Posts tagged 'Windows-Phone-7'

Windows Phone 7: The First 24 Hours

Windows Phone 7 officially launched in the UK on Thursday 21st October. Unfortunately nobody at Microsoft seems to have mentioned this to the hardware manufacturers, the networks or the retailers. Unless you lived inside the M25 your chances of getting a handset on launch day were pretty minimal.

The whole thing seemed a bit rushed and nobody I asked seemed to know exactly what was happening. One particular shop assistant, when asked whether they had any Windows Phone 7 devices in stock replied with, “Is that one of those new Android phones?”

Despite this I did eventually obtain a handset on Saturday, 2 days after the launch (yes, I know, it was only two days!). The handset in question is the HTC Trophy and I have it connected with Vodafone. There are plenty of reviews of both the hardware and the operating system itself, so I don't plan on going into either in any great detail.

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26 October

What is Microsoft Doing?

There's something very strange going on at Microsoft - and I can't help feeling it's all down to a lack of coherent strategy.

I have already written about the unprecedented steps Microsoft has taken to take the fight to Apple in the Smartphone market. I am eagerly awaiting the launch of their new mobile platform. Will Microsoft be able to create an ecosystem to surround the platform that can compete with Apple? Will the Zune Marketplace be able to take on iTunes? Will the Marketplace be able to take on the App Store?

Who knows?

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13 July

Was the iPhone the best thing to happen to Windows Mobile?

Microsoft have, to be blunt, squandered their position as market leaders in the smart phone market. Having worked their way to the top of the charts (for at least business users), 2009 saw their popularity drop to just third place.

To my mind, this was largely due to neglect. To all but the trained eye, many parts of the operating system remained largely unchanged between 2001 and 2009. The main 'Today' screen being a good example of this.

It's not too surprising, then, that when an innovative product like Apple's iPhone came along - they started to lose customers.

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15 March