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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

Posted under Gadget Reviews

Research In Motion’s BlackBerry operating system is long overdue for a makeover. RIM fans have been waiting for the upcoming BlackBerry OS 6 to modernize the BlackBerry user interface. Now a video from the company shows what some of those features could look like.

BlackBerry OS 6 will have universal search, a better media interface, social feeds that bring together Facebook, Twitter and chatter from BlackBerry messenger, a richer web browser and easier to manage RSS feeds.

The new features shown in this video bring some polish to the BlackBerry. But much of what the company is touting–pinch and zoom in the browser, and search–are all what Android and Apple iPhone users have had for months.

Still this is a step forward and a sign that RIM is trying to keep pace with the market. The company is yet to announce the launch date for the OS 6.

Separately, RIM launched ‘BlackBerry Protect‘, a remote backup and find feature that’s similar to the service that Motorola and Apple offer for their phones. Like Motorola, RIM will offer the BlackBerry Protect for free so consumers can back up contacts, calendar, tasks and message and restore or locate their phone using a computer if the device is misplaced, lost or stolen.

BlackBerry Protect will be available in limited beta this week and is expected to be available to all users later this year.

Photo: (Honou/Flickr)

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews