Windows Phone 7: Three local telcos to carry a total of five models

by Sim Cheng Kai
Updated 08:54 PM Oct 12, 2010

When Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer delivered his Windows Phone 7 (WP7) keynote at a New York press conference streamed live on the Internet last night (Singapore time), netizens here must have been surprised and worried to see the familiar SingTel logo flashed on-screen. Will SingTel be the only telco on our sunny island to carry WP7?

All speculation was put to rest today when Microsoft Singapore announced that it is working with all three telcos - SingTel, M1 and StarHub - to bring a total of five WP7 models to consumers. But SingTel will be the first to retail two of the phones on Oct 21, the day when Microsoft will launch WP7 phones in Asia-Pacific and Europe.

Next Thursday, SingTel will retail the Samsung Omnia 7 ($998 for the 8GB model, without contract) and the LG Optimus 7 (pricing pending, about $900 without contract).

The Samsung Omnia 7 features a four-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen, a 1GHz processor, a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and 8GB or 16GB of onboard memory. Samsung said that it is in talks with StarHub and M1 on the possibility of releasing the Omnia 7 through them.

The LG Optimus 7 has a 3.8-inch touchscreen and runs on a 1GHz processor with 16GB onboard storage. It comes preloaded with LG-specific apps that let you beam your photos, videos and music over WiFi to a Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA)-compliant TV or display, and search for nearby points of interest using augmented reality. StarHub has confirmed that it will carry the LG Optimus 7 soon. LG is also in talks with M1 on a potential release.

Taiwanese handset manufacturer HTC will be releasing a trio of WP7 devices in Singapore - one exclusive to each of the telcos - that will feature SRS WOW HD surround sound and HTC-specific apps. These devices will not make it for the Oct 21 launch, but are expected to make retail between the end of October and early November. The trio will be released simultaneously, according to HTC's product marketing manager for Southeast Asia Wayne Tang.

Exclusive to SingTel is the HTC HD7 ($938, without contract), which sports a 4.3-inch touchscreen, a 1GHz processor, a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and 16GB of internal storage. Its unique feature is a kickstand on its back that lets you prop the device up on a table for multimedia playback.

StarHub customers can get the HTC 7 Mozart ($868, without contract), which is similar to the HTC Legend and Desire HD in that it touts a unibody concept. The Mozart has a 3.7-inch touchscreen, a 1GHz processor, an 8-megapixel camera with Xenon flash, and 8GB of internal storage.

M1 customers can go for the HTC 7 Trophy ($798, without contract), which has a 3.8-inch touchscreen, a 1GHz processor, a 5-megapixel camera with flash, and 8GB internal memory.

All three telcos will start accepting pre-orders for the WP7 phones this week via their websites.

WP7 is Microsoft's latest foray in the smartphone arena, and is designed to deliver a consistently smooth experience regardless of handset. The user interface revolves around Hubs, which are apps that aggregate data from a number of sources such as Outlook and Facebook.

For more details on the WP7 user interface, visit our Tech Talk blog at http://blogs.todayonline.com/techtalk/2010/09/hands-on-windows-phone-7/

Look out also for a full round-up of WP7 and the five handsets in the Friday edition of TODAY.

http://www.todayonline.com

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Microsoft smartphone gets the axe

SAN FRANCISCO

JUST 48 days after Microsoft began selling the Kin, a smartphone for the younger set, the company discontinued it because of disappointing sales.

The swift turnabout for the Kin, which Microsoft took two years to develop and whose release was backed with a hefty ad budget, is the latest sign of disarray for Microsoft’s recently reorganised consumer-product unit.

“It’s an absolute failure,” said Mr Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research, adding that he was surprised to see Microsoft kill a product so quickly, given the company’s history of sticking with new products and improving them over time.

Microsoft’s consumer-product unit has struggled to offer a credible competitor to Apple products.

It has chased the iPod with its Zune for several years with little effect. Apple’s iPhone, as well as an array of smartphones powered by Google’s Android software, is a more recent challenge.

Microsoft also recently cancelled a project to develop a tablet computer that would compete with Apple’s popular iPad.

Microsoft said that it would move employees who had worked on the Kin to the team in charge of Windows Phone 7, a coming revision of Microsoft’s operating system for smartphones,which is due in autumn.

But Mr Golvin said that the recent success of Android phones and Apple’s new iPhone 4 make Microsoft’s challenge to compete effectively ever more daunting.

“They have an even higher mountain to climb now than when they announced Windows Phone 7 in  February,” he said. The Kin, which came in two models, was aimed at young users and emphasised access to social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

While neither Microsoft nor Verizon Wireless, which sold the Kin exclusively, disclosed sales figures, people close to the companies said that sales were disappointing.

Verizon slashed the prices of the phones to US$50 (S$69) from US$200 for the higher-end model, and to US$30 from US$150 for the stripped-down version.

Microsoft said it would cancel the pending release of the Kin in Europe, and would work with Verizon Wireless to sell existing inventories.

NYT

http://myepaper.mypaper.sg/ebook/web_php/System/Zoom_In/Zoom_In_Page.html

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