Microsoft Makes Its Big Smartphone Move, Finally

Hey, who said Microsoft didn't really want in on the smartphone business?

Whomever it was was effectively shut up last week when Steve Ballmer and company pushed out Microsoft's biggest mobile handset strategy to date: its own Windows brand of mobile handsets and a bonafide, though tiny, Windows mobile application storefront.

Oh, and yes, its latest mobile OS, Windows Mobile 6.5, also arrived and Microsoft also debuted a neat little software tool (called simply My Phone) for Windows mobile users who want to back up photos and other content.

For those who love the Windows environment, it's about time. While Windows Mobile is no slouch as a platform, lots of other competitors have been standing in the limelight for the past few years (think Apple's iPhone, Palm's Pre, Research in Motion's BlackBerry devices) and each has already launched an e-software marketplace for what it hopes will become a strong and adoring user base.

But for non-Windows fanatics, the news announced at two simultaneous consumer media press events, one in New York and one in Paris, was pretty ho-hum. While Microsoft said it's pushing out lots of new phones, just four of an expected 30 were presented at the news conferences.

Yet Microsoft is obviously excited to finally be on the smartphone gadget playing field.

"Our lives increasingly have become this complex mash-up of our professional and personal worlds, so we need a better way to connect to the people we care about and an easier way to connect to the information that matters to us," said Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division, during his welcome at the New York event, according to a press statement.

Yet as one technology pundit put it, Microsoft is a bit late to the "party" when it comes to mobile handset strategies, and in my humble opinion, not completely dressed for game play.

Launching a "brand" is fine, but given all the noise in the smartphone arena, it's just not enough to make the needed splash. Yes, an online marketplace to get apps and all those things iPhone users have been enjoying for two years is a necessity, but 246 applications to start is a pittance given the development that's been behind Windows Mobile.

I admit that all could change in a few months, though it's doubtful Microsoft's storefront will hit 85,000 apps (which Apple's iPhone site now boasts) anytime soon.

But no one can dismiss the development power and developer fan base Microsoft has. CEO Ballmer, who hosted the simultaneous event at Microsoft’s campus in the Paris suburb of Issy-Les-Moulineaux, believes the potential of his company's mobile strategy is worth keeping a close eye on for that and other reasons.

"These phones are only the beginning of a stream of mobile innovations that will be coming from Microsoft and our partners," he said in the statement. "Over the coming months you’ll see a regular drumbeat of exciting new devices from our partners and updates to our software to keep pace with evolving customer demands around browsing, touch and multi-touch capabilities, to name a few. So stay tuned."

We will Steve, we will.

Photo courtesy of Microsoft.