What Windows Phone 7 Means For Canadians

In order to regain market share lost to Apple's iPhone and to hold off a challenge from Google's Android, Microsoft has unveiled a new smartphone operating system with a new name.  Windows Phone 7 was unveiled at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, Spain.  Windows Phone 7 key features include a new user interface, and integration with social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter (who isn't doing this) digital media with the Zune Marketplace (never came to Canada) and online games through Xbox live. 

For Canadian Smartphone users access to phones running Windows Phone 7 should be pretty easy.  For subscribers to regional carriers MTS and Sasktel who have seen iPhone, Google Android, and Palm WebOS devices pass them by, Windows Phone 7 will be the next generation smartphone operating system that they will finally get a chance at getting.  For Canada's new cell carriers Wind Mobile and Mobilicity, smartphones running Windows Phone 7 could potentially hold a place at the top of the lineups along with Blackberries and Android based smartphones.  On the big 3 national carriers it's most likely that Rogers will be most likely to carry Windows Phone 7 since their lineup doesn't have a Palm WebOS device at this time, Bell and Telus will have Windows Phone 7 as well but could be pushed to the sideline to promote iPhones.

Unlike the recent past where potential smartphone users had to choose their cell carrier based on which smartphone they wanted, Windows Phone 7 may not be the smartphone OS that everybody wants, but it will be a smartphone OS that current cell phones can upgrade to a smartphone without changing carriers.