Windows Phone 7 Series (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

That's what Kin was supposed to be. (different, not enterprise)

 

[Hanson]

Parker, did you ever pick up the Evo?

 

[Sam Posten]

Engadget is a lot more optimistic than infoworld:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/19/windows-phone-7-in-depth-preview/

 

[Parker Clack]

Hanson:

Not yet. I see that you got yours. I know a lot of people that have one but I haven't been able to get one from anyone locally or through Sprint.

With all this waiting around I am seriously looking at the Samsung Epic 4G. I really like the AMOLED screen it has. The only thing I really don't like
is the slide out keyboard which I will never use. Now wife would.

I have been using SlideIT on my Hero and love it and with Swipe being included on the Samsung I look forward to playing around with one before I
decide on it or the EVO.

Parker

 

[Hanson]

You can get an idea of what the Epic will be like from the TMo Vibrant reviews since the HW is the same as the Epic sans the case design and keyboard.

Form the reviews I've read, the colors really pop off the screen, but it's still not very usable in sunlight. Some people prefer the larger 4.3" screen size.

A lot of people love Swype. I'll have to check it out, but it seems like another auto-correct/word choosing program, and I have zero luck with those.

 

[Parker Clack]

Hanson,

I don't believe you can get Swipe for your phone at this time but I can recommend SlideIT. It does the same thing as swipe and it free. Check it out.

Parker

 

[Hanson]

I... uh.. could, but I'll go with SlideIT for now /img/vbsmilies/htf/smiley_wink.gif

I have completely stopped typing out text messages, I only use voice input. In an environment that cares little for capitalization, this is the easiest way for me to compose texts. Well, expect when I'm out in public.

BTW, since we've veered WAAAY off-topic, I've just read a couple of Windows Phone 7 previews and they were quite positive:

http://gizmodo.com/5590327/windows-phone-7-in-depth-a-fresh-start?skyline=true&s=i

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/cell-phones/microsoft-windows-phone-7-technical-preview-a-definitive-guide/4286?tag=mantle_skin;content

I'm still not sold -- interface is only part of the experience. Do I have to run back to my PC to sync everything? Will there be an app for that? Will the cartoonish animations get old and can I turn them off? BTW, I can't understand how there's "no lag" between screens but you have to watch this animation unfold. Isn't it just covering up the lag? Plus, I'm not on Facebook or Twitter, so this kind of social networking hub thing just doesn't work for me.

And seriously -- no copy/paste or multi-tasking? tsk tsk.

I just wanted to add that I'm not really into OS philosophies that require you to search for everything even though you know exactly where it is. I find that incredibly frustrating.

 

[Sam Posten]

Neat but not game changing:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/16/xbox-live-launch-titles-for-windows-phone-7-finally-revealed-we/

 

[DaveF]

My early thoughts on WinPho7 were that it doesn't stand a chance. Given mature (2-4th gen) iPhone and Android choices, why would anyone choose immature 1st gen WP7? And as a business, how do you compete against the high-margin iPhone and the free Android, both of which are still sold for the same cost? And given that Palm Pre (WebOS), widely considered the best OS next to iOS, failed, how does MS compete in this space?
 
New thought: there are millions of Windows users who don't yet have a smartphone. They'll think, 'my PC runs windows, so my phone should to be compatible', and buy a WP7.
 
If MS provides marketing dollars to carriers to promote WP7 over iPhone / Android phones, the ignorant masses could also be steered to WP7 by salespeople.
 
And finally, if MS sees this as a critical market, like with the Xbox, they may be willing to lose billions for years, to buy their way into the mobile market.
 
And finally, it might actually be good! (getting into crazy talk here...
 
Philosophically, WP7 sounds like WebOS, built to aggregate all "social" data (contact info, photos, etc) into a unified system. It seems to assume that e.g. photos on FaceBook are as important to you as photos in your own photo library. This is distinct different from the iPhone, where data is more siloed. That may appeal to the "social" users today. (But doesn't fit my needs at all, where "social" is a step or three down in importance from my primary contacts and photo libraries and so on.)

 

[Hanson]

I cannot understand for the life of me why any WinMo user would want to move to WP7. The whole point of WinMo's existence is the freedom and customizability of the user experience. But WP7 will take that away.
To me, it's like this -- you (WinMo user) live in a country where you have lots of freedom -- you can live anywhere and you can own anything you like, but the electricity goes out regularly and the trains don't run on time. Across the border, there's a country where the trains run on time and electricity is available 24/7, but you can't do anything other than what the dictatorship allows you. You have to wear the same clothes, there's only one store you can shop at, and you have to report to a central office periodically for basic needs.
Then another country appears, and the trains run on time, the electricity works, but you have all the freedoms you're used to.
All of a sudden, your government informs you that starting at the end of the year, they are going to go totalitarian like the other country, with no promise of anything other than being locked down. Are the trains going to run? Are the lights going to stay on? Even if they do, why were you living here in the first place if not for the freedom? The only freedom they allow is that you can move elsewhere.
I moved pre-emptively. But I don't know why so many others want to stay.
 

 

[DaveF]

Originally Posted by Hanson Yoo
I cannot understand for the life of me why any WinMo user would want to move to WP7. The whole point of WinMo's existence is the freedom and customizability of the user experience. But WP7 will take that away.

Who's arguing they would? Is this something MS has been touting as its immediate target audience?
 
And maybe they don't. But there's a whole world of current and potential smartphone users MS hopes to entice to their new phone.

 

[Sam Posten]

Early reports are that WP7 might be pretty great and that the tablets they are going to announce along side them should be available on black friday and might not suck either! Even Gruber gave a thumbs up to an early prototype WP7 phone he got to check out for 5 mins or so.

 

[DaveF]

A month ago, talking to a coworker, I had the opinion that MS would be irrelevant at launch; they lacked the DNA to create a credible new phone. By all appearances, I'm wrong: they've got something remarkable to show.

Based on previews, it reminds me of the Palm Pre, with a design philosophy that assumes your online social networks are vitally important and must form the core of all your contacts and photos and etc. I respect a truly novel and intention design approach -- and it's good for many people, presumably -- but that doesn't match my needs, so I still prefer the iPhone apps perspective.

 

[mattCR]

My friends who work at MS seem to be very hyped on it. And, to be really blunt: Windows7 has been maybe MS's best release in a decade, and it is wearing it's time very well. Maybe it isn't a "tablet" product, but it changed the desktop game for Microsoft for all the positive.

So, who knows, maybe the right track.. (I'm still hanging onto my Torch, but more challengers the better)

 

[Adam Gregorich]

I've been stalling my needed phone upgrade a few months to see what WP7 is like.

 

[Hanson]

From where I sit, it's like an 1st gen iPhone with glanceable information.

I don't want my phone to be chained to my desktop

I don't want a phone lacking cut & paste and multitasking

I don't want a phone with locked down hardware and software

So... no thank you. I can get glanceable information from widgets already.

 

[DaveF]

My other thought: they'll sell a zillion of these to Joe 6 Pack and Sally Soccer Mom: "I've got a Windows computer so I need a Windows Phone".

 

[Hanson]

But how has that helped WinMo? Once Android came on to the scene, it was lights out for WinMo. WP7 has to succeed or fail on its own merits.

 

[DaveF]

J6P and SSM didn't buy smartphones then. They do now.

They can buy the iPhone...never mind, that means switching to AT&T.
They can buy that scary phone that turns you into the T1000 from Terminator.
They can buy a Windows Phone for their Windows Computer, like the salesman advises.

I see a very clear and strong salespitch for the non-geek population.

 

[Hanson]

You will only be able to buy WP7 for AT&T or TMo at launch. If you're on AT&T, they will tell you to buy an iPhone, because JP6 knows what it does. If you're on Tmo... well, good luck with that.