So, about WP7 being so far behind its rivals
3 min. read
Published on
Share this article
Improve this guide
Read our disclosure page to find out how can you help MSPoweruser sustain the editorial team Read more
Boygenius report has an an exclusive scoop detailing Apple’s plans to introduce wireless synching and media streaming to all their devices. These features are already present on the Zune and Windows 7 and will be available in WP7. This got me to thinking about all the supposed WP7 shortcomings compared to Android 3.0 and IOS 4 and I can’t honestly see anything major. I’ve come up with a chart which is by no means exhaustive listing the major built in features of these OSes to help with the discussion. Mind you, these are features that I’m aware of so I stand to be corrected for any errors on my part. Just be civil about it.
| Feature | WP7 | IOS 4 | Android 3 (gingerbread) |
| Custom UI | No | No | No (Limited ?) |
| Removable storage | No | No | Yes |
| Multitasking | Yes/limited | Yes/limited | Yes |
| CPU | 1 Ghz+ | 1 Ghz | 1 Ghz+ |
| Ram | 256 | 256 | 512 |
| Screen size/Res | 3.5+/800×480 | 3.5/960×640 | 3.5+/800×480+ |
| Multimedia | Zune | iTunes | Third party |
| Wifi Sync/Streaming | Yes | Yes/Rumored | Yes? |
| Backup | Myphone/Kin studio Clone? |
MobileMe | Google services |
| Camera back/front | 5mp/optional | 5mp/yes | 5mp/optional? |
| Multiple mail inboxes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Hardware Keyboard | Optional | No | Optional |
| Game experience | XBox live | Game center | ? |
| App store | Zune | iTunes | Android market |
| Copy & Paste | No (TBD) | Yes | Yes |
| FM Radio | Yes | No | optional |
| Gyroscope | No | Yes | ? |
| Native apps | No/limited | Yes | Yes |
| Office productivity | Office mobile | iWork? | Google docs |
| Turn by turn navigation | Bing | Third party | Google maps |
| Video call | ? | Yes | Third party |
| Folders | No? | Yes/Just for apps? | Yes |
| Video editing | ? | Yes | ? |
Contrary to some reports, video recording is indeed supported, while this article clarifies the point about multitasking.The Goliath aka the iTunes appstore has over 225,000 apps and counting with the Android marketplace coming in second with 60,000+ apps. It seems formidable but after seeing a few excellent WP7 apps like the AP app, Netflix, Foursquare and a few from Clarity consulting company etc demoed using WP7 development tools and the possibilities of even better ones, I am the least bit worried. Furthermore, the the iTunes store and Android Marketplace are not a bed of roses as this and this articles indicate.
Windows phone 7 will lack some key enterprise feature since the initial launch is consumer focused. As much as it seems to be a disadvantage, businesses rarely jump head first onto a new platform anyways so there is time to remedy the situation. Microsoft plans to write the major apps in native code thereby negating the need for a native SDK to developers at least at the outset.
With Microsoft finally leveraging all the their core assets including Windows live services, office, Zune, Bing and Xbox live, I believe WP7 will be a strong contender in the mobile space that will end up surprising a lot of skeptics.
