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Microsoft, Samsung Take on Apple With New Smartphone Announcements

This looks really great. I like that they've gone back to the drawing board here. The OS on the Zune HD is similarly classy while remaining totally distinct from iPhone OS, and I fully expect that WP7 will similarly provide a solid alternative. Exciting.
 
It doesn't look bad. Although, I do hate it when they throw it on multiple sets of hardware. The iPhone is great because it's just that. An iPhone! If you get me?

Hopefully Apple will make something even better soon!
 
Legolover64 said:
Wow, people talk about "cluttered screens" here? Have you looked at iPhone OS? 20 icons, super multicolored, staring you in the face. How is that less cluttered than this?
Click to expand...

Negative space. There are a bunch of icons, but the spacing between the icons works for their size, and keeps the screen from looking TOO busy. While I like the fluid design of the MS offering, it looks too cluttered. That is, the spacing for the boxes makes the screen look very full, even with only a handful of options. Make the UI a little more open, and it would look great.

My real issue with the W7 system is the tight integration with social media. I don't care for it, and am not clear on how optional it is. If I can get rid of FB integration, this will look a lot better.

As for the Samsung, sure it looks like the iPhone OS. So what? It is a clean interface and it scales well. Good is good. The size of this phone will make it an attractive offering to folks that don't want/need the size of the iPhone.
 
I wonder what the result of all these competitors to iPhone will be. Will they genuinely steal a chunk of market share or will they just fragment the competition. I would expect it is the latter but you never know.
 
anthonymoody said:
As usual the haters aren't apparently taking the time to think, let alone watch some of the demo videos now floating around or reading the growing number of hands on reports.

This new UI is clean, slick and polished. The code is new from the ground up, and the tight control placed over hardware specs is going to lead to a better, more coherent user experience (looks like they also learned a thing or two from some of Android's mistakes...)

And yes, competition is good.

I'm frankly surprised it took MSFT this long to dump the underlying WM code - it was so god awful for so long, Sense-UI's of the world notwithstanding.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...
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totally disagree. I see confusion. I see the Zune. Yuck.

Yay, it scrolls vertically. Is this that good?
 
After going through the demo, I was surprised to find so many people here that consider this UI to be a big step up from the iPhone. The Windows Mobile UI wastes a lot of screen real estate at times (for instance, watch the photos demo and watch a photo appear at the top of the screen with a huge black bar at the bottom). Also, it looks strange to me that each page is "bigger" than the screen making you move back and forth like a zoomed in Safari page to get anything done.

In the end, I don't really care who has the better phone. I'm still using the free phone that came with my cheap contract and all of these smartphones don't interest me. However, it does puzzle me that people think this UI is so slick. :confused:

P-Worm
 
Legolover64 said:
Wow, people talk about "cluttered screens" here? Have you looked at iPhone OS? 20 icons, super multicolored, staring you in the face. How is that less cluttered than this?

And how is this ugly? This is pretty simple as far as phone UI goes, I would say as simple as it gets, and still, people see "Microsoft" and go to criticize it. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Apple is not your friend. They're not your buddy, they don't feel better or worse if you mindlessly follow them to the ends of the earth and call everything else trash. Is the iPhone the best smartphone out there? I think so. Does Windows Phone 7 Series stand a chance? Definitely. This looks new, exciting and very visionary. Let's keep from being rabid about it just because it bares the Microsoft name.

Also, lol at the people who keep saying Microsoft stole from Apple. Read up. Apple took them to court. Check out who won that argument.
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i agree it looks like a cluttered mess with different sized icon boxes and ugly blue icons. how do you know where anything is - swipe up for one thing swipe left for another - left again for something else - your average user will throw the phone against the wall in anguish.
 
The idea of organizing media around "hubs" is also super smart. YouTube, Vimeo, FB video, Flickr vid...what's the diff? It's all video. Flickr, FB albums, Picasa...all pictures. This is a great way to simplify the fragmented media sites & simplify multiple accounts.

We'll see what the final implementation is though.
 
This going to be fun...

First reports indicate that the new Windows Phone OS:
- Does not multitask
- Has no copy/paste
- Does not do Flash

Somehow, that reminds me of the launch of another device.

Let the justifications begin! :D
 
anthonymoody said:
As usual the haters aren't apparently taking the time to think, let alone watch some of the demo videos now floating around or reading the growing number of hands on reports.

This new UI is clean, slick and polished. The code is new from the ground up, and the tight control placed over hardware specs is going to lead to a better, more coherent user experience (looks like they also learned a thing or two from some of Android's mistakes...)
Click to expand...

I totally agree. People need to watch the demo videos before making any criticism about the UI. It looks great.
 
Frazzle said:
First reports indicate that the new Windows Phone OS:
- Does not multitask
- Has no copy/paste
- Does not do Flash

Somehow, that reminds me of the launch of another device.

Let the justifications begin! :D
Click to expand...

i LOVE how it doesn't support flash - everyone is making a huge deal about iPhone not using flash yet - this brand new phone which is supposed to re-think how we use a phone doesn't support flash right out of the box. because flash is horrible on a pc and even worse on a phone. thats why iPhone doesn't support it and why adobe is trying to come up with a mobile version of it.
 
jbouklas said:
I just saw the interface video and read the article at gizmodo.com - I have to say that this phone looks awesome. I've owned two WinMo phones back in the day, and they were terrible. Beyond terrible. And then I bought the first iPhone, the iPhone 3G, and now I own the 3GS. The iPhone blows those phones out of the water, and is still by far more polished than the latest Android phones I've played with.

But this is different. WinMo 7 looks polished and makes the iPhone UI look dated (though it was looking dated even before I saw the first screen of 7). I wouldn't have ever considered buying a WinMo phone after having used an iPhone, but I must say, I'm very impressed.

If Apple doesn't up there game with 4.0, they have a serious problem on their hands. Especially with the iPad. I'm not knocking the fact that it runs iPhoneOS, but it looks like it came out in 2007, with those tiny app icons on a huge background. If MS can reinvent themselves and makes phones that truly compete with the iPhone in every aspect, and blow it away in others, then what can they do with tablet computing? Like I said, whoa...
Click to expand...

I think we keep forgetting that most of us love the latest and greatest, but for the vast majority of people who have purchased an iPhone over the past few years, their iPhones are a great experience. I don't see my wife giving up her iPhone since she's very comfortable with it, and how it works for her. Like the majority of people, she isn't going to switch to the latest phone simply because the early adopters think it's cool - it's a phone, it works very well for her, and does everything she wants. Previous phones and WIndows Mobile devices didn't provide that great user experience, but now there's a device out there that does (iPhone), I suspect you wont see the same level of churn to the latest devices from the competition.

....and I suspect there are 10's of millions of current users in the same situation, regardless of how nice a job MS have done with their new Zune Phone :)
 
shk718 said:
i LOVE how it doesn't support flash - everyone is making a huge deal about iPhone not using flash yet - this brand new phone which is supposed to re-think how we use a phone doesn't support flash right out of the box. because flash is horrible on a pc and even worse on a phone.
Click to expand...

You think that's why Microsoft isn't supporting Flash? You don't think it has anything to do with Silverlight?
 
Looks very good - but nothing really amazing...

Also, another "no flash support" so screw it...

Perhaps by 2nd revision they will polish it up and include Flash - if so - I will be in market for one! :)

By the way, I wouldn't be surprised if same or slightly "boosted" version of the OS comes to some sort of M$ tablet in near future too...
 
Witha single Windows Phone identity regardless of carrier or device brand why would a manufacture want to produce a windows phone instead of a Google phone? They said phones weren't like pc's yet their doing the same business model. i find that really interesting.
 
Povilas said:
Needs it, but not badly ;)
Click to expand...

Sorry but I've got to respectfully disagree. The iPhone OS is very much in badly in need of a major overhaul.

-the PNS is totally broken since there is no list of the ones you have missed and is completely invasive by taking over your screen

-there is no multitasking and at least MS has Pandora built into WM7 so it can stream in the background

-no lockscreen info so constantly have to unlock the iPhone to quickly view info

-no background wallpaper (though the iPad's 3.2 indicates it's coming)

-no shared documents folder similar to photos and videos (there are rumors this is coming)
 
The UI seems to be one big distraction and their criticism of Apps and decision to replace them with hubs seems to disregard what people use their apps for. I use Facebook but I don't care for half the updates on there and certainly don't need to know of any of my best friends "latest" updates - if they are truly pertinent I'll likely have been told already. I wouldn't mind seeing tighter Mobileme integration in the photo app (to do away with the need for gallery), and I would love to have an apple TV type menu when plugged into the TV (like the Zune). Otherwise the apps I use wouldn't fit into any of their classifications - train times, games, banking, Paeds ED, BNF, engadget, Metro UK. So I don't know where they would end up in "hubs".

There's a lot of whizz bang here but I don't see any improvement. The iPhone interface may seem old but it's certainly not broken. I'll take age and experience over the impudence of youth.
 
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