Sony XPERIA X1

A recent job posting over at Microsoft.com hints at how Microsoft plans to integrate social networking into Windows Mobile 7. It is a bit disconcerting that this job is just being filled now, but at least they’re on the right track. Simple and intuitive access to social media is essential to any successful mobile OS these days, and for Microsoft to make up lost ground on they really need to hit the ground running… next October.

“Social Networks” and “Mobile Phones” are two rapidly evolving socio-cultural phenomena that deeply impact the way in which people interact with each other. How would you like to be at the confluence of these phenomena – not as an observer but as someone who is defining the course?

I’d love it, thanks. Now this is an excerpt from the posting (the job has been filled, so I can’t link to it anymore).  It goes on:

The Windows Mobile 7 Communications group is building experiences on the phone that present your content – friends, pictures, messages, events – to you in immersive and engaging ways. Our vision is to bring social networks to life by integrating them into the core experience of the phone. For example imagine seeing all the newsfeeds from all the networks you care about in a single hub on the phone. Or imagine the phone instantly telling you what your friend is doing and where he is when you get a call from him.
To realize this vision and build these experiences it’s important to have a solid, well-thought out foundation. This is where the “Models” team comes in. This team owns the storage platform and the developer story for all the social content on the phone – friends, photos, newsfeeds, messages, events, etc. Our aim is to build a “Mobile Social Platform” that provides rich APIs to both internal and external applications and to not only enable but also inspire them to build compelling social experiences.

Sounds like a challenge, yes? Well, they’ve found someone to fill these shoes (though we don’t know who yet).