ANTenna Blog -- Mobile

Microsoft is one of the industry’s most influential suppliers, yet the company has struggled to remain relevant in the fast moving, highly competitive smartphone space. To shore up its beleaguered market position, the vendor took the wraps off of the latest release of its Windows Mobile operating system.

The Microsoft operating system has carved out a solid second tier position in the mobile space. However, the growing popularity of the Apple’s iPhone and the recent entry of Google’s Android operating system have meant that Microsoft’s position is under siege. To try and regain momentum, Windows Mobile 6.5 has been coupled with Internet Explorer Mobile 6 to enhance users’ mobile experiences.

The new release features greater capabilities for touch screens, such as multi-touch features and support for gestures. The company revamped its start up screen to make easier to input data by touch. In addition, the mobile browser opens up user’s favorite URLs directly rather than requiring multiple steps. In addition, the vendor claimed that its browser does a better job of supporting plug-ins, such as Adobe, than competitive products.

The new enhancements are needed because the mobile operating system market has been shifting away from support of traditional operating system licensing models, which has been the foundation for Microsoft’s business. Increasingly, the industry is moving to open source models, such Android and recently Symbian, so the future of the Microsoft option is unclear.

Windows Mobile has been a popular option among small and medium businesses because it has been to easily hook into Microsoft productivity applications. Recently, the product has lost some of its buzz as sleeker products were delivered. The latest release includes some incremental improvements, however, Microsoft will need to do more in the future to generate excitement about its product.