Microsoft Mobile Effort Turns Skeptical Heads

TechFlash reports: Walking around the packed gdgt live event in Seattle, we were surprised at the large crowd pushing into Microsoft's booth -- until we realized that the company was demonstrating Windows Phone 7, giving people a glimpse of something they won't see in stores for a few months.

These were hard-core technology users, the types of people that Microsoft would like to win over to help turn around its mobile business. So we took the opportunity to ask for their impressions.

The good news for the company: Many of them were impressed with the phone and the user interface, pointing in particular to the fluid transitions between screens, the centralized hubs of content, and the "live tiles" that show personalized content on the home screen.

"There's still some things I want to know, certain things about the marketplace that they haven't really answered yet, but I like what I see, I like the style, I like the thing they're going for." said Michael Benny of Seattle. "It's not a clone -- it's unique."

"I was very surprised," said Lyndsy Dailey of Seattle, an Android user. "I expected nothing good to come from the Windows 7 Phone. I'm an Android phone user, and it was impressive enough that I might consider getting a Windows 7 -- or a Windows Phone 7, whatever they're calling it, because the user interface is actually pretty good."

The bad news for Microsoft: Not everyone was as ready as Dailey to entertain the notion of giving up on Android or iPhone. On the question of whether Windows Phone 7 would be enough to make them switch, many of the people we spoke with were decidedly mixed, bordering on reluctant. Some cited the lack of multitasking for third-party applications -- a feature available in Android and added by Apple this year.

"That's just absolutely a deal-breaker," said Harry Kautzman. "After joining the 21st Century on an Android phone, there's no going back. Even with the slick interface. It would be nice if someone like HTC could actually take that concept and port it on top of Android."

The responses drove home the notion that Microsoft will need to generate big support from third-party app developers to create the type of software ecosystem that will truly make people want to switch -- or better yet, need to switch.

Then again, Microsoft's challenge isn't necessarily about convincing existing smartphone users to switch. Given the large percentage of the population that will be upgrading from standard cell phones in the coming years, Microsoft will be trying to convince many people to make Windows Phones their first smartphone.

At the very least, based on what we heard, the company is generating some decent interest from the geeks that many of those people will ask for advice.