Over 500 new features coming in Windows Phone 7.5
Apologies for the low volume. — Microsoft has been speaking at the Japanese Microsoft Developer Forum 2011 and amongst the wide range of topics he covered he also spoke about the next version of Windows Phone 7.
Context & Ripple Effects
The 500-plus feature count for what follows Windows Phone 7 lands four months after Ballmer's January CES appearance, where he pointed to an expanding app catalog and promised carrier expansion on Verizon and Sprint alongside software updates in the first half of 2011. Framing 7.5 at a developer forum, rather than a consumer event, signals Microsoft is pitching the platform's depth to the people who have to fill it.
First-order effects
- Windows Phone developers get a materially larger API surface to target ahead of the Mango-era SDK, and the Verizon and Sprint launches Ballmer committed to in January now ship against a much fuller OS than the version AT&T and T-Mobile handsets launched with.
Second-order effects
- The freshly closed Skype acquisition gives Microsoft an obvious integration point for voice and video in the updated platform, while Apple and Google are pushed to match feature velocity in their own update cycles rather than annual releases alone.
Third-order effects
- If sub-year, hundreds-of-features update cadences hold, mobile OS competition shifts from launch-day hardware differentiation to sustained platform iteration — and Microsoft's stated plan for next-generation Windows systems in 2012 points toward converging the phone and PC stacks, with the rumored ARM port of Windows 8 still unconfirmed.
The trend: Smartphone platforms are moving from yearly big-bang releases toward continuous large-scale OS updates, with Microsoft using developer forums to signal that its phone stack is a long-horizon investment tied into the broader Windows roadmap.