As if there weren’t enough competitors in the smart phone market, you can now officially add another to the list. According to a Cnn.com article, “Microsoft Corp. unveiled a new operating system for mobile phones [February 15], marking its latest move to reclaim a leading position against rivals Apple, Research in Motion and Google.”
In efforts to reclaim what once was a considerable share in the percentage of smart phones sold (where Microsoft was once embedded in about a quarter of the phones on the market), Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told CNN that “this is a major push for the company to get back in the mobile space.” Microsoft is expecting one of its biggest years to date, and in reading this article I have generated a few observations about the move, ranging from timing, the intended market they are entering, and most importantly the product itself.
To start, I believe the timing was about as good as it could be in introducing this product. While the official release date is set to be near the holiday season, you can never undermine the impact that a projects preconceived hype will have on its reception and overall performance in the market. It was stated in the reading that at the end of 2009, BlackBerry continued to hold the lead with 41.6%, followed by the iPhone with 25.3% and Microsoft coming in third with 18% of the smartphone market share. With the ever-growing popularity of the iPhone building and BlackBerry being accompanied by the Droid, it was crucial for Microsoft to join the race before their competitors were out of sight. Alongside this, the product itself is a self-proclaimed best choice in a “one size does not fit all” mobile device world. To back this claim up, Microsoft has implemented a new operating system for the smart phone made up “live tiles” that update in real time…that’s right. You can see live Facebook status updates, Tweets, and stock performance simultaneously from one hub without moving to swap from application to application. These tiles are also customizable, to the point that the user can create tiles on the start screen for various contacts to receive updates from specific individuals.
One of the most interesting decisions made by Microsoft would have to be their intention to collect all of the company’s heavy hitters into one device. Their new “Windows Phone” is set to include access to Xbox Live for gaming, Zune for music and photos, and even the newly created Bing search engine. When analyzing all of this, Microsoft has put together a single product that I feel will compete with the major facets of all other competitors. Time will tell how well it fares, but I foresee this product making a big splash.
The Article:
http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/15/technology/microsoft_mobile_software/index.htm?cnn=yes
1 comment:
I think this has huge potential, and I agree, if this announcement was not made now, Microsoft would have been left in the dust of their competition. The concept and implementation of the "live tiles" is amazing. Palm has tried something like this, with the Palm Pre which runs a "live operating system" but has not gotten near the hype that Microsoft has gotten. I have a Windows Mobile Smartphone, and I absolutely love it, but I think I might have to check out this 7 Series Phone. The convenience factor is what makes this product so appealing. Anything and everything you could want as far as connectivity is literally all in one place, the custom homescreen. I won't be surprised when Microsoft reclaims the throne in the smartphone market.
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