All Things Digital / Robert Scoble
Microsoft will launch its Windows Mobile 7 operating system today, and like the BlackBerry Playbook tablet announced last week, it may leave content publishers asking, so what?
John Paczkowski writes that Microsoft has stumbled in the mobile market recently, losing significant market share to Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android platform. Based on the early peeks at Windows Mobile 7, he thinks it could be a contender:
Robert Scoble agrees, saying the user interface for the new operating system is “beautiful”:
But, Scoble argues, without compelling hardware, a variety of carriers committed to carrying the phones, and a deep inventory of engaging mobile apps, Window’s Mobile 7 is “all hat and no cattle.”
The battleground for smart phone consumers is now focused not only on what the device can do out of the box, but what apps can be added to it. As with RIM’s Playbook, there will be very few Windows Mobile 7 apps available for the first consumers that buy the devices.
Content publishers do not need to be the early adopters here, and they are well served by continuing to focus on where the audience is. And, for the time being, that means sticking with Apple and Android.
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