Windows Mobile 6.5 feature tour sneaks onto YouTube
By Paul Miller 
posted Feb 14th 2009 4:26PM
posted Feb 14th 2009 4:26PM
[Thanks, GON]
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I can't wait until I can try this on my Fuze.
Honestly, I cant wait until they improve this. Dont get me wrong, i want to like WinMo, but Microsoft needs to do an overall makeover.
Thats what wm 7 is for.
I like what I see, but I think I'll stick with TouchFlo 3d for now. I hope Windows Mobile 7 will be a new OS from the ground up. Even with the finger friendly enhancements, 6.5 is still the same, tired-looking Windows Mobile shell we're used to. Granted, it gets the job done.
wow the honeycomb interface is really nice!!!
just my $00.65
Yeah! If this is working on the HD, then it should come to the Fuze. However, I must agree with Matt Peters and stick with Touch Flo3D.
Actually, those of you with the TouchFlo 3d should give Home 2 a look. I'm a big fan of TF3D, but Home 2 is pretty sweet. http://www.pointui.com/products/home-2
TouchFlo 3D is perfect, better than any other interface ive ever seen or worked with (including Android, iPhone's, BB, SPB Mobile Shell, etc.). No reason for me to switch for an interface change, but if there are other improvements that are brought about as a result of this such as increased efficiency, better use of resources, stability taken to another level, etc. then I will switch and worry about porting over TF3D later.
at @chikenator.
man, inflation has really started to hit eh.
Microsoft should just fire everyone in the win mo division and buy out palm.
i disagree.
And Apple and RIM. Then we might get the perfect phone.
I agree. I don't think WinCE/WinMo/WinWhatever-they-call-it-next has much of future.
I beg to differ
@Darren
Neither did Palm. At least that was the chatter we got from the know-it-alls here.
@ LookAroundYou
Palm spent almost a decade trying to come up with the next-generation Palm OS (Multi-tasking, protected memory, etc.) only to fail and throw it all away. This "WebOS" is a desperate hail-mary attempt to save the company. No-one has used it yet, and they've only demo'ed features missing from iPhone (cut-and-paste, multiple applications, etc.) They still have a long way to go and I have very serious doubts that they can pull it off. But they had no choice but to abandon their old platform, regardless.
MS, on the other hand, has far too much invested in the Mobile .NET developer libraries, so there's no way they can throw it away (what would they replace it with?). The OS is old and archaic, but they have no choice but to drag it kicking and screaming into the future. It will cost them an enormous amount of the time and money (they still have a long, long way to go), and in the end it probably won't be a very compelling product.
That's fine for Microsoft (they have too much money as it is) but I don't know why consumers or hardware manufacturers would wait around for Microsoft. Many manufacturers don't have a choice, but consumers sure as hell do now. And if Google Android comes together then manufacturers will have a choice, too. For that reason, I don't think WinMO has much of a future. WinMO can't leverage a monopoly the way big-Windows can.
Darren,
Explain exactly why the OS is archaic?
I'm sure in doing so you will just display your ignorance.
Could it be because its missing remote application deployment, full device encryption, flash support and cut and paste?
Sorry, thats actually the iPhone.
Darren, you lost me at "No-one has used it yet."
You do realize that typing anything before and after that sentence makes you look like a fool.
@surer: End-user features do not make an OS archaic. The "archaic" he was referring to is the deeper-down, developer issues any/all Microsoft OS'es have. The libraries are hard to use and bloated with calls and parameters that are inconsistent and full of deprecations. The IDE is previous generation. I know several developers who have learned to use Apple's iPhone IDE in less than a day. ONE DAY. Try getting someone to develop for WinMO in one day. That is archaic and it shows that it's actually you who are showing your ignorance.
@JKT: Ever heard of .NET? It is not old or archaic, and it is not inconsistent. Not to mention that Visual Studio 2008 is one of the best IDE's out there, period. Have you even tried it?
I’m not even a developer, and I learned how to uses Xcode in a week. As an interface designer, it is pretty rational, and while there is some bizarre stuff in the code, the modules are pretty powerful.
Frankly, there is nothing in this demo that makes me long for porting our product to the platform. We will likely do Android down the road, and if Palm lives, maybe. But, just like I enjoyed Windows 2000, this is clean. Apple went for the consumer market place. There will be plenty of businesses that want more capable software, or to make a mobile interface less mobile like, and full of information. I didn’t agree with Apple’s interface decisions until I started to work with mobile content.
I'm sorry, but stylus = fail. The whole argument is that it should be finger friendly capacitive touch..
I have to agree with you. The ui of this looks fine but the fact that you have to use a "toothpick" to do anything is anoying. Windows has to get around the multitouch patent that apple is using against everyone and surpass them if they want to go anywhere.
#1 One of the reasons is that it's easier to show you whats going on in the video. It's a dark room, and fat fingers will get in the way of the camera
#2 I lost my stylus months ago, and never had an issue using WM6, and it was designed to still be primarily used with one.
Well, the one of the points of the video is that there have been many changes to make the OS more finger friendly, but if you want to use the stylus you can. It isn't an either/or siutation.
I only ever have to use the stylus on my Touch Pro on one screen. It's so rare that it comes up that I can't even remember what I'm trying to press on the screen at the moment, but it's just a little too small for me to consistently hit with my thumb, so pulling out the stylus makes it easier. Other than that, never have to use the stylus.
It probably is finger friendly. You could use for fingers with most Windows Mobile touch screen devices as long as you had the dexterity greater than that of an elephant. And with large icons like that, even an elephant probably can use it now. It probably comes with a stylus for natural handwriting recognition that Windows Mobile supports, which is something other mobile OSs don't.
It's obvious that you don't need a stylus, especially as is the point of the new interfaces. Like others said, I lost both my styluses and never missed them 'cause I didn't need them, way back on a Pocket PC 2003 device. I admit that things got wierd when most major devices started to come out with really tiny screens, like the Tilt... but on a device like a Touch HD the stylus is an option, not a necessity.
It seems to me that in this demo the stylus is used so that the hands don't block the camera too much.
As for the whole capacitive vs resistive thing, I don't see why people are getting worked up over it, it seems many don't have much experience with both. I'd rather have the ability to use a stylus, stick, toothpick, q-tip or whatevr I'd like *in addition* to my fingers, than something that only works with my finger and cannot be used with gloves.
The only thing I use my stylus for is bubble breaker.
*Shrug*
the reliance on stylus indicates a more business-oriented philosophy. Finger control is way cooler and more appealing but when it comes to serious computing the stylus reigns supreme. Try to sign a document on iPhone :-P
This has probably asked before, but I don't use WinMo, or actually any business phone, so please humor me: What's the point of the honeycomb interface? It seems like it just takes up more space then a simple rectangular grid interface.
It's easier to select the app you're looking for without accidentally selecting a different app. The honeycomb gives more surface area per app. icon.
@Justin: I've owned an iPhone for 8 months. In that time I can remember exactly ONE time that I've ever launched the wrong app. If wrong-app-launching is the actual reason for the honeycomb, then either they're solving a non-problem or previous WinMO versions have been painfully difficult to use. Either way, you have a near-fail situation.
Actually, this is kind of a new take. But I'd guess two reasons they did it:
1) Your thumb would leave a circular "footprint," so the buttons should be thought of as circles to make it most compatible with your thumb (whatever the graphics actually look like). If we go that angle, then mathematically the way to fit the most circles on the screen is to stack them the same way hexagons do. Then the thumb has the best chance to make contact and you get the most buttons on a screen. So: Let's go with hexagons.
2) It's visually compelling.
Personally I think it's a horrible idea. As far as finding WHAT you want to push, the zig-zag vertically isn't a natural way to read rows/columns of buttons. I'd sacrifice both arguments above to make it easier to find what I want.
nahhh I like Android, Android is the future
For every ten people who 'love' Android, maybe one has used it...
Well said, Maeztro.
I run Android on my Touch. It's OK at best. I usually keep my phone in WinMo mode.
I disagree. WinMo is still the best OS out there (or at least next to the Palm Pre's OS). The iPhone was stupid and Android is vulnerable to viruses and such.
For every 10 people who think the Palm Pre's OS is better, 0 have used it.
@Deowulf: Get out. And someone, an Admin, I BEG OF YOU to return the comment system to it's original state. Pleeeaase. The humor I used to get from the comment section on various articles of this site has all just gone. And for what? A few spammers who could be perma-banned? You COULD always start a forum up...
I have a G1 and it really is great to use. That being said I have also owned Blackberries(not the Storm), both versions of the iPhone, and WinMo phones and honestly if I have to rate the OS' I would say it's either WinMo or Android on top. Android isn't quite there yet but it has the potential there. I hope they can also customize it to the same extent as WinMo.
Looks cool!
Can't wait...
new homescreen and that's about it. still same piece of shit under neath. i'm gonna go with the pre once it comes out and ditch the htc touch
I'm glad Microsoft finally saw fit to include something like the (very good) sliding panels home screen that I got probably 9 months ago with WM 6.1 Standard into WM 6.5 Pro, but at the same time, I'm very unimpressed.
Thank god for competitors like Palm and Android, if this is what Microsoft is doing, even as a stopgap measure. I'm only a fan of Android in theory so far, but at least being open source it has the potential to be much better than this. And whenever the Pre comes out, that's what I'll be getting. I've been saying for years that if a device has a keyboard that the OS should be designed around it first, then add fancy touchscreen stuff later, and with Universal Search Palm definitely has the right idea as far as I'm concerned.
And yes, I realize WM7 will supposedly be more of a competitor, but I think they're running out of time.
(And I personally like many of Microsoft's other products, for example, I actually liked Vista and love Windows 7, I use Office, love OneNote, etc., so its not bias. I just think they're headed in the absolutely wrong direction.)
Sadly, I am also unimpressed with the changes. It is nice that the start button now calls up the honeycomb menu, and there have been several changes to make the interface more finger friendly. And I suppose IE6 on 6 is a welcome addition, but to be honest with TouchFlo, Opera Mobile and assorted program launchers these bases have been covered already.
I guess I'm basing my opinions on a cooked ROM and the real thing may be better, but none of these things wow me particularly.
Have to say though, that the Touch HD is a gorgeous phone - just look at that screen!
I also hope you can turn off new soft key menus. They are ugly and the click-scroll-select you'd have to do seems slower than the click-select I do now. Yes I know they are finger friendly, but they are less efficient.
i use windows/winmo.
i hate windows/winmo.
complete flop "sound effects"
where is paul a chapel....a post about microsoft is not complete without paul a chapel and his comments......
Would you people please STHU about Paul Chapel and iEye? Geez, even when they *aren't* here wrecking the thread, you have to wreck the thread by talking about them.
Let's move on.
he's probably out enjoying his S550.
After all, why would you sit at home and enjoy yourself when you could enjoy yourself in an S550.
yah...you are right.....i apologise...i just look forward to those guys comments.....
I watched the whole thing and didn't even get to see the dialer.
This is a phone, I'd expect to see that first.
I'll be upgrading this summer to something else, but after owning two similar HTC devices (AT&T 8525, and AT&T Tilt), I really hope the phone portion of these devices is getting better. They're great for all of the things I need during my work day like e-mail, GPS, some web browsing, taking notes...but as a phone, never been very pleased.
These things have a habit of not dialing numbers when I want them to. It will start to dial then say the call has ended. And also when people call and I use any one of my 3 or 4+ options to answer said call, it doesn't actually pick up and I get the missed call icon. Very frustrating. Hopefully this is a problem with older HTC software and not necessarily WinMo.
I haven't seen a dialer in this 6.5 yet either bob, but I have a sinking feeling it's not going to get much of a facelift until WM7. But I could be wrong, it hasn't really changed since I started using WinMo 5 so I hope it does change with this build.
Looks great...can't wait to try
First off the honeycomb thing is terrible, what kindergarten class came up with that?...and second, the honeycomb thing is terrible.
Oh well thanks for your valuable and thoughtful comment.
Don't like how everything flickers and animates a bit jumpy. Wreaks of a shoddy code just looking at it, surely they could have made things work smoother.
So the whole idea of an unreleased product that only is being demoed because of unwanted leaks and installs on unsupported devices goes totally over your head?
Consider that this is a custom rom...
Custom rom with Driver issues, it will get faster and smoother as time goes on.
What phone is that a HTC TouchHD?
lol nvm im stupid shouldnt skip to the video and ask questions before reading the article.
Does anyone else get the feeling that Microsoft is gonna make this the next Vista? I bet they're gonna make 6.5 horrible just so 7 looks really good. I really hope not.
There should be a button that switches modes, from Stylus to non-Stylus modes.
??
There's no mode, you use whatever you want. It will recognize both fingers and stylus just fine, without you doing any work to "switch modes".
Why would you want that?
I think he means something along the lines of a "big buttons mode" and a "slim buttons mode"
Why?
Gonintendo got it.
At least Apple won't be suing M$ for 10 fingers usage........
Well it appears to run pretty smoothly. I just might have to take back everything I've said about windows mobile, performance wise. I just think needs a better look to it, but hey that's just my opinion. I can think of lots of people that are already satisfied with windows mobile so this is just icing on the cake for them. Anywho, I'm pretty impressed, hopefully this represents what the finalized software will be.
It's frankly embarrassing that a cool company like HTC, who puts out great hardware has to continually nerf their products by putting WinMo on them and I would be embarrassed if I was the CEO.
Whoever disagrees with me is a total fan-boy. Microsoft has had a long time to improve Windows mobile (and Windows), but the only thing I've ever see them do is try to copy other innovators too late in the game and, mostly, fail at it.
That comment is to cliched and stupid to even try to comprehend. It is exactly what is wrong with people that comment on tech-related stories these days.
YOU DONT READ AND YOU DONT FUKING THINK BEFORE YOU GODDAMN POST!
"try to copy other innovators too late in the game..." Is nothing more than strung together nonsense in the form of a supposed "insightful" post. All you have to add was "me too" or "late to the party" and you would have obtained the rank of iEye or Gizmodo writer.
The only person that need to be "embarrassed" is you.
@Look_Around_You
Don't worry yourself with him. I'm sure the CEO of HTC would be embarrassed too if he were that guy.
HTC had a record year last year. WM was on 20 million devices last year. the only thing embarrassing is that such an awful os outsold android and osx.
google and apple should be ashamed of themselves
I have an HTC touch HD and a Samsung Omnia (for work) and the main reason I choose these phones is because they come with Windows Mobile which is by far the most versatile, most apps and programs rich, and best performing phone OS at the moment .Yes S60 is just as good but it lacks the programs and apps developed for win mob. and moreover its horrid sinc'ing program, the infamous Nsuite, drove me away from it.
However I admit that I choose HTC and Samsung Omnia because they come whith the excellent touch wiz UI ( samsung) and Touch Flo (HTC) , I probably would nt have bought a device with a "naked" win mobile interface.
But all the most exciting devices that came out in 2008 and that will show up in 2009 use win mobile and a custom UI.
SE made its own UI for the X1; Toshiba developed its own "striped" UI for its TG01 which Will probably end up in my pocket; LG for its excellent "Arena" developed a very nice 3D UI, and so did Garmin/asus for its Nuviphone M22 (the G60 uses Linux), and if you like ANYONE of these UI you can just use it on your Win Mob smartphone, because Win mob will adopt seamlessly anyone of them.
What other OS gives you such a choice of interfaces?
The kick ass device of the year will probably be HTC's Whitestone, and obviously it will also come whith win mobile (+ Touch Flo): There must be a reason , don't you think?
The other contender for the title of smartphone of the year will be Archos incredible 5 incher smartphone but that one will come with Android and I've never tried it so , unlike you, I can't talk (much less criticize) something I don't know.
The problem is that with all of these different interfaces for WM, they're just piled on top of the clunky interface underneath, just making it a 'heavier' operating system in general. Sure, many of the WM devices have fast enough processors and enough RAM to hide this now, but take a look at the 800w which has a slower processor than many and yet outperforms them all because of no custom interface and because they're actually stripped down the OS slightly to run on it (though it is flawed in many other ways).
Besides that, none of these custom interfaces are actually compatible with each other, which just adds to the confusion for the general consumer.
I hate the iPhone myself, but one simple to use interface on all versions is a huge benefit for it.
Oh dear. That was seriously disappointing to watch.
VERY disappointing. How choppy was that scrolling animation? And in this day and age?
I hope you guys never have to be subjected to seeing any of my beta code in action if you can be so easily disappointed by something pre-release.
Not to mention that Youtube videos don't exactly have the greatest framerate
The stylus is mostly the for writing on the screen in handwriting recognition, notes and drawing........ I never use the stylus but the things that I have mentioned..... it just depend on the person. And seeing that this is a beta version I'm sure that the real version will be a lot more smoother when it is released, especially IE6 mobile....
I for one, am not impressed really. I have an HTC Touch Pro, and I feel between TF3D, and the sporatic windows mobile apps I need, that my current software blows this away.
If HTC would port TF3D to Android.. then we'd be cookin'.
Quick question:
What the hell does Android have to do with Windows Mobile 6.5?
I don't like it really, very slowly and stupid !!!!
Wow...do some of these commenters not understand the word "pre-release"???? Or better yet "beta"??? If not, I must question why you are on a TECH site making dumbass opinions about TECH news. Hmm...
Anywho, I'm impressed and unimpressed...unimpressed about the same thing mostly everyone else is...underneath the nice little sliding panel and honeycomb is the ugly, boring menu...can they at least add some pizzazz to it??? But I am impressed by the nice sliding panels and honeycombs, lol.
I agree with a early commenter, I think they are just trying to make this stopgap seem very "blah" so when WinMo 7 comes out...it will blow everyone away in oooh and ahhhs....
Oh dear... another w@r3zz report coming from the Czech Rep. No wonder we have such a **** reputation :/
I have an HTC touch HD and I also like TF3D, but if you like that you will love Samsung's Touch Wiz; I know because I have an Omnia too.
Whith Touch Wiz Samsung performed the miracle of making Win Mob a pleasure and even fun to use,which is more than what can be said about TF3D.
Moreover because of the Omnia's genial mouse& mini mouse pad you never,ever need to use the stylus.
I have seen a preview of the upgrade to Touch Wiz that will be presented next week in Barcellona, and it seriously looks like it will become even more great, with new widgets for basically any function of the phone and the interweb: marvelous.
I have also seen a video of the UI that LG has made for its upcoming Arena smartphone and it looks pretty exciting too.
Touch Flo has found some tough competion it seems.
As win mobile users of course , we will always be able to choose the UI we like best and just transfer it on our phone.
I have chatted with a guy who removed TF3D from his HTC touch pro and installed touch wiz on it. No probs; and he was quite happy for the change
HTC's successor to the Touch HD better have windows mobile 6.5 running on it, or maybe 7.0 but we would have to wait a while for that to come out.
I am actually happy with my att fuze with point ui instaleld (cant wait for the paid version).
Ugh.. I'm a WinMo fan.. but this is silly.. Just putting a Zune type today screen plug-in, and totally jacking up the start menu to the crappy honeycomb thing isn't a fix at all... WinMo is my favorite cause it can execute almost anything you can think of.. It just doesn't always do it in the prettiest way.. I think they uglied it up even more.. And taking away the start menu might be an ok thing, but don't replace it with a crappier menu system.. Ugh.. Frustrating indeed...
- Walter
You're no real fan. The Sliding panels has been around before Zune. All they did was make the font larger. As for the honeycomb, it's clearly an improvement over the old boring start menu.
I think they've definitely improved speed greatly. If you've noticed, the scrolling was quite smooth while viewing the /Windows folder, and viewing that folder currently on 6.1 is a slow, painful experiance. Overall, I love what I see. The official unveiling on monday at Barcelona will be one to watch. The Sliding panels is an excellent addition, as is the Honey comb and IE 6.
Too bad Pointui won't give you smooth system-wide scrolling, IE 6 on 6, system-wide animations etc. Pointui=close to pointless.
This sucker blows chunks. What's with the stupid stylus, anyway. Don't tell me this is Microsoft's new way of achieving coolness.
Your assertion is very unbiased and credible.
I don't understand why M$ still is continuing the stupid Windows 95 ugly ass menus inside like in settings...they just put on a little mask on outside, but everything else is hell ugly!!!
i don't get the bee hive menu system... its so gay
The touch pro and fuze are horrible phones, laggy interface, you can just tell winmo is not designed for touch screen, half the time you touch the screen, the other half is stylus, i mean wtf who uses a stylus anymore? the 90s are over.
the screen on the htc touch pro is so small, web browsing is almost impossible , you try to click on the fields with your finger on the tiny screen, half the time it does not reconize your touch. And the answer to all this " get a cooked rom" wtf a new phone and it already needs a different rom to make it worth a shit?
lolz.. first 1.10 is riveting, showing the dude run through setup :p That looks half not bad. I like the honeycomb biz. I guess it wont work on my plain touch dual :(