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Microsoft, Samsung Take on Apple With New Smartphone Announcements

zombitronic said:
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.
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So basically they made a high tech microfiche. I too do not like the spill over effect, poor design decision.

I also don't like that it appears to scroll up and down as well as left and right when looking for content... have they not read Nielsen's on Usability and Web Design?

Will be interesting to see the final product.
 
Urban Splash said:
Maybe, you know, maybe, sometimes I dont have my phone in my pocket. You know, like maybe when I'm in the gym.......

Oh wait, a yank ey? you would not understand what a gym is.....
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Oh, wow. A "father country" joke. Get real. We kicked your ass, twice. Please.

Anyway, let's wait until this OS has shipped on a device before we start making judgment.
 
Win 7 phone

Yeah that Zune interface will be familiar to all 30 people who own a Zune...
I suspect this will be the same cluster as every other MS phone OS.
 
I can't believe it...but Apple is bordering on playing catch-up. Apple missed a golden opportunity to unveil a new iPhone / Mobile OSX - for the iPad / iPhone / iPod Touch at the iPad event. Call it whatever you want (iPhone OS 4.0, Mobile OSX, whatever). I don't understand what they were thinking. The iPad announcement and presentation seemed rushed and un-Apple like, if you will.

Then, a week or two later rumors surfaced that Jobs said in a company town hall style meeting that the new iPhone software is going to knock our socks off, etc. If the new 4.0 OS wasn't ready yet, the iPad should have been delayed as well. It should have been a package deal. Instead, Apple launched a "magical" NEW product with an OS that is essentially from 2007. I am an Apple fan, but even the most over the top fanboy has to admit this was misstep. The new OS better knock our socks off, because the competition is getting stronger from the other two powerhouses, Google and Micro$oft.
 
Personally, I thought the concept held true to the typical Windows philosophy of burying things several levels deep thus requiring someone to touch a button several times to get to the information they seek. Having pre-determined hubs looks to me that it will require more time and more button pushes to access certain information. This kind of layered nesting is one of the things that drives me crazy about Windows - you can't just find something easily - you have to dig for it and it's always several levels deep what you are trying to find - very inefficient in my opinion.

Also, what about accelerometers? The article said nothing about the phone being able to adjust orientation of the display based on the positioning of the phone - can it do that? Funny that it wasn't mentioned. Will there by a software keyboard or a permanent fixed keyboard? Again, wasn't mentioned. The new OS might be fine; it wouldn't have to improve too significantly to be better than the last Window's mobile phone software they offered. But there seems to be a lot of unanswered questions yet to fully assess just how "slick" this new OS is really going to be.
 
slapppy said:
Microsoft has no one but Apple to thank them. If not for the iPhone, Windows MO would have been moving along the same POS system as before. Now that they have Apple/iPhone/Touch/iPad as a template. Copy machines are at full tilt at Microsoft.
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Copy machines? Did you even look at the pictures? It looks nothing like the iPhone interface.

I believe you are right that Apple's overnight success with the iPhone interface probably motivated Microsoft to get their butts in gear, but what they've come up with here is unique. You might not like it, but it is definitely not a copy of Apple.

I'm still sitting on the smartphone fence. I happen to think this looks really slick, although I'm not sure if I can wait until "holidays 2010" to try it out. If, in the meantime, Apple produces something compelling, then they might just get my business first.
 
jlblodgett said:
As a matter of fact, I do.

I also know what a dentist is.


So on those very rare occasions when you are away from your phone, it is a tremendous burden for you to have to unlock/passcode, right?
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It is! it really is!

It lets me know that I have a text message, when I have a missed call, even a voicemail.......but not email. Why not?

I'm just saying that after a few years, Apple should be getting a little smarter. We all see how much money they make, which is great......but why do they seem to produce a 'wow' product, like the original iPhone, but not build on this significantly over time. As a long term iPhone user, I just feel its all rather stagnant, thats all. And yes, the app store is great, but lets me honest, most of what's on there is complete bollox.
 
lex750 said:
Three generations later the iPhone's GUI is still the same boring row icons, with no home screed, and no real "wow" to it. Just like OS 10.6 has the same boring Aqua GUI elements as OS 10.

Hey Apple, "Think Different Redesign".
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And 25 years later the Mac still has the same basic boring old menu bar at the top, icons on the right of the desktop, etc.

What's your point? It seems a lot of you think that Apple needs to change the iPhone UI simply because it's boring. That's the wrong approach. You don't change for the sake of change. You change to improve usability. Adding things like Stacks for apps is perhaps coming, but I don't see Apple radically altering the iPhone OS.
 
Now do people see what I mean? the iPhone OS is dated, and now it's stating to show. This can only bring hope that Apple will step it up in the UI category for the next iPhone. I will be one of the first in line.
 
That wasn't the real interface, it was a representation of what they hope the UI will look and act like. It's not being released until the end of the year which means this is pretty much just their goal.

The iPhone user base is so large now, and the App store and iTunes are so well developed that microsoft would have to take losses for years before winning away enough people to turn a profit on it.

The Zune is much the same way. It's good, because it needs to be, and MS probably doesn't make much on them. iPod users are happy with the collection of music they've built up and the equipment they have.

As soon as Microsoft becomes dominant in any market segment the quality of their products immediately goes south.
 
cwwilson said:
Now do people see what I mean? the iPhone OS is dated, and now it's stating to show. This can only bring hope that Apple will step it up in the UI category for the next iPhone. I will be one of the first in line.
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iPhone OS4 - imminent. :)

Hopefully, nothing too radical, as the current design works beautifully.

Refinements such as scrolling push notifications which include email, client integration, etc. will be welcome.
 
cwwilson said:
Now do people see what I mean? the iPhone OS is dated, and now it's stating to show. This can only bring hope that Apple will step it up in the UI category for the next iPhone. I will be one of the first in line.
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Did you miss the fact that Apple is working on OS 4?
 
Damn I wish I had good looking friends like that on my Phone list ;)
Kidding aside, Apples marketing played it safe with their headshots.
These all look like canned pics from my istockphoto collection :p
 
kbmb said:
http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/wi.../15/windows-phone-7-series-show-and-tell.aspx
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Wow! Thanks for that link. I love this quote:

we are proud to show you our design results after more than a year of talking to real people.... Go ahead and check out this video of our new Windows Phone running on real hardware.
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Glad to see they're no longer testing their products on androids and running their software in simulation mode.

The video is a real cringe-inducer. Why do they have to try so hard to make themselves appear "hip?" MS should allow themselves to be shameless geeks with products aimed at techies and business users, and stop attempting to appeal to what they perceive as "real" people.
 
I like Microsoft. I couldn't do my work efficiently without Microsoft software. My first programming foray on the Mac was using MS Basic.

But OMG the UI on Microsoft's new mobile OS is butt-ugly. Yuck.

Edit: LOL - I can't watch the video on Microsoft's web site because I can't load the plug-in - I had to go to YouTube. Typical.
 
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