Purported release dates for the first crop of
WIndows Mobile 7 phones have varied in a surprisingly tight range over the past year, slipping from late '09 to the latest we've heard,
late 2010, and the latest info we've got here dovetails nicely with that. What you're looking at up above is allegedly a slide out of an Office 2010 deck presented to Microsoft partners, where an updated Office Mobile suite is mentioned in passing alongside a WinMo 7 RTM date of Spring 2010. As Mary Jo Foley points out in a comment on the original post, that would put phones on shelves several months later at the earliest, which leads us back to the fact that this actually fits in very well with the Q4 2010 window we've been getting from other sources in recent memory. Though the screenshots on the slide are seemingly new, they match perfectly with the UI paradigm set by those purported WinMo 7 shots we saw
nearly two flippin' years ago, which leads us to the obvious question: is the UI basically finalized? And if so, is it going to feel stale by the time it's released some three years after it first leaked?
[Via
Windows Phone Mix]
posted Oct 9th 2009 5:41PM
And yet still no real-time Outlook sync without an exchange server. --- Something mobile me has had for quite some time now, and most of this "ground breaking" technology is available on goodle docs.
Microsoft is becomming an old man in this game.
Multi touch? Pinch and squeeze to zoom, 3 finger tap to manipulate tables? Shake to undo? bahhh... WinMo is crap
You do realize MobileMe is an Exchange server right?
Two Words!
Too Little!
Too Late!
Ha Ha!
@NohOne
Exactly, MS has to tread lightly on things now to avoid anti-trust problems. It's a shame that other companies can do it because they are smaller. So then when MS is considered old and broken and can't "innovate", there is more behind it, but people are too ignorant and dumb to seek out the facts.
"Two Words!
Too Little!
Too Late!
Ha Ha!"
Which is a meaningless phrase from the same folks that keep holding out hope that OSX will actually break 10% one decade.
Terrified? Seriously? I am no fan of having a company storing all my data, but being terrified of MS storing your browser favorites, a feature that Hailstorm had, terrifies you? You are usually a reasonable person, Unix, but I think being terrified that MS using your browser favorites against you in some way says a lot.
BTW, I found the book they were giving out at the 2001 PDC conference (500+ pages of schema definitions). The name that Hailstorm was going to use as the real product name was .NET My Services. Remove the ".NET" portion, and sounds very similar to Moble Me.
" But allowing one company to be your central ID point is scary to me, and it's much more scary when that company is Microsoft."
Yes, I feel much better having facebook be this central point with it's facebook connect login popping up everywhere including my local city paper's website!
"insky @ Oct 9th 2009 6:04PM
You do realize MobileMe is an Exchange server right? "
Is that why Apple is always having issues with it? Figures.
The Windows Mobile platform is dying and by the time WinMo 7 is released none of the companies are going to be using the platform. Everyone wants Android. Even HTC is moving to Android.
HTC's best phones are still WinMo. Not everyone is into Android as you may think.
Exactly, I want my (more) touch friendly windows mobile phone, and am excited to see what WinMo 7 will bring. I'm on iPhone right now because of the great app selection, but the only way I would use the iPhone is when it's jailbroken, that way I can actually USE it the way I want.
@sentax
+100
I like WinMo, even 6.5. But I really hope these screenshots are not real. This interface is nice - for 2007. They need something groundbreaking, new, something simple yet stylish like the ZuneHDs interface. And you know what I´m really wondering about? We have seen 6.5-leaks months before it shipped - but we do not see anything alpha/beta-stage from WinMo7. Is that good or bad in your opinion?
ZuneHD interface would be so awesome, althought 6.5 touts it, a full on zuneHD interface would be WIN!
Exactly.
Zune HD phone, Microsoft.
ZUNE HD PHONE.
Their not going to give away what the interface looks like in a minor slide presentation.
are there just to convey WM7, not to formally present it.
Honestly, I don't think anyone should really care what the GUI from the OS manufacturer is at this point. I would look to companies like HTC which are designing really nice hardware with an equally refined UI, and look to Microsoft to develop the technology. Though, if they're working on connecting all their software environments [i.e. xbox, media center, 7, zune, and 7mobile] I would expect them to have it be as polished as the others. And, based on their recent track record with the aforementioned UI's, I would expect 7 to shine and for Microsoft to understand how important that is.
If they do, my contract ends in September, so i'll be verrryyy happy! :D
WinMo handset sales are shrinking at the expense of Blackberry, iPhone, Symbian and Android which are all growing. The latest sales figures have to be worrying for Microsoft. http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-smart-phone-market-update-apples-eating-everyone-elses-lunch-2009-10?mobile=1
Other OSs work well with Office and that is not going to be a great selling point. By the time WinMo 7 is ready, will HTC will all-Android? Will the lack of an upgrade path further stymie WinMo 6.5 sales?
Hopefully it coincides with the release of HTC HD2
Im waiting also bro
SP
Doubt it since this launches in the UK in 10 days time with WM6.5
But it does give me hope that the HD2 will be officially supported for an RTM FW upgrade further down the road (or even an XDA FW). I'd be gutted if I dropped £550 on a handset that would be made completely obsolete within 6 months! It would be nice to get some kind of official response from HTC or MS before I get this next week.
Any chance of Windows 8 being a single OS that scales across smartphones, netbooks and PCs? That would be nice.
no
no.
also, what?
Wellll...
The performance gap between new systems that run basically the same version of Windows is getting greater (single core atom vs multi-core i7).
Therefore MS are having to create an OS that runs effectively on a wider range of systems (as 7 does relative to Vista).
So if this trend continues, and Smartphones continue to get more powerful (and more PC-like), is it not possible that these devices will eventually run a version of Windows that is very similar, if not the same as, that used on PCs.
After all, Android already has this capability to some extent.
Ahem... this is an old slide. That interface went the way of the dinosaur.
thank god... i really want WinMo 7 to succeed, but those screencaps look kinda stale... i can't wait to see what WinMo 7 brings. ATM i'm planning on getting the HD2 and upgrading it to WM7 down the line.
I don't think the UI is correct here. Take a look at screen shots of one of the WM 6.5.1 leaked builds (which are supposed to lead up to WM7). The start menu and ok buttons have been enlarged and moved to the bottom. These images don't seem to jive with the new UI.
link please
If it looks like those screenshots above they need to start all over again. Infact, they need to just fire the whole team, and bring on a new team, start from scratch
I hope Microsoft can somehow move away from the two-paned menu system - it's so limited in functionality and should only belong your average feature phone. The screenshots looked neater 2 years ago, then it looks now. Hope to see a more Zune/Xbox like interface.
Would also be great if WinMo 7 really does a much better job between integrating Zune, Xbox, Office, Windows Live, and Bing elements. It's about time we can enjoy real integration.
This is MS's last chance to get it right. When WinMo5 came out in, it had great potential especially in the corporate world with ActiveSync. Unfortunatly, MS let the platform rot and got taken to the cleaners by Apple. Blackberry remains the defacto standard in the corporate world and Android is slowly gaining traction as a viable smartphone OS.
Beyond the lack of worthwhile updates, carriers were allowed to load down their devices with crapware. AT&T took the very good HTC Wizard and HTC TYTN/TYTN II and made them almost unusable out of the box. VZW is just as guilty of this with their HTC and UTStarcom phones. When wiped and flashed with the many excellent 3rd party ROMs, WinMo devices can hold their own. Unfortunatly, tinkering is not something 99.99% of the population does with their expensive new toy. Those with the time and knowledge to mod their phones found out WinMo devices can be very good media players, full of unrestricted apps, and highly customizable.
With that being said, I will stick with my iPhone for now but my HTC TYTN II/AT&T Tilt does come out every so often. The excellent physical keyboard is a godsend when I plan on sending lots of emails or SMS.
Nice iPhone home button. lol
Why do people insist on bashing a platform that they clearly know nothing about? As with every Windows Mobile OS before I'm sure that's a soft keyboard button. Not everything is an iphone rip off.
Yup, 'cause Apple invented the circle and square...
ROFL, stop.
Please show me a phone that had a circle button with a square inside at the center bottom of the screen. You can't just decide Apple didn't influence anything.
No kidding. They didn't invent the circle and square, I didn't say they did. But +1 to jon.athan. It looks just like it. I know plenty about WinMo, I have a WinMo phone now, which kinda sucks but it's w/e I choose to use it bc I like vzw. And I know as much about WinMo7 as anyone else on here who reads Engadget. Just saying it looks the same.
If it doesn't look like an iPhone Home button, then the Microsoft retail stores take no tips from the Apple Store w. the Genius Bar, and they aren't hiring Apple Store's employees away.
Not saying any of these things are bad moves. They take what works and go w/ it. Just saying it for what it appears to be.
It's just a button that brings up a list of additional options in apps, not a home button. Look at the 6.5.1 builds and you'll see the same thing. It's not a home button.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87wCTIDnbeg&feature=player_profilepage
lol i didn't say it was a home button. It just used the design of the home button. really. just read. and think. you'll be fine. promise.
Yes, 2 lines in a square that denotes list functionality and a square in a circle that functions as a home button are the same design. Jackasses. keep in mind that you also contradict yourself >_>
"Nice iPhone home button. lol"
"lol i didn't say it was a home button."
Umm...confused much?
Well I guess I just wasn't clear. The point I meant to make was that it looks identical to an iPhone home button.
I know everyone is sick of iPhone comparisons, but it is worth pointing out that it looks like this OS won't be out until after the NEXT iPhone comes out...
and if Apple continues at this rate, Microsoft won't have anything to worry about with that fact. It's been three years and the OS has gone largely unchanged. If they don't do some big upgrades this year like app folders, lock screen that gives you info and not just the time and a lot more than I'm jumping ship to Android...oh and on topic, then it doesn't matter because their OS will stay the same for the 4th model.
Nice job! Way to get the peanut gallery frothing and bitching about what features and UI WM7 will have or not have, when in fact no one in the real world really knows. Take a valium and wait until early next year when the folks at MSFT show us what's REALLY cooking for WM7.
I would rather they take the time to get it right than create mobile version of Vista or WinME.
i just hope that windows mobile 7 will have some strong collaboration from the zune team, since they seem to have good momentum on UI innovations and ideas
they should call it Windows 7 Mobile to give us a little hope of a better OS
For those complaining abou the UI, the screenshots above are Office Mobile apps, not the WM7 UI. How pretty and groundbreaking a UI does Word need to have?
How revolutionary and beautiful are the office productivity apps on the iPhone?
Why is it Douche-Bags always wanna be first to be displaying
ignorance.
Have you no shame ??
Too little too late is right. WinMo is collapsing and project Pink is almost dead too:
Microsoft’s top secret Pink project, aimed to take on the iPhone just as the Zune targeted the iPod, was “near death and probably will be canceled.”
http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/10/09/ms.pink.and.danger.team.at.risk/
the [Pink] project is in disarray, with “no braintrust that understands how to build a product.”
http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/10/05/microsofts-project-pink-might-be-dead-in-the-water/
By the time WinMo 7 arrives it really won't matter any more. WinMo is at the brink of the precipice and being pushed into it by the two-pronged advance of the superior alternatives. From one side, the free, open source alternatives (Android, Symbian) and the other side by the integrated phone solutions (iPhone, Blackberries, Pre). Even The Gartner Group is also now predicting that WinMo probably has less than a year of life left.
Soon Microsoft will have little leverage to push its desktop technologies into the mobile frontier, from Bing search to Silverlight and .NET development. MS can't stay a closed platform any more; its only chip for survival in the mobile arena is opening up and license Exchange ActiveSync and offer mobile versions of Office to all other platforms.
yeah, Winmo is totally dying, that's why they're still continuing development of Winmo 7 and beyond.
iKurt X [highly ranked]
If that's what the final WinMo 7 UI is going to look like then Microsoft might as well get out of this game right now. All this time we've been led to believe that 7 was going to be some kind of reboot that was going to catch up to Apple, Google, and Palm, but this just looks like more of the same.