As the whole world probably knows today is the launch of Windows Phone 7 from Microsoft and there’s a lot of pressure to get this right.
Microsoft have a lot riding on Windows Phone 7. They have effectively been pushed out of the Mobile game and they’re desperate to get back in, and it’s something that they’re very capable of doing. In the past they’ve used their installed base and they’re muscle to do some amazing turnarounds. Back in the ’90s they did it with Internet Browsers, Netscape was the dominant platform for web browsing until Microsoft bundled Internet Explorer with Windows and effectively killed the browser market.
As you would expect the competition are already getting out the knives, and some have already started on a few pre-emptive attacks. Andy Rubin the vice president of engineering at Google, told US PC Mag in an interview that;
“I think the screen shots I’ve seen are interesting, but look, the world doesn’t need another platform. Android is free and open; I think the only reason you create another platform is for political reasons.”
Ouch!! We will be at the WP7 launch this afternoon, and will be reporting live, wifi and mobile connections permitting.