One of the most interesting “developments” about Phone 7 is that Microsoft is not only allowing, but actively encouraging it’s employees to develop and sell apps for the new phone. Many of the developers I know at Microsoft are doing just that, and some of the apps and tools that are being created are amazing - creativity unleashed!
The Phone 7 SDK is also just releasing in Asia in native languages; as that happens, expect it to explode. I know in many programming job shops in China, Thailand, and India you’ll have a single download of the SDK, it’ll get burned to a CD, then installed on 30 or 40 computers for people to use...
Ultimately, I think Android will become the dominant consumer phone OS, simply because it’s so open, extensible, and free. Having two dozen hardware vendors - and tens of thousands of SW development houses - working on extending and enriching the sytem will ultimately create a superior customer experience.
And for business users, I think it’ll be Phone 7 and Blackberry, just like it is now. Both Microsoft and RIM intuitively understand the needs of the business user, and that’s something Apple nor most of the Android developers (hardware or otherwise) really get.
And worldwide, Symbian (Nokia), Android, and Blackberry will continue to dominate overall, and Phone 7 will be a strong 4th, simply because they “get” internationalization. On this last business trip it took just a few seconds to switch my phone to Chinese or Thai, as needed, so friends could use it. And it took just a few seconds to set it back to English so I could use it.
A phone OS that does not support alternate languages at the base level simply will not become a serious contender outside the US.
btt