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Microsoft is working to boost the appeal of Windows Mobile among consumers by appointing a new head of marketing and by lending support to a new application for viewing Web content.

InfoWorld has a piece up that I’ve been meaning to mention for some time.  As the excerpt above indicates, apparently Microsoft is looking to up Windows Mobile’s profile in the consumer market. 

Two things spring to mind for me immediately on seeing that: 

• About Friggin’ Time (or really, way past time)
• Boy do you have your work cut out for you now

MS should have been doing this a long time ago.  I guess their theory was infiltrate the enterprise first (which they’ve done quite well at) and those folks will take it home with them, or something along those lines.  Seems like now the reverse trend works better though – C-level boss types love their Treo / Blackberry / iPhone etc, and insist on making room for it in their corporate environment.

Now it seems like it’s going to be an uphill battle for them.  The article talks about ‘boosting appeal’ – but I’d say, just looking around at my circle of friends and acquaintances, that before there is appeal there has to be awareness – you have to know something exists before it can be appealing, and honestly most folks I know don’t know Windows Mobile exists.  I’m sure this could be changed by throwing some money at ad campaigns, and hopefully executing them well – but I always get the feeling that MS just isn’t looking to do that.

I have noticed recently on TV that Ford (or Ford and MS?) are starting to promote the Sync stuff quite a lot.  I suppose that’s a start, but they need to build some profile for their smartphones and devices and what they can do, not just the in-car portion of things.

That’s my quick thoughts anyway.  What do you all think?  Do most of your friends recognize Windows Mobile like they do Blackberry?

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