Windows Mobile 6.1 gets played with, shown off

Not like Windows Mobile 6.1 is an elaborate mystery or anything -- heck, we even know all about the improvements it's slated to bring -- but there's nothing like a bucketful of screenshots surrounded by machine translated opinions to really revive that enthusiasm. Sure enough, the folks over at PocketPT were able get ahold of the software and show off just how it handled webpage zooming, threaded SMS conversations and Office 2007 documents. Still not convinced? Go on and hit the read link -- you skeptic, you.

[Via phoneArena]

[Abuzar @ Feb 2nd 2008 11:24AM]

I hope T-mobile gets this for the Shadow.

[a ham sandwich @ Feb 2nd 2008 11:33AM]

windows mobile is such a good platform. it just needs to be redesigned so that the finger can be the main method of input rather than a small stylus. unless you have really small fingers, that is.

[JohnTitor @ Feb 2nd 2008 12:26PM]

I hope the guys at XDA-developers are all over this

[Scott @ Feb 2nd 2008 12:28PM]

"Such a good platform."

I know! I love receiving Out Of Memory errors when I'm trying to make a phone call. End Task is such a natural function on a cell phone.

[Benjamin Ewing @ Feb 2nd 2008 12:34PM]

I just flashed my tilt with it last night. The threaded sms is the deal and web browsing is actually useable (although not great). Other than that I havent noticed much difference except its faster, but thats probably the ROM and not the new OS.

[Mark @ Feb 2nd 2008 1:07PM]

ya... I had wm6.1 like 3 days ago. New ROMs with it are all over xda.

[Joshua Walters @ Feb 2nd 2008 1:12PM]

Its alot like what I expected.

I was kinda hoping it would be awesome, but its really not.

Its still to early to tell, but it looks like I will be going with an Android phone in October when Im due for a new phone.

[michael @ Feb 2nd 2008 6:14PM]

Did you really expect for WinMo to morph into something really new?

Maybe in WinMo 7, but as most people would think, 6.0 to 6.1 will only have minor changes.

And I'm not trying to be a hater here, but Android doesn't really sound something special to me. If you're welcomed to a mobile OS that's probably buggy since it's so new, advertisements, among other things, than go ahead. I can mod WinMo the way I feel fit, and make it my own phone.

[michael @ Feb 2nd 2008 1:15PM]

I just got an iPhone. My Treo 700wx now feels like a device that's about 5 years behind.

[Ricardo @ Feb 2nd 2008 1:32PM]

When will they finally ditch the extremely ugly and battery consuming white background?

[Temple @ Feb 2nd 2008 1:33PM]

I've been using Windows Mobile for awhile (in the moto Q), it has to be the worst mobile OS out there. Even the basic operations are cumbersome and unintuitive. Hopefully future iterations will be better, but it needs some serious changes as it stands now.

[SimbaDogg @ Feb 2nd 2008 1:45PM]

@Scott
I think this has more to do with what phone you're using, rather than the windows mobile standard. i'm on my 4th windows mobile handset, and i've never seen that before. Thats kind of the problem w/ WM5 WM6 and Microsoft, since MS doesn't actually make the handsets themselves, its up to the OEM Mftrs to properly make a handset that will make the OS operate smoothly. Sometimes they do, and a lot of times they dont.

@ Michael
Thats because just about all of palms phones are years behind the curve.

[Naveed @ Feb 2nd 2008 2:35PM]

been running 6.1 on my verizon xv6800 (Titan, mogul) for a couple days now thanks to geniuses like DCD, no2chem, bepe and others i fail to mention. Its snappier, web browsing is better and threaded SMS out of the box is great. OH and for us xv6800 (Titan, mogul) owners, the ROMs being used finally enable the built in GPS and upgrade the phones to Rev A.

[Dave @ Feb 2nd 2008 2:58PM]

ya xda devs has had the 6.1 beta for the past 4 days...cheers

[Alex @ Feb 2nd 2008 4:42PM]

All I really care about is threaded SMS. I know there are 3rd party programs out there that can do it, but they never work as intended. One big disappointment was the lack of multiple IE windows/tabs.

Hopefully it'll be released as a free upgrade to current WM6 customers.

[blackhonda @ Feb 2nd 2008 4:46PM]

Will this work on tmobile dash?

thanks

[Phoenix Sanders @ Feb 2nd 2008 5:21PM]

what is threaded sms?

[Darkest Daze @ Feb 2nd 2008 5:50PM]

Come on Samsung...me and my i760 are eagerly awaiting 6.1.

[Drew @ Feb 2nd 2008 10:38PM]

@Ricardo:

A white background would indeed consume more battery power if your phone used a CRT. For an LCD, though, the backlight is on either way. LCDs often take more power to display black, actually.

[Jumep @ Feb 3rd 2008 7:08AM]

The interface still looks so Win 3.11... What's with those ugly scrollbars? What about those endless dropdowns that are so (un)useful on a mobile device? And what about tons of unimportant elements that are present on the screen all the time? Common MS the most amateur computer-human interaction student knows how to handle things better! When will MS realize that they need to completely redesign their mobile platform if the want to compete with ones like Apple.

[Raymond @ Feb 3rd 2008 9:12AM]

If you want a good phone, don't get a smartphone. If you want a good smartphone, get an iPhone.

After screwing with MS up to 5, I am now a delighted switcher.

[Bryan @ Feb 4th 2008 11:40AM]

Haha, he said iPhone.

How is...

Exchange Direct Push
3G Data Speeds
User Replaceable Battery
Useable Keyboard (I have used it, it SUCKS)
Built in GPS

...coming along????

Until then keep out of this SMARTPHONE conversation. My Blackjack II runs circles around that iPhone, it cost me $120. iPhones are neat devices, but they don't come REMOTELY close when it comes to business use. Have fun rotating your screen though.

BTW The Windows mobile operating system is more powerful than any other out there, well at least that people care about. Look at the apps and the flexibility of the OS. It does everything I need and more. If it can't do something built in, there are 10 apps out there that do.

[JerryA @ Feb 5th 2008 5:52PM]

Ugh... not to enter this age-old seemingly endless argument, but the iPhone is not the be-all end-all device. It's one point on a constant evolution of personal electronics. There are many nice things about the iPhone but for a lot of us it is missing key features. No interface improvement can make up for that. There are many needs and markets out there and just because a device suits on does not mean it suits all. I understand the need to justify a $300-600 purchase but these pissing wars are not very productive.

Personally, I prefer my Titan because unlike the iPhone, it has:

- QWERTY keyboard that I don't have to pack at like a virtual keyboard
- Push email
- the ability to be skinned or customized without any unlocking or hacking that could brick my device
- 3G (over 1000k down and 400-500 up last time I checked)
- built-in GPS
- flash
- streaming video, shoutcast, etc.

And it cost me $100 less than an iPhone and $5 less per month for unlimited data. I didn't even have to pay those NSA wiretappers and RIAA collaborators at AT&T a dime.

I keep saying the same thing. Everyone's mileage may vary but it's ridiculous to assume that since the iPhone currently has the nicest UI that it is the best device for everyone. It's one device with its own set of features and its own business strategy. The iPhone is a simplified version of a smartphone. Rather than go for customization and full-featured-ness, they went for simplicity and UI. That's cool because I know a lot of people who don't need 3g or gps but who want a nice simple phone with a few web/multimedia capabilities.

I don't know why I always bother getting sucked into this argument. It's not your home team. It's a company that looks for a market and tries to serve it. The more companies make more devices, the more we all win.