Windows Phone 7 Launched, Demonstrated
Microsoft launched its Windows Phone 7 yesterday in an effort to compete with Apple and Google’s Android in the lucrative smartphone market.
The move is a strategic one, as operators predict that smartphones will have a 70 percent share by 2013.
The Phone 7 will launch on nine phones, with 60 operators in 30 countries.
Unlike previous Windows phones, the Phone 7 will have less appeal to business users, (although still have essential business apps) and is directed more at a younger, hipper demographic, who can enjoy user-friendly aggregated content. As a case-in-point, the Phone 7 is also equipped with Xbox live, which has 23 million subscribers, and a Zune music option.
This content will be based around social media apps, with Facebook, Twitter, eBay and railway timetables already fast-tracked with the phone’s launch, with more apps to follow. The phone system’s experience is built around so-called hubs that aggregate content like contacts, pictures, documents, and music and video.
Microsoft clearly sees the Phone 7 as a vast improvement on previous models, with poor limited functionality, fiddly user interface and lack of applications to customize resulting in a steady loss of market share.
Fight over market share
Nokia’s Symbian still has the majority of market share for smartphones, although it has lost a significant percentage in the last 24 months. Apple has rapidly gained market share with its iPhones, while phones using Google’s Android software are forecast to overtake Apple soon.
“There’s a huge amount resting on the launch of Windows Phone 7 for Microsoft, its device and operator partners, and for the ecosystem market in general,” said Tony Cripps of technology consultants Ovum.
“If it fails to claw back market share lost to iPhone and Android, then Windows Phone 7 may well mark the point at which Microsoft turns its back on smartphones forever.
“On the face of it Windows Phone 7 looks to have positioned Microsoft on the edge of a smartphone renaissance. “Its all-important user experience looks to have brought some genuinely new thinking to a smartphone market in which all operating systems feel somewhat similar in use.”
In the UK the phone will launch on 21 October, while the US launch will be in early November.
This article originally ran on Business Management Magazine | Related MeetTheBoss.tv article here
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