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What Is Microsoft's Smartphone Like?

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By Alex Speirs


There are five major players in the US smartphone market including Blackberry, Apple, Google Android and Microsoft. Apple and Google currently lead the market jointly taking more than half of the market share between them. Microsoft have so far had an unsuccessful strategy for the mobile market so will Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's recent unveiling of a new line of smartphones be a success and as a result, can Microsoft revolutionize smartphones?

Let's start with one review which says that the Windows Phone 7 "can do almost everything the iPhone can". Quite a bold opening statement! The reviewer was referring specifically to its gaming value. The games hub is very exciting especially for Xbox Live gamers as the device enables you to pull down your Xbox Live information and display your avatar within the games hub. (Incidentally, Microsoft favors its own Silverlight technology for video and animation and soon hopes to support Adobe's Flash meaning that users play online games which is definitely one-upmanship to Apple!).In fact, "Live" is a much used term when describing this new smartphone - just look at the start screen with its large "live" tiles in real-time with constant "live" updates via the Web.

The WP7, as you would expect, supports Microsoft's Word, Excel and PowerPoint programs, as well as its corporate Exchange e-mail software. One-touch for Bing Maps and Bing search is really good and user-friendly. The WP7's apps, game and music store is called Marketplace and its media offerings are called Zune. There is a Pictures hub for you photos and sharing to Facebook is really simple and along with its real-time updates, is one of the reasons this phone has been dubbed the "social networking" phone by some. The phone has a very impressive virtual keyboard, too. Clearly, Microsoft has put a great deal of thought into design.

Positive reviews which I have seen mention its speed of OS, its ability to pin items to the start screen and the general responsiveness of its menus and touch sensitivity of its display. Also, that it is a good looking smartphone and reasonably priced. On the downside, lots mention the lack of copy and paste, but current updates seem to be addressing this issue. Of course, there will be teething problems but the overall feel seems to be a pleasantly surprising solid and reliable smartphone.

Some reviewers say that the Microsoft smartphone is thoughtfully made, with an "aggressively different, fresh approach" and will finally find its place in the smartphone arena. Some say that the Microsoft smartphone is a "well-done" product. However, whether it will revolutionize the market enough for Microsoft to finally break into the smartphone market with any force is yet to be seen. Ultimately, the consumer will be the judge. Those in the mobile marketing sector will be watching closely as it is important to know what their target audience is buying and using.




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