Windows Phone 7: A New Competitor or Another Joke?
By: Hillel Fuld
While Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS are constantly at each other’s throats, the mobile market does not rest for even a minute. Microsoft, a company that just regained its throne as the most valuable tech company, has been trying to leave its mark on the world of smartphones for as long back as I can remember.
Truth be told, in the pre-iOS and Android days, operating systems like Windows Mobile 5, 6, and 6.5 managed to play in the game. However, in today’s world, if Microsoft wants to be anything more than a joke, with mobile phones that last on the shelves for two months before going to a better place, they are going to have to bring a lot more to the table.
On a positive note, Microsoft seems to have somewhat come out of its bureaucratic shell and is beginning to realize the power of the social Web. That is the conclusion I reached based on the number of leading blogs that have apparently been given a prototype of the new Microsoft mobile operating system. I am going to be among those bloggers in two days from now when I get a hands on with a new Windows Phone 7 device.
Before I talk about the OS and what it needs to bring, let’s just talk about the name for a second. Windows Phone 7? Really, Microsoft? That is the best you could do? To be honest, even the Kin was better than that…
First thing’s first, with names like Froyo, Gingerbread, and iOS that are just easy to say and somewhat catchy, Microsoft is going to have to come up with something a little better than Windows Phone 7 if they want their new operating system to catch fire. With these devices supposedly hitting shelves in a few months, I am not really sure if the damage is already done, but in today’s fast pace world, a name has a tremendous impact on the success of a product and Microsoft is not off to a good start.
Moving along, I am not going to be reviewing the OS here for two reasons. First of all, I have not even seen a device yet, so as opposed to a mobile device, which has specs and can in theory be discussed even before touching the phone, when it comes to a mobile OS, it is all about the experience. Second of all, the Web is overflowing with such reviews by leading blogs such as TechCrunch and Engadget, so if you want to read long and detailed reviews of the OS, you can check them out.
What I want to focus on here is one specific point and that is that the experience of a mobile OS, as important as it is, is probably less than half of what is needed to succeed in this competitive industry. There are two factors that are so important to Microsoft’s comeback here and if either one of them is missing, this platform will not survive.
The first factor is somewhat obvious. You might have yourself a killer mobile operating system but if the device on which it is installed is not on par, well, you are in trouble. To just name one example. I first tried out the Android operating system that was generating so much hype, on a Samsung Galaxy device. I am not going to go into all the painful details about this device, but let me just say that using the Galaxy with Android, I might as well have been using a Windows Mobile 5 phone. The experience was nothing short of horrendous.
For a mobile operating system to leave its mark on the current market, the device itself must have an adequate processor, which in today’s market is a 1ghz chip. It must have at least 32GB of on board storage or at least the ability to reach that with external storage. The screen’s resolution has to compete or at least be in the same league as the iPhone 4′s Retina display, and the size should be anywhere between 3.5-4 inches. These are just a few of the many characteristics a modern smartphone must possess to even dream of leaving a dent in the Apple/Google market dominance.
Moving along, and this point is absolutely crucial. No matter how good your operating system is and no matter how good the actual device is, if you do not have yourself a significant developer community, you are pretty much doomed. Today, the name of the game is software. This was not the case until recently and the success of the Motorola Razr is the best proof of that. However, the success of a mobile platform in today’s day and age is almost completely dependent on the amount of apps it supports. The best example that comes to mind here is the Palm Pre, which is a decent device with a more than decent operating system, yet no one is fooling themselves into thinking it was even a remote success.
So when it comes to the new Windows Phone 7 platform (it just hurts to even write that name), the fact that it provides a somewhat competitive computing experience is almost irrelevant. How are the phones going to hold up to devices like the iPhone 4 or the Droid X? Are they going to support HD recording and offer superior photography capabilities? More importantly though, how many developers are going to put their eggs in the Windows Phone 7 basket? How will the apps perform? Will developers be able to make substantial profits from developing for this platform or will they quickly realize that to make money, they need to stay in the Apple house?
These are just some of the basic questions that I seriously hope Microsoft is addressing in this new platform. If I am judging by the outreach to the bloggers as well as the preliminary reviews of the operating system, looks like Microsoft is finally starting to come out of its shell a little bit. This is of course good news for the industry, great news for the consumer, and when it comes to Microsoft, this might be their savior that will put them back in the game and redeem them after the recent embaressment that was the Kin. What were they thinking when they introduced that phone anyway?
So, what are your thoughts on this up and coming platform? Does it stand a chance to compete with the big boys or will it rise and fall as fast as other Microsoft products have? Please let us know in the comments.
