Microsoft build 55 foot structure in effort to boost smartphone interest

Microsoft may be the desktop operating system leader but in the mobile sector they are having problems becoming a primary competitor against Android and iOS. In times like this drastic action is called for, and in the attempt to raise interest they decided to erect a 55 foot ‘interactive' Windows Phone structure in New York City's Herald Square.

The smartphone replica is only a few feet away from the world's largest Macy's store, right in the middle of one of the more popular picnic areas, according to Engadget.

The structure is modeled on the Windows Phone tile interface structure. The tiles slide out of place to allows for live stage performances.

This event is timed to perfection, marking the arrival of three new devices. The Samsung Focus S, Focus Flash and HTC Radar 4G. To maximise on the exposure, Microsoft have set up showrooms close by to attract an audience of potential customers.

Windows Phone 7 has been on the market now for a year but it is failing to generate the kind of sales that Microsoft want to see, although Andy Lees, the head of the division has made a point that last month Windows Phone 7 sold more devices in its first year that Google Android did in its launch year.

Amusingly, some industry experts claim that Microsoft make more money from Android sales, rather than from their own platform. They have enforced many royalty paying license agreements with more than half of the makers of Android phones.

Kitguru says: With Nokia onboard however, we would expect Windows Phone 7 sales to rise in 2012. Microsoft will be hoping so anyway.

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