Today’s the day – new Windows phones are available worldwide! We’re thrilled to share this moment with our hardware partners and mobile operators who are bringing new Windows phones to market today and into the holiday season. In fact, we expect our partners will deliver more than 30 new Windows phones in over 20 countries by end of this year alone. To find out which phones are available for your country/region and carrier, check out the initial list here!
The virtual walls between work and play are crumbling. In a recent Omnibus survey in the U.S., survey respondents told us mobile phones help them bridge the gap between their personal and professional lives. Sixty eight percent of mobile phone users say they use their mobile phone for personal purposes while at work or school. Sixty-three percent of adults make social plans at work or school, Fifty-two percent take pictures and send them to friends, and forty-three percent would starve without their mobile phones (they use them to order meals).
Bottom line is people want great phone experiences wherever they are. They have come to expect rich communications from their Windows phone, from doing real work on their mobile phones using PowerPoint, Word and Excel, to staying connected in their social lives through support for Windows Live messaging, the new MySpace application for Windows phone and photo sharing across other major social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. We’ve also worked hard to deliver a browsing experience in new Windows phones that displays Web pages on the phone similar to the desktop and provides support for Adobe Flash Lite so people can view Flash-based video content right on their phones.
People also want the ability to get stuff done with the confidence that comes from a Windows phone. The Omnibus research revealed that more than eighty percent of adults who own a mobile phone would be willing to offer an award if they lost it. With this in mind, today we are unveiling My Phone, a free service that syncs data from a phone -- like pictures, music and text messages -- to a Web portal for safe keeping. If a phone is stolen, left behind, sandwiched between couch cushions or otherwise lost, My Phone can locate it, ring it (even if on vibrate), lock it or wipe it clean of personal information. And when you buy a new Windows phone, My Phone will restore contacts, photos, videos and messages right back to the new device.
Finally, people want a phone that meets their specific needs. They want to choose a phone that is unique to them, with the apps that matter to them, that is capable of connecting them with the people and information that matter to them – that reflects their unique lives, styles and lifestyles. Windows phones give people the choice of a broad selection of form factors from sleek, touch screen devices to full QWERTY keyboards. They have access to a wide range of quality applications for work and play through the Windows Marketplace for Mobile. And they can change the look and feel of their phones with personal themes for their Windows phone with a quick visit to the Custom Theme Creator, or choose from designer themes available from icons Diane Von Furstenberg, Vera Wang, Isaac Mizrahi, Rock&Republic and Ron Arad.
As you can see, I’m super excited about new Windows phones hitting stores today. They represent a significant step forward in helping people work better and play happier through the phone that connects them — to their information, to other devices, to their worlds and to each other. I encourage you to find the new Windows phone that fits your needs and style today.
More information about Windows Marketplace for Mobile and My Phone, plus a wide array of videos, screen shots and much more are available on PressPass.