Entelligence: Windows Phone 7 Series
By Michael Gartenberg 
posted February 26th 2010 7:30PM
posted February 26th 2010 7:30PM
Entelligence 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.
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.
Second, it's about visible differentiation. Whether you like what Microsoft's done with Windows Phone 7 Series or not, it certainly doesn't look like any other mobile platform on the market. In particular, it doesn't look like another iPhone clone with pages of app icons. While my fellow columnist Ross Rubin made an excellent point last week when he argued that Microsoft will have to justify why being different is something good for users, I think that the ability for Windows Phones to simply stand out from the market is in itself a good thing.
The inclusion of both Xbox and Zune services in Windows Phone 7 Series can both drive greater use of Zune as well as give Microsoft instant credibility in mobile gaming. |
Finally, Microsoft is making a strong move by both leveraging the power of mobile applications while simultaneously moving beyond siloed apps into integrated services. Moreover, we're finally seeing Microsoft begin to tie a unified view of its ecosystem into their mobile products. The inclusion of both Xbox and Zune services in Windows Phone 7 Series can both drive greater use of Zune as well as give Microsoft instant credibility in mobile gaming.
There's a lot of questions that still need to be answered about Windows Phone 7 Series: the application model, hardware providers, carrier partners and of course marketing are all yet undefined. (And who in Redmond came up with such a bizarre name?) Microsoft must also commit to telling a great marketing story about what they've done here and why they've done it, a piece of the puzzle we'll hopefully hear more about next month at MIX 10. Microsoft is hardly exiting the mobile space anytime soon, nor should they. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and that's the often race Microsoft does best in.
Michael Gartenberg is a partner at Altimeter Group. His weblog can be found at gartenblog.net. Contact him at gartenberg AT gmail DOT com. Views expressed here are his own.
@Kchrpm
Absolutely. All these apps, my music, files, pics, etc need to be accessible wherever, whenever, however. These OS's that are floating around are pretty much just a band-aid until everything is cloud-based. I just read an article about this. Why should where our content decide what device we take with us?
I think MS would have gotten media attention if the HD2 was available for Verizon, ATT and Sprint. I'd love the HD2 but I'm currently on Sprint so I'll never see a phone with current technology.
Fix the app screen (I don't need to skim through many lines to find my app)
Add a left screen for instant search and for widgets/shortcuts.
Who am I kidding... WM7 wasn't made for me. It was made for ppl who find the extremely limited UI of iPhone great. Not me, I need to have the weather, RSS feeds, notifications and fav shortcuts all on my start screen. Android is for me.
@TareG : You have 4 options to access app:
1. From the home screen
2. From the list of apps you get by swiping towards the right
3. By doing a search for a particular app with the integrated search
4. Accessing it through a hub, if the app happens to relate with it
What else more do you need?
All WP7S phones will have a dedicated search button on the phone itself, so need to pan left. Also, you can already put widgets/shortcuts (tiles) on the homescreen.
You could potentially have weather, RSS feeds, and all that on your homescreen, as the tiles seems guaranteed to display live content.
So I just don't get what your beef with it is. Unless you're so particular with how you want things to be, that it would never succeeded even if it did fit what you asked for.
"...Android is overrated". I'm glad another person feels the same way and has said it.
@BeeQAL
RIGHT!?
About time someone articulated that train of thought...but oh I forgot this is Engadget where all the Apple haters have decided to convene on in order to express their distaste of all things Apple.
Rather than just simply go to www.google.com and go to the forums their to grumble and bitch about Apple's success.
If they can make a phone UI as good as the Zune's is, then the next phone I get will be my first Windows Mobile phone. My contract is up in November, so hopefully a great phone will be out by then. Microsoft really created something special with the ZuneHD, It is sad a lot of people will never give it a chance. The only drawback to the Zune is the browser is not quite up to par, applications are few and far between, and the screen is a little too small for the on-screen keyboard. But I feel the music and video experience more than makes up for it. I rarely use the browser because I am rarely around WiFi without my laptop anyway. But with a phone I would use it more and want it more useful.
What they showing is nice and all but what about apps? Oh, they forgot to put that in mind :(
Android fans have the thinnest skin. One side comment in an article not even about Android sends them into a tizzy.
You're supposed to have metal skin.
Android is underrated...it will blow away anything else in a few months (maybe also R.I.M.s Blackberry)...but also WM 6.5.3 is underrated...
With regards to the naming "Windows Phone 7 Series", some people are baffled about it. I find it elegant. This is Microsoft's best mobile device to date. I can't help to relate it with BMW's 7 Series, which coincidentally is the car manufacturer's top of the line car.
Last summer when I bought my Tour to replace my enV2 and entered the smartphone world, it was the easiest decision I could make because that was the phone that spoke to me (among VZ's offerings) above all others.
My next phone will be a MUCH different story. Between BlackBerry, WP7, Android, and webOS there's gonna be so many good options I'm just gonna want one of each (or more depending on the hardware options)
At this point, WP7 seems to be sneaking into the front spot mostly due to it's evolution of the Zune HD OS. Getting my old Zune 120 and cutting the cord from Apple once and for all was one of the best things I cold have done for my technology addiction and since I got my HD for Christmas it just keeps getting better. Obviously there's a few things we don't yet know about WP7 (like how it handle push notifications etc.) that could be gamebreakers, but right now it's Microsoft's battle to lose. On a sidenote, the thought of boosting my epee...err....gamerscore anytime I want does titilate my fancy just a bit.
To be honest I don't understand all the ranting that takes place here. All the current mobile os's have their individual strengths and weaknesses. Up until two months ago I was more than happy with my Nokia e71. I only came to be writing this on a 3gs as I was hooked up with a 16gb White model filled with apps for £175 (plus I'm on a rolling contract so only pay £20 a mnth for unlimited data). I am a big apple fan. As a graphic designer I started off in publishing and always used a mac. Then I moved to the games industry and did a spell on pc's before persuading the company to get me a mac (it is just better suited and a nicer experience for my job day to day). Anyway back to the point. On the mobile os front my history was Nokia, se, Nokia, apple. I enjoyed all the diff devices for there own individual reasons. There has been one where it has done everything better than my last handset (even the iPhone). They are all just different approaches to the same very big, competitive Market. The guy is to find the one that suits your personal needs and enjoy it. I doubt there will ever be one 'king' Market leaders will always trade places. It's called competition. My advice is enjoy the tech race and enjoy any individual benefits you get from it. If you do that there should be less time for ranting and name calling.
@MrBeast P.s. Sorry for the poor structure of my rant : )
@MrBeast Note to self. Proof read when typing on virtual keyboard. Lots of mistakes. I'm not stupid guys honest! Be gentle with me :)
@MrBeast
nah, I'd blame the stupid ass comment field for being so small. Makes it really hard to proofread. I agree with you that people should just enjoy the phones that they chose.
I think people attach too much importance to the nitty gritty details of the phone. Does it do Flash, what CPU is it using, is it open sourced, does it run Crysis...
These sorts of features may be what get people started trying the phone, but ultimately what will make them attach to the platform will be it's integration with online services and other devices - how smooth it runs your life, not how fast.
MS has the XBox and Zune to leverage with, Google integrates with its online services but so can the other platforms. Android's strength ultimately does lie in its openness. If it can utilize that to connect its users to EVERYTHING out there, it will be quite a win for Google. Apple is in no way overrated. They are already using this strategy and have provided a unified experience to allow its users to do everything, from simulating farting to that breastfeeding app to media purchase. The games aren't really that bad either but I reckon they do need to up that hardware spec.
As a Mac user I am already committed to the Apple experience. Moving out will simply be too much hassle no matter how well the other phone can present that really fun-looking Disney site.
The MS hub concept is definitely a move in the right direction. Now how well can they execute it?
@onlymyrailgun
The problem that I see Apple has is that the most compelling reason to buy an iphone is the app store. This is what Apple has really been concentrating on with it's "There's an app for that" ad campaign. They really need to improve the user experience apart from just touting how many apps there are available in the store. It's kind of insulting that until just recently you couldn't send MMS messages, which I feel should be a basic function of any modern phone, let alone from a company like Apple. I would still have bought one if it was available on Verizon, I will not switch to AT&T. Now I will just wait and see what MS comes up with.
I am glad to see Microsoft went in a different direction than just mimicking what Apple did.
I think this is the first time I agree with an Entelligence article. The fact that WP7 is so different is a great move by Microsoft.
I showed my wife (iphone user) the WP7 video and asked her what she thought and she was genuinely "amazed" at it. The first words out of her mouth wasn't "where's the apps", it was "That looks really cool."
She has no idea about technology and doesn't even know who Engadget is, but she was thoroughly impressed with the WP7 demo. She actually said with the tight integration with Facebook (she loved the photo stream feature) she was afraid she might use the phone TOO much.
I think it's a decent name and it reminds me of the BMW 7-Series cars (which are awesome btw)
Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series Professional Smartphone 64-bit Ultimate Touch Edition 2010
this could be XuneFone
I've worked in the tech field for over 25 years and have never been one to say "this tech is so much better then that tech" kinda guy...
But, I have been using PDA's since BEFORE Palm's came out and Windows mobile since Windows CE (before it became an embedded os). Yet I now have a Motorola DROID, and I have to tell you it is hands down far better then the Windows Mobile phones currently offered and I have yet to see Microsoft make the leaps necessary for them to catch up on a gap like I see between my last Windows Mobile 6.5 Pro and my Android 2.01 phone. And is much better then the overrated iPhone also (I own an iPod touch which is the same OS)
The ONLY area I see where Android is lacking right now, and it is a "big" one they need to fix, is the use of a Bluetooth headset to voice command a call. ALL the other areas my DROID outperforms my old Win 6.5 and with software updates coming it will fix the one area it lacks in the very near future.
I finally have a smart phone that actually is a smart PHONE and I don't have to reset it every now and then to make a phone call like I did with my Windows Mobile phone, let alone all the other things it does better; or just does, that MS and Apple phones do not do. Is it perfect, no, but it is getting smart phones in the right direction and is hands down a vast improvement over all my previous ones.
Let the MS cronies bad mouth my post all they want, but you really should look closer at the Android phones coming out first and see how a smart phone should be.