For now a couple of years, Microsoft's CEO has made bold promises about the company making a serious effort to be a player in the mobile. He criticized the effort of Windows Mobile 6.5 Windows Phone failed and promoted as a Game-Changer. Then Windows Phone 7 shipped with fewer capabilities than any mobile OS competitors (while having a nice user interface) and quickly became a joke and a flop. Similarly, Ballmer made promises about Windows tablets a year ago that the company never even tried to satisfy.
Yesterday, Ballmer announced that Windows Phone 7 would be updated late this year to make Internet features a "first-class citizen" (his words, not mine, even though it's nice to see it agree that the first version was the second or third class). Ballmer promised that Microsoft would address the functions currently missing from Windows Phone 7, as HTML5 support and multitasking.
[Get all the details on why can't Windows Phone 7. | Continue on key developments and insights with mobile blog Mobile Edge and mobilize newsletter. ]
Microsoft said earlier will add cut and paste for Windows Phone 7 this year. Not so clear is whether Microsoft will fill in all the security holes and management who reject its use in corporate networks, as lack of VPN and encryption on the device, as well as poor support for Exchange ActiveSync policies specific to Microsoft (supports fewer of these than any platform competitor).
What is Ballmer promising to deliver--multitasking and HTML5 support--is the basic functionality that should have been in Windows Phone 7 right from the start. Apple iOS, Google's Android OS, Hewlett-Packard WebOS and Research in Motion BlackBerry OS 6 (introduced with the torch last summer) all do. This is just the basic Microsoft finally in place, not a progress that should get people excited.
The basics matter--especially if Nokia adoption of Windows Phone 7 is to have a prayer of work (I think this is a suicidal move). But not in the competitive mobile market where Apple continues to set the pace and Google continues to follow fast, simply staying on track is good enough.
And given that as Microsoft routinely broken promises Ballmer makes mobile space, I can't help but believe that when Windows Phone 7 multitasking support HTML5, and cut and paste, it cannot offer the standard of competition.
They are all to admit mistakes and expect to be forgiven, as long as the actual error is addressed and not repeated. Maybe this time that Ballmer means what he says and Microsoft will deliver on it this fall. But with the track record, I wouldn't bet on it.
In this article, "Windows phone reloaded: can we trust Ballmer promises this time," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Read more of the Mobile Edge blog of Galen Gruman and follow the latest developments in mobile technology at InfoWorld.com. For the latest business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.
For more analysis and commentary on emerging technologies, visit InfoWorld.com. Story copyright © 2010 InfoWorld Media Group. All rights reserved.