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

Before you scoff, Try it

[ChicagoDave]

I've played with a developer phone in the last month and I'm currently an iPhone user. I have to say I think they're on to something. I like the iPhone, but I'm probably going to switch to WP7 in November. The integration between app and data is an order of magnitude higher than any other phone out there.

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:Image

[h4rr4r]

Care to name any of those awesome products?

Zune?
Kin?
The red ring of death generator AKA XBOX 360?

Re:Seriously?

[tekiegreg]

Tend to agree. As a devoted .NET developer who recently got a droid and (via third party app) watched my droid sync up with my office Exchange Server nearly instantly. I'd been hanging on to my Windows Mobile 6.1 for quite some time, but moving from that to Droid was like taking 20 steps ahead in technology.

Mind you Droid is not without a few quirks,but the differences are phenomenal. Droid is clearly the better platform.

slide-out speakers?

[demonbug]

Wow. Just... wow. The HTC surround actually has a slide-out speaker (from Yamaha!)? I can't think of anything I want less in a cell phone. Maybe they should come out with an HTC ButteredPopcorn with a slide-out popcorn popper so I have something to snack on while reading all the (apparently deserved) MS-bashing around these phones.

Re:Do or die?

[tokul]

Or buy Nokia or RIM out of couch-cushion change

They already bought Danger Incorporated. If they buy RIM and repeat T-Mobile Sidekick disaster, PHBs should learn something about MS.

missing some features

[sr8outtalotech]

I saw a demonstration of Windows 7 Mobile last week. Microsoft decided to remove the VPN client and remote desktop features that were available in previous versions of Windows Mobile. But the award for lamest concept by a large margin was replacing cut and paste with auto-complete. That didn't go over to well during the Excel Viewer demonstration where people were asking how you transferred formulas from one cell to another.

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?

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.

Here is my opinion

[Yuioup]

My problem with Microsoft is that they insist on programming everything in-house and lock you in to in-house networks and in-house apps. I prefer a rich ecosystem like the iPhone and Android where people can make their own apps and have them integrate into your social networking life.

Microsoft - once again - seems to want to make all your decisions for you and shove all their products down your throat.

I seriously wonder how many Microsofties will eat their company's dogfood and geniunely love it.

Y

Re:Do or die?

[Anon-Admin]

Dude, they will return to 80's tactics.

#1) Put out an "Update" that breaks connectivity between the desktop and the Iphone and Droid Phone.
#2) When the two fix the phone to make it work again do number 1
#3) repeat #1-#2 several times.
#4) Release WP8 pointing out that there phone never has problems communicating with your desktop
#5) .......

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.

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:Angry Birds say WTF?

[StikyPad]

Already Angry Angry Birds Developers Even Angrier

Re:MS Garbage Products: Xbox,Kin,Bing,...

[RingBus]

"Some people had hardware issues -- oh no"

A 65 percent failure rate on a piece of consumer hardware?

A 1 percent failure rate would be insane. That would be 1 out of every 100 consoles consistently failed. Well made consoles like the PS3, Wii, PS2, GameCube have failure rates in the sub .1 percent range.

The Xbox 360 is a piece of garbage. Microsoft knew it was defective before they rushed it out the door back in 2005 and did nothing to fix the inherent design defects.

Microsoft deserves the hate of gamers and the console world. They are reaping what they sowed. The console world has prided itself that it was gaming that just worked. You plugged your new console in at the start of a generation and it kept working to the end of the generation. Microsoft' piece of garbage Xbox 360 made a mockery of that concept.

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: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.