While Android, iPhone and others battle it out for smartphone dominance, it has been a tough period for Microsoft to keep manufacturers tied to Windows Mobile., which once used to be the premium OS for smartphones.
Having used Windows on an XDA 1 around half decade back, I can tell you that there wasn’t really any competition back then. The game has changed dramatically since then. The recently released Windows Mobile 6.5 failed to impress our reviewers and the Android, WebOS from Palm and the iPhone are getting regular updates and positive reception.
The recently announced Maemo 5 based Nokia N900 also impressed us. So where does this leave Windows Mobile? Many have written off WM, and the chances of a resurgence anytime soon is bleak. But as Steve Ballmer says, the golden words in the technology business ‘we will fix it in the NEXT RELEASE’. We already know that Windows Mobile 7 is in works, and its something Microsoft expects to use effectively against the iPhone and the Android.
Apparently an early preview of Windows Mobile 7 was shown to some technology journalists under a NDA (non disclosure agreement) today, and the leaked reviews look pretty good. While Windows 7 for PC seems to have all new charm for Microsoft, will WM7 also hit the right note? Mobiletechworld has a review from SoloPalmari translated using Google Translator. However, the original post was taken down (probably on Microsoft’s request?). (quoted text below).
There was also a tweet by Engadget founder Ryan Block which is believed to be about Windows 7 (the tweet also seems to be deleted, adding to the suspicion).