Microsoft bets big on new phone software
Microsoft Corp. knows the cell phone world is where it's happening, and it's determined to be a part of it. After years of declining sales of phones based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile software, the company is starting with a fresh slate a completely new operating system for phones. The new handsets will go up against Apple Inc.'s highly popular iPhone and the expanding number of phones running on Google Inc.'s Android operating system. The first phone with Windows Phone 7 will be the Samsung Focus, which hits AT&T Inc. stores Nov. 8. In the most recent quarter, Microsoft's older system, Windows Mobile, accounted for just 5 percent of the worldwide smart phone market. That compares with 41 percent for Symbian (mainly used by Nokia Corp.), 18 percent for Research in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry phones, 17 percent for Android and 14 percent for the iPhone, according to research firm Gartner Inc. From a hardware standpoint, the Windows 7 phones are indistinguishable from high-end Android phones: They have big touch screens, and a few models have slide-out keyboards. To stand out from the competition, Microsoft has given the software a different look. It is centered around "tiles" on the front screen that are supposed to tell the user at a glance about important new information, such as e-mail and Facebook status update. Both the iPhone and Android are fundamentally more application-centered the user has to tap on an application to see new information. However, some companies including Motorola Inc. have designed overlay software for Android that's reminiscent of Windows Phone 7's information-at-glance idea. "We want you to get in, get out and back to your life," Microsoft CEO Steven Ballmer said at a launch event in New York. He called it "a very different kind of phone." To make Windows Phone 7 a success, Microsoft has to win over not just phone manufacturers and phone companies, but software developers. The iPhone and Android are popular in part because of the tens of thousands of tiny applications, or "apps," made by outside software developers. Although there are lots of applications written for Windows Mobile, they won't work on Windows Phone 7, so Microsoft has to recruit a whole new base of developers.
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