windows mobile

It's that time of year when smartphone market share numbers are released, and we see even more stories about the death of one platform or another. Android kills WinMo. Android kills BlackBerry. iPhone kills everybody. (OK, hard to argue with that one.) But whatever.

It's not that the numbers are unimportant. It's just that we could all use a little reminder about context. The chart you see above from Gartner [via Ars Technica] is from the third quarter. Windows Mobile 6.5 and the rebranded "Windows phone" launched in October, thus the corresponding marketing push isn't reflected here.

That said, at least one analyst isn't overly optimistic. From Computer World, which broke down the results and said that Windows Mobile's market share fell 20 percent in Q3:

Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi, asked by e-mail today if Windows Mobile will get a boost in the fourth quarter from the new Windows Mobile 6.5, responded: "No, not really ... you might see enough traction that might stabilize the decline."

Not to mince words here, but stabilizing a decline sounds like a "boost" to us. It's all relative. OK, it's still relatively not good, but we'll take stabilizing a 20 percent year over year decline in advance of a presumed major OS announcement (Windows Mobile 7) and subsequent marketing push — see how we keep mentioning marketing?

Personally, I'll take stabilization at this point. Keeping the boat afloat is more important right now as Microsoft continues to position the fleet. Don't worry about one ship trying to outrun the others. Windows Mobile 7. Zune integration in the mobile and Xbox spaces. Windows 7. It's all (hopefully) coming together. The fourth-quarter numbers will be more telling, but we all need to be looking more long-term right now.

We're about to get into some pretty heavy inside baseball here, so bear with us. Microsoft has given control of licensing and distribution of Windows Mobile to Bsquare and will no longer be handling things itself. From the presser:

Bsquare will begin supporting approximately 30 select Windows Mobile partners with licensing, technical support and go-to-market activities as their current direct agreements with Microsoft end. Bsquare will offer personalized account management and highly-responsive technical support to ensure these Windows Mobile OEMs are successful with current Windows Mobile products.

Why, you ask? Said Daren Mancini, general manager in the OEM division at Microsoft:

“As developers and OEMs expand the number of mobile applications, services and devices, Microsoft is taking a new approach to sell and support Windows Mobile to a broader base of both consumer- and enterprise-focused Windows Mobile customers. Bsquare is uniquely positioned to leverage its deep knowledge of the Windows Mobile operating system, ecosystem and marketplace and serve the broader base of customers with its consultative approach.”

Um, so, why, you ask, would Microsoft not want to handle the licensing of its own product? (And if there's anything Microsoft loves to do, it's license products.) Guesses are all over the map right now.

• JKontherun opines that it could distance Microsoft from its partners enough to allow it to develop its own hardware. (Something Microsoft has repeatedly said it does not want to do, will not do, and we should all quit asking if it'll do it.)
• IStartedSomething's Long Zheng offers that it could fuel competition and let Microsoft concentrate on the OS more. He also says that could be the reason for the recent (and very much supposed) crackdown on some of the latest cooked ROMs. Zheng also worries that this could cause even more delays in getting future versions of Windows Mobile (and updates) out the door.

As for us? We're on the fence. We're less worried about delays, given that we know Microsoft is at least thinking about over-the-air updates for its OS, and you wouldn't just hand over control Windows Mobile if you thought the new company would sit on it. So will this this a good thing? (And, like you, we're trying to suppress or feelings of "Can it get much worse?") Only one way to find out.

The same day Motorola declared its undying love for Google's Android operating system (and be sure to check out all the coverage at Android Central), Peter Chou, CEO of HTC, spoke with Forbes [via Giz] about his company's own loyalties. And they continue to spread throughout the smartphone world.

And Chou told Forbes that despite Windows Mobile's stagnation, HTC plans to stick with Microsoft as a partner. And it's not the first time he's done so.

HTC may be updating its brand, but it's sticking by its longtime partner, Microsoft. Though other handset makers such as Motorola have dropped Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system in favor of Android, Chou says HTC has no plans to follow. That doesn't mean he's not frustrated with the software. "Windows Mobile innovation has been a little slow and interest in Windows Mobile phones has been declining," he admits.

HTC's solution is the HD2, a wafer-thin handset that combines a 4.3-inch touchscreen with a high-end processor for snappy downloads and fast Web browsing. The phone, which was unveiled earlier this month, runs the latest version of Windows Mobile (6.5) as well as some flashy HTC software. "We're working hard on these kinds of products to get excitement about Windows Mobile back," says Chou.

As much as we like to complain about certain markets not getting certain phones (i.e. the original Touch HD in the U.S.), would you really want HTC making cookie-cutter phones and handing them to anyone and everyone? HTC is more deliberate than that. Each phone has a purpose. Now we need Windows Mobile to do its part.

No doubt lots of people are clamoring at the notion that "Windows Mobile is dead" (evidently this crew has moved on from mocking Palm) and what with Motorola on WM hiatus, Palm parting ways, the eternal delay of WM7 and the perhaps too-little-to-late Windows Mobile 6.5, it is easy to see why.

On the other hand there is the stark reality: Microsoft has a lot of licensees (14 to be exact), including most recently LG, which is committed to a reported 50 devices in the next few years. HTC has lots of hits with its Touch series and their increase in market power is unrelenting.

To back this up, iSuppli, which performs market analysis, came out with a report stating that though Microsoft is down right now, it is poised for a strong comeback. It is predicting "a 15.3 percent share of the global market in 2013, second only to the Symbian operating system, which will control 47.6 percent." Basically they're going to bounce from No. 2 to No. 3 this year and back to second-place by 2012.

Expanding on this, Tina Teng, a senior analyst at iSuppli, goes on to correctly note

“To win in today’s environment, a company needs not only an operating system but also device support, an application store, a broad portfolio of applications and support from the developer community. While Windows Mobile is losing some share to competitors in 2009, most of the alternatives cannot match Microsoft’s complete suite of offerings.”

This isn't too hard to fathom either with Ballmer revamping the Windows Mobile team and making it the second top priority for the company. Heck, look at all the Live services (Bing, Mesh, MyPhone), tech previews (Recite, Deepfish), Marketplace, the Chassis-1 specifications, the Orion project, TellMe, gesture navigation, non-touch gestures/Side Sight, Silverlight, free automagic-ness and Windows Mobile 7 looks to be a monster OS with very advanced technology. Now combine all of that with 14 hardware manufacturers, market presence, integration with Windows 7, Xbox and that Zune HD thing. Ka-ching.

Microsoft has all the pieces, now it just has to merge them all into a unified and compelling OS.  One year from now we thing will be very interesting times.

Live TV : Ustream

Want to see what happens at a Windows Mobile Dev Camp? Look up! Today they're live in San Francisco. More here at the WinMoDevCamp site.

Today's the day our iPhone brethren finally ... FINALLY! ... get MMS. Now they can finally ... FINALLY! ... send pictures over text messaging. Congrats, guys and gals. You certainly have had to wait longer than deserved. (And if you allow a friend or family member to use an iPhone, have them read TiPB's MMS walkthrough.)

As for the rest of us, a big fear is that AT&T's oft-struggling network will come to a screeching halt as thousands of pictures of cats and dinner choices are sent flying through the ether. And, so, we get our troll on and ask: How's it holding up for you?

We hate to see it happen, but it's really not that much of a surprise:

After pumping out a half-dozen Windows Mobile devices, Palm officially is finished with the operating system and will focus solely on webOS. Our pals at PreCentral.net just broke the news from John Rubenstein himself during a financial conference call:

Due to importance of webOS to our overall strategy, we've made the decision to dedicate all future develoment resources to the evolution of webOS. Which means that going forward, our roadmap will include only Palm webOS-based devices

That's definitely a bummer for all you Windows Mobile Treo fans (and we certainly have our share around here). But strategically, it makes sense. Palm will be able to throw all of its resources into webOS, as it really needs to be doing.

The good news, at least for those of you lugging around Treo Pros, is that you'll still be able to partake in the Windows Mobile 6.5 fun, thanks to custom ROMs.

Fare thee well, Palm. Thanks for many years of solid Windows Mobile devices. You'll be missed.

The following comment was posted yesterday on the "Windows Mobile 6.5 and 7, and their tag-team match with Android and iPhone" story.

... if you want a device that you are sure will have periodic upgrades look no further than Blackberry or IPhone, because you will not ever have many chances to upgrade Windows Mobile. The reason I believe this is because I have had at least 9 WM devices with not a single rom update available anywhere but XDA's hacked roms.

That got us thinking. We're not going to ask the commenter to back that up and list his nine phones that might or might not have received updates, but let's start a list of phones that have received official, carrier-sanctioned ROM updates. (And, no, we're not talking about through that joke of an on-board update system.) Gonna have to dig back, people. I'll start.

Has your Windows phone gotten an official upgrade?

While we are anticipating the "official" release of Windows Mobile 6.5, the "unofficial" versions of the new operating system have been making the rounds through cooked or home-grown ROMs for some time now. Chefs at such sites as XDA Developers, PPCGeeks, and Mobility Digest have successfully cooked WM 6.5 ROMs in their kitchens, and we decided to see what all the fuss was about.

Understand that cooked ROMs are a lot like beta versions of applications. They can work like a charm or turn your phone into a "pretend" phone for you children (if you are so inclined) to play with. If you are considering flashing your Windows Mobile phone with a cooked ROM, extensively research the process as well as the ROM you are considering. Then and only then proceed at your own risk. Just as cooking up these ROMs isn't for everyone, flashing them isn't as well.

Now that the obligatory cautionary statement/words of warning have been tossed out, to see what our experiences has been with the cooked ROM menu, just follow the break.