Microsoft: Mac sync app for Windows Phone 7 by end of 2010
updated 07:30 am EDT, Wed October 13, 2010
Microsoft confirms Mac WP7 sync app
Microsoft in a statement this morning confirmed a Mac sync option for Windows Phone 7 devices. Heading off a misstep by a UK executive, it said there would be a test version of a conduit app before the end of 2010 to bring some content to the phones. The company implied it wasn't a Zune app but also that it would be self-developed.
"Later in 2010 Microsoft will make a public beta available of a tool that allows Windows Phone 7 to sync select content with Mac computers," it said in a statement.
Such apps have usually been used in the past to draw in content from iTunes, iPhoto and other media apps, with some occasionally pulling in contacts or other local info. WP7's Windows Live sign-in reduces the need for syncing basic data since much of it is preserved online.
Microsoft has traditionally resisted a true Zune media player app, in part due to the challenges of adding protected Windows Media support and reworking the app itself but also the lack of incentives to support a smaller chief rival. WP7 changes this by reducing the need for a full sync app but also widening the pool of users beyond slow-selling Zune players.
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Joined: May 2001
Those were the days my friends...
It wasn't all that long a go that Microsoft would have said "Too bad, so sad..." to Mac users. "No syncing for you!" I don't think, however, that many Mac users will be purchasing WP7 phones. Juts a guess. :-)