Microsoft is gearing up for the launch of its Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system with a big announcement tomorrow, October 11. Two ads appeared on the Windows Phone website and disappeared. They are the Samsung Focus and another unamed phone coming November 8. Microsoft has put a lot of effort into Windows Phone, including staging a mock funeral for BlackBerry on the Microsoft campus.
Features of Windows Phone 7 include Live Tiles, unified social media posting, ability to find a lost phone, People Hub, Music + Video Hub, Office Hub, Games Hub with XBox Live, Marketplace Hub, Bing Search, Outlook Mobile, Calendar and Internet Explorer Live.
Business users can view, edit, share and sync Office documents on the go. They call it the only phone that "lets you play games with Xbox Live." Microsoft will spend as much as $400 million on marketing Windows Phones.
Windows Phones do lack some features that are highly coveted on high-end smartphones, with some listing all the features Windows Phones lack.Microsoft Phone Have-Not's Revealed Thus Far:
- Windows Phone first will appear on GSM networks such as A&T; support for CDMA will come later.
- No tethering or Wi-Fi hotpsots.
- No Adobe Flash support at start.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that Microsoft will have a tablet offering by the Holidays.
"The job right now is we've got to get back seriously into the game of phones." Ballmer also said, "We've got to have a comeback against the competition, and I think with our new Windows Phones we really have a beautiful product."
There have also been rumors that Microsoft will work with Adobe. The New York Times reported Ballmer and Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen met at Adobe's headquarters to discuss the best way to combat Apple's iPhone that does not work with Adobe's Flash.
Windows Phone was formerly known as Windows Mobile or WinMo.