In Taketh5th’s coverage of the Summer IT Soap Opera, one of the most commented and controversial stories was the status of Windows Phone 7. The tech reviewers were all over the place on the July 2010 revealed developer editions of Windows Phone 7 on a Samsung smartphone. Here is the must reads to date:
Gizmodo – July 19th Windows Phone 7 Review is upbeat with caveats
Infoworld – July 15th Windows Phone 7 : Don’t bother with this disaster
ZDnet – July 18th technical preview of Windows Phone 7 – a winner come Christmas
Note these three must-reads reviews could not be more different in their conclusions
Given the importance of WP7 to Microsoft, a recent, thoughtful preview by Engadget is worth reading as well:
Here is an telling excerpt from that article:
By any measure, Microsoft’s got its back against the wall in the mobile game, and becoming competitive quickly is vital to the company’s success — and in that regard, we understand why they’ve been so adamant about getting Windows Phone 7 on shelves in time for Holiday 2010. The thing is, putting out a product that’s half-baked risks alienating early adopters at the worst possible time, especially considering that we see a clear-cut (and pretty painless) path to fixing the most egregious shortcomings. Seriously, if the WP7 team put their heads down and added a clipboard and some rudimentary multitasking, Microsoft could have an exceptionally solid version-one product in Windows Phone 7 — especially when coupled with the company’s fierce outreach to developers.
Of course, that’s a big “if” — the clock is ticking on Windows Phone 7, and the industry has already proven that it won’t wait around for companies to play catch-up. It’s not about lapping the competition at this point, it’s about just being in the race — and if Microsoft doesn’t know that by now, it may already be too late.
Readers are encouraged to peruse the full preview. Engadget editor, Joshua Topolsky, certainly catches here the importance of WP7 for Microsoft. If you divide Redmond’s business in 3rds: Server Software, Windows, and Windows Client Apps – the success of Windows Phone 7 ensures the viability of Windows and Windows Client Apps going forward; failure [and if WP7 does even 10 times Kin, that is failure] means Google and Apple apps will do unto Windows and Windows Client Apps what Firefox and fellow browsers have done to the once proudly 90%++ market share IE franchise.