Jul 27
It seems that Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 is really living up to the hype it has stirred earlier this year when Steve Ballmer first showed the world the work in progress last February. Originally, Microsoft announced that the OS would not be ready until the end of the year. However, it seems that the OS has been finished a lot earlier than expected and that there are already reports that it might be released this coming September.
As promised by Microsoft, several handsets that run the new OS will be offered when the system finally comes out this year. This means that users will not only get to try out the new operating system, but they will also have a range of devices to choose from.
While Microsoft did declare specifics for minimum hardware requirements to run the new OS, there are still variations among the different devices –particularly with the form factor. The Windows Phone 7 OS works with three existing device configurations –though so far, type 1 is the most prolific while there are only a couple of type 2 devices available.
Speaking of which, one such type 2 handset is the LG Panther. This Korean made smart phone will be using a slide out QWERTY keyboard as opposed to just being a standard touch screen smart phone. According to the reports, all WP7 devices will have WVGA touch screen displays. Several other manufacturers have been named, among which are HTC, Samsung, Dell, and Asus.
The developer version of the system has already been distributed last week to various developers and testers. According to early reactions to the new user interface, many find that the new direction Microsoft has taken to be quite bold. The design is something that people really love or really hate, which means that it will be having a very specific niche crowd of users despite being made to be an OS for all.
Jul 22
Since last February, Microsoft has been exciting many smart phone users with the promise of the upcoming Windows Phone 7 operating system. The new platform is dynamic, geared towards social networking and has plenty of new features that are bound to make previous critics of the Windows Mobile OS see MS in a brand new light.
However, in these past couple of days, the excitement for the new OS has turned into apprehension as the developer copies have been shipped out and the initial reactions are quite the opposite of what was originally expected.
In terms of looks and feel, the new OS’ user interface is everything that Microsoft originally demonstrated it to be and a little more. Everything runs smoothly –in fact, some could say that it runs better than the demonstration videos. But there are some crucial factors missing.
These factors are multitasking and “cut and paste”. According to Microsoft, users do not need these features and that adding them in will only sacrifice the handset’s performance.
Anyone who was tried out the Apple iPhone would be quick to say rubbish, and they have every right to do so. When the iPhone OS first launched, multitasking and cut-and-paste were two major features that we not included in the operating system. Users had to demand and beg Apple –which eventually relented; cut and paste came out early, while it took over two years to get multitasking as an available feature.
Microsoft needs to learn from Apple –or at least, Apple’s mistakes. There is not point putting the Windows Phone 7 OS through a similar problem, especially that the industry already knows the possible outcome as well as what the market needs.
With the developer copies of Windows Phone 7 already released, expect to know more about this new OS in the coming days.
Jul 14
Without a doubt, the Windows operating system is the single most successful operating system for desktops and netbooks. With this, Microsoft was able to establish the company as the leader in the computer industry. This is probably why it is such a big deal for MS that after they were trying to do the same with the smart phones, they completely failed.
In fact, they were pretty much behind the with the whole smart phone era. And by the time 3G and WiFi became common place –and smart usability moved from the business clients to the general users, the Windows Mobile OS could not keep up with the new dynamic user interfaces and the inclusion of mass market appealing capabilities such as social networking integration, games and media playback.
According to Steve Ballmer, current CEO of Microsoft, they missed out on an entire generation of smart phone users. They did nail a significant portion of the business industry –managing to take second place to BlackBerry (which is the only spot which is ever going to be open as RIM is completely dominating that field), and MS is still enjoying a moderate degree of success in the smart phone industry.
But with the shift of users leaning more and more towards general users, Microsoft has to face the fact that they need to change the OS.
And thus we have the upcoming Windows Phone 7. The new OS is everything that the older mobile platform is not. It is dynamic, hip, stylish, fresh and fun. It takes away the serious air and complicated controls of the WinMo UI and brings in a new multi-touch capable, intuitive touch screen user interface. It also brings in new features such as Bing search, Zune media and Xbox Live Games as well.
