I'm a smartphone addict. Love both the iphone and android. I just tried out the surround and focus at ATT. What has Microsoft been doing for the last two years. The tiles are nice but it seems they had first graders creating the rest of the os. It has to be the most convulted os ever. The marketplace design is a complete mess.
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First Impression from WP7
- Thread starter MotionxxUSxx
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Personally I think WP7 is incredibly simple, and probably more so than iOS. I bought an HTC HD7 to try it out and the OS is amazingly well polished for a first version. There are some bugs here and there (I managed to make an app download totally stall which required a reboot of the phone) and there are some tweaks that need to be made to the UI (some basic controls when in landscape mode in IE for instance). But overall, I was thoroughly impressed and I definitely think WP7 is the next best thing to iOS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4pvTPNjioc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhSccad6zgo
I really like the way that apps seem to adhere to the design ethic of the OS. It makes for a very consistent experience.
As to the device itself, the build quality is really excellent; much better than I expected. The plastic that forms the structure of the device is incredible hard and feels very high quality, and the back has a nice soft touch feel to it. There are no wobbles or sqeaks from any part. The biggest let down is the speaker, which HTC are somewhat reknowned for. The screen is a little bit wishy washy too, but the size is very nice indeed and makes full use of the space by having only minimal borders around it. I had absolutely no issue with the size of the device myself, but then I do have fairly large hands. The iPhone almost feels fiddly in comparison due to it's squared off edges and smaller stature.
I definitely think WP7 is the one to watch; it seems to be doing quite well in the UK already with reports of most places selling out. I'm looking forward to seeing what Microsoft bring to the table as time goes on.
complex it is not, it just looks poorly designed and ugly. Its almost as if my 2 year old scribbled a design and implemented it in the os. What is up with half the title words on each page of the os being cutoff.
Good stuff. I just got back from AT&T down the steer from my dealership real quick and I must say. I was a little impressed. Very smooth, simple and to the point. I see they are watching and learning a lot from Apple. I'll keep sticking to my iPhones though. A wp7 phone would definitely be a second option though.
It's wild seeing Microsoft do a complete turn around on from their pc's to their phones.
It's wild seeing Microsoft do a complete turn around on from their pc's to their phones.
The reason they did that was to indicate that there are additional categories if you flick left or right. Think of the title words as just that, title words that span across the top of all the options that fall beneath it. At any one time you know where you are because most of the title can be seen, but it going slightly off the screen is indicative, like I said, that there are additional things lurking just out of sight. It's quite an effective approach.
There's another thing I didn't mention that I really like and that is the background in the marketplace matching whatever is the 'featured' item that day. It's a nice little touch and gives the impression that they've thought it through a bit more.
Its to give the sense of openness and show that there is more information to the side.
When Microsoft first showed off WP7 I thought the design was kind of fugly, but the more I see of it the more I want it and think its really nice looking. The Live Tiles are probably my least favorite part to be honest. They are just really big. I need to use a device in person to get a real sense of it though.
WP7 + AMOLED looks like sex. Too bad I switched to Verizon which won't have them for a while though. Ive had an iPhone and Android so WP7 is next.
In all honestly, your description of things is also like a first graders.
How about specific problems, more details?
Guess my MBA is worthless. I gave my initial impression. I'm not going to sit here and write up every single detail. I have better things to do. Go try it yourself. If you like it, than great.
I guess your MBA didn't help you comprehend the purpose of a "discussion" forum. It's not like you started this thread or anything...
*then.
I think people just want further insight about what you don't like about WP7, not every single detail but more specific items.
*then.
I think people just want further insight about what you don't like about WP7, not ever detail but more specific items.
Needs more "apps for that" and less integration
it is a very bold design statement they have been making recently (Zune HD), which I personally really like, but still think was a bad decision because it really draws from the universal appeal of the product.
I really like it, and I'm sure many others do too, but I'd likely still like it if the words weren't cut off (although maybe not as much as I do now).
There are people out there though, that would only like it if the words weren't cut off.
It was a very ballsy move by microsoft, but I think it will come back to bite them in the end
I know what you mean. I think given a chance, the design will appeal to a large majority, but on first impression people might shy away. I did.
When shopping for a device all you have are first impressions though.
What Microsoft needs is to wow carriers and have them push the phone. (Most people still go into the store and get sold a phone rather than buy a phone if you get what Im saying)
I completely agree with you - it seems to me that WP7 is trying too hard to be "different": I hate the huge text and cut off title words (I know why they do it, but I still don't like it!).
I've not used it extensively but have had a pretty long play with it in store, and it just left me feeling cold.
For me, iOS > Android > WebOS > WP7 > BlackBerry > Symbian
I bought a Focus and have been sitting here playing with it off and on for several hours. The five things I really wanted to see is:
1) How well does the on-screen keyboard work?
It works very well. As well as the iPhone 4 keyboard.
2) Is the browser worth a damn?
Again, it's excellent. It may actually be a tad faster than Mobile Safari with big, complex pages and has rendered everything I've tried so far.
3) Does the system get jerky or slow like the old WinMo systems?
Nope. It's that simple and that definitive.
4) Is the screen responsive and does it flow with the finger?
Absolutely. It's as smooth as the iPhone, very bright and slightly larger.
5) Is reception better, worse or the same as an iPhone 4?
So far it seems about the same.
I can't really compare the phone to an iPhone because it's not trying to be an iPhone. Or any other kind of phone. It's very different. But I have 30 days to use it and see if I want to keep it or not and that's what I'll do. If I end up being more productive with it, I'll keep it and get rid of the iPhone. Otherwise I'll return it and keep the iPhone. But while I can see it's going to take some getting used to as I've had iPhones for the past 2 1/2 years, I'm up to the challenge and I like what I've seen so far.
1) How well does the on-screen keyboard work?
It works very well. As well as the iPhone 4 keyboard.
2) Is the browser worth a damn?
Again, it's excellent. It may actually be a tad faster than Mobile Safari with big, complex pages and has rendered everything I've tried so far.
3) Does the system get jerky or slow like the old WinMo systems?
Nope. It's that simple and that definitive.
4) Is the screen responsive and does it flow with the finger?
Absolutely. It's as smooth as the iPhone, very bright and slightly larger.
5) Is reception better, worse or the same as an iPhone 4?
So far it seems about the same.
I can't really compare the phone to an iPhone because it's not trying to be an iPhone. Or any other kind of phone. It's very different. But I have 30 days to use it and see if I want to keep it or not and that's what I'll do. If I end up being more productive with it, I'll keep it and get rid of the iPhone. Otherwise I'll return it and keep the iPhone. But while I can see it's going to take some getting used to as I've had iPhones for the past 2 1/2 years, I'm up to the challenge and I like what I've seen so far.
Great assessment. The only other issue I have with the browser is the odd text rendering where it looks quite spidery at certain zoom levels. Hopefully Microsoft can fix this with an update.
I haven't noticed any problem with text rendering but I haven't looked for it, either, as I haven't spent a ton of time with the browser yet. I'll look more into it over the next couple of days.
Oh...one thing I forgot to mention is that it uses a full sized sim card. That sucks if you're coming from an iPhone 4. Fortunately I had an old sim card in my old Fuze so I butchered that, squeezed in the microsim and lined it up well enough on insertation that it worked. It's nice that the sim slot isn't hidden and you can see what you're doing. If you buy one of these to try out, ask if you can wait to activate it and for an extra sim card and, if you can handle a boxcutter with any degree of accuracy, you'll be set.
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I looked at the Samsung wp7 device today and was very impressed. I'm going with wp7 on my next upgrade, unless the iPhone 5 has a larger screen.
I looked at the Samsung wp7 device today and was very impressed. I'm going with wp7 on my next upgrade, unless the iPhone 5 has a larger screen.
Found a small bug with the video camera on the focus. If you change the video quality to 720p, record a video, leave the app and than go back into the video camera app, the video quaility option resets itself to VGA.
personally, I would still prefer Android instead of WP7.
iOS still stands as the best and smoothest(not so much with iOS 4 sometimes) user interface though.
Android has the second best use interface and is highly customizable. Although WP7 and be customized, I feel that it won't be as good as the Android will get. Android has really good UIs like HTC Sense UI and TouchWiz. The original windows mobiles like 6.5 or 6.0 has better customization than WP7 at THIS point. I don't know how good it will get in the future, but I just have the feeling that Android will still take the lead. I do like the tile interface, which is pretty interesting and new to me.
Overall at this time and point:
iOS=Android
Android>WP7
iOS still stands as the best and smoothest(not so much with iOS 4 sometimes) user interface though.
Android has the second best use interface and is highly customizable. Although WP7 and be customized, I feel that it won't be as good as the Android will get. Android has really good UIs like HTC Sense UI and TouchWiz. The original windows mobiles like 6.5 or 6.0 has better customization than WP7 at THIS point. I don't know how good it will get in the future, but I just have the feeling that Android will still take the lead. I do like the tile interface, which is pretty interesting and new to me.
Overall at this time and point:
iOS=Android
Android>WP7
I don't mean to sound like a fanboy or whatever, but I can't say this is in any way better than the iPhone. The phone itself is too big, and the OS doesn't look like it's gonna beat iOS. But I haven't tried it myself so I can't really say its worse, but from all the demos I've seen, I can't say that anyone in their right mind would drop the iPhone and get WP7