Windows Phone 7 Series Takeaway

by Brian Klug on 2/22/2010 12:00 PM EST
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40 Comments

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  • jms102285 - Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - link

    I'm pretty excited to see Microsoft go this route. I'm really wondering how Microsoft is going to plan out integrating this with Exchange servers. One of my pet peeves about my current WinMo phone is that it is unable to sync public folders from our exchange server and most of the information that is super important to me is there instead of in my personal folders. Also flipping through my tasks/e-mail/calendars is much too cumbersome, I'd prefer something as an All-in-One package.

    As far as what I'd love to see ideally:
    - Mini or micro USB connection for charging/computer connection. Nothing is more annoying then proprietary charging cables.
    - 3.5mm headphone jack for compatibility with all normal headphones
    - Optional Wi-Fi
    - Support for syncing public folders with Microsoft Exchange

    I almost half wonder if the release of Wave 14 is going to play into this phone. Any word about that Anandtech?
    - Consolidating Tasks/Calendar/E-mail/etc. into one program
  • jms102285 - Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - link

    And I failed at proof-reading. Go me.
  • krakman - Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - link

    I wonder if hooking up your phone to XP still deletes contacts at random, as is the case with 6.1.
  • paulpod - Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - link

    Wow, completely missing from the preview of this "phone" is any discussion of how easy it is to make/receive phone calls and send/receive simple text messages. (Especially when that task needs to interrupt all the other nonsensical functionality.)

    Would be funny if the thing comes out and they have to say "Woops, we forgot to put a phone in there."

    But seriously, I was looking at Phone 7 as the first sophisticated phone OS that, in a "Windows-like" manner, considers practical needs like being able to set a permanently large font size for text messaging. Little hope for this type of feature when things like gaming support are taking all the resources.

  • nerdtalker - Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - link

    Ironically, the reason I really didn't discuss much of the Phone side of Windows Phone 7 Series is because Microsoft admittedly hasn't fleshed out that experience yet.

    The dialer is extremely rudimentary (read: literally just a dialer, no smart dial, no lookup, no contacts, nothing), and the SMS application (which is probably what I'm most interested in) is largely placeholders that demonstrate rotation works.

    There's so little that's been unveiled at this point. Agreed.

    Cheers,
    Brian
  • strikeback03 - Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - link

    lol, considering how poorly SMS (or even more, MMS) works on WM6, I would hope they would put some effort into this.
  • nerdtalker - Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - link

    Honestly, I would too. One of the big problems with the entire gamut of WM devices I've had (smartphone edition and Pro edition with touchscreen) is that the SMS subsystem will sometimes silently fail sending messages. Or, it'll fail and pop an alert box up under the dialog; you can't see it unless you quit messaging and look for it.

    There's no surer way to frustration because you think you've sent the message, only to discover that both you haven't, and the dialog has stopped notifications of new messages.

    I agree; Phone 7 Series really will be defined by how the phone/messaging alert system interacts with an already abstract UI. Nothing has been shown there, and user-polling the tiles really isn't what I'm hoping for.

    -Brian
  • strikeback03 - Thursday, February 25, 2010 - link

    I guess since I am using TF3D and rarely leave the messaging program open I haven't had that problem. Though it will randomly decide to start notifying me a MMS message has failed to send, despite not having tried to send a MMS message. Since it does not integrate with Verizon's system of notification that the other party has actually received a message you never know what has happened though.
  • Stas - Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - link

    Who uses iPhone anymore? It died off around my area about 6 months ago. Those that still have theirs, are either waiting till the contract is up, or are looking for a buyer (good luck). Time to embrace progress people, Android is where it's at. I hope WinPhone 7 is good though, as I wouldn't mind better integration with my Windows PCs and good games. Google Voice is pretty much epic, there better be a similar Live! service :)
  • kmmatney - Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - link

    You are truly talking out of your ass if you think the iPhone is going away...
  • kmmatney - Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - link

    Posted from my iPhone, btw
  • QueBert - Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - link

    lol that's cute, I just sold my first generation 8 gig iPhone for $200. I know about 20 people with iPhones and 2 with Driods. what you said doesn't come close to what's really going on. And I'D bet money today that the 4G iPhone will outsell any Android by a huge margin. The fact I know 6 or 7 people who hate AT&T but still switched to just because they wanted an iPhone speaks volumes.
  • QueBert - Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - link

    Just for shits and giggled I put 2 ad's on CL today, 1 for an Android and 1 for an iPhone 1st gen. Neither are phones I have, so far I've gotten no emails for the Android but 3 people have already asked about the iPhone. Mind you the Android I listed is a phone that came out within the past 5 months and the iPhone is over 3 years old. Where are all these people you claim are running to buy Android devices? WOOPS just got another email asking about my iPhone.

  • Synaesthesia - Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - link

    http://www.macrumors.com/2010/02/23/gartner-iphone...">http://www.macrumors.com/2010/02/23/gar...laims-th...

    Sales doubled in 2009 - still way ahead of Android, just behind RIM.
  • ciukacz - Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - link

    i hope that windows phone will be as good a LOB platform as current windows mobile is, but for example simplified multitasking does not bode well.
  • kmmatney - Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - link

    "Microsoft believes so strongly in this UI that they're disallowing modification to it by both carriers and manufacturers. "

    Sound familiar?
  • darwinosx - Monday, February 22, 2010 - link

    I don't know how anyone can make any kind of judgements about Windows 7 Phone whatevertheyarecallingitthisweek. Microsoft has shown us almost nothing about it except for one level of UI with no indication of how 3rd party apps can squeeze their way in. My guess though is that Windows CE/PocketPC/WindowsMobile has such a bad reputation that Microsoft would have to come out with something really extraordinary to distract people from iPhones and Android. Android being a distant 2nd place to iPhone. I do think Google is going to learn the hard way about skinning and UI fragmentation just like Microsoft did. Android is being skinned because its current attempts to mimic the iPhone suck. Maybe they can get back to me when you can install more than a few hundred Mb of apps on the freakin thing. Or when the OS is optimized so that even a 1ghz proc doesn't have lots of lags or slowdowns when a bunch of apps are run. The half-baked Android OS is still beating out Blackberry, Palm, and Microsoft in capability which tells you how archaic those OS' and hardware are. I'll bet my next paycheck that the next iPhone coming in just months will blow everything else out of the water including Windows Mobile 7 when it is released someday.
  • psypher - Monday, February 22, 2010 - link

    Am I the only one that sees this and thinks that this is looking like a great tablet platform as well? If the iPhone OS on a bigger screen makes for a good tablet (debatable), then this with native MS Office and a more capable browser (or possibly browsers if they let firefox and opera on) would just be killer. Integration with xbox live and all that other goodness is just icing on the cake.
  • rjwerth - Monday, February 22, 2010 - link

    But will it require the phone to wake up and backlight turn on every time it changes towers like EVERY (#*$()* windows phone does now?
  • strikeback03 - Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - link

    My Diamond never turns on when switching towers. I can drive for a few hours and not have the screen turn on.
  • Pirks - Monday, February 22, 2010 - link

    hahaha I can imagine how reader1 laughs right now at all the PC loving idiots who bashed his closed platform prophesies. now look idiots where MS itself is moving! eat that dumbo winfanatics! hehehe hahaha cool!! :)))
  • Dainas - Monday, February 22, 2010 - link

    The biggest problem with Windows mobile, (besides the horrid performance).... was how you had to pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan here to do this, or pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan pan there to do that. THIS LOOKS FRICKEN WORSE, ITS STILL NOT WINDOWS.... Windows 3.0 was better and easier to navigate than windows mobile, cannot wait to see how microsoft will fail at surpassing it again.

    It looks like you still cannot do a thing without panning for an half and hour because your relegated to looking at a tiny spyhole on the operating system. And no, the resolution of smartphones is not an excuse, windows xp works fine at 800x600.
  • Tanclearas - Monday, February 22, 2010 - link

    Honestly, I was shocked to learn that Microsoft felt they couldn't update the UI without breaking compatibility. HTC gave them a really good start to show how it can be done.

    I definitely fall into the category of "if I have to change anyway, then I might as well look at all my options". The real risk MS is running is with businesses that are looking at their options right now. They might choose to make the switch to one of the competitors rather than a) stick with a platform MS has killed (WM Classic) or b) gamble on an incomplete, unknown solution.
  • Griswold - Monday, February 22, 2010 - link

    Just a new GUI wont remedy the huge pile of shit windows mobile is, so MS did the right thing. WM was mainly a business product anyway and one that kept losing ground to RIM at lightspeed. Can as well kick that garbage to the curb and finally embrace the consumer with a proper mobile OS. Way to go Microsoft!

    I for one am looking forward to it. Its now between android and series 7 to replace my iphone 3G, since i'm no longer interested in apples upcoming phones.
  • Tanclearas - Monday, February 22, 2010 - link

    I couldn't disagree more. While there are issues with the underlying OS, the UI was by far the biggest reason to choose something else. When someone is showing off the iPhone, what exactly are they doing? Showing off the UI. "Look how it scrolls when I flick my thumb/finger! Look how it reacts when I tilt/shake it!" When they talk about Windows Mobile, what is the first thing they ridicule it for? "You have to use a stylus?"

    I just honestly can't believe there wasn't a solution that allowed MS to correct the single biggest issue, without breaking compatibility with existing apps, and while starting a migration process to an improved underlying OS. If I wanted to go with a company with a proven track record of ditching its previous users, then I would have gone with Apple.

    The fact that you are considering a completely untested and unfinished platform for you to replace your iPhone indicates you either haven't been involved in the tech world very long, or haven't learned from the mistakes of millions.

    Good luck.
  • strikeback03 - Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - link

    While WM6 doesn't actually require use of a stylus, IMO the entire UI did need to be redone. Quite simply, it behaves too much like a collection of disjointed programs. Just the fact that something as simply as the alarm clock is done poorly, and launching a replacement alarm clock can take several seconds, is a indication of how much needs an overhaul in the UI. Really, when the best thing that can be said about the OS is that it allows other programs to run, you have issues.

    That said, if the new Phone7 doesn't allow multitasking I won't even consider it.
  • Thermogenic - Monday, February 22, 2010 - link

    "As it stands, social interaction with Xbox Live community takes place exclusively on the console itself; the experience is tethered to the TV."

    This is not correct - the Live community is also accessible from Games for Windows Live.
  • nerdtalker - Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - link

    You're indeed correct ;)

    I guess what I should have noted was that the experience is still ultimately tethered to either the desktop (through Games for Windows) or the console. If I'm not mistaken, there's some loose ability to interact through the web interface, but still that isn't entirely desirable.

    Even then, I've noticed through playing Halo 2 PC and a few other Games for Windows Live titles that the experience is relatively segmented; your gamerscore goes up, sure, and you can see those achievements from either side, but you can't say play Halo 2 games with people on Xbox 1. That, and I don't think they've seen the community on the PC side grow as much due to the whole subscription situation. It's a good thing for PC gamers that already have a gold account, but won't draw in PC gamers already used to free online play or for pay through a clan with a dedi slice.

    I guess what I meant to say was that the experience is constrained to the household; it isn't mobile. What Phone 7 Series might be able to do is finally expand that out into the mobile realm so you can take that same online persona with you everywhere.

    I mean, we could really start speculating and wonder whether there'll be direct phone->Xbox 360 functionality. Who knows?

    Cheers,
    Brian
  • Alexvrb - Monday, February 22, 2010 - link

    Yep. I'm half surprised Brian didn't know that. Regardless, extending it into their mobile phones would be a smart move. Especially if you can access your Live content on the go - if some XBLA developers port over their existing games, I'm sold. Castle Crashers on Phone 7 would rock, for example. For relatively simple games made with XNA it shouldn't be too difficult, given a sufficiently powerful phone.
  • gaiden2k7 - Monday, February 22, 2010 - link

    First of all, I'm so glad MS was able to see through what they done before wasn't working. WinMo UI before reminds me alot of BB UI very plain and text-based. But WinMo 7, this is so minimalist so simple with its words like tiles and pivots and hubs it's more google-ish than what google tries to do with android! Second of all, there is no doubt MS will be tying up its other toys with the phone: MS Office (when it gets the patent rights sort out), Bing search is cool, and gaming under xbox live is most interesting to me. Android lacks in gaming and has been one of its weakest link to buyers like me (owns N1 atm). But with these Tegra 2 WinMo7 phones on the horizon there is new phone in gaming phones other than iPhone!
  • poopyman67 - Monday, February 22, 2010 - link

    Am I the only one wondering what win7 series is gonna be based off of? I'm guessing winmo6. The only problem is that 7 is a HUGE departure from 6. This is where ms really hurts itself in my opinon. They don't have a system like Linux or unix that they can strip down. Then again, it seems to me a waste to write a new scheduler, file manager, etc. It seems to me at least that it's going to take a completely rewritten OS from ms to make 7 successful.

    Too bad they don't do the same on the desktop, but I guess that's comparing apples to oranges.
  • zicoz - Monday, February 22, 2010 - link

    They have Windoed CE, and I think that is what WinMo is based on, I think WM 6.5 is based on CE 5.x, and rumors have it that WP7 will be based on CE7
  • ncage - Monday, February 22, 2010 - link

    You don't know that. Microsoft has some of the smartest people in the industry eventhough it seems very fragmented at times. I'm sure the people who wrote the underpinnings segregated into layers in the such that it would be easier to modify in the future. They aren't stupid and there are some damn good system architects there. I've heard from a few sources (engadget i think was one of them) that they totally scraped WinMo 6.5.x and started from scratch. While they don't have linux running i'm sure they have a lightweight OS at its core and then add to that.
  • darwinosx - Monday, February 22, 2010 - link

    It's been a long time since it was cool to work at Microsoft. The best people are beat down by the layers of stifling management. Doing things the right way is not important. Feature lists and shipping dates are. Thats why Windows is still a mess after all these years. Quoting Engadget tells me you don't know much about the subject. That and your inability to write coherently. I'm betting you are a teenager who doesn't know jack.
  • mlambert890 - Thursday, February 25, 2010 - link

    Your handle, your ad-hominem attacks on that guy, your extremist myopia and your obnoxious arrogance all tell me (and probably everyone else) that you're an a-hole.
  • lordmetroid - Monday, February 22, 2010 - link

    While they may have some geniuses. Statistically, a company that develops behind closed doors have an insignificant percentage of the all geniuses while a company that develops in the open and allows anyone to contribute can have all geniuses developing the product.
  • Magius - Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - link

    Let me turn that on you:
    Statistically, a company that develops behind closed doors have complete control of who develops its products (aka. geniuses) while a company that develops in the open and allows ANYONE to contribute can have all the opinionated idiots that think themselves geniuses (plus real geniuses here and there) developing the product.
  • poopyman67 - Monday, February 22, 2010 - link

    Oh I don't deny that they have smart people. They've done some great work in research. I just find that they like to take the fast and easy route. Think of windows and flight sim x. Vista was pretty bloaty and light sim x is terribly inefficient.

    I just think that a total rewrite is neccessary to make 7 series successful.
  • deputc26 - Monday, February 22, 2010 - link

    Even Apple-Loving Engadget Has recently given an Android handset "Best gadget of the year" for 2009 as well as best smartphone and best gps.

    http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/22/the-winners-of-...">http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/22/the-...s-of-the...
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