Editorials

One nice thing about not being an Apple Fanboy is that I actually get some options when it comes to new phones. With Microsoft’s official announcement of Windows Phone 7 and the associated hardware announcements out of the way, I can get down to the business of choosing my hardware.

First of all, as we’ve said many times here, which carrier you will use is the priority decision here. Because of my work location, my choices are really limited to AT&T and Verizon. The fact that I have been an AT&T customer for some time, combined with the news that Verizon is going to be late to the party, make that an easy choice. My real complaint here is that my two favorite form factors, the HTC 7 Pro and the Dell Venue Pro, are not available on AT&T.

Since I’m sticking with AT&T, my choices are limited to the Samsung Focus, LG Quantum, and HTC Surround. Some of the things on my wishlist for a new device would be a hardware keyboard (I currently use an HTC Tilt 2), a large screen, and a front facing camera. Something like the Sprint Epic 4G with Windows Phone 7 would be perfect. Unfortunately, I appear to have set my sights too high.

Since the Quantum is the only device with a hardware keyboard that would seem to be the best choice, but I’m not entirely sold on LG as a Smartphone manufacturer just yet, and I’m not entirely sure I like the keyboard layout or even the way that the three buttons on the front are arranged. I’m also a big fan of what HTC does with their hardware, and the innovative design of the Surround is definitely tempting, but I would like a little more screen real-estate. I’m also a heavy Bluetooth Headphones user, so I don’t know how much use I’d get out of those speakers.

At this point I’m fairly certain that I will be picking up a Samsung Focus on November 9. The things that sold me on the Focus are the 4 inch Super AMOLED screen, the sleek and slim form factor, and the Samsung brand in general. I’m a former Samsung BlackJack user, and just knowing how solid that device was makes me very comfortable with the Focus. The other thing that has me excited about the Focus is the potential for expanding the storage capacity. Even though it is limited to 8gb of internal storage (compared to 16gb for the other two AT&T phones), the ability to add a microSD card to the mix makes the Focus a very attractive option.  I’m a little nervous about giving up my hardware keyboard, but I’m hoping that I won’t even notice.

CNET did an en-depth, behind the scenes article on Windows Phone 7 and while we found the video of the Twitter app interesting, something else stood out from CNET's coverage. The amount of effort Microsoft is making to promote, support and develop Windows Phone 7.

It's not surprising to see a company throw its weight behind its product but Microsoft's weight is impressive. We've seen the reports that Microsoft's marketing of Windows Phone 7 could reach the half-a-billion dollar mark but it goes beyond marketing.  Here are three areas that stood out with Microsoft's efforts towards Windows Phone 7.

Microsoft had just three or four developers responsible for the software development kit needed to write applications for Windows Mobile 6.5. Microsoft has increased these efforts a hundred fold having 300 to 400 people working on the tools and resources developers need to write programs for Windows Phone 7.

Microsoft has also made efforts to get their employees behind the Windows Phone movement. The company stopped reimbursing employees for non-Windows mobile devices some time ago and has pledged to give every full-time employee a Windows Phone 7 device. Microsoft is also looking into amending employment terms to allow employees to profit from any Windows Phone applications they develop.

Microsoft dubs their long term Windows Phone development efforts as "Selah", Hebrew for "stop and listen". Microsoft has tremendous efforts to stop and listen to developers; either through offering technical and marketing help, holding developer seminars, guaranteeing prime real estate in the Marketplace, or financial incentives. Based on all the Windows Phone 7 apps we've seen in development, the "stop and listen" approach seems to have worked.

In just under a week, the curtain will rise and Windows Phone 7 will be officially announced.  It will interesting to finally see the Windows Phone 7 journey begin as well as the phones that will be running the OS. Microsoft will have a little catching up to do against the competition but will all these efforts, do the trick?

When it's a slow news day and you have a quote from an official at a company, you can quickly make a mountain out of a molehill.

In an interview with Reuters, Samsung was quoted as saying

We are prioritizing our Android platform. Android is very open and flexible, and there is a consumer demand for it

Translation: Android is selling very well for us, we're going to continue to do that. We're not sure when it became news that a company who is having success with a 2+ year old mobile OS decided they will continue that path, but evidently that's the case.

Of course, the other half of the non-news news is what YH Lee, head of marketing at Samsung Mobile said about the upcoming Windows Phone 7, namely that "There is still some professional, specialized demand there", which is also not so controversial. Sure, it's not hurling accolades either, if anything it is sort of vacuous marketing speak that dominates 90% of business dialog.

Samsung is, for the first time in a long time, making big strides in the smartphone market, actually challenging HTC with their Android offerings (specifically the Galaxy S series). All of those silly iPhone knock offs that Sprint and other had, their mediocre Windows Mobile offerings, etc. never really paid them and now we're supposed to feign surprise that they want to keep with this Android thing? Feh.

And what of Windows Phone 7? It's an unreleased OS, not tested in the finicky, volatile market. Despite how good it may or may not be, how much money MS throws behind it, there are no guarantees and to think Samsung would put everything behind it and not the current money-maker Android is just bizarre. If WP7 is popular, Samsung will no doubt "prioritize" it. You know, follow the money.

This is capitalism 101, not news people.

[Reuters]

Funny thing reading social networking sites after the Microsoft Gamescom announcement: Windows Phone 7 suddenly went from potentially good to potentially killer status. Basically, the XBox integration has really impressed people--heck, in our unscientific poll, most of you are going with "better than expected" as your reaction.

All of this begs the question: why call it Windows Phone 7?

It was bad enough with the word 'Series' after it but three words to name the OS is still a mouthful these days, especially compared to 'WebOS', "Android', 'iPhone'/'iOS' or 'Blackberry'--all of which have a simple, identifiable and unique name.

Chris Pirillo, who's always an interesting read. of course agrees with this and even more so after the Gamescom announcement. His take?

They should call it the 'XBox Compass' and he gives seven reasons why going with the Xbox brand makes more sense than going with Windows.

Our thoughts? It's a heck of a lot better than 'Windows Phone 7' and 'XBox Compass' has a nice ring to it. Lets face it, calling Windows Phone 7 is just too geek, too tech, too long and too bland. Microsoft should really consider going with something different. Your thoughts? Take the poll or shout in comments.