Microsoft is not quite ready to give up on Windows Mobile. After a number of years where innovation seemed to take a backseat to inertia, Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division, is promising that “You’re going to see from us over the next 24 months, probably more innovation than you’ve seen in the last, I’d say, three or four years in the Windows Mobile space.”
Starting with Windows Mobile 6.5 which it unveiled at the Mobile World Congress, Microsoft will focus more on touch controls and other user experience improvements, “dramatically better” mobile web browsing, a greater emphasis on multimedia and improved support for services such as Facebook and Twitter.
While the mobile market may still be young and up for grabs (according to Microsoft executives), the company is often finding itself playing second fiddle to the iPhone and the rapidly-gaining-speed Google Android operating systems. As Scott Rockfeld, director of Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business says: “What happens in the next three years is what’s going to define the next 10.” And Microsoft knows that it cannot afford to be left behind.
There is nothing new in this article; it feels like just more marketing spiel. I don’t expect that Windows Mobile 6.5 will be the operating system that turns the tides for Microsoft. It will be up to Windows Mobile 7. And if it does not do so, it may be too late by the time Windows Mobile 8 rolls around. It’s time for Microsoft to deliver on its promise.
Source: the::unwired