Microsoft Smart Phone Cloud strategy to build a new ecosystem

The 2012 was unusual for the entire Windows family, and Windows Phone opened this important year with an orderly, open approach to building a new ecosystem.

Three-screen and one-cloud strategy to construct a new ecological system

With Windows Phone officially entering the Chinese market, the real battle of the smartphone OS is just beginning.

Leung, chairman and chief executive of Microsoft Greater China, said in an interview with the science and technology daily that the introduction of Windows Phone was seen as the emergence of a third smartphone complete ecosystem, with only Microsoft, Google and Apple owning all kinds of information terminals and effective link ecology of cloud computing. , and set up three kinds of platforms, attracting the world's third party developers on these platforms show their talent.

Microsoft has long proposed a "three-screen cloud" long-term strategy, namely the computer screen, the phone screen and the television screen, through the Internet's cloud space to connect. As an important part of Microsoft's cloud strategy in the mobile Internet arena, Windows phone is the first mobile phone to be designed with the idea of "cloud + End". In addition to Microsoft's construction of this information technology chain, Google and Apple have similar technology product strategies.

In three ecosystems, Apple has taken a closed approach and controlled most of its profits, and Google's Android ecosystem is "free" and open, making it hard for developers on its eco-link to charge for profits; Microsoft is taking the middle route, the core system software platform But it provides hardware manufacturers and third-party developers with some API interfaces that allow them to innovate, and for Windows Phone development applications that only need to be recompiled to be ported to Microsoft tablets and traditional computers, which are not the advantages of other platforms.

Windows phone was formally introduced to the Chinese market, allowing Microsoft to truly display synergies in various information terminals and cloud computing, and Microsoft will not be able to support just one iphone as Apple does, nor will it allow the versions of handsets to be split like the Android ecosystem. Emphasize hardware speed and experience unification, and then work with handset manufacturers to diversify windows Phone.

Metro's completely different ways of communicating with competitors

"Everything revolves around people, everything is simpler, everything is different." This is the operating system design tenet that Microsoft emphasized when Windows Phone 7.5 was released to the Chinese market.

Dr Leung said: "The smartphone operating system has generally adopted a very traditional and similar organizational approach to the personal computer, which revolves around the application icon, which is increasingly highlighted as mobile devices become more and more important in everyday life." One of the big features of Windows Phone is its fluent, well received, new Metro user interface. ”

As early as two years ago, Microsoft's engineering team was thinking about how to create an interactive interface that best fits the information flow experience, according to Leung. The interface system named "Metro UI", detached from the old menu mode and free of the border restraints of widget gadgets, offers a completely different form of "communication" with major competitors, opening up Microsoft's new experience in the mobile internet era.

Metro originated from the Bauhaus (Bauhaus) style advocated by the "lot" (do a and a little), the purpose is to use the simplest and direct way to present information to the user. It is different from the current mobile phone control interface, color block standardized menu button, almost do not require the user self-learning process, experience is a set of smooth, fast operation experience.

As the essence of the Metro user interface, the start interface of the dynamic magnetic paste (live Tile), between the traditional smartphone icon (icon, iOS-represented) and desktop gadgets (widget, represented by Android), Each dynamic tile can dynamically display relevant important information in the form of an icon change or flip. Compared to the simple desktop icon provided by the application shortcut features, dynamic tiles also show users important information related to the application, but also significantly save the system resources than the widget, to achieve information transmission and smooth experience balance.

The Metro UI is undoubtedly one of Windows Phone's salient features, advocating a minimalist way to provide users with a glance of information, shielding all interference, equivalent to writing a black word on the white paper feeling, very suitable for the mobile terminal with touch screen devices, means that the Metro UI in the future has a lot of space for development.

Healthy developer Ecosystem

For the developer ecosystem, many of the development experiences and tools that Microsoft has accumulated over the past more than 10 years can be directly transferred to Windows Phone's development process. Microsoft has always been perfect in the past. NET architecture and Silverlight tools, in the application of mobile Internet features, especially Microsoft "cloud + END" long-term strategic route, it is becoming more important.

The Payton weibo+ on Windows phone is Rae and colleague Huanghuan's use of amateur time, aggregating popular Sina Weibo, Tencent Weibo, Renren and other social platforms. Two of developers who are focused on Microsoft's ". NET" programming direction, which gives them the innate advantage of moving to the Windows Phone platform, because the company is based on Silverlight technology development, the development of Windows Phone applications for them almost no cost of migration, Make them more willing to devote their energy and time to the Windows Phone platform.

As a personal developer, Rae that the Windows Phone platform has provided a good space, and now more needs to attract more users and developers to join the platform, so that the application of the ecological rapid prosperity.

According to the deadline for press data, Windows Phone development tools Worldwide has been downloaded more than 3 million times, in the past three months, the Chinese market has been downloaded more than 250,000 times. As of March 2012, the world has registered more than 100,000 Windows Phone developers, including 6000 registered developers in China. The total number of Windows Phone 7.5 Mall apps and games has topped 70,000, with an average daily growth of nearly 300.

It is understood that Windows Phone Mall (marketplace) can provide developers with a significant share of the download proceeds, and can help developers in the Windows phone ecosystem maturing in the process, to get better than the Apple application market, the commercial return, This is precisely the lack of control of the open Android ecosystem is difficult to achieve.

(Responsible editor: Duqing first)