We're just days away from Mobile World Congress where Microsoft is expected to make a few notable
announcements. Until then, we have to settle for all the hints and innuendo we can gather as Redmond attempts to win back the hearts, minds, and pocketbooks of consumers infatuated with Android, WebOS, and whatever Apple's got cookin'. Like these supposed 6.5 screenshots above, this time showing what looks like a
Marketplace store a la the Zune. We also have CNET reporting today that Microsoft quietly split its Zune team in two on
January 22nd: software and services under Enrique Rodriguez, and hardware under Tom Gibbons who just happens to heads-up hardware design at Microsoft's Windows Mobile unit. According to Rodriguez, "Zune the service needs to transcend Zune the device" adding, "The goal is to make non-gaming entertainment a first-class citizen within Microsoft's business." That includes expanding the Zune service beyond the Zune and onto more devices than just Microsoft's. Or, "a little further out than just in Redmond," to quote Rodriguez directly. While he wouldn't say specifically when it was coming to Windows Mobile, he did say to expect products other than the Zune player to be using the Zune service sometime this year. Now, armed with those Zune-centric
WinMo 6.5 screenshots and
project Pink leaks, it's not too much a stretch to expect a Zune-like WinMo experience to be detailed in Barcelona. Besides, isn't it about time that Danger made good on that estimated
$500 million acquisition?
Read -- CNET interview
Read -- Latest WinMo 6.5 screenshots
posted February 13th 2009 8:31AM
Wow... It's not even out yet, and it already looks outdated... When is Microsoft gonna get it???
Get What?
Because you aren't making any sense.
Die!
Your opinion means nothing unless you explain yourself.
Otherwise, you're just a hater making negative comments.
At least it looks like it belongs in this century - WinMo 6 and below looks like some crappy dotCom bubble-era design.
If there's anyone that can reinvigorate the platform, at least design and usability-wise, it's the Zune team. Hopefully they'll be giving the Zune guys a bigger role in WinMo 7, I'd like to see a phone with a similar interface as the Zune firmware, albeit with some tweaks for touch and/or multi-touch use. An HTC Touch-style phone running a phone version of the Zune interface would be sexy - still not enough to make me consider it over my current lust object (Palm Pre, I'm counting the days at this point), but definitely a nice idea.
Whenever I get stung by bees, I used think to myself, "Now why can't I have this experience on my phone?"
Because of Microsoft, I can finally live my dream!
It also includes a freaky mask thingy. (Am I the only one who noticed this?)
http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/9258/maskqq7.jpg
@ Erb, if you'd looked further down the page you would've seen that someone else already pointed it out. That's Jason....it's Friday the 13th. Look for it in all the posts today.
This UI is a nightmare. If you're use to reading top down left right 木maybe this is o.k.. For those of us who read left right down left right down, etc., the honeycomb UI does not seam very fluid. It does look very structurally sound though.
@ Paul. A. Chapel
Thanks for the laugh. I needed one this morning.
@aaron
Thanks, man. Just trying to do my part, one comment at a time. ;)
Seriously, it scares me to think that people are so obsessed with Microsoft that they refuse to acknowledge that this interface is an absolute turd. And they even go through great lengths defending it!
I hate to say this ... since I'm pretty much an Apple/iPhone fanboy, but the UI on the iPhone is starting to look outdated to me. Look at the Settings app ... pin-striping? Really? The whole mash-up of blueish navigation bars and pin-striping is just hideous. Other apps look great, the iPod looks fantastic... but for the most part, the iPhone just seems ugly.
People used to call Microsoft 'The Borg' and if you remember, The Borg shared a "hive-like" mind.
I know that Microsoft was looking to Jerry Seinfeld to revive their brand, but getting tips from The Bee Movie, is not what most people had in mind.
Potential Microsoft Ad: Now when you look at other phone interfaces, you will automatically say, "Needs more honey!"
Oh, Microsoft, the comedy potential for this interface is endless. Thank-you. Thank-you from the bottom of my heart!
"Your opinion means nothing unless you explain yourself.
Otherwise, you're just a hater making negative comments." - STFU
Hmm. So when ポール typed "It's not even out yet, and it already looks outdated," he offered an explanation: It looks out-dated. I guess you just don't want to comprehend the comment.
What do you mean outdated? It's got a Friday the 13th status icon and everything.
@Paul
Stop trolling...your obsession with Microsoft is annoying.
lol.,!!!!!this is such a fcuk up job by microsoft.,winmo is seriously blowing hard right about now.,.,.,new winmo os.,name "honeycomb".,lol.,ha ha ha.,no iphonekiller here..only good laughs..
lol.,!!!!!this is such a fcuk up job by microsoft.,winmo is seriously blowing hard right about now.,.,.,new winmo os.,name "honeycomb".,lol.,ha ha ha.,no iphonekiller here..only good laughs..
As someone who grew up in the seventies, this UI makes me feel like I'm back at the "Honeycomb Hideout."
looks more finger friendly - it will hold me over until that PalmPre drops. I’ve tried Microsoft… i tried.
Does anyone know if we can upgrade the OS in phones with a pre-existing version of WinMo already installed?
I have a Touch Pro with Windows Mobile Pro 6.1, and it would be nice to be able to use this interface if I didn't want to continue using Touch Flo 3D.
As the owner of an HTC device, you might be lucky, since they've a history of updating their mobiles:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/04/19/htc-reveals-official-windows-mobile-6-upgrade-plans/
I, on the other hand, own an HP mobile phone, and they've already announced that there will be no updates whatsoever.
http://forum.xda-developers.com
or
http://www.ppcgeeks.com/
I know of both of those websites. However, if you can't answer my question HERE, where I am asking it, then don't bother posting anything at all.
Wow Aaron, I was going to take a shot at answering your question, but after seeing how much of a f**kin prick you are, I won't bother.
@ Schmitty
Angus could have provided an answer, but instead he posted the URL's to those forums, basically telling me to "go search for it". That's one of my pet peeves, just like when someone asks an honest question and you get someone who tells them to go "google it".
I'm sorry I came across as apprehensive, but I didn't really see the helpfulness in his post.
Very rarely unless you get hacked rom, phone hardware isn't built to standards like PCs so they tend to be pretty tailored to phone model.
If you know both of those websites then you should be smart enough to know that YES they probably will be updates to your phone. Now stop being rude to people who are trying to help you.
those website link to lots of development projects where people have updated OS's on phones without any input from the manufacturer.
I've been running winmo6.1 on my TyTn II (which came with 6.0) and a hacked version of the touch diamond's interface. Recently tried a rom which included 6.5, but there were no features at all. dunno if it's a joke or just a really boring beta
is very ugly, Microsoft !!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, unless it's a product from a certain fruit company. If you like products from a certain fruit company, you're just automatically a douche, according to many people on this site.
"Waaaaahhhhhhhh, I make asinine statements and wear my fanboy colors (white and silver/grey, of course) on my sleeve, and then I wonder why I get downranked and verbally abused on Engadget! Oh woe is me!"
- Paul "iDouche" Chapel
@ Paul Troll.
That doesn't make you a douche.
It makes you one when you are too unsophisticated to appreciate different taste in design and style, and feel the need to bash anything that doesn't fit into that personal view repeatedly, and in a childish manner.
e.g. YOU
Why don't I ever see you commenting in any of the other threads on this site Paul? You only ever seem to turn up in the Microsoft posts to bore us all with your petty whining. Get a life.
Don't be mad at me because you guys got punk'd by someone using my name in that Microsoft retail store post yesterday. I rarely visit this site when I'm not at work and I comment in a variety of articles that have nothing to do with Microsoft.
I thought this WAS your job?
i agree it's pretty ugly
i wish they'd get on with making windows mobile 7 a revolutionary product
this looks like a worthwhile upgrade over 6.1, but there'd have to be a hell of a lot more than a new programs section and an average homescreen (Manilla2D still looks like it's better than this) to make it worth forgoeing an iPhone , Pre or Android handset
p.s. i'm a windows mobile user
I was about to go to bed last night and checked in to Engadget for a moment and was surprised to see people cursing my name from every direction in that post about the Microsoft Retail Store, which I predicted by the way, but I digress. I was trying to understand why people were cursing my name when I realized that someone must have logged in using my name and said a bunch of ignorant stuff to enrage the Microsoft fanboy crowd (it doesn't take much to enrage that crowd, even valid criticism). Since whatever the guy said was deleted, I have absolutely no idea what he said.
Can someone feel me in? I feel like I missed out on a great laugh last night.
what is happened , is ugly or not !!
VERDAMMT
Normally, I find that Microsoft's strategies make sense, but this is sort of... weird. So they created WMA/V protection + formats, licensed them out to a bunch of companies and launched MSN Music. They then killed off MSN Music, launched a device without support for WMA/V DRM, and hailed this as the second coming of Christ. Now, they're re-creating what is essentially a platform to sell music to people through various vendors. WTF? (Note, I do own a Zune and love it, I just don't understand this...)
I don't know why you're surprised. Microsoft just wants to license software solutions. It worked with Windows and they seem to think it will work with everything else. They only released the Zune when their PlaysforSure idea failed to kill off the iPod. It seems that people wanted to own their music and listen to it on hardware that was easy and intuitive.
The Xbox is sorta the same story. When Sony started to threaten their DirectX monopoly on PC gaming, they devised to package DirectX in a box. In fact, while in development, the Xbox was known the "DirectX-box." Of course, Nintendo kinda killed Microsoft ambitions in that area.
Microsoft seems to only respond in the hardware arena when a rival product threatens something vital in their PC software ecosystem.
@ Paul
"own their own music"
Would that be the music collection that Apple require you pay a fee to make DRM free ? Yes the iTunes store sucks balls, long live Amazon MP3.
Man, iTunes really changed things, didn't it? I remember when Napster was still all the rage and it would take at least three different apps to burn a CD. It was like this: Download music from Napster, listen to music in WinAmp, convert MP3s to WAV using some shareware crap app and another app like Nero to burn a CD.
iTunes came along and you could do all that in one app. Bang, problem solved. Say what you want about Apple, but they can come up with some great solutions.
Paul, you're a moron, and wtf are you talking about?
The music you downloaded off of Napster was an MP3, and could be transferred directly over to any one of a hundred different MP3 players.
If you want to burn it to wav and play it on a CD then it doesn't matter if you download it from iTunes or Napster or any other website/service for that matter.
You talk as if Apple created the MP3 player and created the MP3 format or something.
Good God you are dense.
I suspect he's talking about the second incarnation of Napster where they sold music rather than the P2P service. His memory obviously doesn't go back that far.
MP3 players really didn't catch on until around 2003. I remember doing mix CDs and me and my friend would just drive around listening to music. We thought that burning CDs on our PCs was the greatest thing since sliced bread. My friend even bought one of those CDs players that could hold five CDs at a time and had it installed in the back of his Civic. That car was so ghetto after that, but we had endless hours of fun.
And then later, the first DVD/MP3 players came out and you could listen to MP3s on your television! This stuff was almost like science fiction. It's all old hat now, but back then, we were stoked.
Jakem, you're right, Paul's recollection of MP3 players and MP3's in general apparently began with the advent of the iPod.
Also FYI Paul, I was listening to music on MP3 players during my workouts as far back as late 2000 / early 2001.
I was also downloading music in MP3 format from Napster as far back as 1999.
Just because your access to them was limited or your memory only goes as far back as 2005, doesn't mean the rest of ours does too.
What the heck are you talking about? Where did you get the idea that I was talking about 2005? I was actually talking about the period between 1999 and 2001, which is when the MP3 downloading rage really took off and CDs were still in vogue. You said something about MP3 players, which really weren't popular until around 2003, which I pointed out above.
So, me and my friends were still very much burning CDs between 1999 and 2003. For me it was more like 2006. I didn't get an iPod until like the 5th generation and only then because it had video, which blew me away. I'm sorry I didn't have an MP3 player like you back in 2000, but I was still fairly young at the time Napster came out.
It's so funny. Everyone is so much in a rush to discredit me, even when I'm reminiscing about childhood memories. I guess the fact that I'm a PC user who's not totally satisfied with Windows, scares a lot of MS fanboys here. Relax guys, Windows will be around a long time.
So you were fairly young around the time Napster came out...
Suddenly, everything is falling into place.
And I just realized that you're probably an old man. What the heck are you doing here? I could respect someone from 12 to 25 being here, but come on, if you're over thirty, I think the comment section should be off limits. Don't you have some diapers to change?
Actually Paul, I'm 29, turning 30.
As for you, I would say that your age is indeed a reflection of your petulant and impetuous nature.
To that end, it is you who should be leaving the comments to those of us who are mature enough and knowledgeable enough to carry on a meaningful discourse.
You on the other hand should stay in school or else you could be yet another typical Mac poster child...a yuppy/hipster with just enough cash in his wallet to buy a latte at StarBucks after blowing half a years salary (of working at that very StarBucks) on a Macbook Air/Pro.