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Microsoft, Samsung Take on Apple With New Smartphone Announcements

Whoa! An OS with a filesystem! Wow! How 1984! LOL :)

Just kidding. The hub thing actually does look like a cool idea. Seems like a combination of app-focused and content-focused UI. Apple (who's iPhone/iPod/iPad are 100% app-focused) may actually have something to learn from this UI. I wonder though... how do you install new apps on it? If you download a YouTube app... does it know that it belongs to the video "hub"? Or do you have to assign it to the video "hub"? Where does the app live? And I notice on one of the screens there is a "Files" folder. Probably a bad idea. I'd have to play with the actual interface to decide if I like it or not. But at least they are doing some fresh thinking and not simply copying the iPhone.
 
OK, I'm watching demo right now and all I can see is bells and whistles and in my book this UI is not even in the same neighbourhood with consistent and streamlined. My 2 cents.
 
Hmmmm. I'm not a fan of MS products (anymore) but this looks quite interesting.

What I and many people keep complaining about with the iPhone, is that there is no information about content outside an application besides the badges: new emails, new tweets, number of due tasks. In all cases you have to start an app first.

Here Microsoft hast standard apps in the interface and pushes more information to the UI elements. This is by no means a new thing, but they do it quite elegantly (compared to winmo 6.x and before).

The trick I think is to let the boundary between an App and the OS disappear. Within iPhone OS I first have to start an app to look at the content. In Winmo 7 it is just a smart swipe away. It's no problem to start an app, but it certainly enhances the experience if this boundary is not as explicit as it is in iPhone OS 3.x.
 
I'm not a fan of the "spillover on purpose" look.

500x_xboxlivephone.jpg


I guess it's an aesthetic decision, but it seems a bit counter-intuitive when you have to explain that there's more info to the sides.
 
str1f3 said:
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)
Click to expand...

In due time.
 
This OS looks very slick. I'll have to check out the "tight integration" it offers. Supposedly the iPhone's features are "tightly integrated", but really are anything but integrated. So, I'll believ it when I play with it. Apple really needs to rip-down these "sandboxes" and start over.
 
Do we really have to wait 4 months to see what Apple are replying with? Lot of momentum to lose if you ask me.

iPad was a good opportunity to show us what a new interface might look like, but I'm thinking that OS4 won't change much visually
 
I do like what they have done to it but will be remaining an Android man.

No complaints on how they stole Multitouch from Apple yet? :p:(:D
 
jbouklas said:
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 totally agree. Microsoft has stepped up its game here. I'm sure Apple with respond with O/S 4.0. If it doesn't, then they will have some competition!
 
The reason why people are saying this looks better than an iPhone is because it looks cool. By looks cool I mean it doesn't just copy and paste the iPhone UI and that it has a ton of animations.

Problem is though that all those things that make for a cool looking demo don't really tell you much about usability. Here are some potential issues. Quickly moving between contacts could be an issue if you have to constantly pop out to the index. The animations could be distracting, why is the xbox live icon bouncing around for no real reason?

Additionally, there are factors we can't be sure of. Typing and autocorrection is a huge one. It showed a software keyboard but as we know for some Android phones they can be super buggy and slow.

Only thing I can say is this is probably an upgrade from Windows Mobile 6 but that isn't really saying much.
 
the interface looks SO MUCH BETTER then the one in the iPhone. iPhone's interface is BORING and it SUCKS! simple as that.
 
The problem Micorsoft faces is that they are completely isolated in this game: Apple is already three years ahead of them in the market; Google is working with multiple manufacturers on its Android platform; and other operators have decided to join together to form a consortium. Where does that leave Microsoft? Selling its OS to low cost cell phone manufacturers no doubt.

Samsung has introduced its own OS today, so it seems that even the low-end option is probably not there for Microsoft.

My guess is that Apple will be fine because they are moving their platform to tablets and have an already established store model. Samsung will be fine simply because it sells so many phones. You want a free phone? Then obviously the iPhone is not for you, but a Samsung phone will work just fine. You get basic phone service plus some nice features. Google should be fine because they know how to compete in a $0 world, making money off of other services.

Apple is smart to move beyond cell phones. This is a crowded field that will drive the price down to unprofitable levels. That's why both Apple and Google are becoming so interested in advertising models now.
 
peterdevries said:
The trick I think is to let the boundary between an App and the OS disappear. Within iPhone OS I first have to start an app to look at the content. In Winmo 7 it is just a smart swipe away. It's no problem to start an app, but it certainly enhances the experience if this boundary is not as explicit as it is in iPhone OS 3.x.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what needs to happen. This will lead to better integration. Right now, these individual sandboxes are too restricting.
 
Congratulations

stevearm said:
Looks fantastic.

Although I wish people would stop using the "competition is good" line. A bit simplistic, but fair enough, it just seems to be used a thousand times every day on this forum. zzzzzz
Click to expand...

This is the first time I have ever seen someone use the word "simplistic" correctly on the internet.


On topic - - - And then June will come and iPhone will be two steps ahead again.
 
I really hope this sets a fire under Steve Jobs' a** so he gives the iPhone a good upgrade this summer. Higher res OLED screen, SD slot, etc. I have tons of songs & videos & I don't want to have to choose which ones I want to take. I hate talking to friends about something and being like "Oh, I have a great picture/song (whatever) here on my iPhone… oh wait. I didn't have room."
 
Cubert said:
My God is that OS ever fugly!

At least Micro$ucks is consistent.
Click to expand...

agreed, that's just shocking. at first I thought it was a joke. it's like a parody of what a bad next-gen MS phone would look like.

the samsung looks good... probably because it's an outrageously blatant copy of the iphone.
 
I think it looks interesting but there is one MAJOR factor people need to examine.

HOLIDAY 2010

This phone is not going to be available until Nov/Dec that is a huge huge detail, and here's why.

Microsoft's position in the mobile market has completely collapsed. This premature announcement is them saying to cell makers "hey don't forget about us."

It's not a bad effort, and they went and did their own thing. Which is more than we can say about anyone else. Microsoft deserves praise for thinking this thing through, even if you don't really like it.

The big problem is it's not coming for damn near a year. Apple and Google can look at this demo see some functionality they like and probably start shipping it before Microsoft even get's this thing out the door.
 
awful interface

The zune phone has a terrible UI that takes so much space to convey so little information.

What if facebook is a fad? what if someone hates facebook - does the whole phone fall flat?

I'm pretty sure I need all the one click functionality and app centric approach that I get off my iPhone homescreen - I like a map to know where I'm going, a camera, stocks, weather, calendar, etc. I really could care less about having what my friends are doing pushed at me - this is my navigation tool, my notebook, my tape recorder, my camera, my phone - not just some dumb social network - my iPhone is about doing, not watching what my elementary school friends had for lunch on Facebook, no thank you.
 
guzhogi said:
I really hope this sets a fire under Steve Jobs' a** so he gives the iPhone a good upgrade this summer. Higher res OLED screen, SD slot, etc. I have tons of songs & videos & I don't want to have to choose which ones I want to take. I hate talking to friends about something and being like "Oh, I have a great picture/song (whatever) here on my iPhone… oh wait. I didn't have room."
Click to expand...



Why would the iPhone need an SD slot?

The iPhone already has a 32GB hard drive, and with it's 3 megapixel camera you could probably hold 10,000+ pictures.

The next model iPhone will probably have MORE capacity --

How much space do you need?!?!
 
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