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"Most journalists yawn" - that's because "If you were to believe one Sunday newspaper, Apple rules the roost " and "Apple and its iPhone completely dominate the apps ecosystem". Apple only dominates the iPhone apps ecosystem - and even then only that bit which eminates from itunes. There is a growing and thriving jailbroken apps market out there free from the shackles of Apple's grasp.
I seem to recall Apple tried this approach in the early days of the PC - but just as their, admitttedly excellent, product failed to dominate the market back then because of their overtight control, so the 'open' and 'co-operative' approach of rest of the smartphone market is likely to see similar results.
We of the non Mac brigade are used to being able to get software from pretty much anywhere to run on our pc's and we expect our smartphones to be extensions of the same.

It's true that there is an ever growing list of of "jailbroken apps" available. However, I'd hardly call it a market (as they're free). Also, the number of tech savvy handset users out there with enough time to crack their phone/apps is vastly outnumbered by those who simply want convenience and who are willing to spend a couple £ on something useful or entertaining (surprisingly some apps actually are).

I think it's highly unlikely that we'll see a successful consortium between 24 of the world's largest Mobile Operators. It's difficult enough for OPCOs in multiple countries to coordinate, communicate, and agree (on practically anything). The thought of say Vodafone, Telefonica and China Telecom... all agreeing on a list of complex standards and a marketing vision is really quite amusing. Perhaps there was more beer than Tapas at that meeting?

I don't understand the whole problem with Apple's locked down iPhone. People buy XBox and Playstation consoles with similar restrictions. It's a phone, it's not a general purpose computer.

"aim is to get them to people deep in the countryside where there's a big unmet need for mobile connectivity"
Just wondering what the signal is like there? if its anything like this country it doesnt matter how expencive (or cheap) your phone is - it won't work!!!

@ #3 "consoles with similar restrictions" - and there is a good reason for that - Sony dont want to share income with Microsoft. And im sure the same could be said for Vodaphone / Apple / Everyone else. I agree it sounds unlikely to happen

it's not a general purpose computer

That shows quite a lack of imagination. Modern smartphones are as powerful as desktop PCs of only a very few years ago, and have better internet connections. To have that potential squandered by pointless artificial restrictions is a tragic waste.

Who really cares that much?
Modern family scenario: I have a CrackBerry as it is the only mobile mail tool allowed by my company (a real no-brainer that), my significant other has an i-Phone - has turned her from a technophobe into an avid user - well done apple, the various children floating about our extended family have various smartphones (I can't actually keep track, they get changed so often ( - phones, not kids)).
All are useful for dabbling on the net, but for serious work, we all use our laptops and desktops back at home.
Smartphones - useful on the move and really quite handy till you can get to a larger screen attached to some web-connected device.

@ #3 sorry giles, you don't get it do you? the prob is the new generation of user wants to do everything on every platform - hence me typing this using a wireless keyboard on a wii when there is a perfectly adequate win7 laptop in the room and a desktop in my study. I wish games werent so locked down. If apple allowed flash I might be tempted to get iPad to replace my 12month old netbook but until it does, or websites stop using flash I will stay clear. if a processor is capable, and the customer has bought the product why can the customer (me) not choose how I use it?

I'm entering this from my new Nokia N900 and as a user that demands flexibility, it's a joy! It looks superficially like a phone but runs rings around the iPhone! It is a tablet PC with a built in phone and the capability to do things with the other computers on my home network that would probably be beyond the comprehension of the (very) average locked in device user.

I write this from an N97, I have allways been on the symbian Os ever scince the n95. I have allways downloaded apps from my Pc and instaleld to my phone from there and still continue to do so to this day.
I can run SSH to config my linux box and do small tasks like that and run DOS box for old PC games and vBag for Nintendo games (ones i own for my old Gameboy advance). to change the phone from the stance of being open form like a PC would be a step backward in my opinion, i am used to the "do all freedom" on my phones and withought it i would only have a basic phone as there would be no point in having all that hardware limited by what a provider wants me to have.

Well, having just watched the video, I'm sort of stifling a yawn over Windows Mobile 7 too.

The product itself looks OK as a demo and will have a more standard look across all products (as MS look to tighten what customisations can be made to the interface) but, in the end, this is behind the curve. The experience is playing catchup with the iPhone OS and even some of Nokia's later products (which are not stellar but certainly look like they are moving in the right direction and still are the biggest player in the mobile market).

While WinMob 7 lauches, iPhone 4 looms and even the N900 is upping its game. I'm not entirely sure what's distinctive about this in a busy and evolving marketplace.

Just thought I'd mention, as the article implies, that this is the first major update to Windows Mobile that Microsoft has released since 2007 (before the iPhones and Android arrived on the scene) and, as far as I'm aware, it's the first time Microsoft has ever done a complete rewrite of the OS (or at least the first time it's ever tried to change many of its key concepts). Therefore this qualifies as its initial response to Apple and Google, and it's also its first attempt to produce a consumer-oriented smartphone OS as HTC (manufacturer of 80% of Windows Mobile devices ever) was happy enough with the business and enthusiast market until 2006 when it launched its own brand.

It's also worth noting that Microsoft intend to keep working on Windows Mobile 6.x, making their approach to the market two-tiered.

On a side note, as Windows Mobile 7 is based on Windows CE 6 (rather than Windows CE 5, which dates from 2004), the neat trick of being able to run Android on Windows Phones will suddenly become very difficult (most probably to the extent that nobody bothers trying).

Anyway, while I will miss the good days of Windows Mobile 6(.0, .1 and .5) and its ancestors, I do hope that Microsoft has managed to convert Rory from his iObsession. Even Engadget, who are traditionally abusive to anything to do with Windows Mobile, have decided that the new user interface is unrivalled and that all previous opinions on Windows Mobile should be forgotten.

"If you were to believe one Sunday newspaper, Apple rules the roost - Nokia "has been plunged into crisis by the arrival of the iPhone and iPad" read a headline."

I agree. Fortunately Mr Wray has absolutely no credibility and is a bit of a laughing stock in the tech world so it's not really an issue.

As for Windows Mobile 7 (or whatever it's called), it looks interesting but time will tell.

Nokia "was caught on the hop by the arrival of first touchscreen then apps". OK, I'll give you the touchscreen comment, but apps? Come on Rory, get it right and stop being so Apple-centric, I was running 'apps' on a Nokia 6680 in the summer of 2005! And more than one at a time as well...
Even touchscreens were not an innovation. The only 2 things, which have turned out to be big things, that Apple have innovated are a gesture interface and an app #store# you access straight from the phone.

Andy Moore.. Your quite right apple innovated nothing in the iPhone, they innovated the marketing of it, thats all. Symbian UIQ devices had apps and touchscreens when Apple was still a failing company.
I wonder the wisdom of having a technology correspondent who not only seems heavily biased, and inexperienced (i remember the Windows 7 review Rory, it was very telling) but is also completely clueless.

@Andy Moore and ChrisM,
So Nokia had huge multi-touch, finger-friendly capacitive touchscreens, a desktop-class web browser, rock-solid desktop-class OS, visual voicemail, 3D graphics accelerated unified multi-touch GUI, accelerometer, 30%-70% commision-based App store, vertically-integrated on-phone and computer Store selling music, TV shows, movies, audio books with one-click ease of purchase, mandatory secure code-signing & sandboxing of Apps to eliminate malware, 8GBs of on-board storage etc etc way back in 2007 did they?

In reality of course, Nokia and others didn't and still don't have most of these features. Apple innovated in all these areas and more and over 75 million iPhone OS devices and 3 billion App downloads emphatically says the general public agrees.

You both just come across as sad Apple-haters trying to deny these facts.

-Mart

@ Martin Hill
1. Huge Multi-touch, finger-friendly capacitive touchscreens - No
2. Desktop-class Web Browser - No, but does Apple? *Cough NO FLASH*
3. Rock-solid Desktop class OS - No, but again the iPhone doesn't either.
4. Visual voicemail - ... what?
5. 3D graphics accelerated unified multi-touch GUI - No
6. accelerometer - YES
7. 30%-70% commision-based App store - They had an app store, no idea about comission though
8. vertically-integrated on-phone and computer Store selling music - No
9. TV shows - Yes (N96 and iPlayer?)
10. movies, audio books with one-click ease of purchase - Again, No
11. mandatory secure code-signing & sandboxing of Apps to eliminate malware - No, but we didn't need it :)
12. 8GBs of on-board storage - ref N95 8GB

@Mike Gowland
Good to see we can agree on 4 of my list of iPhone innovations. Now for the remaining ones:

2. No other mobile web browser had the full-screen, Web 2.0, Ajax, Javascript, WSYWIG, pinch-to-zoom goodness of Mobile Safari back in 2007. Flash? Well I think Apple would probably argue that no proprietary plugin should be allowed to rule the internet in this day and age, but of course no other mobile platform had the Flash player back in 2007 either and no - Flash Lite definitely does not qualify!
3. Rock-solid Desktop class OS. Actually, the iPhone did and does boast 500MBs of the solid UNIX-based Mac OS X running on mobile hardware sharing the same industry-leading Cocoa, NeXT-based object-oriented dev environment and Core Graphics, Core Audio, Core Data etc features of the desktop Mac. If your argument is that it doesn't multi-task, then you're wrong as it is only 3rd party apps that aren't yet allowed to. Do you really want to argue that the Psion calculator-based Symbian S60 or Windows CE-based WinMo or the two-way pager-derived Blackberry OS were at all comparable an OS back in 2007? In contrast, Android *can* claim desktop-class status, but of course it came after the iPhone.
4. Do you really not know what a water-shed it was for Apple to get a Carrier to jointly implement a new visual way of displaying voicemail on a cell phone?
6. I'm not aware of any other smartphone with a built-in accelerometer for automatically re-orienting the screen or powering games back then?
7. Every other app store like Handango and carriers like Verizon took anywhere between 50-90% off app developers back in 2007
9. One-click purchase of TV-shows for other platforms in 2007? iPlayer for Mobile platforms didn't launch till 2008
11. Malware - so you're happy with Symbian and other mobile OSes having viruses, worms, trojans, root kits etc? The iPhone is only vulnerable if you jailbreak it and don't change the default root SSH password.
12. The 8GB N95 didn't launch till 5 months after the iPhone was unveiled.

As I say, to argue that the iPhone's only major innovation was advertising is *beyond* wrong.

-Mart