reply to this comment
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(48 Comments)...makes sense xO