Getting there...
Do you remember those British Rail ads with the rather lame slogan "we're getting there"? We're finding each new incremental step towards the launch of Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 OS elicits the same sense of anxious optimism conveyed in those ads.
There's just so much at stake here, you see. Microsoft has owned the operating system market since day one, but with the world moving to mobile platforms it's in danger of becoming a dinosaur. Furthermore, with the mobile platform market currently being dominated by Apple and Google, we need at least one more player to keep things nice and competitive.
Microsoft's latest announcement, via the Windows Phone blog, is that WP7 has been released to manufacturing. In essence that means it's pretty much the finished article in Microsoft's eyes and we're one step closer to the consumer launch.
When, precisely, that will be remains to be seen, with Microsoft still restricting itself to "later this year". But there are increasing signs that this may be as soon as October, with a Microsoft marketing exec apparently confirming this in the video below, and Engadget getting further confirmation from Microsoft's COO a month ago. The handset leaks seems to be coming thick and fast too.
With so much riding on WP7 being a success, Microsoft had better have got it ready. It certainly can't afford another Kin. "Windows Phone 7 is the most thoroughly tested mobile platform Microsoft has ever released," said the blog. It had better be.
