Microsoft has branded its Windows Phone 7 smartphone platform an “ad-serving machine” during a briefing to show off new features.
“For marketers this is actually turning out to be an ad-serving machine,” said Kostas Mallios, general manager at Microsoft’s Live Labs, at an advertising industry conference. “It lets advertisers connect with consumers over time.”
Microsoft showed off three tools in the sales-blitz portfolio – Apps, Tiles and Toast – which give brand owners access to the front pages of handsets if consumers download apps from third parties.
With the Tiles and Apps feature, Mallios said, icons on the homepage would be dynamic so a brand could send out information about offers or new releases.
Should the message fail to get through – perhaps because the consumer has turned the application off – then a third tool, dubbed Toast, could be used to crank up the volume.
“If the app isn’t running then Toast is a dynamic way of reaching people,” said Mallios. “Toast can enable an advertiser to push content out to the device.”
Microsoft says consumers can opt out of the services if they feel overwhelmed by the bombardment.
Windows Phone 7 is expected to be released in October.
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