windows phone 7 - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Microsoft's latest Windows Phone move: Changes at the top

  Getting a read on how well <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/subnets/microsoft/">Microsoft</a> <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/topics/windows.html">Windows</a> Phone has been doing has been tricky in recent months, with each <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/110311-windows-phones-252759.html">indication of momentum</a> seemingly offset with one or more <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/gartner-windows-phone-sales-plummet-while-and">negative market share or news reports</a>. But Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's memo sent within the company Monday and published publicly by Microsoft indicates Windows Phone 7 probably isn't living up to Microsoft's expectations.

• Ballmer upbeat to analysts on Windows Phone prospects

  Microsoft's mobile platform, Windows Phone 7, will become successful "with a little bit more effort, a little bit more energy," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told financial analysts at the company's annual meeting with them this week. But what Ballmer laid out shows much more than a "little bit" being invested.

• The epic unpopularity of Windows smartphones

  Pop quiz: Can you name every smartphone platform that's more popular than Windows Phone 7? Go on. We dare you.

• 4 reasons Windows Phone 7 will beat iPhone and Android

  Microsoft has a relatively long history with mobile operating systems, stretching back to the mid-1990s and Windows CE.

• Samsung planning Windows Phone version of new Galaxy S II?

  Based on some thin evidence, and enriched with rife speculation, blogs and new sites are saying that Samsung is experimenting with a version of its new, successful <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/021311-samsungs-dual-core-galaxy-s-ii.html">Galaxy S II smartphone</a> that runs <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/topics/windows.html">Windows</a> Phone 7 instead of <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/110910-google-android-useful-resources-smartphones.html">Android</a> as its firmware.

• The coming mobile battle between Android and Windows Phone 7

  Pyramid Research's claim that <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/topics/windows.html">Windows</a> Phone 7 will be the dominant mobile OS by the end of 2013 was greeted at best with polite <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/researcher-windows-phone-7-will-be-no-1-smart">skepticism</a>, and more often with ridicule and vilification. But many of the responses ignore the grounds for the claim, especially that the <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/topics/smartphones.html">smartphone market</a> is a global one still in its infancy.

• Gartner tablet forecast oddly overlooks Microsoft

  Research firm Gartner yesterday gave Microsoft a hard diss on the tablet front by not including Redmond in its recent tablet-OS four-year forecast.

• Windows Phone 7 glitch magnified by confusion, inflexibility

  The software glitch afflicting some Samsung Windows Phone 7 users is being magnified by an apparent lack of coordination among the key players in Microsoft's mobile environment.

• First CDMA Windows Phone 7 handset expected from Sprint this week

  The next Windows Phone 7 handset, and the first for CDMA networks, is widely expected to be available on Sprint's network on Thursday: the HTC 7 Pro, with a sliding horizontal keyboard and a tilting 3.6-inch touch screen.

• Nokia investor faction fails to reverse Windows Phone 7 deal

  A group of shareholders who pledged to stand for election to the company's board of directors in an attempt to reverse the phone maker's recent shift in strategy have admitted defeat after failing to attract enough institutional support.

• Opinion: Why Nokia is toast

  It's hard to remember now, but there was a time when Finland was at the center of the cell phone universe. As cell phones overtook pagers, then smartphones overtook cell phones, Nokia was the hottest company in the industry.

• Speculation rife that Nokia will adopt Windows Phone 7

  An analyst's open letter to Nokia's CEO, a former Microsoft executive, has triggered intense speculation that the Finnish phone maker will adopt Windows Phone 7 as the firmware for at least some of its struggling smartphone line.

• Yahoo: Don't blame us for Microsoft's Windows Phone data glitch

  <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/subnets/microsoft/">Microsoft</a>' on Tuesday announced it had found the cause of unexpected data use on some <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/topics/windows.html">Windows</a> Phone 7 handsets using Yahoo Mail. But last night, Yahoo announced, in effect, "Don't blame us: it's Microsoft's fault."

• Windows Phone 7 update coming Feb. 7?

  The first expected Windows Phone 7 firmware update is due to be released next Monday, if you believe some English language tech Web sites, which are reporting on rumors from French tech Web sites, which appear to be based on even earlier rumors from English language Web sites.

• Windows Phone 7 market share creeps up 2% in 2 months

  In its first two months, <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/subnets/microsoft/">Microsoft</a>'s <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/topics/windows.html">Windows</a> Phone 7 gained a 2% share of the U.S. smartphone market, says research firm <a href="http://www.npd.com">The NPD Group</a>. During that period, the last quarter of 2010, Google <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/110910-google-android-useful-resources-smartphones.html">Android</a> increased its share by 9 points, to become the dominant <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/topics/smartphones.html">smartphone</a> platform.