MWC: Windows Button--Windows Phone or BlackBerry Clone?

With the keynote about Windows Phone going on at MWC today, Microsoft was saying that it is targeting consumers with some great phones, a redesigned user interface, and Windows Mobile 6.5, but is that the real reason? New Microsoft Windows Phone with Windows Mobile 6.5-ready hardware will sport a back button and a "Windows" button, which is similar to the "Start" button on older devices or the "Home" button on the Diamond series.

The Windows button and the back button, along with the call send and end buttons should remind you of another big player in the smartphone realm. That other player is Research in Motion with the BlackBerry. Even the behaviour of the button is BlackBerry-like--hitting the new Windows button on 6.5 doesn't evoke the Start menu, but rather the key press will evoke a programs menu or applications launcher. This behavior is very similar to hitting the BlackBerry button on BlackBerry devices, which takes you to the programs launcher. You can probably guess what hitting the end, send, and back buttons will do, and the behaviour should be similar on both platforms.

I've always thought that the BlackBerry button was pretty ingenious from a branding perspective. It leverages the brand when people say "Hit the BlackBerry button to launch..." Now, with a Windows button, what better way for Microsoft to leverage Windows Phone than with a Windows button that launches Windows Phone programs? Also, let's be honest, do people actually use the Start menu for anything other than to go to the programs menu anyways? With added user interfaces like the S-Class LG interface, TouchWiz on Samsung, and TouchFLO 3D on HTC devices, you'll always have access to calendars, contacts, and media without going through the small, non-finger-friendly Start menu. Is all the new branding a push to be more consumer friendly or is Microsoft really going for deep corporate pockets with some subtle, but subliminal, similarities?

For more pictures of the new Diamond2 and the Windows button, you can visit our Diamond2 Mobile World Congress coverage.