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

Do or die?

[overshoot]

Give me a break. Microsoft hasn't been dependent on first-mover advantage since the 80s.

If they don't get traction with 7, they can do 8. Or buy Nokia or RIM out of couch-cushion change. Or several dozen other ways to buy into the market that I haven't thought of but I'm sure someone in Redmond has, singly or in combination.

No, it is not do or die

[Sycraft-fu]

MS still controls the desktop, and lots of high end business market. That is a very solid, very profitable market. Then of course there's their office suite, game console, and so on. Having a strong mobile market would do nothing but help them for sure, but if you think they have to "do it or die" you've got your head in the sand. MS is doing just fine.

Re:No, it is not do or die

[gbjbaanb]

they've also seen their share price wibble along going nowhere while Apple's streaks upwards. You may not think that matters but it does, a lot. If this doesn't show some promise for future MS growth, you can expect a little shareholder revolt, Ballmer being kicked out and maybe a ton of layoffs and re-organisation in the name of shareholder value. You will probably also see some divisions spun off to stand on their own feet (yep, online and entertainment divisions.... you'll get your crutch made of cash kicked away) and then we'll see if MS is still the powerhouse, or if other companies suddenly find themselve with a lot of attention from ex-Microsoft shops.

Let me put it this way - would you implement a Silverlight app today, when tomorrow it could be a dead technology replaced by Flash.Net? Its the same with businesses looking to implement their next set of apps, would they buy MS products if it looked like they were stumbling, or would they at least look at alternatives?

Re:No, it is not do or die

[Locutus]

yes, they still control the desktop but not as tightly as they did before the iPod was released. The iPod got people using iTunes and liking Apple products and soon they were opting for an Apple computer when the time came for a new one. I've seen lots of "Windows" folks getting Mac's because they were sick of the virus's and other wackiness of Windows and they felt Apple made a better, easier product.

They've had Windows CE based devices on the market for something like 15 years yet Apple's iPhone blew it away and quickly Android beat it into irrelevance. As the iPod / iTunes products opened peoples eyes to Apple and the Mac, what do you think Android and all the talk of Android powered TVs, Tablets, Netbooks, MIDs, GPS's, etc will do?

They "do or die" thing is an over statement but when the customers start to get choice at the brick and mortar stores, the fast slide down is upon them. Their brand is already drastically weaker and their stock price has been doing down while the others going up. And when large economies like Brazil( 5th in the world? ) is doing just fine using GNU LInux and open source software Microsoft has to spend billions annually to fend of more of that. I think they're slated to spend over $500 million just on marketing Windows Phone 7.

It's really not all roses in Redmond and with these little phones getting so much press hyping, Steve Ballmer's neck is sticking out in front of his investors and the board of directors. They have to see a success which relates to profits and limits the growth of the others. Something they've failed to do over and over without the advantage of leveraging the Windows desktop market position. IMO

LoB

Re:Before you scoff, Try it

[geoffrobinson]

Maybe true. Probably a case of too little too late. They had numerous years to get it together.

They can only follow, which is fine. But they had plenty of chances to lead.

Re:Seriously?

[mark72005]

Kin was never as great of an abomination as Windows Phone was.

Even if MSFT has a basically credible mobile phone OS, what do they have to draw people away from Apple, Android, or Blackberry?

Never Buy A Windows Mobile Device

[ludomancer]

Please take it from my lengthy, extremely painful, dissatisfied experience. Never buy a Windows Mobile phone. Ever. I don't care WHAT they might have done to this version of the software, I can guarantee you it will not work a fraction as well as any alternatives.

I own an HTC Mogul PPC6800. I have never experienced a product so poor, so lacking in quality and completely failing to fulfill its most primary functions. Every day I have to use it I wonder to myself how it was even released. I have never seen such a poor product even be allowed to enter consumer hands in exchange for money. It is just that bad.

I felt this would be a good topic with which to share that experience.

Re:Never Buy A Windows Mobile Device

[kindbud]

But you didn't share any experience. You merely asserted it was a very poor product, without naming any reasons why you thought so.

Re:Seriously?

[spire3661]

I would like to know WHY the Lucasfilm 'droid' trademark applies to phones in any way or to any real world device at all outside of Star Wars toys/games.

did anyone see the browser?

[YesIAmAScript]

MS didn't show it in the demo (that I saw).

The quality of the browser is paramount. Do we know if it's any good? Their last one sure wasn't.

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

[UnknowingFool]

There are far more Xbox Live subscribers than MobileMe account holders. Only a tiny fraction of iphone owners get a mobileme account. Yet several of the iphones more interesting features are locked away behind that service. If WinMo7 offers mobileme features for free + extra stuff that ties into the gamer-centric xbl it will potentially be quite attractive to a LOT of people.

MobileMe is for consumers that use Windows, OS X, iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPads. Xbox Live is only for gamers that use Microsoft's Xbox gaming platform. Gee, which population is bigger? Consumers or Xbox gamers? Targeting such a niche population isn't a major benefit.

Re:Seriously?

[Barlo_Mung_42]

XBox isn't a monopoly. Windows Live isn't a monopoly. Zune is about as far from a monopoly as you can get. The online office apps that it works with are free to all. MS of 2010 isn't the MS of 2000.