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Windows Phone 7 in-depth preview

engadget.com

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Re: Windows Phone 7 in-depth preview

#31

Post by wallflower »

macrael wrote: post #18

I'm looking forward to seeing how these devices play in real world usage. The two things that jump out at me immediately. 1. Most important: On a device with a small screen pixels should be precious. It worries me that many of the built in apps use a significant and unchanging amount of the screen to tell you what app you are in. I don't know if it will really impact usability, maybe there is enough screen real estat…

> Are there other examples of Windows Phone 7 being designed for expert/informed users?

To use Windows Mobile, you had to deal with ActiveSync. To use ActiveSync, you have to be fairly tolerant and technically proficient. For example, when upgrading the OS, you have the responsibility(1) of manually backing up all your contacts, data, apps.

Contrast this with iTunes (yes, iTunes isn't elegant) - when iOS 4 came out - it downloaded it and asked if you wanted to upgrade your phone and did so without losing settings, data, apps. Now, Android supposedly can do OTA updates. The point here is if WinMo7 requires ActiveSync - it is severely behind the times.

I'm hoping WinMo7 won't require a user to use ActiveSync and it is all stored securely in the Windows Live cloud. I usually used lots of colorful adjectives when dealing with ActiveSync. I had a boss who was convinced to get a WinMo device by a co-worker; she lasted only about a month (ActiveSync).

(1) http://www.htc.com/www/supportdownload.aspx?p_id=59&cat=...

Re: Windows Phone 7 in-depth preview

#32

Post by fname »

saint-loup wrote: post #20

Oh god the turquoise-ish hue of the tiles is so ugly. Overall the UI experience seems neat but this color...

What makes you think the color can't be changed? There are some other pictures of it being pink -- which makes me think the color is customizeable by the user.

Re: Windows Phone 7 in-depth preview

#33

Post by desigooner »

wallflower wrote: post #31
macrael wrote: post #18

I'm looking forward to seeing how these devices play in real world usage. The two things that jump out at me immediately. 1. Most important: On a device with a small screen pixels should be precious. It worries me that many of the built in apps use a significant and unchanging amount of the screen to tell you what app you are in. I don't know if it will really impact usability, maybe there is enough screen real estat…

> Are there other examples of Windows Phone 7 being designed for expert/informed users? To use Windows Mobile, you had to deal with ActiveSync. To use ActiveSync, you have to be fairly tolerant and technically proficient. For example, when upgrading the OS, you have the responsibility(1) of manually backing up all your contacts, data, apps. Contrast this with iTunes (yes, iTunes isn't elegant) - when iOS 4 came out -…

There is no ActiveSync component to WinPhone7 .. The data (photos, contacts, documents, settings, etc) is all synced up to cloud via a live.com account (which even includes the newly announced feature of tracking the phone in case of loss or theft ala mobileme)

The data can also be synced via the Zune software on a desktop much like iTunes (but Zune Software is a far better experience in my opinion when it comes to music and video).

Re: Windows Phone 7 in-depth preview

#34

Post by endtime »

pavs wrote: post #12
endtime wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>In contrast Widows7 mobile UI is a confusing mess and very bland to be honest. There no "Wow" factor. Is this just your personal preference speaking? I actually was impressed when I first saw the UI, and the article describes it as useful and functional.

Of course its my personal opinion. I don't claim to speak for everyone nor did I run any public poll. Everything I said in my comment is my own opinion from my own experience (with other mobile OS), unless otherwise stated.

Well, your tone and language were authoritative. Typically, if you aren't stating a fact you should qualify it with something like "I think".

Re: Windows Phone 7 in-depth preview

#35

Post by desigooner »

fname wrote: post #32
saint-loup wrote: post #20

Oh god the turquoise-ish hue of the tiles is so ugly. Overall the UI experience seems neat but this color...

What makes you think the color can't be changed? There are some other pictures of it being pink -- which makes me think the color is customizeable by the user.

there are various color options for fonts/tiles/etc (green, orange, cyan, pink, red i believe and maybe 1 more) but the background is either black or white.

Re: Windows Phone 7 in-depth preview

#36

Post by byoung2 »

fungi wrote: post #8
endtime wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>There is nothing intuitive about the OS Could you elaborate on this?

when you are a few layers deep i'm thinking you would be pretty lost. nice if you could zoom out. but its not that bad reminds me of sony's PS nav.

nice if you could zoom out.

That's exactly what I was thinking...something like Android 2.1's pinch to zoom out on the home screen which brings up miniature versions of the 7 screens you could get to by scrolling left/right.

Re: Windows Phone 7 in-depth preview

#37

Post by jasonlotito »

jteo wrote: post #28

I'm kinda enamored of the UI design and all that. The question is: how does one get one hands on a developer phone?

Go to the Windows Phone developer blog(http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_phone/b/wpdev/archive/201...) and read all about it. They are releasing a LOT of information on this stuff.

Re: Windows Phone 7 in-depth preview

#38

Post by ttrashh »

potatolicious wrote: post #10

Interesting - I wonder why the difference exists; Engadget seems to like Win7 (though they are not ecstatic), whereas other sources seem to despise it. I wonder where the difference lies. I do hope MS the best - the more competition we have in this sphere the better, and if the responsiveness/performance of the OS is as good as Engadget says, there will finally be some hard competition for the iPhone (Android is grea…

I've seen mostly favorable opinions. Gizmodo's preview was about the same as Engadget.

Re: Windows Phone 7 in-depth preview

#39

Post by jsz0 »

pavs wrote: post #9
endtime wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>There is nothing intuitive about the OS Could you elaborate on this?

Sure. The UI doesn't follow a conventional way how people use UI in any form of mobile devices. There are differences in IOS, Android, Blackberry and PalmOS but those differences aren't huge. If you use either of those devices/OS who should be able to pickup any of the other devices relatively easily. At least this has been my personal experience with Android, IOS and WebOS. What Windows Mobile 7 is doing is a fundam…

iPhone is still basically in a class of its own for UI elegance and consistency but compared to the typical third party enhanced Android experience WM7 is looking pretty good in my opinion. At least it's consistent.

Re: Windows Phone 7 in-depth preview

#40

Post by macrael »

wallflower wrote: post #31
macrael wrote: post #18

I'm looking forward to seeing how these devices play in real world usage. The two things that jump out at me immediately. 1. Most important: On a device with a small screen pixels should be precious. It worries me that many of the built in apps use a significant and unchanging amount of the screen to tell you what app you are in. I don't know if it will really impact usability, maybe there is enough screen real estat…

> Are there other examples of Windows Phone 7 being designed for expert/informed users? To use Windows Mobile, you had to deal with ActiveSync. To use ActiveSync, you have to be fairly tolerant and technically proficient. For example, when upgrading the OS, you have the responsibility(1) of manually backing up all your contacts, data, apps. Contrast this with iTunes (yes, iTunes isn't elegant) - when iOS 4 came out -…

Ok, that's not at all what I mean by being designed for an expert user, though. The example I gave shows windows phone 7 taking the speed side of the speed vs obviousness tradeoff. Are there other examples if it doing that?
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