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Despite entering a crowded market, Microsoft’s brand new Windows Phone operating system seems off to a healthy start. Nonetheless, the estimates aren’t impressing cynical tech journalists.

More Windows Phone 7 coverage on Gadget Lab:

The Street’s Scott Moritz cites a market research source who claims Microsoft shipped a “mere 40,000 Windows Phone 7 phones Monday.”

“The anemic sales number does not include the 89,000 Microsoft employees that will be given free Windows 7 phones,” Moritz quips.

CNET reporters added their bleak perspective based on the performance of a single AT&T store in San Francisco (where every hipster in sight is already fondling an iPhone), which sold fewer than 20 devices by midday.

“If Microsoft hopes to get back in the smartphone game, it had better hope that Windows Phone 7 makes a bigger impact than it appeared to be having at one AT&T store here,” they wrote.

But let’s put this into perspective. Google claims it’s shipping at least 200,000 Android phones every day, and Apple says 270,000 are sold each day. However, comparing these numbers to a Windows Phone 7 launch estimate would be foolish: Android has been on the market for two years, and the iPhone for three; both platforms have reached critical mass.

Windows Phone 7 is two days old.

A fairer comparison would be launch numbers. The first iPhone shipped 250,000 units during its launch weekend, according to an analyst’s estimates. That number seems more substantial, but this was when nothing like the iPhone was already on the market.

I couldn’t find firm launch sales for the first Android phone (the T-Mobile G1), but the more popular Droid smartphone was estimated to ship100,000 units during its launch weekend. That’s a full weekend, not one day and if 40,000 more Windows phones shipped on day two, then Windows Phone 7’s launch would have performed nearly as well as the Droid.

If you consider that Windows Phone is entering a market where everyone and their mother already seems to be cradling an iPhone or an Android phone, a 40,000 day-one estimate isn’t bad. (It’s certainly better than Google’s failed launch of the Nexus One, which sold 135,000 units over 74 days, according to an estimate.)Sure enough, AT&T and T-Mobile spokespeople contacted by Wired.com said their companies were pleased with early demand of Windows Phone 7 handsets, though they declined to disclose figures.

This all makes the pile “doom and gloom” stories about Windows Phone 7 look silly (as was the case with the“iPhone is doomed” stories.)

I personally think Windows Phone 7 is going to be huge in two years largely because Microsoft’s mobile strategy is superior to Android’s, as I argued in a previous piece. But no one should have realistically expected Windows Phone to blow anyone out of the water on day one, this late in the game.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not cheering for Microsoft. But my point is we shouldn’t be projecting failure for anyone trying to push something new into the highly competitive mobile space. I don’t want just two giants with complete domination again, do you?

Photo: Mike Kane/Wired.com

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It’s the year of the tablets as electronics makers rush to get one of the hottest gadgets of the year into the hands of users. Acer is the latest to announce it will launch a new line of tablets.

The devices will be introduced in New York on November 23 and will be priced ranging from $300 to $700, according to a Dow Jones Newswires report.

Acer tablets will join a crowded and extremely competitive market. Since the launch of the Apple iPad in April, most major electronics makers have announced their own devices to take on the iPad. So far, Apple has sold more than 4.3 million iPads.

In June, Dell launched a 5-inch tablet called Streak, while Samsung recently debuted a 7-inch device called the Galaxy Tab. Meanwhile, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion’s tablet Playbook is expected to hit stores next year.

Separately, T-Mobile has said it will offer the Samsung Galaxy Tab for $400 (after a rebate) and with a two-year service agreement.It is similar to Sprint’s pricing for the device. Verizon has said it will sell the Galaxy Tab for $600 without a contract.

Acer might try to ink a similar deal but it will have to do more in terms of product features to stand out. Acer hasn’t said if the new tablets will be based on Windows or Android OS.

But one thing’s likely–Acer is going to find it hard to see the same kind of success in the tablet market that it has with netbooks.

Photo: Acer Aspire in slate form (arabani/Flickr)

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It’s been four months since Google first revealed its Android powered set-top box called Google TV at the company’s developer conference. Google had promised to make the box available in fall.

Now, a leaked internal document from Best Buy shows October 17 as the date when Google TV will hit retail shelves. A part of the document posted on Engadget also says the launch date has been pushed back from October 3.

The October 17 date would put Google TV a little behind Apple’s planned introduction of the new $100 Apple TV later this month.

Google’s attention to the streaming media signals a renewed interest in the category. Google TV combines access to Flickr, gaming sites, music sites and, most importantly, connects all this to traditional cable programming. Google has formed partnerships with Sony, Logitech and Intel to create hardware that will run this smart TV Android platform. Separately, Veebeam, a wireless USB-based streaming media player, launched Tuesday. Veebeam’s media player will cost $100 or $140 depending on the model.

While Logitech has offered a preview of the Google TV box, so far it hasn’t disclosed pricing for the product. That leaves the field clear for the bookmakers to place the odds.

Google TV will cost more than the Apple TV but will exceed Apples initial launch sales, predicts YouWager.com, a site that usually looks at odds in sports games.

Photo: Logitech Google TV box/Logitech

Source:wired.com

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Nokia may be the underdog in the smartphone industry but it is fighting hard to beat competition. The company has introduced three new smartphones running Symbian operating system. The devices also integrate with the company’s improved Ovi services and apps store.

The three new phones are the Nokia E7, Nokia C7 and Nokia C6. Though display sizes and features vary across them, the devices have in common support for multiple homescreens and visual multitasking.

The phones are all expected to begin shipping before the end of the year.

Nokia has faced criticism for the user interface and Symbian operating system powering its phones. The company’s hardware and industrial design on phones have won it kudos but when it comes to the user experience, even die-hard Nokia fans hesitate to pronounce it the best. Meanwhile, the rise of Android OS and the proliferation of Apple’s iPhone has put additional pressure on Nokia.

Nokia says it remains confident that Symbian OS can stay ahead and to ensure that it has rewritten parts of the OS to make it faster and easier to use.

“Despite new competition, Symbian remains the most widely used smartphone platform in the world,” says Niklas Savander, executive vice president at Nokia in a statement.

Though the new phones sound like an alphabet soup, here’s the lowdown on each. There’s no word on the processor used in any of these phones but Nokia has offered enough details to get consumers excited about the devices.

Nokia E7

The E7 is Nokia’s new phone targeted at business users. The device has a 4-inch touchscreen, access to Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, security features such as lock and wipe functionality and access to Microsoft Share Point Server.

The phone has a full keyboard in a design similar to that of the Motorola Droid.

The E7 is pretty slim, about 13.6mm thick. It has a 8-megapixel camera and comes with 16 GB of on-board storage.

The E7 also boasts an HDMI connection and Dolby Digital Plus Surround Sound. Users can customize up to three homescreens and get updates from Facebook and Twitter on their homescreens. The E7 will offer about 9 hours of talk time and 18 days of standby time.

The device will cost about 495 Euros ($645), excluding taxes and subsidies.

Nokia C7

The C7 is a phone for social media addicts. The device pulls feeds from social networks such as Facebook and Twitter and integrates email from Yahoo, Gmail and other accounts to show them directly on the home screen.

The C7 features a 3.5-inch AMOLED display and is about 10.5 mm thick. It has a 8-megapixel camera and can shoot video at 720p resolution. The phone has 8GB of onboard storage–expandable to 40 GB with microSD.

The device is estimated to be priced at 335 Euros ($437), excluding taxes and subsidies.

Nokia C6

The C6 is the baby of the group. The phone has a 3.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen display. And as with the C7, this phone will have a 8-megapixel camera. It will support microSD up to 32 GB and capture HD video in 720p.

The C6 will cost about 260 Euros ($339), excluding taxes and subsidies.

Source:wired.com

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Apple iPad will finally have some real competition. Samsung is set to introduce a tablet next month called ‘Galaxy Tab’ that will have a 7-inch touchscreen display.

The device will run Android 2.2 Froyo operating system, include video calling capability and full web browsing—which is likely means support for Flash, according to a teaser video that Samsung posted Tuesday morning. Samsung is expected to announce additional details on September 2 at the IFA Berlin consumer electronics show.

Samsung’s video shows a tablet with a black bezel and four buttons that are similar to what we have seen in Android smartphones.

The Galaxy Tab will be the first tablet from a big consumer electronics maker since Apple’s iPad debuted in April. Earlier this month, Dell launched the Streak, a device with a 5-inch display that has been billed as a tablet but is priced and acts like a phone. Meanwhile, Apple is charging ahead with the iPad. Apple has sold more than 3 million iPads.

Other companies such as HP and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion are also working on tablets. HP has said its slate will use Palm’s web OS operating system but that tablet is unlikely to be released this year. RIM is hoping to get its tablet called ‘BlackPad’, a companion device to the BlackBerry phone out at the end of the year.

Samsung’s choice of a 7-inch screen is interesting. There have been rumors that Apple is working on a similar sized tablet.

So far, Samsung hasn’t revealed details around pricing or when the Galaxy Tab will be available to consumers. But this is a major sign that the tablet market is heating up and new devices that we have been hearing about for months are finally getting closer to market.

Photo: Samsung website

Source:wired.com

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After offering previews of its Windows Phone 7 platform last month, Microsoft seems ready to take the next step to get it to market.

The company seems to have set shipping dates for the platform and Europe will be the first to get it.

At a conference, Microsoft’s chief operating officer Kevin Turner told attendees that the company is looking to transition to Windows Phone 7 around October in Europe and November in the U.S.

“We are back in this game,” says Turner in this video posted on Engadget. “And this game is not over.”

In the next three to five years, 450 million smartphones will be sold, he says. That’s double the smartphones sold today.

“When you look at this (Windows 7) phone and some of the UI (user interface), it’s not like any phone you have ever seen from Microsoft,” says Turner. “And I think that’s a good thing.”

Microsoft is working with companies such as Samsung and LG for the hardware.

Over the last three years, Microsoft’s Windows mobile operating system has been eclipsed by rivals such as Google’s Android and Apple’s iPhone OS. For the three months ending May, RIM’s BlackBerry OS ranked first with about 41.7 percent market share in the U.S., followed by Apple at 24.4 percent and Microsoft at 13.2 percent, according to Comscore. Android OS came in fourth at 13 percent but Android has been moving up the ranks steadily gaining points while its rivals are losing share.

Microsoft is betting Windows 7 phone will help turn the tide. The new Windows 7 OS has a snazzy new user interface, integration with Zune market for games and music, and search by Bing. (Check out Gizmodo’s in-depth look at Windows Phone 7.)

In the U.S., AT&T has said it plans to be the “premier” carrier for the platform. AT&T has been slow to embrace Google’s Android platform and it will be interesting to see the size of the bet it will place on Microsoft.

Photo: (brendanlim/Flickr)

Source:wired.com

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