Earlier in the week, Microsoft
showed off its attractive new mobile platform. The new operating system, Windows Phone 7 Series, promises a radical change in the world of Microsoft-powered phones, but one thing that remains the same, the company confirmed, is that phone manufacturers will still have to pay to license the software. With Android (and now Symbian) open source, and the BlackBerry and iPhone software not available to third parties at all, this means that Windows Phone will be the only major smartphone OS available on a paid basis.
