@Darrel: Maybe you should look up the definition of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt). There may be uncertainty, but certainly there is no fear or doubt.

Micr0$uck$ is a company based in Redmund, Washington, USA. They bought the software M$-D0$ and made lots of $$$. They put a 16-bit LoseDoze Operating System (O/S) on top of D0$ (the most popular was LoseDoze 3.1), then a hybrid 16/32-bit O/S (LoseDoze 95, then LoseDoze 98, then LoseDoze ME). They also had a 32-bit O/S, LoseDoze New Technology (NT), which is still quite popular on the desktop PCs: there was v3.5, v4.0 (LoseDoze 2000), v5.0 (LoseDoze XP 32-bit), v5.1 (LoseDoze XP 64-bit), v6.0 (LoseDoze Vista which was a real stinker), and now there is v6.1 (LoseDoze 7, a minor update to Vista that they want everyone to think is a HUGE improvement to the awful Vista).

So you see, there are lots of LoseDoze products in the wild, if you knew anything about computers other than how to turn them on you might have recognized the "Made for LoseDoze {VERSION}" warning label many computer makers put on their machines.

Microsoft has deep pockets (lined by all those continuing to use Office and Windows), so they seem to use the following marketing strategy:

1) Develop poorly-written code full of bugs that will be "patched and re-patched" later.

2) Price it high for maximum profit.

3) Opt for "brute force" marketing using gobs of money, assuming that people are inherently stupid and can simply be manipulate via "throw-weight" (to employ the cold-war term which resembles their marketing savvy to saturate every type of media with their "buy it NOW" ads.

One wonders how long Microsoft will continue to exist (helmed by the bellowing bully Ballmer):

Canceled Kin program - $250 - $800 million.

Win 7 Mo development - perhaps $500 million

Win 7 Mo marketing - around $400 million

So perhaps their phone follies could cost shareholders around $2 billion? Spending all that money instead on proper product development would seem to be a foreign concept to them. But by all means, keep Ballmer in charge until the corporation goes bankrupt.

And will get about 400 people to buy it, LOL. Kinda like the government stimulus, spend a trillion and get about 50 jobs from it.

@bigger_luddite

"And what does it have over Iphone and Android except ridiculous hyperbole as above?"

hehe, i had a wee giggle at this, you can play with words on this one, because frankly the exact same can be said about the iphone and android, none of them are "better" than the rest, they are all good in their own way, stop all this fud.

To the person saying no copy and paste, again please get your fact straight and report correctly as you are only fanning flames, MS will add copy paste after launch, its not a matter of doing it as WM has had it since the word go, its a matter of how the user goes about it, whilst i cant say when it will happen we know it will and i bet you it will be quicker than 2 years it took Apple!

@Hucklebuck you seem to have a problem with your product names, i dont know of a "Micr0$uck$ LoseDoze" i can only assume you live in some alternate reality.

now, to the article, spending the 400m on advertising is a good call, if only they had have spent that on WM and stopped manufactures screwing up an otherwise good OS.

For me, until i can run native code, ill stick with my WM 6.5.3 with sence 2.5, kicks the balls of anything else out their just now.

Microsoft is still competing with themselves. They won't put Windows Phone 7 on everything under 10 inches. I understand the concern about impacting the Windows cash cow, but until you have a compelling mobile product...

If your biggest friend (Intel) and customer (HP)are going to compete with you in the future you might want to take steps to head that off. Build a custom windows CPU, design from the groud up the os that works well in mobile and desktop (Windows 8?). If you can't get Windows 7 to run perfect under mobile conditions, use Windows Phone 7, until Windows 8 then phase out Windows Phone.

Everyone should immediately throw away their Ifone and Android phones so they can get the very latest Micr0$uck$ LoseDoze operating system. Then they will be able to point and click and browse the internet - all things that are extremely difficult if not impossible to do with any other product.

I hope this new slew of ads doesn't burden the viewer with ads in foreign languages. If Microsoft wants to market to French people, great, but keep those commercials in France; I don't want to hear Pierre yakking in French about how much he enjoys his Mobile Aero Snap or whatever.

Don't think of it as Microsoft building a bonfire with $400 million dollars. Think of it as Microsoft spending good money on a Really Nice funeral for Windows Mobile.

As long as it's their money their spending, and the thing stays dead, it's cheap at twice the price.

$300 million for Windows ads and the best they could do was copy Apple with I'm A PC ads. What does $400 million get you, I'm A Windows Phone? Common Microsoft, just don't release trash and people will like it.

They should have spend that money on the R&D. I had a Windows Phone years ago, email (with Exchange) was useless, and the battery life was 50 minutes talk, and 12 hours standby.

Just to make a call was a pain.

Never again.

Ever notice that M$ is always touting the next release that'll fix all problems, run like lightning, and do everything? (And here that it's some sort of "battle station".) Then when it's out, LATE, it's buggy, weird, and the only real change is cosmetic. In this case, I bet LATE is key. And what does it have over Iphone and Android except ridiculous hyperbole as above?

Microsoft spent a billion dollars, mostly on marketing.

Yet the handsets are incapable of the most basic functionality like multitasking, or Cut And Paste.

so thats $400M all together then

I think Microsoft is about a year or two too late, there are too many users using Android and iPhone, so why should app-makers make app's for MS? And at the same time, why should users buy an MS-Phone when there are no attractive apps? Sorry, but MS are too late with their attempts, even companies are starting to use iPhone and Android, so MS have missed an open goal, because a lot of companies have really tried to use MS Phone, but it has been far too bad. Now, most companies have tried alternatives and are ok with them so MS have a LOT to prove before they are even on the same track, and my guess it's about 2 years too late now. Sorry Mitchell, but MS need a lot more money than that to get up on the track again.

Got my hands on one of the Mobile 7 devices from a developer for a little while just to check it out.

All I will say is please dont compare your Apple iPhone toy to a fully armed and operational battle station.

Between Droid and Mobile 7 the iPhone is last years toy.