14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has all but done its part of the Windows Mobile reboot which introduced Windows Phone 7. Terry Myerson, the Corporate Vice President of Windows Phone Engineering announced that the Windows Phone 7 operating system has been released to manufacturing, with the product having reached the ‘gold’ stage. Now, it is important to note that RTM is not really a point in time, but rather a full phase of the development process.
And while, for all purposes intended Windows Phone 7 has been wrapped up, work still needs to be done to bring actual devices sporting the new platform to the market.
The Redmond company is now handing the Windows Phone 7 OS RTM to OEM (original equipment manufacturers) and service provider partners.
It will be the software giant’s partners that will add customizations and tailor the platform to specific hardware, as well as launch Windows Phone 7 devices on the market ahead of the holiday season.
“While the final integration of Windows Phone 7 with our partners’ hardware, software, and networks is underway, the work of our internal engineering team is largely complete,” Myerson stated.
“We are ready,” Myerson promised noting that the platform has been tested extensively. In all, Windows Phone 7 devices have seen in excess of 12.5 million hours of testing.
“We’ve received some great feedback since then which we’ve been able to respond to and improve the smart design throughout the OS,” Myerson explained.
“For example, folks loved the Facebook integration in the People Hub, but they also wanted ways to filter their contacts so only the Facebook friends they really know will show up in their contact list – we’ve added support for that."
“We’ve also made it easy to “like” a post right from the People Hub, or quickly post a message to someone’s Facebook wall directly.”
Windows Phone 7 comes to the table with a few focus points, which Microsoft calls hubs. The new user interface (UI) for the product has been tailored to reflect the following hubs: People, Pictures, Games, Music and Video, Marketplace and Office.
Of course, the Windows Mobile reboot is about Microsoft reclaiming the territory it lost to Apple’s iPhone and Android devices.
A study from the Nielsen Company released in early August 2010 revealed that Windows Mobile has been continually losing market share and is down to just 11% as far as new smartphones acquires in the US go.
Over the past six months, Google’s Android has rocketed to 27% of the market, sliding past the iPhone which is down to 23%. The Nielsen Company looked at the data involving smartphone subscribers in the US over the last half a year.
At the same time, Microsoft is reportedly ready to give Windows Phone 7 devices a nudge, in term os marketing, and is not relying on just the innovations that the OS offers.
Reports indicate that the price tag for Windows Phone 7 is well over the $1 billion mark, with a few hundred millions going to the marketing campaigns that will unveil the new devices to the world.