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WP7 locked for Oct. 11 as Microsoft holds iPhone "funeral"

updated 06:20 pm EDT, Fri September 10, 2010

Microsoft holds iPhone, BlackBerry funerals

Sources today supported rumors of a Windows Phone 7 launch on October 11 as Microsoft held a mock funeral for the BlackBerry and iPhone. Tipsters said the unveiling, which coincides with a known mid-October target, would be part of a larger open house event where WP7 would be just one of the offerings on show. CNET was told the phones wouldn't necessarily be available the same day, but the US availability may not be until November.

While the date hasn't been confirmed by Microsoft, the company today marked the recent completion of the mobile OS by holding a joke funeral procession for its rivals. The Bellevue-area gathering was treated as both a parade and a funeral and saw some act as 'pallbearers' for oversized BlackBerry and iPhone devices being carried behind hearses. At various points along the group, vehicles and sign wielders carried signs that WP7 "buries the competition" and even took a brief shot at Android with a warning sign for "Android falling."

Despite the optimism, Microsoft faces a significant uphill battle as WP7 is rebooting Microsoft's mobile efforts and has seen it drop to an all-time low. Along with struggling against more advanced Android and iPhone platforms, Windows Mobile's share has been cut in half partly because loyalists have been waiting for the new platform before jumping back in. The new OS is Microsoft's first with real multi-touch, a mostly accurate web browser and other touches some competitors have known for years.

Other parts of the celebration included zombies, Darth Vader on a motorcycle and a dance to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" (below). Ironically, the photos of the parade taken by Carl J were captured using an HTC Evo 4G, an Android phone that has had stronger success than the Windows Mobile-based HD2 that shares the same basic frame. [via Neowin]

by MacNN Staff



  1. Iritscen

    Joined: Dec 1969


    Ok, it's a silly PR stunt...

    ...we get that. But can someone please explain Darth Biker?!?

  1. garmonbosia

    Joined: Dec 1969



    Can anybody guess which of these people is testudo?

  1. sammaffei

    Joined: Dec 1969


    Doomed from the Start

    If you have to pull a stunt like this to excite your own employees over your lackluster product, you're doomed.

  1. nat

    Joined: Dec 1969



    he's the one in the 4th picture down, the dude on the right with the funny hair

  1. Rezzz

    Joined: Dec 1969



    No, not the iPhone. These poor people who were humiliated into participating in the event. Let's see. Over 50 million iPhones sold. WP7? Zero. Vaporware. Sure, tie it into Office and Outlook! Leverage your monoplies well. Microsoft, you are a one-trick pony.

  1. Flying Meat

    Joined: Dec 1969


    They forgot to burry the kin

    Perhaps a new zombie product is in the offing?

  1. Fonejacker

    Joined: Dec 1969


    Their own funeral

    What happened to the Kin? Oh yeah, it was still born. How many apps will Windoze Phone 7 have? I really don't know the answer, please feel free to let me know. Would I be correct in saying it's between zero and 2 ? From what I have seen, Windoze Phone 7 or whateveritscalledthismonth, looks like it's aimed at children with big icons or the elderly who can't see, or people with big thumbs and fingers. Windoze 7 has to be light years ahead of the iPhone or Android to have a fighting chance, which it obviously isn't except in the eyes of Microshaft and PC users still stuck in the ancient ways of the 80s and 90s. Will it have a stylus?? An external full sized keyboard? USB ports? I am glad at least advertising companies will make more money out Windoze 7 than Microshaft themselves, as I read that they intend to spend $500 million in marketing. How many phones do they have to sell to get their money back??
    Hail Steve Ballmer, may he stay at Microshaft for another 15 years.

  1. byRyan

    Joined: Dec 1969


    dead phone

    yeah - if any phone deserves a funeral - its the Kin... I mean there is a phone that actually failed and is dead in the market.

    But to predict the end to version 4 and 2 products when you've barely got a working alpha with half the features of your competitors... that takes some guts.... or lack of brains... either way

  1. JeffHarris

    Joined: Dec 1969



    I can't quite remember how to spell PATHETIC.

  1. rbodgers

    Joined: Dec 1969



    Windows PHONE 7, huh?

    Gee, I hope Apple and Google don't start moving their mobile OS strategy beyond smart phones, into, oh, say, TABLETS, for example. Because then they would have to change their name.... again.

    They would also have to explain it to their shareholders.

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