Netbooks, Windows Phones Take the CTIA Stage

By 2012, "A third of these netbooks PCs will be sold by mobile operators," he claimed. Really? Only one-third? I think that number is conservative. I most recently blogged about Windows and netbooks, yesterday.

GOT A TIP OR RUMOR?

Robbie spoke about "connected experiences" across three screens—PC, TV and mobile device. Three screens is not a new strategy for Microsoft, but it is one that had been languishing until lately. This week's Microsoft announcements about connected content for AT&T U-Verse and about Windows Phones are signs of improving momentum.

Robbie spent some time talking about where PCs intersect the handset market: netbooks. He acknowledged the sudden growth of the fairly new netbook category, for which he credited the weak economy as one factor driving sales. Robbie described netbooks, or what analysts call mini-notebooks, as a "bright spot" in the PC market. "Almost all these netbook PCs are connected."

That's true, and it's the importance for the CTIA crowd. As I've blogged before, there is an inevitable convergence coming, at least the business model, for smartphones and netbooks. Like smartphones, mini-notebooks will have 3G and Wi-Fi radios and be carrier-subsidized.

Robbie claimed that Windows ships on 90 percent of mini-notebooks, which will only get better. "You're going to see these machines become full-blown PCs in a connected world," he said. For many people, they already are, I say. Windows 7 will matter as much, if not more, than hardware improvements.

eWEEK Labs Takes a First Look at Windows Mobile 6.5

Robbie shifted from netbooks to handsets, starting with marketing. Like other Microsoft products, marketing will be "an approach around choice." I've raved about "Start" marketing. It works on so many levels.

"Windows Phones are a natural extension" to Windows and Windows Live, Robbie asserted. They will be "connected through cloud-based services."

Next came the obligatory Windows Mobile 6.5 demo, showcasing many features already revealed at World Mobile Congress. Among Windows Mobile 6.5 new features:

• Redesigned UI that makes major functions, such as calendar and alerts, easily accessible from the home screen, without navigating submenus.
• Brand new lock screen, tied to alerts. On a touchscreen phone, a tap brings up the list of alerts, for text messages, e-mail, voice mail, etc. The user can tap whichever alert to unlock the phone. This eliminates submenus.
• Voice flicks, which lets users record snippets and send them like text messages. That's a catch-up feature with Nokia and third-party developers.
• Flash Lite support, which Microsoft touts as a major differentiator for fully using Website content. It is for iPhone, but Flash Lite is available for other mobile operating systems or browsers.
• Dedicated Start key, which, like the PC, brings up all the phone's applications. Start key removes yet another layer or two of submenus.
• Bundled apps include Facebook, MySpace and Sim City, among others.
• Microsoft My Phone also is bundled on the phone. The sync service allows the end user to interact with and modify content from the Web service, rather than just sync it. The approach is better than Apple's MobileMe, but not necessarily as flexible as Nokia's Ovi services. Nor are Microsoft's announced sync features on par with MobileMe.
• Designer screens. Microsoft will provide fashion themes for personalizing/skinning the user interface.

The user interface changes are ones that matter. Windows Mobile, like Symbian OS, requires too much tapping through submenus to get at important stuff. I'll be interested to see just how far the UI changes go beyond what Microsoft has shown over the last month. Second and third—really tied for importance—are Web browsing and the mobile application store. If Microsoft can deliver, and get v6.5 on many handsets quickly, Windows Mobile may yet reverse its downward user experience and developer interest decline against Apple and Google.

[Please send your tips or rumors to watchtips at gmail.com.]

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