The OS will “set the bar forward not in (just) an evolutionary way”

Jan 8, 2010 13:31 GMT  ·  By

Redmond-based Microsoft is expected to unveil the next-generation Windows Mobile 7 operating system at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, in February, after keeping the silence on the platform at the International CES 2010 in Las Vegas. However, the company's CEO Steve Ballmer said at CES that additional details on the future of the platform would be unveiled the next month. And it seems that things are starting to get together, suggesting the Microsoft will finally bring the OS in front of the world at MWC.

While yesterday this was only something that we would've hopped for, today all is almost confirmed, with Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division President Robbie Bach being cited by Zdnet saying that “things will be talked about at MWC” when Windows Mobile 7 in concerned. Back in November during Microsoft’s PDC09 developer event, the company said that the upcoming mobile platform iteration was to be discussed at MIX10 in March, yet it seems that we might get a glimpse of it a little earlier than that.

According to Long Zheng's blog, Microsoft has already sent out invites for the Mobile World Congress, and they say the following: “Microsoft will be making several exciting announcements during the show. You will learn: How the company plans to align its consumer vision and grow opportunities for the mobile industry as a whole. How it will tackle challenging times ahead, in the face of economic uncertainty and stiffening competition."

This can indeed be seen as Microsoft's intention to provide all the necessary details on the OS at the upcoming event in Barcelona. Especially since Robbie Bach seems to have stated that Windows Mobile 7 is set to move beyond that business approach the older flavors of the platform delivered. “I’ve seen it and played with it,” Bach reportedly stated, adding that he expects for the OS to “set the bar forward not in (just) an evolutionary way.”

Microsoft is also said to plan enhancing its “go to market approach” even more, and to get more involved with mobile OEMs at the same time. Considering what Google has just unveiled Nexus One and its approach on distributing the handset, it does not come as a surprise that Microsoft is also considering making more changes in its business model when it comes to the mobile phone area. Windows Mobile has been said already to be a dead end, yet the Redmond giant might still have the resources to prove otherwise.