Windows Phone 7 launch dates leak

So MS believe they can compete at the higher end?

I'm not sure how MS will try to position their phones, although I guess they can't really compete with Android on price, but I can't see anyone outside corporates likely to be willing to spend much on something that isn't an iPhone/Blackberry/Android.

Also, will elReg be reviewing the Orange San Francisco (£99 pay as you go Android) soon?

http://newsroom.orange.co.uk/2010/09/21/orange-brings-android-to-the-masses-with-the-launch-of-san-francisco/

Too little, too late?

Windows Phone 7, really who cares?

There was a time that HTC Windows Mobile phones were the power user smartphone of choice. Highly configurable, with loads of software, to achieve oodles of high end enterprise integration. Unfortunately the phone bits were never very good (in fact the Diamonds that I bought for our company were possibly the worst professional decision I've ever made in my career).

Windows mobile has been left trailing in the dust by the iphone and android in the consumer space and the better power management and resilience of the symbian communicators (E72 etc) and the integrated enterprise goodness of the blackberry's - despite nicking all the best hardware early from HTC.

So they've decided to make mobile 7 pretty like apple (we all know how they are likely to fare on that battleground), and reduce the high levels of configurability and customisation of the old windows mobile (about the best thing the platform had going for it).

For what? where will it sit in the marketplace? More expensive than android, but less flexible. A pretty competitor to iphone, but without the market share and fanbois.

Dead. Duck.