Posts tagged windows
Entelligence: Windows Phone 7 Series
Feb 27th
is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he’ll explore where our industry is and where it’s going — on both micro and macro levels — with the unique wit and insight only he can provide.
It’s been a rough year for Microsoft in mobile. Despite the launch of impressive products such as the , the company has faced some harsh criticism: “except for gaming, in the consumer market” was just one of the choicer comments from the past year. Personally, I’d disagree, and I’d actually argue that Windows Mobile 6.5 is underrated in the mobile arena — almost as much as Android is overrated. But no matter. Whether last year’s mobile platforms are good enough or not is irrelevant; no platform from 2009 is good enough for 2010 and beyond, and every mobile platform will need to evolve this year. Last week in Barcelona, we saw the first part of Microsoft’s revamped mobile strategy, and while there are many questions that will need to be answered, there’s a lot to like about what we saw.
First, it’s important to look at the velocity of the mobile space. The tech industry is largely governed by Moore’s Law, which predicts a doubling of semi-conductor density roughly every eighteen months, but the mobile space is moving at a rate of change that’s closer to every eighteen minutes. What happened yesterday simply doesn’t matter nearly as much as it once might have. Just look at two of the hottest companies in mobile, Apple and Google. Just a few years ago, neither would have been part of the conversation, much less at the center of it.
originally appeared on on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our .
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Confirmed: Windows Mobile 6.5 to become Windows Phone Starter Edition
Feb 26th
might have been the big news out of Mobile World Congress this year, but it looks like Windows Mobile 6.5 will live on as the basis of Windows Phone Starter Edition. We’d already heard some whispers to that effect, but now it’s been confirmed by ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley, who got some answers about the stripped-down mobile OS directly from Redmond. It’s obviously designed to be a cheaper alternative for developing and emerging markets, much like Windows 7 Starter on the desktop, and it’ll come in versions with and without Office Mobile preloaded when it ships on devices later this year. (Office 2010 will be included when it’s officially released.) Here’s the odd thing, though: when asked which features of 6.5 have been stripped to create Starter, MS replied with a list of radio support that conspicuously omits HSDPA 3G, but includes EV-DO. Simple typo, or an attempt to force international adoption of WinPho 7 in developed countries with 3G networks? We’ll do some digging and find out.
P.S.- Just to be clear here, it appears that the family will be Windows Phone 7 Series, and then potentially two WinMo 6.5 products: and Windows Phone Starter Edition. Only Starter has actually been confirmed at this time, though, and we still don’t know exactly how Microsoft is going to organize all of this and sell it. We’ll keep you updated.
originally appeared on on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:26:00 EST. Please see our .
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