Rather than keeping it under wraps until officially unveiling it to the public (and filing charges against anyone who gets their hands on an early prototype), Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is choosing to go down a completely different road by releasing a preview of its upcoming Windows Phone 7 software to the public today. It’s still unclear when the first phone will go on sale, and it’s certainly not finished, but this is what Microsoft is calling a “technical preview.”
If there was to be a consensus among those who got an early hands-on demo, it’s that the jury is still out. The judges want to see more because there’s still plenty of room for failure, but it sounds like they’ve got a fighting chance.
The consensus on this product will make or break Microsoft now that it has ditched its other KIN platform, and focused entirely on Windows Phone 7. Will Microsoft be able to continue to woo the enterprise? Will it be able to gain traction among consumers?
Starting today, thousands of prototype phones from Asus, LG (SEO: 066570) and Samsung are being shipped to developers (and press) over the next few weeks to get early feedback and to capture the interest of developers, so that they will be willing to build top-notch applications. In a blog post today, Microsoft wrote: “Together, with our early adopter customers, developers, OEM, and mobile operator partners we are in the home stretch. We are on the path to do exactly what we set out to do

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