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Here we are at CES 2011 in Las Vegas, the largest consumer electronics show of the year. Windows Phone is here in the Microsoft space, showcasing our progress and we are really pleased with the reaction to Windows Phone since we unveiled it less than a year ago. Since then we have launched nine phones with 60 mobile operators in 30 countries while continuing to add new, high-quality apps to the Marketplace with over 5,500 to date. This means Windows Phone owners get access to more than 100 new apps every 24 hours and more than half of our customers are downloading a new app every day. We are most pleased with the feedback from people around the world on how much they are enjoying their new Windows Phone and hearing about areas they want us to focus on next. We are laser focused on delivering phones people fall in love with.
Speaking of cool apps here are a few cool ones that hit the marketplace recently and we are showing off at CES today:
Kindle – browse, buy and read over 775,000 books in the Kindle store including new releases and New York Times best sellers. It also features Amazon's Whispersync technology which will save your place across devices so you can pick up right where you left off.
Fruit Ninja – a mobile gaming favorite where you use your finger to slide and dice fruit as it’s lobbed on screen. Great thing about the Windows Phone version is of course Xbox LIVE meaning Gamerscore and achievements!
Pocket God – another popular mobile game that is also Xbox LIVE. You control the destiny of people living on a remote island deep in the prehistoric past. It includes multiple locations and hilarious situations, go give it a shot.
Over the next few months we will be delivering a series of platform improvements that show we are taking feedback to heart in an effort to continue to enhance the products we release. The updates will be released automatically and will include a few changes. They will include the addition of copy and paste capabilities and significant improvement in performance when loading or switching between applications. We also will release a version of the software which will allow our phone partners to release new Windows Phones on the Sprint and Verizon networks in the first half of 2011.
We took a new start with Windows Phone 7 and we are really enthusiastic about our ability to release something truly different over the long term. There is still so much opportunity to do great things and we think with the assets Microsoft can bring to mobile, we can bring many of those things to light.
Now back to CES – a gadget and consumer technology fan’s Super Bowl!
Brian
Steve mentioned a Bank Of America app in the keynote but I still can't find it. Was that a mistake or am I just not looking hard enough for it.
I was very impressed.... VERY impressed. I'm glad I bought my Samsung Focus. I was hoping the product would be a winner and not die out in a few months. This re-affirmed me big time.
I am incredibly disappointed that Microsoft is only willing to commit to the first half of the year to deliver a phone on the Verizon network. I mean really, how hard is it to write a couple of drivers for a different radio?
Maybe the problem is with Verizon. Is Verizon demanding the same level of control over the platform that they have with Android? Are both of them waiting for LTE radios to become available?
No matter the cause, I don’t see how Microsoft can claim that WP7 has had a great launch in the U.S. without the largest most widespread mobile phone network in the country. Microsoft and Verizon, get your acts together!
Still missing the boat on Hardware software for the Verizon market!
Sorry but sometime in the next 6 months or so is not good enough. Guess it's off to Verizon/Android for me.
Honestly, the Marketplace is crowded with LOTS |of junky apps. There are a very few that are worth being downloaded. Some core apps are still very buggy and the whole system is missing lots of features. Games are not everything in a smartphone, guys! Give us some more productive apps and features, please!
I cannot begin to tell you how frustrated I am that WP7 won't be coming to Verizon until the end of June... are you kidding me?? I was so looking forward to this phone and really wanted WP7 to be a huge success but with troubling news like this... why should I even bother? ....I may as well get an iPhone (puke).
I would love to see an App that handles memos, todo, datebook, addressbook together. The demise of Palm has left a huge vacuum for organizer-particular people. BlackBerry is the only smartphone that is capable of handling such data from Palm. However, in terms of speed, reliability, and user friendliness, way behind Palm.
A lot of people would be very happy if Kindle is available in Canada, Australia, and Singapore. Currently people register with a false US address in order to purchase Kindle books.
Here's what I'd like to know: When will the browser be improved? I'm not as upset by some of the missing features as other people are, but having a browser that's seemingly as out-of-date (and slow) as the browser that has shipped with WP7 is a deal-breaker for me. My company's own website doesn't even render properly, because there are too many CSS features that the WP7 browser doesn't render properly / at all.
Microsoft, it's a great step in the right direction, but it definitely still needs some time in the oven.
Why does Windows marketplace not have a antivirus app ? The android network has a free AVG app.
I am loving my Windows Phone 7. Are there any plans to support more character inputs such as vowels with macrons over them?
To WP7 developers,
I owned 4 windows mobile phones in the past 10 years since the OS was still called PocketPC, I spent a lot of money on hardwares, accessories and softwares. Now I am struggling with my decision to switch to another OS because over the years I have collected a very large client database using a software called HandBase, the main strength of HandBase for WM6 was the ability to create custom forms for easy data entry because I collect many data fields for the busisness I run. Unfortunately, HandBase will not be compatible with WP7, and despite being a loyal MS customer for so long, I will not be able to switch to WP7 as HandBase does not feel the market share of WP7 justifies the cost to develop its WP7 version. There is an iPhone version of HandBase, but it currently lacks the ability to use custom forms but the developer is working on this feature for the iPhone version.
I am sure many MW6 loyal customers have the same issues as thier favourite apps will not be compatible with WP7, why can't WP7 develop an emulator to run WM6 to allow developers of these older apps more time to transition into WP7 format? The market share will not change overnight (hopefully it will change someday in favor of WP7), and small companies that developed those apps will have to put their manpower on where the money is.
If someone from iPhone/ Android comes up with an emulator to run WM6 on their OS, you bet millions of WM6 users who collected lots of apps before will consider switching to the another OS, I know I would definitely consider that as I cannot go back 10 years to redesign my client database.
I used to think iPhone is a toy for the general public who are more into networking and media playing, WM6 was for business use. Now WP7 is becoming an iPhone wannabe and only focussed on networking.
I know someone from iPhone is developing an emulator to run WM6 to convince millions of WM6 users to switch over, I am challening WP7 develops to do this before the iPhone version is out.
how do i ask a question, what is the email please
Was just wondering ... Now that NoDo is out and CDMA capable. Any word on when a WP7 phone will be released on Verizon Wireless?