Today Microsoft announced MSN Onit, “The essential guy’s guide” for windows phone 7. I thought I’d take a peek, because, you know, I like guys things (including my blue crocodile skin shoes)..
The reviews looked good, I found it in the Marketplace using Zune then *bam*… There is no download button.. It seems that Microsoft (or MSN) has decided that this application should be locked down to only the US and a few other regions.
I understand that there are issues relating to copy write, licensing and all sorts of other legal nasties that can pop up when working across multiple regions, but it seems to me that Microsoft are happy to release everything to the US market without any thought of other markets. This is further evident with the lack of music available in Zune Marketplace.
It this something we should be blaming on Microsoft as a whole? Or is it something that the Australian branch of Microsoft has just been unable to work on. My bet is that it’s a combination of both. Unfortunately the result is that Windows Mobile users in Australia continue to have a broken user experience (don’t get me started on location based searching) when using Windows Mobiles. I really hope the Microsoft is working hard on getting these things fixed, particularly with the major update for the platform later this year that really targets business users. Right now there is no way I can recommend a Windows Mobile as a business platform with this lack of support outside of the US.
Ed.
