Windows Mobile 6.5.3 and Windows Phone 7 Series official

[ppcsurfr]

Windows Mobile 6.5.3 the touch friendly Windows Mobile OS version is finally official. But does it really work?

First of all, I would say Microsoft did a good job of including more finger touch friendly controls onto a pretty good platform. But as always, everything comes like a half baked idea.

Do I hate it? Of course not. I can't seem to go back to Windows Mobile 6.1 after experiencing Windows Mobile 6.5!

It just falls back to the point that eventually you will look for a stylus to use when you notice that not all the controls are really touch friendly. And one of these is simply the lack of a decent SIP or Soft Input Panel. Usually you would look for a numeric keypad or a qwerty keypad with large keys. Sad to say Microsoft only includes their standard qwerty keypad which is very outdated.

While Windows Mobile 6.5 is more like an interim OS/Platform before we see the Windows Phone 7 Series units in the market, I would cut them a little slack. But of course here are the things which I do hope turn out well when the Windows Phone 7 Series units do come out.

1. A touch friendly keypad with a protective layer that covers all controls so if you hold the phone up to your face, you don't accidentally end the call, put it in mute, activate the speakerphone, call another number and the like.
2. Most buttons that require protection from accidental activation are slide buttons.
3. A large key qwerty keypad that uses gestures like that found on the original qwerty keypad which allows you to capitalize, add a space, backspace, or enter using basic 4 directional gestures.
4. Less redundancy on buttons and all. I just can't figure out why ther are 2 call buttons and 2 end call buttons for the phone. How many do you really need? It's either they remove the software buttons or remove the hardware buttons. Please decide! I'd rather use those extra buttons to launch something else than duplicate the call and end call buttons.
5.That top bar is just not nice. Why can't it be transluscent or something. Why not make it like the lower buttons of IE6 mobile? That's gonna make more sense.

Well, no matter what. The best thing about the Windows phone is that it synchronizes all my data with my PC the right way... and there isn't any other way I would have it.

As for Windows Phone 7 Series... well engadget got the scoop.


Windows Phone 7 Series: that's the name
_________________
Carlo Ma. Guerrero

[ace]

any confirmation if winmo 7 is not capable of multi-tasking?

[ppcsurfr]

[ace]

this would be very disappointing if ms decides to go the iphone route.

http://www.livbit.com/article/2010/02/12/windows-mobile-7-to-drop-multi-tasking-proves-what-apple-thinks-today-microsoft-thinks-tomorrow/

http://www.tgdaily.com/operating-system/48338-microsoft-eliminates-multitasking-support-in-windows-mobile-7

http://www.geekword.net/windows-mobile-7-follows-the-iphone-tread-lacks-multi-tasking-capabilities/

[talakitok]

Now the news is No Copy/Paste for Windows Phone 7

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/16/windows-phone-7-series-wont-have-copy-and-paste/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+weblogsinc%2Fengadget+%28Engadget%29

[ppcsurfr]

It's so sad.

We were once proud to be users of handheld computers that can double as communication devices.

Now, we are facing the death of pocketable computing; and only to be replaced with something which is not even worthy of being called a smart phone.

One of the things they should have done is to correctly call this as the ZUNE Phone and leave Windows out of it.

All this proves is that Microsoft isn't willing to lead the industry. It appears that they are merely followers who are trying to follow in the footsteps of the iPhone.

1. iPod Touch = Pocket PC
2. iPhone = Pocket PC Phone Edition

Or so we thought.

1. iPod Touch = Zune
2. iPhone = Zune based phone

The Pocket PC concept was all perfect. If they listened to all the demands of the users, then the Pocket PC can still be a top notch platform. Too bad all the complaints and suggestions fell on deaf ears.
_________________
Carlo Ma. Guerrero

[ace]

well, i think they'll still be retaining the 6.xx series for"starter" or "entry level" type phones.....how ironic that the stripped down version is going to be given higher status

[ppcsurfr]

Yes, and hopefully, with 6.5 and if ever they come up with a 6.XX version Microsoft realizes that they already have a good platform which just needs a little tweaking.

I've seen some of the emulator screenshots of the Windows phone, and if I were to use it without any add-on apps, I think I can live with it.

But it seems the geek factor for these new devices are just gone. It's so sad that the lowly candy-bar or flip phone has better mobile phone support than any Windows Phone. I can't believe that even after 10 years of Windows Mobile, they still don't get the importance of what you should be able to do with a phone call.

Just imagine... when most WM devices now have removable storage, they suddenly decide to drop it? Talk about removing some of the great features of Windows Mobile.
_________________
Carlo Ma. Guerrero

[ace]

...and now the news is there's no powerpoint?

[ppcsurfr]

This reminds me very much of the Portable Media Center which originally was supposed to be on the Windows Mobile platform. They killed it and put it on a new platform called ZUNE.

This move is basically the same thing. Kill Windows Mobile and move it to Zune.

At least that's how it looks from the outside.

The bad part is that they have forgotten what made them win over Palm. When Palm couldn't offer much, Windows Mobile was there to take on every possible task.

Now the decission is to follow in the trail of the iPod. No this feature, no that feature... because the iPod doesn't have it anyway.

But what if the iPod gets it down the line? Will Microsoft forever be in trailing in the shadow of the iPod?
_________________
Carlo Ma. Guerrero

[cloudx_23]

Which service center of Samsung does winmo 6.5.3 can be downloaded? pls reply. thanks

[katnapper]

I'm not all too knowledgeable about the technicalities of using these awesome small wonders, but I'd feel really terrible if MS decides to get rid of Windows Mobile/Phone eventually. I've been an avid pocket pc user for 6 or 7 years now and despite the popularity of iPhone, I'd still stick with my old but trusty O2 XDA Atom Exec. I've been thinking of replacing this phone but still one with Windows Mobile/Phone platform. I wish Microsoft would just wake up. If they managed to listen to people for Windows 7, why can't they do the same for the mobile couterpart. As of now, I'm still waiting for a really good phone to replace my existing one cause I admit it's a bit outdated now. Hopefully I'm not waiting in vain.

[ppcsurfr]

We once had a dialogue with Microsoft developers while they were building Windows Mobile 2003SE or WM5.

They found us... too demanding.

Microsoft's claim was that their team was working very hard on WM and that we should cut them some slack.

It clearly shows the disconnect between the users, the Microsoft developers, and the Microsoft marketing people.

What I see is Microsoft regressing into a mere follower once again.

They already have a good device but instead of being a leader, they simply decided to follow someone's lead. Here is a good example of Microsoft falling back once again, but in this situation it's one step forward and 10 steps back.

Microsoft has a very good platform on WM 6.5.3.

The only thing they need is someone to really study the GUI and make it more standard across all functions and applications in these devices.
_________________
Carlo Ma. Guerrero

[ace]

typical MS...would rather rehash that which is already proven. if i'm not mistaken, here are some examples:

after playstation came xbox; after ipod came zune; now with the iphone, they're coming up with something similar and naming it wm7

[ppcsurfr]