Microsoft Corp has taken a major step forward with the release of its next smartphone platform, Windows Phone 7, proving that it is getting serious about mobile.
After a long wait for an upgrade of its mobile platform, this serves as a complete departure from previous incarnations. For example, with the Win Mobile user interface design Microsoft is bringing its Zune, Xbox, MSN, Office and Windows franchises into the platform.
“While more work remains ahead, we think it’s a big step forward in Microsoft’s bid to regain relevance in the competitive smartphone market,” Robert Breza, analyst at RBC Capital Markets said in a note.
He noted that Microsoft’s ambitious goal is to help rationalize the highly fragmented mobile opertating environment, as it did with the PC market in the mid to late 1980s.
While Mr. Breza said the impact is neutral at this point, he applauded Microsoft’s willingness to rewrite its strategy and said the clever new interface will recapture some disenfranchised OEMs and consumers.
“In our opinion, the user interface is much improved and importantly is touch-friendly throughout the OS,” Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek told clients. “We see this new mobile platform as Microsoft’s ambitious attempt to cut across a user’s life, home, and work on three screens: PC, Mobile, and Home Entertainment.”
With this development, Microsoft appears to have seen the light in terms of approaching mobile devices from a user perspective. Of course, the company does bring plenty of resources.
Nonetheless, its mobile OS strategy will be a story to monitor as devices are launched and it attempts to gain market share.
Photo: Microsoft's Vice-President for Windows Phone Program Management Joe Belfiore gestures during the "Windows phone 7" presentation at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona February 15, 2010. (REUTERS/Albert Gea)