There’s a curious thing happening in the smartphone space at this year’s CES. Two Windows Phone devices — the HTC Titan II and the Nokia Lumia 900 — are the most hyped, talked-about phones at the show. Yeah, that’s right: Windows Phones. This could be a good sign for Microsoft, whose critically acclaimed OS has had a hell of a time trying to make an impression with smartphone users.
Of course there's another explanation... lots of tech journalists were looking for a "mobile" story in their tick-boxes of how to cover CES, and a story of a manufacturer (Nokia) excommunicated from America, returning with a once proud American success story (Microsoft) practically writes itself.
No matter the reasons, the publicity for Windows Phone this week has probably been in the upper bounds of the expectation of every company involved. HTC made a splash with the Titan 2, and it could be a close run thing between their 4.7 inch screen LTE handset and the Lumia 900. Nokia returned to the American market with a dedicated American handset that has captured the imagination of the media, the bloggers, and many of the US-based key influencers are giving them the time of day again. And Microsoft have shown they can iterate their OS, and make it stick in people's minds.
Maybe that's too cynical, but I know this... As CES closes, the magnificent Windows Phone 7.5 smartphones head out into the sunset, ready to fight Calvera. Why wouldn't that be exciting?
