What is special about Windows Phone 7?

Everyone knows that Microsoft is late coming to the smartphone market (smartphone 2.0 market?). So, they have to release something pretty revolutionary to grab people’s attention.

I went to their Windows Phone 7 site to check out what makes it worth ditching my iPhone. Essentially they have dashboard with some animated squares linking to parts of the phone. The main tagline is “Get to everything you love. Easier and faster.” Once again, the marketing language is really vague. What does that mean? Easier and faster than what? Windows XP is easier and faster than Windows 98 but that doesn’t mean that I want to use an almost 10 year old operating system. 

Now, the interface actually looks interesting. I would probably call Windows Phone the first decent innovation out of Microsoft since the original XBox and XBox live. The panorama views are pretty cool and very smooth. But ‘cool’ and ‘smooth’ are not the only things that make a successful product.

So that leaves Microsoft where? I don’t really know. They are trying to bring some style and polish like Apple’s iOS and also trying to use multiple manufactures like Android and are ignoring the Enterprise market (at least in advertising). The biggest thing going for Microsoft is the large developer community using their Windows software tools. The question is if the developers want to learn the new frameworks and whether the customer base will every arrive to make developing for the platform worthwhile.

I hope that Microsoft just comes up with a better marketing campaign. Especially since they are putting up 400 million dollars to serve up generic marketing messages.

Microsoft Announces Windows Phone 7

Microsoft’s press release announcing the availability of Windows Phone 7

The goal for Microsoft’s latest smartphone is an ambitious one: to deliver a phone that truly integrates the things people really want to do, puts those things right in front of them, and either lets them get finished quickly or immerses them in the experience they were seeking. - Microsoft Press Release

The leading paragraph in the release is meaningless. The language is so vague that this could have been the text from an announcement of Windows CE 2.

By comparison here is Apple’s leading paragraph announcing the original iPhone

Apple® today introduced iPhone, combining three products—a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod® with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, searching and maps—into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting users control iPhone with just their fingers. iPhone also ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, which completely redefines what users can do on their mobile phones. - Apple iPhone Press Release

They talk about what it does (phone, iPod, internet), how it works (using fingers), and how powerful the device is to accomplish specific tasks (email, web browsing, searching, maps, etc). 

Microsoft can’t connect to users. Apple does. Microsoft’s biggest problem is culture. Their language, reactions, products, and mindset all come from a culture that has been guiding them toward consumer irrelevance.