Smartphones Windows Phone 7 Series.

[Top Secret]

Windows Phone 7 Series: Everything Is Different Now - Windows phone 7 - Gizmodo

Seriously impressive stuff from Microsoft. By adopting a completely new design, cutting itself off it's crippled Windows Mobile ecosystem and by incorporating Zune and XBOX Live functionality, Microsoft has set itself up to seriously compete against the iPhone OS and Android OS. Not to mention the immense resources Microsoft is able to put towards projects to ensure success.

I really like the idea of the 'Hubs' concept, by organising data around the person, not the application. It's something that has real potential, especially it it migrates onto other Microsoft devices. The expanded Zune/7 Series/XBOX Live ecosystem has great potential as well, one that could seriously compete with the iPod/iPhone/iPad ecosystem and blow Android OS away. Not quite sure what to think of the overall design layout though, I've never been a fan of the Zune's oversized cut-off text and the long horizontal layout within apps would be more accustomed to a landscape layout. I also feel that the overly minimalistic layout could potentially alienate power users who depend on desktop-esque functionality of previous Windows Mobile products. Of course, the 7 Series is still 6 months away from release and I'm sure the talented folks from Redmond will figure everything out.

One thing that I do find interesting is the stricter guidelines Microsoft have placed on manufacturers. 7 Series is only available to chosen manufacturers and has specific hardware requirements. It's also banned skins for Windows Mobile (which means the death of Sense and TouchWiz) therefore 7 Series phones will likely look and perform pretty much the same. It seems that Microsoft feels the need to have a tighter reign on the forthcoming mobiles which run Windows Phone 7 Series.

 

[Sayyaaf]

Saw this early morning. I am not that impressed so far, seems like a iPhone knock off, no flash support yet. Promising is the most optimistic word I can think of.

BTW this is just a OS not a complete phone like iPhonse, so expect HTCs and Samsungs to run on this too.

Thanks TS.

 

[NarutoRamen]

I am not that impressed so far, seems like a iPhone knock off, no flash support yet.

You must not have paid attention.

 

[klier]

BTW this is just a OS not a complete phone like iPhonse, so expect HTCs and Samsungs to run on this too.

It looks a million times better than the current Windows for mobile phones. I quite like it!!!

 

[Sayyaaf]

You must not have paid attention.

How come ? I read in gsmarena.com that it has no flash support ? does it really come with flash ? Adobe also announced I think.

 

[Top Secret]

As far as I'm aware, Flash won't be supported on 7 Series phones until several months after release.

 

[NarutoRamen]

How come ? I read in gsmarena.com that it has no flash support ? does it really come with flash ? Adobe also announced I think.

Just because it doesn't have flash (yet) doesn't make it a iPhone ripoff. The OS itself is completely new, even in the phone world, the OS is a BRAND new and nothing like it exists...unless you take Zune into account, but that's not a phone.

As far as I'm aware, Flash won't be supported on 7 Series phones until several months after release.

That's as of right now. But remember, WinMo7 is still a LONG time away. Most phones won't even appear until end of this year, so Adobe and Microsoft have a LOT of time to get the flash player optimized, especially since Microsoft is actually setting hardware requirements this time.

 

[Sayyaaf]

Yes Ramen, saying a iPhone knock off is a bit harsh, what I meant is that it brought nothing new or superior to the iPhone, I think MS should've focused on iPhone weaknesses.

I am not being negative, just sharing my initial thoughts with you guys.

 

[klier]

But Sayyaaf, you have to keep in mind: harware like the iPhone is a once in a decade event. You cannot realistically expect ANY company to come with such a radical device so shortly after the iPhone.

iPhone and Wii are perfect examples of perfect products. For Wii, it doesn't matter how much money Sony or Microsoft is going to spend on their own motion controls for videogame consoles, it will not be a major leap over the Wiimote. A radical shift happen every once in a while, but not often.

 

[Mr Robert]

The weakness with the iPhone is that I feel trapped every time I use it. I keep thinking that the thing is so restricted and dumbed down... not to mention, it is not that stable.

 

[Sayyaaf]

lol Dr, you must have a terrible iPhone experience, I can't say its reliable, Personally I use my BB Onyx for day-to-day activities like Email and Calender but it is really dull. The iPhone is more of gadget, very customizable (with Cydia of course ) and very handy for browsing, gaming and on top of all, its still an iPod.

 

[Mr Robert]

Yes, the browsing is excellent, bar a few things like Flash...

I get a feeling that the only way to make the iPhone really good is to break free from Reverend Jobs. But that would probably only mean that he would ban me or something - the way Apple usually treats dissidents

 

[Cashmere]

I fail to understand what took Microsoft so long, have been waiting for this for eons!

 

[Potential]

This looks absolutely amazing. Copying the iPhone OS is ridiculous. It couldn't be more different how information is shown and how you interact with it.

HTC HD2 (maybe 3 by the time) running Windows Mobile 7 Series would be a great combination. I'd be more then happy to get rid of my iPhone 3GS (which I think he 1/4 of the phone everyone raves about).

 

[jack]

HTML5 is the future (example: Sketchpad - Online Paint/Drawing application) so no need for flash
don't underestimate WP7 Series, this could very well be the first platform to out perform the iphone (took them roughly 3 years ).
but its putting again a lot of "power" in microsofts hands, nearly every hardware seller is putting WP7 onto one of their platforms and microsoft is hardly allowing software adjustments this means that microsoft is more or less flooding the market - Zune,Xbox,Office everywhere.
so after christmas 2010 we are going to have 3 big players on the mobile phone market - Google,Microsoft & Apple.

 

[vabboud]

marketing wise the reveal cannot be timed better
i run a first gen HTC diamond, and i was thinking of upgrading to a nexus one or some other android device about now, but this has got me thinking twice, and i could very well wait until next christmas and get a brand new HTC WinMo 7 device

 

[jack]

I'll probably also wait till christmas and then decide wether to go with a WP7 device or the SonyEricsson X10mini ... this thing is so incredible small

 

[Osnabrueck]

HTML5 is the inevitable future, but the raw volume of blah-blah out on the webz about it being the death of Flash is very misleading and naive.

Flash is going to be around for a long time for reasons that I refuse to rant about because so many others have ranted about it already. It will be interesting to see if the web conforms to the mobile web, or if the mobile web finally catches-up to the desktop... or something else altogether.

WinMo7 looks good from a user-experience point of view. I like the clean look of the UI - which looks like a step ahead the Apple's OSX/Shiny motif.

 

[siko]

It's been less then a year I have my iPhone and I'm already considering to change. Can't view half the websites, it's constricting (unless you jailbreak it), slow and buggy as hell (I have to reboot it at leas once a week).

So this looks promising, but if there's no flash support, it's as lame as the iPhone.

 

[Osnabrueck]

Can't view because they're Flash-based?