As CES 2011 approaches, here are a few smartphone trends we expect to see at the show

Microsoft says that it has more than 300,000 downloads of beta tools for developers creating applications for its Windows Phone 7 app store, which is set to compete with the app-laden marketplaces for the iPhone and Android phones.

The Windows Phone Developer Tools have been downloaded more than 300,000 times, Microsoft said, as the company prepares to offer a new application store and mobile operating system.

South Korea's LG Electronics will launch its first smartphone designed around Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 software by the end of September and will follow with more by the end of the year, a company representative said Wednesday.

Lose your phone much? If so, you may want to consider one running Windows Phone 7 (WP7) for your next replacement.

Microsoft is running a contest looking for ideas for Windows Phone 7 apps, offering the winner US$5,000, a free phone and a promise to actually develop and offer the app by the end of the year.

Microsoft shook things up this week with some high-profile departures, and a reorganization of the Entertainment and Devices division that has CEO Steve Ballmer directly controlling the future of Microsoft's consumer technologies. When it comes to smartphones, Windows Phone 7 should arguably be the de facto platform for business professionals, but Microsoft may be delivering too little, too late.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's comment last September that his company had "screwed up" with Windows Mobile had some theorizing that Microsoft's handheld team was in disarray and probably unable to take on the Apple iPhone and other devices.

Windows Phone 7 is inching closer to market. Microsoft has sent the operating system for its brand of mobile phones to the labs of carriers for testing, as well as to developers of applications for the phones, which are expected to reach the market in time for holiday shoppers.

Microsoft is so desperate to prove Windows Phone 7's worth in the fiercely competitive smartphone market the company's already giving technical previews to the press, months before the platform's holiday launch.

Microsoft used its annual Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Washington, DC this week to reveal more details about the impending Windows Phone 7 smartphone platform. While Microsoft's smartphone market share has been plummeting, Windows Phone 7 could emerge as the best smartphone platform for businesses, and help Microsoft regain ground it has lost to RIM, Apple, and Google.

The Windows Phone 7 operating system won't arrive for a few more months (expect a splashy debut as the holiday season nears) and Microsoft is using the extra time to dole out morsels of information about its upcoming mobile OS--one with the unfortunate task of competing with Apple's iPhone and a bumper crop of Google Android-based phones.

Microsoft is coming fashionably late to the next-generation smartphone party. New cutting edge Android devices seem to come out monthly, and Apple just unveiled its big iPhone overhaul for 2010, but with Windows Phone 7 looming on the horizon, businesses may have reason to delay any decision until they can directly compare the benefits and drawbacks of all three platforms.

Today's reports of a managerial shakeup at Microsoft -- specifically the departure of two key executives from the company's entertainment division that makes mobile phone software, Xbox game consoles, and Zune media players -- is a yet another strong indication of Redmond's internal turmoil. Robbie Bach is retiring as chief of Microsoft's entertainment group, and J. Allard, seen as one of the visionaries behind the successful Xbox platform, is also leaving the company.

A shakeup in Microsoft's gaming and devices business finally splits two groups that should never have been together, and could unleash the company's mobile device efforts. Whether CEO Steve Ballmer's decision is timely or too late remains to be seen.

Kevin Hoffman is an enterprise programmer who straddles two worlds: Windows, including Windows Mobile and now Windows Phone 7, and Apple iPhone. His day job is chief systems architect for Oak Leaf Waste Management in East Hartford, Conn., where he focuses on mobile and cloud application development.