Microsoft just unveiled its new Windows Phone 7. Microsoft is known for its operating systems and had avoided entering the handset market. Microsoft will now have to compete against Blackberry, Apple, Nokia, Google and Palm for a share of the smartphone market. It will be interesting to see how well Microsoft’s entry into the smartphone market is received.
Exact details are not known about the Windows 7 phone. But here is what is known so far. The phone will be released during the 2010 holiday season. Windows Phone 7 will be Xbox live and Zune media and music capable. Windows Phone 7 will be broken down into hubs. Hubs are designed to gather like features and functions in one place. Windows Phone 7 contains the following hubs:
People Hub– social networking integration (Integrates contacts from Facebook, Twitter, Windows Live, Gmail)
Office Hub – business applications (Office, Outlook, Workspace)
Games Hub– (Many Xbox live games)
Music & Video Hub– (Zune HD Music)
Pictures Hub – (All Stored Images)
Marketplace Hub – (Shopping & Applications)
If Microsoft can pull this off properly, the Windows phone 7 launch might open up a whole new market for the software giant. A successful launch could lead to:
1. Increased search engine market share – It stands to reason that Bing will be the default search engine for all Windows 7 phones. According to ZDNet, the phone will have a Bing button on the display.
2. Increased subscriptions to Zune marketplace.
3. Increased Xbox Live subscriptions.
For a more detailed look at the new Windows Phone 7 check out these sites:
