Microsoft proclaimed Monday that it was back in the smartphone business, unveiling snazzy new handsets from HTC, LG, and Samsung that boast jumbo touch displays, speedy processors, HD video recording — and, most important, Redmond's completely revamped mobile OS, the touch-friendly Windows Phone 7. But will its rebooted platform be enough to get Microsoft back into the game against the likes of Android and the iPhone? That's the question of the hour.
The clean, uncluttered look of Windows Phone 7 takes the new platform in a startlingly different (and welcome) direction from the old Windows Mobile, but there are also some key missing features. There’s no launch "cut-and-paste" support, for example — surprising, given that the new OS comes from the cradle of Microsoft Office — although Microsoft now says an update adding copy-and-paste is on tap for early next year. There’s also no Flash or even Silverlight video support in the Windows Phone browser, nor will any WP7 handsets support 3G tethering, at least for now.
Then there’s the matter of apps — or the relative lack thereof — a given for what’s essentially a brand-new mobile platform. Microsoft has already announced that some key Windows Phone 7 apps from the likes of Netflix, Twitter, Slacker, OpenTable, eBay, IMDB and Flixster (no Angry Birds, though) will be available at launch or shortly thereafter. And AT&T's de la Vega announced Monday that Windows Phone handsets on the carrier will get an app for U-verse mobile TV streaming sometime in November. (Oh, and by the way: The Xbox 360 will at last be able to hook into the U-verse TV service, as well. Can't wait.)
Still, Redmond clearly has a long row to hoe before its Windows Phone app store can even begin to compete with the Android Market or Apple’s gigantic iPhone App Store — and then there's the overall battle for the smartphone market in general, which has seen Microsoft slip far behind RIM, Apple and Google.
