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Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 too little, too late

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Re: Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 too little, too late

#21

Post by netcan »

karterk wrote: post #4
DjDarkman wrote: post #2

I found the UI unappealing and the heavy use of rotation effects amateurish. Is this the best they can do? Draw rectangles... Vertical list of applications??? Microsoft what have you been smoking? And sorry but I just can't shake the feeling that the UI looks like some half-baked demo. Microsoft should have just copied the iPhone and Android, they would have had a lot more success.

If they had done that, I am sure you would have commented here saying it looks like a cheap imitation. Have you actually used the phone?

Cheap imitation used to be an MS strength. A $200equivalent of the iphone V1 would be welcome.

Re: Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 too little, too late

#22

Post by thedeuce »

pilif wrote: post #17
rbanffy wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a) they release an OS update soon next year with an IE9 rendering engine Unlikely - Microsoft's strategy is to fragment every market it can't control and prevent commoditization of the platform layer. The inclusion of a broken IE was probably deliberate.

makes me think... maybe it's time we developers stood up and said "no". Let's stand together and declare that "working mobile web" just isn't a feature of WP7. If you want the cool bling of todays mobile web, you'll have to get any other phone aside of WP7. Any will do. Just not WP7.

That's fine, but you pay my salary to feed my family. Thanks!

Re: Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 too little, too late

#23

Post by DjDarkman »

pilif wrote: post #10

What really concerns me about Windows Mobile 7 is the damage it's going to do among mobile web applications. You see, right now, if you want to do a mobile webapp, you can live in HTML5 land with working scripting, working DOM, good CSS3-support and all other goodies. Sure, there are differences between mobile browsers, but all major platforms are now using webkit of some sort (and for those that don't, Fennec is ava…

They screwed themselves with this. There are already a lot of web apps that target iOS and Android and other forward thinking browsers. The majority of the current phones are NOT WinPhone 7, which means that Microsoft is insane if they'd expect the market to adhere to them. If they want to dictate they need to have market share and traction first, but they don't.

No no Microsoft, not this time!

Re: Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 too little, too late

#24

Post by PanMan »

DjDarkman wrote: post #2

I found the UI unappealing and the heavy use of rotation effects amateurish. Is this the best they can do? Draw rectangles... Vertical list of applications??? Microsoft what have you been smoking? And sorry but I just can't shake the feeling that the UI looks like some half-baked demo. Microsoft should have just copied the iPhone and Android, they would have had a lot more success.

I think it's actually quite cool that Microsoft invented a new UI, instead of copying iPhone/Android. I haven't played with it yet, so I haven't seen the result, but I like that they are trying to do something new, instead of copying others.

Re: Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 too little, too late

#25

Post by ZeroGravitas »

pilif wrote: post #10

What really concerns me about Windows Mobile 7 is the damage it's going to do among mobile web applications. You see, right now, if you want to do a mobile webapp, you can live in HTML5 land with working scripting, working DOM, good CSS3-support and all other goodies. Sure, there are differences between mobile browsers, but all major platforms are now using webkit of some sort (and for those that don't, Fennec is ava…

I amused/depressed by all the supposedly tech-savvy bloggers who are pleasantly surprised that the vast majority of the web works on WinMob7 despite it not having much modern HTML5/CSS3 support.

They seem blissfully unaware that Internet Explorer on the desktop is the boat anchor holding all these sites back from deploying these technologies and that they're now adding a second flank with this mobile browser throwback.

Re: Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 too little, too late

#26

Post by ghurlman »

pilif wrote: post #13
akadien wrote: post #5

This may give RIM some competition in the mobile enterprise space.

really? Isn't all the PR about WP7 really focussed on the consumer? You don't read at all about the enterprise features (does it even have any?), but all is full of Facebook, media sharing and stuff.

Office hub, SharePoint integration - yes, there's plenty there in the enterprise space. I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a way to extend Active Directory group policy to the devices already, or in the next update or 2.

Re: Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 too little, too late

#27

Post by forgottenpaswrd »

It seems like an interesting phone, and with all the money MS has they are going to buy a lot of partnerships, marketting deals with it. A lot of people could buy this thing and more important, will be used as an experiment for the desktop.

I don't like it, through, I think the interface is so ugly(like the zune external design), and the proof that MS guys had become lazy bastards that just care about making stuff fast. Who knows, maybe people don't care about detail.

Re: Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 too little, too late

#28

Post by pilif »

thedeuce wrote: post #22
pilif wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

makes me think... maybe it's time we developers stood up and said "no". Let's stand together and declare that "working mobile web" just isn't a feature of WP7. If you want the cool bling of todays mobile web, you'll have to get any other phone aside of WP7. Any will do. Just not WP7.

That's fine, but you pay my salary to feed my family. Thanks!

what I meant was to shift our mindset. At least for me it has always been a matter of honor to support all clients out there as equally well as possible just because that's what we have done on the web ever since.

What I was thinking was to not do it this time around. Now if your customer insists, explain the issue and add the IE tax (I'd say an additional 80% of what you'd charge for the real-browser-only version). If your employer insists, well, then you don't have too many options of course.

Re: Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 too little, too late

#29

Post by kenjackson »

rbanffy wrote: post #14
robin_reala wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We can only hope that either: a) they release an OS update soon next year with an IE9 rendering engine b) no-one buys the product I actually suspect that both are likely, at least in Europe.

> a) they release an OS update soon next year with an IE9 rendering engine Unlikely - Microsoft's strategy is to fragment every market it can't control and prevent commoditization of the platform layer. The inclusion of a broken IE was probably deliberate.

"and prevent commoditization of the platform layer"

This is an extremely naive perspective, but one you often hear from a certain type of crowd.

Really it's not about quote/unquote preventing this specific layer. It is about preventing commoditization of where profit/revenue is derived. And every company does it.

Try to commodotize mobile apps and the app store and see what Apple does. Try to have an open ad market where all revenue goes to non-profits, and see what Google does.

And frankly the reaction from all of these companies should be to show they can accelerate faster than the commodotized market. When MS does it, it's called embrace and extend. When Apple does it, its called "we've patented all over this thing and its the next great thing" and you wait in line for 48 hours to buy it.

Re: Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 too little, too late

#30

Post by rbanffy »

kenjackson wrote: post #29
rbanffy wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a) they release an OS update soon next year with an IE9 rendering engine Unlikely - Microsoft's strategy is to fragment every market it can't control and prevent commoditization of the platform layer. The inclusion of a broken IE was probably deliberate.

"and prevent commoditization of the platform layer" This is an extremely naive perspective, but one you often hear from a certain type of crowd. Really it's not about quote/unquote preventing this specific layer. It is about preventing commoditization of where profit/revenue is derived. And every company does it. Try to commodotize mobile apps and the app store and see what Apple does. Try to have an open ad market w…

And since everybody does it, how is this perspective naïve? How would it be unexpected to see Microsoft sabotaging web applications since they can run on every device regardless of the OS/browser and that eliminates their grip on customers?
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