Samsung has unveiled its first smartphone loaded with Windows Phone "Mango": The Omnia W. Mango includes some 500 new features and tweaks.
Samsung has
unveiled its first smartphone preloaded with the Windows Phone "Mango" update:
The Omnia W, which features a 3.7-inch Super AMOLED (active-matrix organic LED)
display in addition to a 1.4GHz processor.
Samsung has
included two productivity applications with the device: Samsung AllShare, which
apparently facilitates content transfer between the device and DLNA-certified (Digital Living Network Appliance-certified) equipment
such as PC monitors, and Video Call, for enabling 3G video conversation. The
smartphone will begin to appear in various global markets starting in late
October.
The Windows
Phone "Mango" update features some 500 tweaks and new features to the platform,
which Microsoft hopes will increase the platform's appeal to both consumers and
businesses. Those new features are wide-ranging, and include everything from a
revamped Xbox Live to multitasking capability.
Recent data
from NPD Group's Connected Intelligence service suggests that some 44 percent
of smartphone owners are considering the purchase of a Windows Phone device.
Such data can only cheer Microsoft, which is facing a significant uphill battle
in the mobile sector against such determined competitors as Apple's iPhone and
the growing army of Google Android devices. That Connected Intelligence service
data also suggested that some 45 percent of consumers are "still not aware of
Windows Phone 7," which hints that Microsoft has some issues to overcome in the
brand-awareness department.
"We haven't
sold quite as many [Windows Phones] probably as I would have hoped we would
have sold in the first year," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told the audience
during the company's recent financial analyst meeting. "I think with a little
bit more effort, a little bit more energy, the level of enthusiasm from the
customer base is high enough we've just got to kick this thing to the next
level."
Microsoft has
remained reluctant to share any hard sales data for Windows Phone with media or
analysts. The platform received largely positive reviews upon its initial
release, but research firms such as comScore have said that Microsoft's
smartphone market share has gradually fallen over the past few months.
Samsung
reportedly has two other Windows Phone devices in the works: the 4G-capable
Samsung Focus S, with a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display and 1.4GHz processor in
addition to an ultra-thin 8.55-mm body, and the Samsung Focus Flash, with a
smaller 3.7-inch screen and 1.4GHz processor. AT&T posted information about both devices
earlier in September.
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Nicholas Kolakowski is a staff editor at eWEEK, covering Microsoft and other companies in the enterprise space, as well as evolving technology such as tablet PCs. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Playboy, WebMD, AARP the Magazine, AutoWeek, Washington City Paper, Trader Monthly, and Private Air. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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