Microsoft Blends Zune Media, Xbox Live Into New Phone OS
Posted in: Microsoft, mobile, Mwc2010, Phones, Today's Chili, Windows Mobile, windows phone 7 series
Update: Read our hands-on with the new Windows Phone 7 Series.
Microsoft on Monday announced its next-generation mobile operating system Windows Phone 7 Series, which will bring together the Zune multimedia experience and Xbox Live gaming to mobile phones worldwide.
Manufacturers have already begun building phones featuring Windows Phone 7 Series with plans for release by the 2010 holiday season, according to Microsoft. Manufacturers on board include Dell, Garmin, Asus, HTC, Hewlett-Packard, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba.
Carrier partners include AT&T, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange, SFR, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telstra, and Vodafone.
Microsoft did not announce its own phone hardware. However, the software giant is working more closely than it has in the past with manufacturing partners in the design process of their phone hardware. For example, each Windows 7 Series phone will include a dedicated hardware button to access Microsoft’s Bing search tool with one click.
“In a crowded market filled with phones that look the same and do the same things, I challenged the team to deliver a different kind of mobile experience,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft, in a press statement. “Windows Phone 7 Series marks a turning point toward phones that truly reflect the speed of people’s lives and their need to connect to other people and all kinds of seamless experiences.”
Similar to the Zune HD’s interface, the Windows Phone 7 Series main screen is organized into six “Hubs” (categories) containing different sets of features: People, Pictures, Games, Music + Video, Marketplace and Office.
The People hub includes tools to make posting status updates, photos and videos on social networking sites (such as Facebook and Windows Live) a one-step process.
The Pictures hub keeps a user’s videos and photos all in one place, where they can also be immediately posted on a social networking site.
The Games section will provide access to the Xbox Live experience. With Xbox Live integration, Windows Phone 7 Series users will be able to download and play games sold through Microsoft’s online store, Xbox Live Marketplace, which currently serves about 300 titles. Windows Phone 7 users will also be able to view their Xbox Live profiles, avatars and game achievements on their phones. (The addition of Xbox Live to Microsoft’s mobile OS may come as a surprise, but the software giant as early as 2007 announced its plans to incorporate the Xbox Live experience into phones as part of its “Live Anywhere” program.)
For Music + Video, Microsoft is integrating its Zune player software into Windows Phone 7 Series, which will enable Windows Phone 7 Series customers to sync and play content downloaded through the Zune Marketplace store. Windows Phone 7 Series devices will also include a built-in FM radio and Zune Social to share their music recommendations with other users.
The Office hub will contain productivity tools: Office, OneNote and SharePoint Workspace, enabling users to read, edit and share documents. This section also includes Outlook Mobile for managing e-mail, appointments, contacts and tasks.
At the press conference, Ballmer was vague about the Marketplace hub, which will serve downloadable third-party apps and games. Microsoft did not disclose whether Windows Phone 7 Series would have access to apps and games sold through the Zune Marketplace. The company said it plans to share details about the Windows Phone 7 Series Marketplace and its development platform during the Microsoft MIX developer conference in March.
“Windows phones are very differentiated with the new UI,” said Michael Gartenberg, vice president and tech strategist of Interpet. “They don’t look to act like another iPhone clone. The integration of other Microsoft services such as Zune and especially Xbox will help drive a message that there’s more to mobile than apps, and that integrative services matter a lot as well. Finally, the breakdown of app silos into an integrated story will help, and Microsoft explains why different can be better.”
Microsoft’s new, rebranded mobile OS is the software giant’s effort to regain its edge in the mobile space. The software giant had a head start in mobile beginning with Windows CE, its pocket PC OS, in 1996, which serves as the foundation for the Windows Mobile OS shipping on smartphones today. However, while Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android devices are gaining market share and rising in popularity, they’ve left Microsoft’s Windows Mobile OS in the dust. Windows Mobile lost nearly a third of its smartphone market share between 2008 and 2009, according to research firm Gartner. Windows Mobile had 11 percent of the global smartphone market in the third quarter of 2008, according to Gartner, and in the third quarter of 2009 Windows Mobile’s market share plummeted to 7.9 percent.
Analysts and developers told Wired.com in November 2009 that Microsoft’s Windows Mobile OS failed to appeal to the mainstream because its apps focused on enterprise users rather than consumers. Also, from a programmer’s perspective the platform was difficult to develop apps for due to segmentation of the hardware ecosystem for Windows Mobile smartphones. Because Windows Mobile ships on several different manufacturers’ hardware, including phones made by HTC, LG and Samsung, developers have to code an app for several phones with different UI styles, buttons and screen sizes — a daunting task when compared to coding one app for Apple’s iPhone platform.
It remains to be seen to what extent Windows Phone 7 Series will compensate for its predecessor’s weaknesses — though the emphasis of personal media and social networking, along with the additions of Xbox gaming and Zune functionality, will likely shift the new platform’s focus toward consumers. Also, because Microsoft is now more involved in the design process of Windows Phone 7 Series hardware (as shown by the Bing button and built-in FM tuner included with all Windows Phone 7 Series phones), it may become easier for developers to code software for the new platform.
“Microsoft hasn’t been in nearly as bad shape as many have believed, but this refresh takes them to the next level in terms of mobile platforms and does so in a way that differentiates them from the rest of the market,” Gartenberg said. “Their challenge now is to execute, continue to tell the rest of the story and begin to expand their market share as these devices come to market.”
A live webcast of the Windows Phone 7 Series announcement will be viewable at Microsoft’s website 3 p.m. CET (6 a.m. PDT) on Monday. Wired.com’s Charlie Sorrel will be reporting live from Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, Spain. He’ll post more details as he receives them, so stay tuned.
See Also:
- How Microsoft Blew It With Windows Mobile
- Bandwagon Watch: App Store for Windows Mobile Launched
- Kinoma Play Cleans Up Windows Mobile Smartphones
