WorkMobile Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Windows Phone 7’

Windows Phone 7 delays down to manufacturers

Microsoft claims handset manufacturers are partly to blame for Windows Phone 7 update delays. Microsoft explained the delay in updating its new phone software yesterday, partly blaming handset manufacturers for the problem.

Windows Phone 7, launched last October as Microsoft’s attempted to catch up with Apple and Google in the smartphone market, was well received but criticised for lack of some basic functions – such as cut and paste.

Microsoft initially said an update to the software would be available early in 2011, but many users are still without it. “We had expected it to be earlier than now,” Joe Belfiore, head of Microsoft’s Windows phone program, said at a software developer conference in Las Vegas on yesterday.

Belfiore said the company had started the update, but ran into problems on some newly manufactured phones that would not function properly afterwards. He did not name any manufacturers involved. Samsung, HTC and LG are the main handset makers of Windows phones.

Once the company found the problems, it overhauled its update procedure, said Belfiore. “We felt it would be better to be a little bit patient, make sure that when we get updates out that they would happen reliably, and unfortunately that caused a delay in getting things out,” he said.

Belfiore said he was now “optimistic” that there will not be similar problems with future updates. A more comprehensive update, code-named Mango, will be available later this year, he said.

Microsoft still has only a four per cent share of the worldwide smartphone software market, according to research firm Gartner, but it is expected to be a major player once its deal to provide the operating system for leading handset maker Nokia takes effect.

A Nokia developer onstage at the Las Vegas conference said there was still no date for when the new Microsoft-powered phones will hit the market.

Windows Phone 7 will be in second place behind Android by 2015?

According to the latest report by the research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) shows the smartphone market will grow 49.2% in 2011, with Android taking over as the leading smartphone platform. The firm predicts Windows Phone 7 will race to second place behind Android by 2015, boosted by its recent partnership announcement with Nokia.

IDC figures show Nokia’s Symbian will lose 65% share of the smartphone operating systems market by 2015. In comparison, Windows Phone 7 and Windows Mobile will increase its share by 67% in the next four years.

Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst at IDC, said: “Up until the launch of Windows Phone 7 last year, Microsoft has steadily lost market share while other operating systems have brought forth new and appealing experiences. The alliance brings together Nokia’s hardware capabilities and Windows Phone’s differentiated platform,” said Llamas.

“By 2015, IDC expects Windows Phone to be the number two OS worldwide behind Android,” he added.

Nokia expects the transition to Windows Phone to take about two years, which could erode its currently strong brand identity worldwide, damage its Symbian product quality and cause loss of market share.

Android apps quickly approaching iOS numbers, while Windows Phone 7 hits 10k

App count is often a contentious issue – the argument goes that in this app-driven market the one with the most apps (that’s Apple) is king. It appears Apple won’t be able to make such boasts for long, though.

According to a report issued by Business Insider, while Apple remains in front with 350,000 apps available on its App Store, Google has closed the gap significantly with 250,000.

Yes, 100,000 apps still sounds like quite a gap, but when you consider the relative growth from June 2009 – when Apple had 50,000 and Google had just 5,000 – you’ll realise that the Android Market is growing at a far greater rate than the App Store.

Plotted out as a graph, it shows that Android app growth is rapidly accelerating while iPhone app growth continues to increase at a steady rate. Projecting a little further down the line, it seems the two great app store rivals will be equal within a few months.

According to the report, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7 would appear to be eating the leaders’ dust with around 20,000 and 9,000 apps respectively, although in the latter’s case that’s not bad going.

In fact, it’s been reported elsewhere that Windows Marketplace has just passed the 10,000 apps mark. This landmark has been achieved in less time than it took both iOS and Android.

Nokia – U-turn on Symbian

Nokia has said Symbian will not be discontinued despite a recent partnership with Microsoft to make Windows 7 the main operating platform for its phones.

This is a U-turn on the phone manufacturer’s original stance. Nokia plans to continue selling Symbian devices because it is obliged to do so, according to several reports.

“Just because we are changing our direction in terms of a smartphone platform, it doesn’t mean that the existing platform is completely broken,” said Vlasta Berka, general manager for Nokia Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, at the launch of the E7 smartphone in Singapore.

“We still have obligations to our users, developers, business partners and customers.” There are 200 million Symbian users globally, and Nokia expects to sell about 150 million devices. “Symbian is here to stay,” Berka added.

Windows Phone 7 Gets an update already

Microsoft has released the first update to its mobile operating system. But don’t get too excited – the real revamp is still a way off. Microsoft has this week unveiled the first update to its Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system. However, users still have some time to wait until the meaty changes come into force.

Last week at Mobile World Congress, chief executive of Microsoft Steve Ballmer revealed multitasking and a mobile optimised version of the company’s browser, Internet Explorer 9, would be making its way onto Windows Phone 7-based handsets.

“This first update for Windows Phone is designed to improve the software update process itself,” wrote Michael Stroh, technology writer at Microsoft, on the Windows Phone blog.

“So while it might not sound exciting, it’s still important because it’s paving the way for all future goodie-filled updates to your phone, such as copy and paste or improved Marketplace search.”

The update began going out yesterday and will need to be accessed by plugging your handset into your computer via USB. Microsoft has provided how-to guides and troubleshooting articles for its phone updates here.

The update users have been “waiting for” still lacks a solid release date but Stroh said it would be “coming soon.”

IDC Reports a massive surge in smartphone sales

Mobile manufacturers were celebrating the end of 2010 as they achieved record numbers of smartphone shipments, according to IDC. The analyst’s report claimed 100.9 million smartphones were shipped in the fourth quarter of 2010, which equated to a rise of 87.2 per cent year on year.

Google felt a lot of the benefits, claimed Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s mobile phone technology and trends team, whilst Symbian suffered.

“Android continues to gain by leaps and bounds, helping to drive the smartphone market,” he said. “It has become the cornerstone of multiple vendors’ smartphone strategies, and has quickly become a challenger to market leader Symbian.”

The introduction of Windows Phone 7 from Microsoft also helped the overall smartphone market, with over 1.5 million handsets shipped in the quarter.

Llamas concluded: “The high-end of the market has been important to help grow the smartphone market in recent years. IDC expects vendors to provide more mid-range and low-end smartphones at lower prices to reach the mass market. In the same manner, even high-end devices will become available at lower prices. This will result in greater competition and more selection for users.”