Software giant Microsoft has given up on making phone hardware. That’s according to comments from Microsoft’ CFO for their mobile
unit, Tivanka Ellawala. Ellwala was speaking at a conference in San Francisco and was quoted by the Wall Street Journal. Did the Kin leave a bad taste in Microsoft’s mouth
Read: Microsoft Has No Plans To Develop Another Smartphone [After The Kin Debacle And With WP7 On The Way, Microsoft Is Out Of The Phone Business] » TFTS – Technology, Gadgets & Curiosities
unit, Tivanka Ellawala. Ellwala was speaking at a conference in San Francisco and was quoted by the Wall Street Journal. Did the Kin leave a bad taste in Microsoft’s mouth
Read: Microsoft Has No Plans To Develop Another Smartphone [After The Kin Debacle And With WP7 On The Way, Microsoft Is Out Of The Phone Business] » TFTS – Technology, Gadgets & Curiosities
Ellwala said, “We are in the software business and that is where our business will be focused,” appearantly killing any hopes for a Kin Three or whatnot. The Kin phones were manufactured by Sharp and were carried by Verizon Wireless. While they were mocked by the tech blog circuit, many customers found them to be technically sufficient for people who just like to text and check in on Facebook.
Two drawbacks the phone had – Verizon had classified it as a smartphone and required a $30 data plan with the device, which was probably too expensive for the phone’s target market (15 to 25 year olds). Likewise, despite being tagged as a smartphone, it was running a customized version of Windows CE and had no app store or ability to run third-party applications.
Microsoft is hoping to turn things around with Windows Phone 7. Ellwala said that they have “major [phone makers] signed up to do devices”. From what has been reported, all the major players are going to be making phones (Samsung, LG, HTC, etc. etc.).
Rumors have also pointed at Microsoft and their partners making a WP7 device easily available on every major mobile carrier. But, it was a bit disappointing to see that WP7 will only support GSM phones until mid-2011.
Should Microsoft stick to software? Or would you like to see them try another Kin?
Two drawbacks the phone had – Verizon had classified it as a smartphone and required a $30 data plan with the device, which was probably too expensive for the phone’s target market (15 to 25 year olds). Likewise, despite being tagged as a smartphone, it was running a customized version of Windows CE and had no app store or ability to run third-party applications.
Microsoft is hoping to turn things around with Windows Phone 7. Ellwala said that they have “major [phone makers] signed up to do devices”. From what has been reported, all the major players are going to be making phones (Samsung, LG, HTC, etc. etc.).
Rumors have also pointed at Microsoft and their partners making a WP7 device easily available on every major mobile carrier. But, it was a bit disappointing to see that WP7 will only support GSM phones until mid-2011.
Should Microsoft stick to software? Or would you like to see them try another Kin?
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