SAN FRANCISCO -- Struggling to keep pace with Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG), Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled a new version of its mobile phone operating system in hopes of attracting more attention from consumers and developers.
Unlike Windows Phone 7, the upcoming Windows Phone 8 will share its foundation with the company's new Windows 8 software that will run on PCs and tablets. That will allow software developers to more easily design applications that can run on multiple devices. It should also allow programmers to create much more sophisticated games for Windows Phone devices.The updated software will add a wide range of new features, such as support for multicore processors, near-field communication radios and high-resolution screens. It also will include a new mobile "wallet" application that will let device owners pay for items with their phones and use them to access coupons and store loyalty cards.
"This is a huge release," said Joe Belfiore, a vice president at Microsoft who oversees its Windows Phone efforts.
Carolina Milanesi, a consumer devices analyst at market research firm Gartner, said the new software positions. Windows Phone well against the competition, particularly in the market for business customers.
"What we've seen today is encouraging," she said.
The new software will give corporate technology departments greater ability to manage and control Windows Phone devices and the software running on them. That's important, not only because it fills a big gap in the Windows Phone software, but also because business users are still up for grabs, Milanese said. Research In Motion's BlackBerrys, which were long the preferred choice of enterprises, have been falling out of favor and Google's Android software has yet to catch on with them, she said.
The new features also should make Windows Phone 8 more appealing to customers who are comparing it to Android or Apple's iOS, which powers the iPhone, analysts said.
But it remains unclear if the improvements to Windows Phone go far enough. Microsoft seems to be just trying to catch up to with its competitors, in terms of both market share and capabilities of its software. Many of the new features in Windows Phone 8 are already present in Google's Android and Apple's iOS software.
"A lot of these (new features) are ticking boxes that others had already ticked some weeks
and months ago," said Chris Jones, principal analyst with Canalys, a market research firm.
Microsoft hopes the improvements are enough to jump-start interest in its mobile software. Since the company launched Windows Phone 7 in fall 2010, it's already initiated a media blitz, released a medium-sized update and convinced mobile phone giant Nokia to focus its smartphone efforts on the software.
But the company's efforts have largely failed to generate excitement. Windows Phone devices represented less than 2 percent of the total smartphones shipped worldwide in the first quarter of this year. That share of the market is smaller than that held by Microsoft's older Windows Mobile software right before Windows Phone 7 debuted.
Microsoft officials left several big questions about the software unanswered. They declined to say when it will be available, for example, announcing only that it would be out later this year. They even declined to disclose when programmers will be able to download a software development kit, which is crucial for creating new apps for the operating system, saying only that it will be out later this summer.
Meanwhile, Microsoft risks stalling what little sales momentum it has gained with Windows Phone 7, said Jones. Because Windows Phone 7 devices can't be upgraded to Windows Phone 8, current customers could leave the platform and prospective customers could hold off until devices running the new software arrive.
"That's bad news for the (manufacturers) that have devices out there in market, and users of existing devices," said Jones.
The announcement comes two days after Microsoft revealed plans to get into the computer hardware business by making its own tablets running Windows 8. While CEO Steve Ballmer headlined that event in Los Angeles, he was not at the Windows Phone event here.
The Windows Phone announcement comes a little more than a week after Apple unveiled iOS 6, the latest version of the software that underlies the iPhone and iPad. Next week, Google is holding an event in which it is expected to discuss new features in Android.
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