microsoft wakes up to mobile space: too little, too late? or will they get back in the game?

feb 15th, 2010

for once, they have thrown away the existing spaghetti code and started afresh. but they will still suffer from:

a. lack of market share, which drives the ecosystem

b. the reluctance of carriers and equipment makers to cede control to microsoft

c. the competitive picture, with entrenched apple, RIM, google, symbian OS, and new intel-nokia MeeGo OS

but apparently a surprisingly good demo from microsoft.

alas, there are many slips between demo and reality :-) anybody remember the 'bill gates goes to heavean..... oh, that. that was the demo' joke? great one!

from the san jose mercury news:

Microsoft tackles mobile moguls with twisting reverse flip 

By JOHN MURRELL

Bill Gates says the first time he got a look at an iPhone, hisreaction was, "Oh my God, Microsoft didn't aim high enough." Apple's iconic device transformed the smartphone market and jolted Microsoft into the realization that its current mobile efforts were drastically off course. But even with an iceberg looming, getting a behemoth like the Redmond ocean liner to make a hard turn is a laborious and time-consuming process, and in the process, Microsoft has seen both its mobile market share and its relevance in the whole smartphone conversation drop off. Finally, though, the company appears close to having a competitive mobile OS again with the Windows Phone 7 Series, which waspreviewed Monday at the Mobile World Congress and is due to start appearing on handsets late this year. With the integration of Zune, Xbox and social networking features, Microsoft is trying to take the platform beyond its traditional business-user base into the entertainment-oriented consumer market. The question is whether it's all too late or whether Microsoft legendary persistence will ultimately pay off. Lots of details need to be fleshed out, but here's a sampling of the initial reaction:

* Matt Buchanan at Gizmodo: "It's the most groundbreaking phone since the iPhone. It's the phone Microsoft should've made three years ago. In the same way that the Windows 7 desktop OS was nearly everything people hoped it would be, Windows Phone 7 is almost everything anyone could've dreamed of in a phone, let alone a Microsoft phone. It changes everything. ... The mobile picture is now officially a three-way dance: Apple, Google, and Microsoft."

* Joshua Topolsky at Engadget: "Forget everything you know about Windows Mobile. Seriously, throw the whole OS concept in a garbage bin or incinerator or something. Microsoft has done what would have been unthinkable for the company just a few years ago: started from scratch. At least, that's how things look (and feel) with Windows Phone 7 Series. This really is a completely new OS — and not just Microsoft's new OS, it's a new smartphone OS, like webOS new, like iPhone OS new. ... For the first time in a long time, we're excited about Microsoft in the mobile space. If they can deliver on the promises of 7 Series, this could change the current landscape of the smartphone market ... but that's a lot to deliver on."

* Joe Wilcox at Betanews: "Microsoft's core leveraged applications are games and music, where Apple has a huge lead, with consumers and developers, on iPhone, iPod touch and presumably forthcoming iPad. Microsoft's core entertainment push knocks up against Apple's huge lead. Microsoft will offer mobile Office on Windows Phone 7, which I contend is totally unnecessary for consumers, although it's good for extending and preserving Microsoft's productivity suite monopoly.

* Colin Gibbs at GigaOm: "It's easy to get excited after a single demonstration, of course, and Windows Mobile will surely continue to lose market share before Windows Phone 7 comes to market late this year. Meanwhile, those competing platforms will only become more so in the coming months. And while Microsoft's move to give network operators flexibility to tweak the OS is commendable, it runs the risk of carriers damaging the platform as they put their own stamp on it. But the smartphone space is a wide-open field, and Windows Phone 7 Series indicates that Redmond might finally be getting a clue. If it can continue to execute in the coming months, Microsoft may just find itself back in the game."