Windows Mobile - The iPhone killer, or the next Zune?

Windows Mobile is attempting a comeback in a big way. Since Microsoft first began their work in the mobile market in 1990 they have never been quite successful. Their latest attempt is the Nokia Lumia series. These phones run the Windows Phone 8 Operating System, the latest offered by Microsoft. The new OS falls in line with Microsoft's strategy to unify user interfaces across all of your devices. WP8 features the 'live tiles,' similar to Windows 8 for computers, that can show real time updates from news sources, social media, and other applications. The biggest selling point, judging by their marketing campaign, is the 41 megapixel camera that comes with the Lumia 1020. That is 3 times more than the Samsung Galaxy S4 (13mp) and 5 times more than the iPhone 5s (8 mp). However, I for one am not convinced that this feature alone can push Nokia/Microsoft into a serious contender in the smartphone market.

This biggest drawback to running a Windows Phone that I see are the apps. According to pcworld.com, the Windows Marketplace just reached 100,000 apps in July. In comparison, the Apple App store hit 775,000 as of January 2013 (about.com), and Google Play, the primary android app store, reached 1,000,000 in July 2013 (readwrite.com). While I'm sure that the Windows numbers will continue to grow, they have a lot of ground to catch up to keep up with Apple and Google.