How Windows Phone Is Seeing A Revival With Cool Devices Like The HTC HD7

When it was first launched, Windows Mobile (as it was originally called) was seen as a bit of a flop. Not to quite the same extent as the much ridiculed Microsoft rival to the iPod, the Zune, but the consensus on the market was that people just didn't want a smart phone that reminded them of their PC.

iOS thrived, and Android made significant leaps in terms of market share as the only truly viable competitor for those who didn't want the hefty iPhone price tag or the restrictions in terms of available networks and tariffs that came with Apple's offering when it was new.

Nowadays, the Windows Phone is seeing something of a renaissance, with a bold new interface and some great new devices to run it. When you look at phones like the HTC HD7, with their intuitive and fun to use interface and quite spectacular gaming capabilities, it is actually quite easy to see how Microsoft have rescued their credibility in the mobile sphere.

Making the Mobile Experience Fun

There is definitely a sense that people felt that Microsoft just wasn't a fun company, and phones should be fun. When you think of Windows you think of things like Microsoft Office and the computer you use at work. Good technology, all very useful, but not fashionable and fun like your iPod.

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This meant that a phone that felt like a PC wasn't ever going to be as exciting or appealing as one that felt like using your iPod or using Google software. This was the image battle Microsoft had to overcome to make their phones really desirable prospects in the consumer, non-enterprise market.

Trying to give users a PC-like experience was never going to achieve this, and trying to emulate the Apple experience was always going to leave users feeling like they had just bought the iPhone's poor, slightly nerdy cousin, and that wasn't a great move either.

The Xbox Environment – Microsoft's “Cool” Asset

The real shift in Windows mobile technology must have come about as a result of someone in Microsoft Towers having something of a eureka moment, and realising that they did in fact already have a cool, fun asset that millions of people were happily using – the Xbox.

The Xbox is the best selling console in the world, and the Xbox Live environment has grown in strides, now giving users not just a fun place to find other gamers, download games and record their in game achievements, but also a hub from which they can do things like run Netflix and YouTube on their TV sets.

With the Kinect, Microsoft had introduced some incredibly cool and innovative capabilities in terms of voice and motion control, and the whole Xbox environment is one that people had really bought into. Now, with devices like the HTC HD7, Microsoft have brought this same cool, fun interface to their phones, which is why we are seeing such a renewed excitement about Windows Phone.

     Melanie

About the Guest Author:

Melanie gets to evaluate, test and write about all kinds of cool gadgets and apps, in order to help consumers find the very best in home and business technology. Keeping up with the latest tech industry news gives her plenty of opportunities to see the best technology in action and she highly recommends the HTC HD7.