Windows Phone 7, Hmmmmm......

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

I have been intrigued by Windows Phone 7 for some time now. The interface looks head and shoulders above what is currently out there... (iOS/Andriod.) I guess I should say it looks like an entirely new experience and way to navigate and use the phone. I wish I would have looked into what they were doing with Zune before.

 

 

I don't know if I am going to trust it enough to be an early adopter, but my contract will be up in a couple of months, so who knows.

 

I was very disappointed to here early news that AT&T will be the early 'parent' provider. I already have lousy phone service, and random drops of data coverage. If I switch, I would at least hope to avoid those issues.

 

I would be more sway'd if the hardware winds up being as solid as the interface looks. I haven't been awed with Android hardware options yet, the build and quality of the phones don't match what Apple does.

 

I also wonder how the phone will handle once you start getting a larger number of tiles all trying to process and update at once. ...actually, I wonder how the phone handles in general. I have heard the navigation was snappy, but when I watch these videos, I am less than impressed with the speed at which the phone is responding to touch. It seems like there is a bit of lag in the touch screen, which is similar to how I feel about Android compared to iPhone touch screens. The former feel lag'd compared to the later.

 

I am also a bit disappointed at the predicted screen resolution. It is decent at WVGA, but still less than the iPhone..

 

Anyway, they have my attention for the next couple of months, I just hope the hardware can live up to the sleekness of the interface.

[acjwalker]

My Sister in law and her bf work for Bing in london and recently went to atlanta for the windows phone conference. They were informed that they will all be getting one. Now my sister in law is useless and thinks everything microsoft is the best. though her boyfriend had a funny story from their. He has been using an iphone at work for a while now and he was talking to some of the big guys at mircosft and informed them that he was using an iphone and unless they make the new windows phone any good he would continue to use his new iphone 4. These guys then kicked off demanding he hands over his phone so they can destroy it! He refuses and walks off. Later he then gets an email informing anyone who uses an iphone as a work phone will be grouped together and put on stage infront of thousands an they will be humiliated.

 

Supposedly they are good but not ground breaking. But they are a massive improvement on previous versions (not hard really)

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

I am going to wait until I can test drive one before I make my conclusion about how well it works. It is tough to call anything groundbreaking since things like Palm and Blackberry were around long before iPhone, the iPhone just gave a fresh way of looking at how they should function and integrate into our lives. From what I have seen, I would say that the Windows Phone 7 is a very fresh look at how a phone can integrate into our lives.

 

I use a iPhone 3g now, and have been debating with myself in terms of what my next phone will be. Below is the list of pro's and con's I have for the 3 major lifestyle phones that will be on market at the end of October.

 

Granted these pro's and con's reflect my daily needs, and may not be the same for someone who uses an Apple desktop.

 

iPhone

Pro's : Excellent Hardware, high res nice screen, excellent feedback from touch system, lots of applications.

Con's : iTunes is bad on Windows, AT&T(?), closed system in terms of their music and movies.

 

Andriod

Pro's : Open ecosystem, ties into Google applications.

Con's : Hardware not as nice as Apple, Graphics are amateurish, interface doesn't feel as responsive as iPhone.

 

Windows P7

Pro's : Good looking graphic interface, appears to tie into things we use everyday very well, and bring them to the forefront, ties well into business services.

Con's : Not market/user tested, Hardware will probably not stack up to iPhone, lower resolution than iPhone, AT&T(?) will initially be primary carrier

 

* I put a question mark after the AT&T name because they may be taking more of the blame for the iPhone phone portion performance than what they need to be. We won't know until the iPhone hits other carriers in the US.

Edited September 24, 2010 by Crazy Homeless Guy

[AJLynn]

Well, you've got a couple of different issues, of course. There's the phone and the network provider. I don't know about the other providers but when I was in SF last year, AT&T was shit. I couldn't even check email, and a lot of the time I had GPRS data (slower than 2G). Contrast that with eastern Massachusetts where AT&T is good enough to stream Netflix video on my iPhone 4 and I can even get 3G in a lot of the subway system downtown. They say AT&T in CA got killed by iPhones and the inability to build new towers in a tightly regulated environment, and I don't know whether or not Verizon is better.

 

WRT phones:

 

Android: Avoid. What is the point of this thing again? It's just Google copying Apple, so instead of Apple you can get Google. Well that's just kick-you-in-the-crotch-and-spit-on-your-neck-fantastic. Lazy manufacturers and carriers love it because it's free, but now it puts you at the mercy of lazy manufacturers and carriers because they have to decide amongst themselves on a case by case basis for each handset model ever made whether to release each new version of Android. If you read Engadget it seems like most of the time half the posts are "Handset X got an update to Android 2.1" or "Company Y is not releasing Android 2.2 for any handsets under $200". Some users' phones can only take 1.6, Sony users are ecstatic that 2.1 is coming out for them in a month (they have 1.6 with some added Sonyness) but 2.2 has been available all summer. A Droid Eris or Droid X has 2.1 but a Droid Incredible or just plain Droid has 2.2. That Dell tablet is brand new and it has 1.6. The only model that gets all the updates is the Nexus One, which is no longer available.

 

Open? Yeah right. More like "open to carriers to decide what you get". That feature everybody raved about for a week where the phone makes itself a wifi hotspot is something carriers are free to turn on and off and charge you for. Tethering has been around for years anyway, all Google did was change the interface. Verizon has decided that expensive handset buyers will use Google and inexpensive handset buyers will use Bing. Why? Hell if I know, and I'm a shareholder.

 

That's the thing about "open" that Google et al don't want you to think too hard about. It's open to Google's customers, which are handset makers and carriers. The end user is a customer of the handset makers and carriers, and it's only as open to the end user as those companies allow it to be.

 

If you haven't been able to tell yet, Google annoys me. To counter the perception that they're evil (which is understandably growing as everybody comes to understand they're the world's largest data mining firm, which is 2010's definition of "evil", and by the way, their money is coming from somewhere and it's not you directly so you're not really their customer, are you?) they label everything they do "open". Which is great for them because only about 1% of people really understand what that's supposed to mean and if any of those say anything about it they can be shouted down by some Google fanboys. (FYI, in this context open seems to mean you can get malware. Researchers have found dozens of Android apps with spyware, which basically happens because Google doesn't make any effort to restrict it, and Google's response is that it's incumbent on the user to set the privacy restrictions for each app on a per-app basis. These are the people who are currently taking over the world, guys. Look on their works, ye mighty, and despair.

 

In reality, Google does exactly what Apple does with the app "ecosystem" (which is a poor word everybody uses, because it implies a type of interdependence, circle of life style, that doesn't exist here) but they give you this "sideload" system, then wash their hands of anything that goes wrong because of it.

 

Those were the cons. Pros: Choice of carriers. (And that is the only pro, but it's a big one.)

 

Seriously, just don't buy the phone. You'll thank me later. Probably a lot later, but you will.

 

iPhone: Philosophically, it's different, no denying. Apple's being Apple here. One phone model per generation, with a standard set of preloaded apps and other downloadable apps screened by Apple. This is sort of how I like it - more restrictive at times than I'd like to see, but it's a bit of a "benevolent dictator" situation. I don't have the time in my life to police malware on my freakin' phone for the love of God, so I have people to do that for me. There's only one model but damn did they ever put a lot of effort into that one model - and since there's a tiny number of hardware variations, all the phones get their firmware updates on the same day. The screen is perfect, the IPS technology gives the best color available and I can't see the pixels.

 

Annoyances - it needs a case, if you don't have one it's too smooth and slippery. It's stuck with AT&T, which sucks in some areas. The screen is hard to clean, or maybe I have greasy ears, and sometimes the ear proximity sensor misses and my face hits buttons while I'm talking. But everything beyond being stuck with AT&T is minor compared to that one.

 

Windows Phone 7: isn't out yet of course but it looks promising. I'm very happy that instead of pulling a Google and directly copying Apple's UI Microsoft decided to get off their butts and do some interface design research. My hope for it would be that Microsoft learns from Google and Apple's mistakes, my fear is that Microsoft is too old and slow to get this right. But there are some encouraging signs, at least. For example, the Bing group has finally managed to get their stuff together and provide a real alternative to Google.

 

It's been revealed that WP7 is going to be like Android in that carriers will be able to control capabilities, like making you pay for tethering, which I guess is par for the course since Apple and everybody else do it too, so the question is, is it like Android where carriers can do absolutely anything they want to it even if they're screwing it up, or like Apple, where everything must be negotiated with Apple, for better or worse, or something in between? Will there be enough controls on the handset makers that all phones will get simultaneous firmware updates, maybe even enough so that the firmwares come straight from MS like Apple does, or will it be a circus like Android?

 

I think that's enough ranting for now, back to work

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

Great write up Andrew.

 

At&T is painfully bad in SF, but I also wonder how much Apple has been dodging any of their responsibility in that. The incident with the antenna being the one that was easily identifiable, and brought to the surface.

 

The reason I am starting to investigate other phone platforms stems from a couple of frustrations with the iPhone, and iTunes. The first being iTunes on the Windows platform. To go straight to the point, it is a slow program that doesn't respond agile and quick. I am not a big fan of slow things, and for no more than iTunes does, I don't think there is an excuse for its performance.

 

The second major frustration is not being able to edit Google docs within the Google application. I am assuming this is a limitation that Apple has create. I don't use OSX, I use Windows and Google Docs, so I really need something that is fully compatible with those in order to be able to function smoothly.

 

I also have been very disappointed that I cannot use the phone as a portable USB drive like I could do with the iPod. Granted there are "sort of" work around for this, it is not the same as having a bare drive that I can copy files to in a short notice. Again, functionality with my every day needs. I don't always have a USB stick, or FTP access, but I always have my phone for files.

 

I have also hated the way Apple tried to control my music and media experience. This may be the same for other phones, but I don't know. I do not buy music through the Apple store. Typically I still purchase a physical disk, and then rip mp3's for my devices. This gives me the most control over quality and flexibility going forward. Keep in mind that Apple is more or less leasing the media to you at the same price or more than it actually costs you to buy the media. And if I want to copy a file to my work hard drive, or to a friend's hard drive, that should be my decision, not Apple's. At least that is the way I see it.

 

But what may be the final nail in the coffin for me and iTunes is the HTPC I recently set up at home. I envisioned having iTunes on it, and being able to control my music with iTunes, and play it back through the home stereo. Well, because Apple didn't follow Windows interface standards iTunes does not scale well. By that, I mean I cannot increase the font size to 200% so I can read it from the couch, and still be able to use the interface. Again, this is a very specific thing to me, but it goes against the way I am working on configuring my home network (if I can refer to it as that.)

 

For everything that Apple does well, those are huge problems I have with the iPhone in day to day functionality. They are more problems for me than what AT&T's service is.

 

Now, since iTunes was such a failure on my HTPC, I started looking at alternate music managers for the system. I landed on the Zune desktop software. It scales really well, and easily viewed from the couch, and provides good information about the music that is playing while still providing an interactive experience. It is almost as if it had that in mind from early on in the development process.

 

I have no idea how Andriod might begin to handle any of the media side of things. I really don't know if they have any type if integrated media management system.

 

I am also curious about the recently released cloud version of Office. I am using Google Docs for taking notes, email, and general tasks. I like that I can start something at home and finish it at work, etc... But Google is not perfect in this, ...maybe mainly in that it hurts my eyes to look at anything Google. Not because they are such a large company, but because they seem to spend zero time on aesthetic look and function. Things that are very very important for a good user experience.

 

Basically, I need my phone to really integrate more into how I function on a day to day basis. Sure I can get the iPhone to sync with Gmail, and its contacts. In theory I can get the calendars to sync, but I have not yet. Yes, I can track the busses and trains, and read Yelp while trying to figure out where to go on the fly, etc.. etc..

 

But I have major shortcomings in my overall experience... I would like to get everything more tightly integrated so I don't have to worry about keeping track of different things, and where they are. The less I have to think the more I can focus on important things.

 

EDIT: I am also intrigued by how Windows is approaching their new mobile OS by taking more of a backseat, and pushing information that you use on a day to day basis out to the front. Information that you can see without unlocking the screen, and information you can see without launching apps. But again, I have a very specific type of user experience that I want to achieve, and I don't know if I will be able to that.

Edited September 24, 2010 by Crazy Homeless Guy

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

Andrew, ...almost forgot. From what I understand Microsoft is charging the carriers for use of Windows Phone 7 Series. They are also managing the apps store themselves, it will not be open. What they have said is that with the past Windows Phone they worked to cater to carriers, and they have decided to change that, and control the overall experience more themselves.

 

Now, if they stick to that or not who knows. They do have a lot of partnerships to appease which is part of their problem.

 

EDIT: Past Windows Phone the catered to carriers.

Edited September 24, 2010 by Crazy Homeless Guy

[Tommy L]

Keep talking fella's. I am using a cronky old $40 Motorola clam-shell (5 years old) that has surprising durability and is a great phone (long battery life, big buttons amazing texting system)....for media I currently carry around a Sanza Fuse, (also excellent and very cheap) and Im rarely without a memory USB stick.

 

However I think I may have to get with the kids and buy something that organizes my life a little better and combines the above into one gadget. Im fast becoming a company instead of a freelancer...

My wife is about to upgrade her IPhone to a new one (?) and I may be the recipient of a hand-me-down, but I am very interested in pursuing other options.

 

My digital life seems to be much like CHG's. My music is always purchased on CD (downloading music is the biggest backward step in the music recording history) and I dont like big brother telling me what I can do with the files. I would like to have a homogeneous calendar, organizer, texter, phoner, wifey, reminder, note-taker, secretary, photo album, portfolio, IPad, big screen, lightweight, slim, radio reciever, usb connectable, plugin to my home-network thing.

I just dont want to pay a zillion dollars a month, I'd rather pay $1000 up-front and be able to switch networks to whomever gives me the best deal on data transfer and gives reliable connection. Give me a non-epson style financial model, there must be someone or something?

Edited September 24, 2010 by Tommy L

[AJLynn]

Oof, these long-post threads are hard.

 

Tom: Is the wife's iPhone a 3G? You lose the high res screen and the multitasker but still it's a great phone. OS 4.0 had a couple of serious bugs on it but I'm told they're fixed in 4.1 and it runs much smoother. If you want to change networks, unlock the iPhone or buy an unlocked one on Ebay But if you're not in a rush, holding out to see what Windows phones become available seems reasonable. I had one of those Motorolas for a long time, they're good phones.

 

Travis:

 

iTunes: I don't know what problems you're having but it runs fine for me on Windows, and I have a ton of video for it on two or three hard drives. It does accept music files from sources other than iTunes Store - I've only ever bought a couple of things, most of my music comes from MP3 from CDs (all the major devices play MP3), and the video is mostly from DVD and other sources converted in Handbrake, so the only things I get from the iTunes Store are apps and podcasts. I also don't know about the screen font size problem in iTunes, I have mine set up the same way, HDMI out to HDTV, high res and screen fonts jacked up to be legible at a distance, and with the latest Windows and the latest iTunes, iTunes accepts Windows's global font size enlargement (in the Displays control panel somewhere) and has its own settings for regular and large fonts.

 

But if the Microsoft software works better for you, the Windows Phone might be the best thing. I think Android phones can sync with Windows Media Player. Whether they can store the content... well, each Android phone is different.

 

Google Docs: I can edit the spreadsheets in Safari on iPhone but not the word processor docs. I'm assuming this is because of something Google hasn't got set up right.

 

MS Office online apps: You can view but not edit on iPhone. I'd like to see it happen. Nobody has this done right yet. I can only hope Windows Phone has some more useful way to deal with them. In the demo photos there's an Office button.

 

I use the web site version of OneNote for note taking and it is incredibly useful. If I'm on Windows the desktop version of OneNote syncs with the web site version. I hope the next Office for Mac release has it included.

 

Microsoft app store: Another wait and see. They've been aggressively courting companies to write apps, they've put out an SDK and people say it's good and includes a bunch of game tools, and they've published the criteria for apps being allowed, which it took Apple a long time to do.

 

I still don't know about this use of "open". What's open? Letting any web site host any type of app downloads, with MS staying out of the business? Imagine the malware. Google says they're open but it doesn't stop them from filtering apps and letting carriers block phone capabilities.