April 1st, 2009 Priyanka Joshi
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Software major Microso ft expects its Windows Mobile operating system (OS) available in over 35 mobile phone models, to capture an 8 per cent market share with 3.5 lakh OS (es) in India by the end of this financial year. With the new mobile OS, Microsoft will also unveil its Windows mobile application store that will compete with Apple’s App Store.
Sumeet Gugnani, director (mobile communications), Microsoft tells us that growth in India will come from newer mobile devices running on Windows 6.5 OS. These phones are expected to be in markets by June this year. Features like Windows Marketplace and a service called My Phone that will allow synchronisation and backup of data from mobiles “in the cloud”.
The Microsoft’s virtual store promises to enable users of Windows Mobile smartphones to browse, buy, download, and install mobile apps over the air. This will put Microsoft’s mobile platform on par with Apple’s App Store, Google’s Android Market and Research In Motion’s (RIM) upcoming App World. Microsoft has also announced that AP, CNBC, EA Mobile, Facebook, Gameloft, Glu Mobile, Handmark, MySpace, Netflix, Pandora, Sling Media, Zagat and others will all be offering apps in the Marketplace. Microsoft’s application market will offer a 24-hour window for users to return apps, which has been a missing feature in Apple’s store. Windows Mobile users also will have the ability to pay via credit card or be billed through their carrier.
The move factors in as success of Apple’s AppStore for iPhone and iPod Touch has taught rivals how to make money selling applications. Also in line is Nokia’s Ovi Store that will offer apps as well as multimedia content specific to user’s location. The distinguishing service that the Finnish major is promising is its ability to provide content - be it apps, podcasts, or games - that is tailored to the user based on personal information, at the user’s present location, and based on the user’s prior habits.
Microsoft had reported that it sold 5 million Windows Mobile smartphones globally in Q4 2008, trumping Apple’s 4.4 million iPhone 3G’s sold in the previous quarter. With numbers backing the Redmond-based software giant, Microsoft might just get under the skin of its rivals.
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(8 votes, average: 4.13 out of 5)
April 5th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
Microsoft has a habit of imitating and copying.
Most of Windows was copied from the MAC OS.
NT was copied.
Now Windows looks to be swamped by Linux.
Vista is a poor OS………
They seem averse to open source..
I dont see Microsoft having a future
April 3rd, 2009 at 6:10 pm
The most interesting thing about Microsoft is not that it swamps innovations with its own knockoffs at lower prices amortized over a broader base of consumers, but that its instincts for selection of technologies to mimick still remain fairly sharp. Some of this is because of Bill Gates’ insistence that bad news must travel upwards (to top management) faster than good news. Usually, the upward filter of information has a good-news bias, and that is what gives large corporations acute dinosauritis.
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Microsoft may be slow but it certainly is not a fool….
PRiyank: If one of the most compelling features of the iPhone are the third-party applications then it’s a sad fact for Microsoft since Windows Mobile has supported third-party applications since the last ice age.
Probably realizing they’ve been down the wrong path and missing out on a couple of millions from revenue sharing, Microsoft is looking to roll out its own centralized marketplace codenamed “Skymarket” as soon as 2009.
Read here http://www.istartedsomething.com/20080831/microsoft-launch-skymarket-applications-marketplace-windows-mobile-7/
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Microsoft is reviewing its US$4m global mobile PR business, putting incumbent Weber Shandwick on alert. Weber Shandwick is expected to defend the brief against Microsoft’s other roster shops, Edelman and Waggener Edstrom
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:24 pm
This is yet another PR gimmick by Microsoft. I can easily write same length article against the view
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:46 pm
I am a developer and have previewed the latest OS.
To me, what really makes this new operating system great is the new home screen, combined with the lock screen. The lock screen doesn’t look very good aesthetically—somehow, the elements don’t appear tight enough—but it allows you to see what’s cooking in your digital life with just one glance. Turn the screen on and you will see whatever pending alerts, mails, calls, short text messages, or any other element that requires your attention. No need to get deeper into the phone applications. From there, if you want to drill down, just slide-to-unlock the notification and you will be taken straight to the info.
From this first touch on, it looks like Microsoft is back in the game. They don’t have the upper hand yet, but they are clearly waking up. We will see what happens and how deep these changes really are once it gets released.
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Why is microsoft been avoiding the manner of fanfare that companies like Apple, Google, and RIM have been reveling in, upon the launch of their respective app stores? Has anybody else noticed this too…
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Microsoft has created a new Facebook application for Win 6.5, which will be available for free, that makes it easier for people to take video on their phone and upload it to Facebook. This should be cool
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:42 am
They are not copying but following consumers diktat. They either do this and beat apple in it’s game or be prepared to die.
I would say it’s a logically thought out process if not an innovation
April 1st, 2009 at 8:36 pm
WILL THEY COPY APPLE TO MOBILE ALSO. LETS CHK THIS
April 1st, 2009 at 3:57 pm
HTC, LG phones will be based on Windows Mobile 6.5 and feature a new user interface and a richer browsing experience or so claims Microsoft.
I believe this new version also includes an improved touch-screen interface, making it easy to take action with a finger, and an updated version of the latest Internet Explorer Mobile browser, which in a third-party research study sponsored by Microsoft supported execution of up to 48 percent more assigned tasks than the other browsers and phones studied.
It’s a promising experience.