Good news– HTML5 coming to Windows Phone IE Mobile after all

A few months ago we reported Microsoft Technology Evangelist Frank Prengel telling the world Microsoft had no concrete plans for HTML5 in Windows Phone 7.

We can now thankfully report that things have changed at the software giant.

Microsoft has posted a job description asking for a Senior software Development Engineer for the Windows Phone Browser, Search & Maps team responsible for the IE browser in Windows Phone 7.

The division is looking for  “a strong senior engineer that is excited about the product and technical opportunities with the mobile web experience” to work on “building the next generation IE platform for the next Windows Phone release” which would include “a major overhaul of standard support and new approaches to make significant advances in performance, power consumption and bandwidth utilization", with the candidate needing “ a strong interest in JavaScript, CSS3, HTML5 and Windows programming”.

Now the only question is if this software will come as an update to Windows Phone 7, or will wait till Windows Phone 8.

Read the full job post after the break.

Software Development Engineer, Senior – Windows Phone (735362) Job

Date: Oct 8, 2010

Location: Redmond, WA, US

Job Category: Software Engineering: Development
Location: United States, WA, Redmond
Job ID: 735362 27360
Division: Entertainment & Devices Division

Microsoft has just finished Windows Phone 7 and the early buzz is extremely positive. The Windows Phone Browser, Search & Maps team is particularly pleased with the quality of the initial Web experiences we have built and their positive reception. But we know that we are in a highly competitive marketplace that is constantly moving forward and so we are now looking for people to help us build our next generation experiences.

Our team builds the IE Mobile browser in the Windows Phone organization which is one of the most used applications on the device. While apps on Smartphones have captured the marketing limelight, consumers continue to consume a huge amount of content via mobile Web browsers — and their hunger is growing. Worldwide mobile Web usage grew 148% over last year, and the number of mobile Web users will surpass the number of desktop Web users within 5 years. Moreover, as mobile browsers become more powerful, developers are adapting their sites to cater to smartphone users. There are already nearly half a million “mobile touch” Web sites and that number will grow to 1.1 million mobile touch sites by the end of 2010. Even with this explosive growth, it is still very early days in this radical transformation of the Web (think back to the early 90s on the PC if you want a sense of where the Web is on phones today…)

The browser is also the most technically challenging application to build for a phone. It is also a platform by itself on the device with a programming model that covers a huge range of scenarios and technologies through the stack. The mobile browser must run on devices which are significantly less powerful than its desktop cousins but it still has to meet demanding requirements to display a web page fast with minimal resource usage.

We are looking for a strong senior engineer that is excited about the product and technical opportunities with the mobile web experience. You will be working on building the next generation IE platform for the next Windows Phone release. This will include a major overhaul of standard support and new approaches to make significant advances in performance, power consumption and bandwidth utilization. Your responsibilities include making all these modern web platform features work on the Windows Phone platform.

A suitable candidate should possess deep understanding of web technologies and the Internet. Experience with graphics technologies APIs are a strong plus. Strong interest in JavaScript, CSS3, HTML5 and Windows programming is expected. You must have excellent communication skills and a proven ability to work effectively with many others across your team, group and division. You must also have the desire to drive and design technical architecture decisions with senior developers and architects. A BS/MS in computer science or equivalent experience with at least 5 years of development experience in C and C++ is necessary.

Do you want to play a major role in building amazing products that consumers will love? Do you want to be a part of a high performing team that is at the epicenter of the most competitive areas in the most competitive consumer product space in the world? If the answers are yes and you love mobile technology, the Web and browsers, come join us and build the next generation search experience on

Windows Phone.
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