Apple's biggest fanboi Stephen Fry loves Windows Phone 7

APPLE'S not exactly reeling from poor publicity in 2010, but they still wouldn't be happy with Stephen Fry's "betrayal".

Stephen Fry - not Microsoft's biggest fan by a long shot. But likes the WP7 / AP

DESPITE all the Antennagates, Flash fights, heavy-handed journo-bashing and Glassgates, Apple's not exactly reeling from poor publicity in 2010.

Its iPad is the fastest selling new technology device in the history of, well, technology and the iPhone 4 take-up rate is breaking the quarterly sales records set by its iconic predecessor.

Last night, however, it took a hit from the kind of source it probably would have preferred not to have.

At the London launch of its last-ditch attempt to become a genuine smartphone player, Microsoft revealed a surprisingly large trump card.

Windows Phone 7 - what does it mean for me?

The product was Windows Phone 7, the platform upon which Microsoft hopes a new generation of smartphones will be built to seriously challenge Apple's iPhone and Google's Android dominance.

And when all the PowerPoint displays and executives were done praising the Windows Phone 7, it was left to Microsoft to provide a credible real-world user who might force the critics to pause for just long enough to reconsider what they were about to write.

How about ... Stephen Fry?

Ouch. This one's going to hurt the cult of Apple, because not only is Fry a UK national treasure for his services to acting, writing and entertainment in general, he's Apple's number one spruiker.

To be fair, that moniker's not of his making, more a product of the type of positive reinforcement he gives Apple when tweeting to his 1.8 million Twitter fans.

“I never thought the day would come,” he said last night, “that I would stand on a stage and praise Microsoft for doing something they could be proud of.”

"When I got one of these (phones) my first feeling was it's fun to play with.

"I have felt enormous pleasure using this phone.

"Yes, I love Apple, but I'm not a monotheist.

"I want biodiversity in this market and all of us that love it should welcome that too."

He made it clear that he wasn't paid for the appearance, although it's probably fair to say that money doesn't hold a lot of sway over Fry.

And he was happy to prove his willingness to criticise Microsoft where it was required.

“There is a lot that is good,” he said.

“The Xbox is proving a huge success. Windows 7 is better than Vista.

“Mind you, there is sh*t on my shoe that is better than Vista.”

In that sense, it was a gamble by Microsoft to give someone as strongly independent as Fry the stage.

But it was a brave one, and a smart one.

"The fact that Fry has been using Windows Phone 7 for a week, and is prepared to tell his 1.8 million-strong Twitter following that he likes it is review enough for many people," CultofMac says.

Fry inherited his love of Apple from his good friend Douglas Adams, who famously used to respond to concerns about Apple only owning 10 per cent of the market with the quip: "Yes, but it's the top 10 per cent."

Given Microsoft horrendous efforts to crack the smartphone market (Kin, anyone?), it's going to take a lot more than Fry's endorsement for them to eat into that top "10 per cent".

But at least it's got smartphone users thinking, and that's something your everyday Apple fan doesn't do too often when it comes to choosing their brand.