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Microsoft, Samsung Take on Apple With New Smartphone Announcements
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That's ironic since the eye candy was one of the things people drooled over the iPhone for.
Windows Media Center and the Zune are some of Microsoft's lesser known gems. Media Center alone was enough for me to get a copy of Windows 7 on day one. Getting it out in a public beta didn't hurt either.
I can see where they're trying to build on the success of the Xbox and Live as well. You just don't see a lot of these things spending a few minutes on a Windows 7 machine.
Two things, it can have a keyboard (but it isn't a requirement) and second it appears to come with some sort of Office integration (that wasn't expanded on).
What is the real story on this anyway? I've read a few articles that claims that the lack of flash on iPhone and iPad has nothing to do with Apple but has everything to do with Adobe being either unwilling or unable to get a mobile version of flash to work correctly with the iPhone OS. I see no reason why Apple would have anything against flash being on their mobile devices. People seem to fault Apple for this, but it seems like the problem is with Adobe. Anyone else concur?
im kinda dissapointed apple hasn't really "updated" their os to make it more streamlined. i must admit the 4x4 icon thing is getting kind of stale, esp in the face of all these copies. we'll see how windows 7 mobile works out but so far it seems promising, hope when the phone releases its not bogged down by carrier add-on's and blocked features.
btw this was never really mentioned but can we sync these phones on a mac? if i remember correctly the zune hd (which i really want to get) isn't supported on macs because it requires the zune application which is pc only. if microsoft makes the windows mobile 7 phones pc compatible only without releasing a osx zune application, that would push me away from one of their purchases....
anyways good job microsoft more competition means we all win
btw this was never really mentioned but can we sync these phones on a mac? if i remember correctly the zune hd (which i really want to get) isn't supported on macs because it requires the zune application which is pc only. if microsoft makes the windows mobile 7 phones pc compatible only without releasing a osx zune application, that would push me away from one of their purchases....
anyways good job microsoft more competition means we all win
I love it when people come onto a forum thinking they know it all, and end up putting their foot in their mouth like this
Clearly it isn't all, can you please elaborate?
The Aqua traffic light buttons and the scroll bar are 10 years old. How can changing that "disorient people"? Really. Windows 7 is way different than Windows XP and people are adapting to it just fine. Is it that Mac people have a problem with progress and or change?
Does anyone else think this interface is Ugly as SIN?
The whole GIANT TEXT thing isn't doing it for me. It almost seems a bit overwhelming.
Don't know if you caught the 22min. UI video on Giz, but was almost painful to watch him "pivot" through the different e-mail filters (ex. urgent, all, most recent, etc.). I kept wanting to pinch the screen smaller so I could see all of the options.
I keep hearing people say, "I hope this makes Apple rethink their UI", but I'm sure they won't be changing too much because of Microsofts announcement.
I have to say that I'm quite impressed with what I've seen so far. I think it's a definite step in the right direction for Microsoft. It looked to be a tad unresponsive at times in one of the video clips but I'm sure it's something they'll iron out over the next 6+ mos.
Still don't see myself getting rid of my iPhone anytime soon though...
Still don't see myself getting rid of my iPhone anytime soon though...
You're absolutely right.
WM7 has more eye candy than it's useful. If you watch a few walkthroughs you get bored with all these transitions. It's like a Keynote presentation only with Mosaic transitions.
It's also not obvious where you can push a button. On the iPhone you see immediately what a "button" is. All these randomly placed big fonts look like titles on WM7. Apple made a really intuitive design keeping in mind not having physical buttons.
Well comments like this...
...just highlight why a lot of comments should be ignored. If the facts are wrong, the opinions are even more wrong!
Is it really? the only big change is the task bar and start menu. The close buttons are still in the upper right and scrollbars are pretty much the same. And considering the start menu goes back to Windows 95...thats 15 years old now. Everything looks nicer, but the same can be said about Snow Leopard.
Both OS's have changed in many ways but they all are still using the outdated desktop metaphor. I don't know the next step in computing but all that Win7 and SL are doing is cramming new features on top of an old idea.
Change for the better, not just for giggles. If OS' didn't change then we would still be on OS 9 UI, still functional yes, but it's no OS X (that is an extreme example I know). Tying things together (i.e. pulling Facebook data and applying it to contacts, which many phones are doing now), the way they look etc. takes things to new levels. The iPhone has so much pontential and yet it is being held back by the same UI that it has had since it came out. Ask anyone that has jailbroken their phone.
Apple couldn't even come up with a new UI for a "revolutionary" device (aka iPad).
As Mike Didka would say "Come on, MAN!"
I'm glad to see someone who can appreciate the term, "Think Different". Maybe the iPhone 4th gen will include a "revolutionary" flash for the build in camera? One can only hope.
When some people see few bells and whistles and after that say that iPhone UI is dated... I want to cry.
No you don't.
Why does it need a total overhaul?
How old are you? And I ask this in the most serious way.
WP7 is not going to be carrier specific, but will be available to many hardware developers (though with much more stringent requirements than before). So, WP7 handsets will be available on pretty much every network, leaving you free to go with whichever carrier you prefer.
This is one of the tough problems that will be had in the long-term competing against Apple, and I guess Android. Does Google charge a licensing fee for Android?
Anyways, with Apple the control the hardware and software so they can sacrifice the profitability of one to create more sales/revenue.
With Windows making the OS, they are never going to give it away, and the hardware makers are never going to sell their product at cost either. So they both will always have to get their piece of the pie.
I don't know if it is a big deal on the phone market, but with Apple's new approach with the iPad, it will be much harder for this kind of dynamic to compete.
When parts cost a manufacturer 250 dollars and windows wants 150 dollar license for each mobile OS copy, it is going to be hard to sell a tablet for $499.00