We take a closer peek at Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 Series operating system from Flash support to apps, games, business uses and more.
A lot of folks are excited about Windows Phone 7 Series, but when the iPhone was first announced it was a brick that actually didn’t work. Apple was able to get it working well enough for the initial launch, but it changed a lot over the following two versions, and Apple has been hinting that it will change dramatically again later this year. In similar fashion, this new platform from Microsoft clearly has many saying that Microsoft has changed the game – and my friend Nick Mokey questioning whether it arrives too late to save Microsoft. Beyond actual hardware devices, which we still have yet to see much of in-depth, let’s talk about the other things that will still need to be done before this product comes to market towards the end of the year.
Hardware
You knew I was going to start with this, but the pictures of the demo phones look like black iPhone or Android devices, and aren’t very distinctive. That’s a big problem, as if this platform is going to have to sell well against an improved 4th generation iPhone or 3rd generation Android phone, it is going to have to stand out and be unique. Perhaps the most distinctive phone in the market today is actually not running either Apple or Google software, but Symbian, and it is the “Separate Keitai” phone from Fujitsu. This may be the most advanced/wonderful phone currently in the market, and if one of Microsoft’s partners could match it then we might have a horse race.
Another distinctive phone is the Dell Mini 5, which initially runs Android. This platform has many of the advantages of a true blend of the iPhone and iPad, and something like it could cause folks to look at the combination of hardware and software as something new and different. Dell is backing this new Windows platform as well.
Flash
Initially, Windows Phone 7 Series doesn’t support Flash as a platform, and clearly Microsoft has an alternative (Apple will use HTML5, but Adobe is rumored to be sabotaging that) with Silverlight. But unlike Apple, Microsoft has indicated they fully intend to support Flash in the future and supporting phones should be updateable. This wouldn’t be a differentiation against Android, which will also support Flash, but it should stand out in sharp contrast to Apple, and Flash is still the web standard for multimedia on webpages (just evidently not at launch, even though much of the hardware like NVIDIA’s Tegra platform is already supporting it).
Gaming and Applications
While Windows Phone 7 Series devices will support both aforementioned features, compelling applications will likely not start showing up until closer to the launch, and this is when the Xbox connection will be more evident. Initially, featured devices will likely pull heavily from the Zune HD, but will be always connected (unlike the HD’s Wi-Fi only connection), suggesting a much richer game set, and since the technology in the phones will be a year newer than that in the Zune, the performance headroom should be greater as well.
Given that Windows Phone 7 Series handsets will be multitasking devices (as opposed to the iPhone, which has multitasking turned off for everything but phone features), apps may be what really define supporting hardware. However, most won’t show up until after the phone ships because developers like to develop for platforms that are already in the market.
Business Benefits
While Windows Phone 7 Series products should have a solid business foundation in management tools that neither Google nor Apple can match due to their pedigree, none of that is yet evident in what was a consumer-friendly launch. Expect the business benefits to be showcased later on in the year and closer to the launch of actual phones supporting the Windows Phone 7 Series operating system. This will mostly be work done by Microsoft and well within the company’s control so most programs here should be ready when the phones are, however some phones will likely be designed more for business than others and none of that is apparently finalized yet.
Accessories
One of the problems with Plays for Sure (the platform that proceeded Zune) and past Microsoft mobile products were common accessories that supported all handsets. In contarst, the Apple ecosystem is rich with them, though this appears less of a critical shortcoming for phones than it is for MP3 players (because folks like to wear their phones). This suggests that a robust line of Bluetooth or Sync enabled devices could actually move across hardware vendors and do as good a job as Apple does in creating a strong market for phone stuff.
This too hasn’t been cooked yet and coming up with lines that look like they went with a variety of phone designs and tastes won’t be easy.
The Killer App/Feature
With the iPhone it was web browsing first, and then the App Store second. Android phones largely borrow from Apple concepts, but they do stand out as typically providing a better web experience. It isn’t clear yet what the killer app will be for the Windows Phone 7 Series platform and it might be nothing we now can anticipate because we simply don’t know what is coming. But if there are one or two must-have things for phones that run it, it will make a huge difference in the 4th quarter.
Marketing/Seeding
A lot of what made the iPhone attractive was how it was marketed and who carried it. The Droid phone was well-marketed by Verizon, but not seeded very well, and the Nexus One was seeded but not marketed very well. The Palm Pre was kind of a train wreck with high-concept marketing that folks couldn’t figure out and a horrid seeding program. How Microsoft executes here is likely still being decided, but it will have a lot to do with the success of the company’s upcoming phones.
Wrapping Up: The Best is Yet to Come
While the initial impressions of what Microsoft announced with Windows Phone 7 Series have a lot of folks excited, the best is still yet to come as the finishing touches are put in supporting devices and the parts (including the hardware) are finished and brought to market. I think that this, and other moves, formally signifies the end of the PC era and that with the new iPhone, next-generation Android products and these new anticipated Windows Phone 7 Series (did someone miss a naming meeting?) units, the 2010 holiday season will be rather exciting. In any case, with regard to all platforms, stay tuned – the best is yet to come!
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