The next generation of Windows Phone 7, dubbed “Mango”, was previewed by Microsoft today, and it appears Microsoft is going for a social network in your pocket. One element of Mango being touted by Microsoft is the “People” hub – a way of integrating the various social streams and communications into one place (Flock, anyone?).
We’ve reported a few times on Windows Phone 7’s growth, so with Mango coming, we thought we’d revisit it. Of the mobile operating systems, we still see iOS as the leader with 62% of mobile impressions across the Chitika network, followed by Android at 28%. BlackBerry pulls about 5%, Symbian about 3%, and all other mobile operating systems are under 1% of mobile Internet traffic.
Windows Phone has made some strides since the launch of WP7, but it still has a ways to go before it breaks into the top 3 smartphone operating systems. Mango makes some good strides in that direction, adding things like multitasking and copy-and-paste. To some degree, it can be viewed as Microsoft’s version of iOS 4, which Apple introduced last April.
If Windows Phone 7 is going to succeed, it may be wise to attack the business user who still views an iPhone or Android device as a personal device more closely related to a toy than a business tool. If Microsoft can start stealing BlackBerry users who have resisted switching operating systems, they can become very competitive in an industry they know and love – business.