Microsoft has revealed its Windows Phone 7 array that includes 9 models with Windows operating system. The step is taken aimed at reversing share losses to Apple Inc.’s iPhone and Google Inc.’s Android software.
The phones are built-up by 4 manufacturers: Dell, HTC, LG and Samsung for approximately 60 mobile operators across the world. AT&T and T-Mobile will sell handsets running Windows Phone 7 on November 8 in the U.S. Verizon and Sprint models will not carry them until 2011.
The Windows Phone software features a new design, the ability to take and post photos faster and connections to Facebook and Microsoft’s Xbox Live game service. Amid market research firm Gartner Inc. expecting smartphone sales will conceal those of personal computers in the next two years, Microsoft’s mobile business is in need of a quick turnaround.
According to Ross Rubin, an NPD Group Inc. analyst, handsets are a critical market if Microsoft is going to expand their business beyond PCs. Windows Phone 7 will offer an interface that will be familiar to some and offer a new experience to others; it is a matter of taste.
According to Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, the company has built a different kind of phone. Everybody should be able to look at a Windows Phone and say, ‘I can represent me in this phone.’
Starting at US$199 with two-year contract, the device features WVGA displays (480 x 800 pixels), Qualcomm Snapdragon processors and integration with XBOX Live. The user interface will use Live Tiles, small squares updated in real-time that feature user-content, social feeds, news, weather, and more.
According to the company, thousands of developers, including Electronic Arts Inc., eBay Inc. and Imdb.com Inc. are working on applications and didn’t disclose the number that will be available when the phones go on sale. There are more than 250,000 apps available for Apple’s iPhone and more than 70,000 for Android.
According to Gartner, Microsoft’s share in the global smartphone market fell to 5% in the second quarter, from 9.3% a year earlier. Android climbed to 17% from 1.8%, while the iPhone rose to 14% from 13%. Nokia Oyj’s Symbian software held 41% of the global smartphone market in the second quarter, down from 51% a year earlier, and BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion Ltd. had 18%, down from 19%.
According to Microsoft, it opted not to do a CDMA version of the program until next year, meaning Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp., which uses that technology, will not be offering phones with the operating system for sale initially.
