Microsoft Unveils Windows Phone 7 Lineup

adeelarshad82 writes "Microsoft officially unveiled its Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system, announcing that it will be available on a total of five devices in the US. Windows Phone 7 handsets from AT&T and T-Mobile will begin shipping in November, while devices from Sprint and Verizon will be available next year. In all, Microsoft announced nine Windows Phone 7 phones, the remainder of which will be available in Canada, Mexico, the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Singapore, and Australia. It will debut in some European markets on Oct. 21. While early signs are encouraging for Windows Phone 7, it is being deemed as do or die for the future of Microsoft's business."

Comments

I guess he reads the minimsft blog

[tomhudson]

http://minimsft.blogspot.com/2010/10/case-of-microsoft-downgrade-blues.html

mini's been saying the same thing - that WP7 is the product that will hopefully tie Microsoft together (but comments are weighing heavily towards the "or else" scenario)

And mainly: it's a very poor matter of timing for a break-up. We're about to have a mobile phone come out that actually binds the companies divisions far closer than ever before: Office, Windows Live, Xbox Live, Bing, and Dev Div: this damn thing is the antidote for break-up talk. WP7 wouldn't be impossible to create with a break-up, but it'd be exceptionally difficult. WP7 is pulling together huge resources that none of our direct competitors have.

KIN3 FTW !!!

-- Barbie

Re:Seriously?

[SpryGuy]

what do they have to draw people away from Apple, Android, or Blackberry?

XBox Live integration

Windows Live integration

Office integration

Free "sync to cloud" and "find my phone"

ZunePass

Zune software is much better on Windows than iTunes

Works better with Windows (which is what most people use ... iPhone works better with OS X, so I don't think those people are the target)

I use iPhone on Windows, and I'm very much looking forward to being able to uninstall iTunes and never have to fire up that piece of crap again. And the ZunePass rocks (it's a great deal), and that too is enticing for me.

For business types (not me), the Office integration might be a draw. I can see that.

Re:As long as I have to pay $99

[the_humeister]

Or you can get an Android phone. My Aria, despite the lack of "unknown sources" option, can still load other apps via the SDK. And the SDK is free too.

Angry Birds say WTF?

[jrozzi]

Microsoft added Angry Birds to Windows Phone 7 site, Angry Birds developer say WTF!!!!??? They are so interested in making Windows 7 Mobile OS popular, they are making one sided friendships.

Re:As long as I have to pay $99

[Anonymous Coward]

The $99 fee is the annual Marketplace registration fee. To skip the market: Deploying XAP Files to Windows Phone 7.

Re:If I may add

[gbjbaanb]

Sharepoint? You've never used it - Drupal is a lot better from almost every viewpoint.

Silverlight? So good its only got a 60% market share (accrding to Microsoft) and they're looking at partnering/buying Adobe for Flash.

Expression suite isn't so bad, but its a bit like FrontPage for the hackery it puts in your designs. Take a look at all the expression dlls the generated code references.

C# 4.0 - dynamic types (and crap like extension methods) is weakening the language. Now, you can slap code together like a scripting language, and most code will have just the same amount of quality to it as a lot of script has.

Re:MS's Crappy Online Gaming Service??? Really

[vux984]

There are roughly 2 million MobileMe subscribers vs 23 million Xbox Live Subscribers.

Gee, which population is bigger?

Indeed.

Targeting such a niche population isn't a major benefit.

"such a niche population"?