PimpTec

Today Microsoft had a Live Event for their "new" mobile devices previously codenamed Pink. Now far be it for me to claim I understand their business strategy in the mobile arena, but this is so underwhelming it is deeply disturbing. I understand the concept of a social media centric phone. However what I do not get is how this stacks up against any real smartphone. Underwhelming processor specs, inferior interface, no real ability to extend the device beyond its intended purpose. The target market is obviously skewed towards the fifteen to twenty five year old demographic. This age bracket accounts for roughly ten percent of the Smart phone market. It looks like a move that makes sense on paper, but seems to be missing the larger picture. This communication centric model is interesting but seems to really miss the point that these devices are designed for sharing, but sharing occurs in an information centric world, not let me retweet this tweet to my Facebook page.

Taking one from the Apple Playbook as of late they really tried to sell less is more as a feature on this device? You can upload pictures, download pictures tag pictures, send your tweets and Facebook updates from anywhere. Yawn... So I can buy some music through the Zune music store have a limited piece of technology that does about a tenth of the average smart phone for a very meager initial layout of savings, and then have a complete void of apps and upgrades, and extensibility in an age bracket that has a very forward thinking awareness and comfort with technology.

Microsoft revealed a device today that is not cool/hip/extensible/sexy and or able to keep up with the evolution of the internet. It is a stop gap at best to keep the masses from falling entirely through their fat fingers. The sidekick was a marginally cool phone about four years ago when it was released. They maybe even paved the way for the smart phone market. Why create a deliberately stripped down device for a very tech comfortable demographic? Even if these devices become remotely popular, they can't add the user base into the Windows 7 phone application user/pool.

The phone is a very utilitarian device these days. If you are fighting for inclusion then you need to offer some sort of extended functionality. Would I bring a phone, a separate mp3 player, a net book and a GPS with me when I travel or a single device that does each and every of these functions well? The answer is obvious I will be choosing the latter.

Spacepimp