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Windows Mobile holds steady amidst upgrade rumors
2010-02-09 Article Rating:  / 0
Despite all the hype about Google phones, Windows Mobile is holding steady at third place in the U.S. smartphone market, according to a newly released survey by comScore Inc. Meanwhile, multiple contradictory rumors claim Microsoft will announce a Windows Mobile 7 upgrade at next week's Mobile World Congress (MWC), but no one has provided any hard information.
Touting its "comScore MobiLens service," comScore says 234 million people aged 13 and older used cellular phones in December 2009. Of these, 23.5 percent were manufactured by Motorola, 21.9 percent were manufactured by LG, 21.1 percent were manufactured by Samsung, 9.2 percent were manufactured by Nokia, and 7.0 percent came from RIM, according to the firm.  Top cellphone OEMs, Sept. to Dec. 2009 Source: comScore In its summary of the MobiLens research, which took place from September to December 2009, comScore did not say how many of the 234 million devices in question were smartphones. However, comScore's figures do show Windows Mobile holding its own, despite hype about Linux-based phones from Google and others. Microsoft's mobile OS had 18 percent share of the smartphone market in December 2009, down just one point from September 2009, the firm says.  Top smartphone platforms, Sept. to Dec. 2009 Source: comScore In comparison, Google's Android-based phones had just 5.2 percent in December 2009, up from 2.5 percent in September, comScore says. (Left unstated by the firm, however, was the fact that while Windows Mobile appears to be more or less flat, Google's growth rate more than doubled.) According to comScore, RIM's BlackBerry devices continued their domination of the U.S. smartphone market, with 41.6 percent share. Apple ranked second with 25.3 percent share, up 1.2 percentage points. Palm, meanwhile, fell 2.2 points to a share of 6.2 percent, the firm says. As noted, comScore did not say how big a chunk of the overall pie smartphones now have in the U.S. Given that BlackBerry devices are all smartphones, however, applying a little imagineering and fuzzy math to the figures the firm released for RIM leads to the conclusion that smartphones now make up about 20 percent of U.S. devices.  Mobile content usage, Sept. to Dec. 2009 Source: comScore Appearing to confirm this, or even suggest that it's an under-estimate, comScore said 27.5 percent of mobile subscribers in the U.S. used web browsers on their phones in December 2009. Meanwhile, 17.8 percent were said to have used downloaded apps.
"We are going to have some new things that [we] will talk about at Mobile World Congress," Bach added. "I'm certainly confident people are going to see it as something that's differentiated and something that really does move the bar forward, not in an evolutionary way from where we are today, but [as] ... something that feels, looks, acts and performs completely different." Multiple industry reports claim the operating system revision that will be announced is Windows Mobile 6.6, code-named "Maldives." This upgrade will bring wider support for finger-operated capacitive touchscreens -- familiar from Apple's iPhone, but previously available in the Windows phone world only on HTC's HD2. Apart from the capacitive screen support, Windows Mobile 6.6 will apparently be the same as Windows Mobile 6.5.3, an upgrade already spotted at CES by a variety of websites. Shown off on Sony Ericcson's Xperia X2, Toshiba's TG01, and the Pharos Traveler, the upgrade includes a variety of finger-friendly adjustments and user-interface modifications. Microsoft confirmed the 6.5.3 modifications in a document for developers that appears on its MSDN website. "Beginning with the Windows Mobile 6.5.3 release, touchable tiles replace soft keys," the company writes, adding that the upgrade will let developers create widgets using Visual Studio."   Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.5.3 "bubble menus" Source: Phone Scoop Eric Zenman of the Phone Scoop website obtained a Toshiba TG01 running Windows Mobile 6.5.3 and documented new operating system features on video (excerpted via the still above and embedded below). New "bubble menus" at the bottom of the screen replace some of the functions that were previously placed at the top, making them easier to access with one hand, he writes. Meanwhile, it's said, a drop-down dock at the top of the screen enlarges status icons, making them easier to interact with. Windows Mobile 6.5.3 Source: Phone Scoop In our opinion, Zenman's video shows off a Windows Mobile operating system that in most respects, is equal or superior, to any competitor on the market. Nonetheless, Microsoft is known to be working on an even more significant upgrade, Windows Mobile 7. While Microsoft has never publicly cited a release date for Windows Mobile 7, to the best of our knowledge, it has reportedly hyped the upgrade to insiders at private events, such as its own Mobius conference. It's possible, therefore, that further details will be disclosed at MWC. In the meantime, a variety of bloggers on phone enthusiast websites have worked themselves into a lather, claiming to have information on what Windows Mobile 7 will include. Some rumors have claimed the upgraded OS will neither multitask nor run previous Windows Mobile applications; others have said the upgrade will feature a new user interface based on Microsoft's Zune PMP (portable music player), but will still multitask and run legacy apps. WindowsForDevices.com hasn't reported on any of these claims because nobody has cited any credible sources or first-hand sightings of Windows Mobile 7; such "news" as there is is merely bloggers quoting one another. In fact, we're impressed with Microsoft's new-found ability to keep a lid on its Windows Mobile secrets. Further information More information on comScore's MobiLens service may be found on the company's website, here. For more information about the 2010 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, see the show website, here. Related stories:
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Microsoft has said it will show off an upgraded version of Windows Mobile at next week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. As we've previously reported, Robbie Bach (right), president of the company's Entertainment and Devices (EDD) division, said in a CES (Consumer Electronics Show) briefing last month, "Our experience has been very skewed towards business users, and [Windows Mobile] ... is not as modern as it needs to be. I'll just be as straightforward as that."
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