Windows Phone 7: Better late than never?

From everything I've read so far, it sounds like Microsoft has done a great job with the upcoming Windows Phone 7 platform. A complete reboot from the Windows Mobile series, the Windows Phone platform has rich system features and technical specs that rival iPhone and Android devices. Microsoft has even done a good job of building up excitement in the ever important app developer community. If Microsoft released this platform today it would give Apple and Google a good run for their money in the smartphone market.

Too bad we won't see Windows Phone 7 available on devices until much later in the year. Apple and Google aren't going to stand still until then with their own products. This year several new Android devices will roll out to the market and Google is finally starting to take steps to address its Android fragmentation issue. Apple is set to release a new iPhone model and OS this year (and possibly even on a new network, Verizon). Add on top of all this the entry of the new mobile tablet PCs that could steal away market share from high-end smartphones. All of these new mobile products entering the market in 2010 will steal away Microsoft's thunder and dampen sales of its devices. The Windows Phone 7 platform looks really strong, but as Palm's WebOS system has shown us lately sometimes that's just not enough to gain traction in the marketplace.