Say, for a moment, that you're Microsoft and you're on the cusp of releasing a version of the much-maligned Windows Mobile 6.5 that actually made it touch-friendly for once -- but like all WinMo versions before it, you're relying on carriers and manufacturers to wage an inexcusably slow, arbitrary, incomplete upgrade campaign. Wouldn't you think that quietly burying its launch amongst a sea of more interesting (and less controversial) products might be a good idea? Indeed, that appears to be the angle Microsoft is taking at CES by discreetly showing off a Toshiba
TG01 and Pharos Traveller loaded with the long-rumored 6.5.3 with "tiles" along the bottom and finger-friendly adjustments throughout the UI. As far as we can tell, this truly is what 6.5 should've been -- in our quick look, we're finally comfortable not having a stylus handy, even on a resistive display. It's still not pretty, but this is a case where function is at least earning its money trying to trump form.
posted January 9th 2010 12:56PM
@MattEL
For the 999th time can someone please explain what they are fuction wise catching up to?
@MattEL Corvettes are old. The comparison is more like a Tesla Roadster vs a Dodge Neon.
This is WinMo
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/1997-99_Dodge_Neon_Coupe.jpg
This is WinMo with GUI lipstick:
http://www.tricked-out-cars.com/2005-dodge-001-1.jpg
This is the iPhone:
http://frogandprincess.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/2007teslaroadster-full.jpg
The fanboys want to pretend the Neon beats the Tesla.
Did Windows Mobile kill your parents when you were a child? If no, why do you hate it so much?
@taitherin
wow, seriously... the only reason i don't feel outdated with my windows phone is because of all the customization you can do with it (i am of course speaking about custom ROMs and what not) I mean, WinMo may not be as much eye candy as the competition, but that's no reason to hate it so much...
@taitherin
Seriously lol 6.5.3 is looking very nice. It's intersting that 23091 is apparently the final build, as there are much newer ones on XDA in the 280XX bracket. Good to see that this is coming along. Although I hope beyond all hopes that this is not what their only announcement will at MWC...hopefully they announce 6.5.3. officially for all existing 6.5 phones and then WM7 for all new phones.
@Myst3ry
it's not so much the eye candy, and Windows Mobile always had the features but it's sorely lacking in stability and responsiveness and general user friendliness because like it or not, the general smartphone population is no longer geeks that hangout on XDA developer forums
@taitherin
Rumors are that WinMo is a registered sex offender too ;)
@taitherin if WinMo had killed his parents he would be Batman by now.
@taitherin Then maybe they should make different modes of Windows Mobile (like the desktop OS):
- Windows Mobile 7 Lite (Dumphone for Dummies)
- Windows Mobile 7 Standard (Semi-smartphone OS)
- Windows Mobile 7 Pro (Smartphone OS)
- Windows Mobile 7 Ultimate (Super Smartphone Almost Netbook OS for total nerdgasm)
(I read somewhere that is what MS maybe be actually trying to do)
@HighestRanked The Dark iKnight.
@HighestRanked, lol
This is the first time I uprank you.
@Myst3ry
Went to Verizon...played with all the new Droids. Kinda
cool looking and all............................ but not all that.
Purchased the Omnia2, 3rd winmo phone in a row & no plans to switch. Does everything I need it to do & the 2 is freaking loaded
with upgrades over my one year old Omnai i910
@Dahis lol
@taitherin
Because of the scroll bars in places where it's not necessary. Seriously .. WTF .. it's a touchscreen .. why does it have scroll bars?
Maybe in drop down menus (but then why have drop downs in that form?). I hope in the future phone UI's never have scroll bars ..ever .. and rely on detecting a more forceful touch press to register a click versus intent to scroll (it can be made an optional feature for you people who don't like that).
@JS
It could be based on the touch pressure sensitive screens are able to detect touch pressure .. but till then it could determine user intent based on time .. for example if it is kept pressed for about half a second then the intent is to select an item rather than scroll.
@TikiTeko
how about if they just made a browser that can open web sites. Mobile explorer is a disgrace, and they should be ashame of themselves for not being able to write a stupid browser in a time when everyone's grandmother is open sourcing a browser. Seriously Microsoft, where is your pride?
@HighestRanked
Wow, this is like the first time I've ever seen you actually ranked high.
@bloop
Well, lord knows it's f'd me up the arse lots of times while i've been left screaming no no no... so yeah, it should be.
@JS Are you stupid or do you not use your phone (to it's full capacity)? Scrollbars are the most efficient way to navigate anything that's more than 3 screens long. If you've got a folder list containing hundreds of items you don't want to be flick-scrolling twenty times to get to what you're looking for in the list. With a scrollbar you can drag it to where you want in one second flat instead.
Is it just me or is the UI a little too much? All that gloss and whatnot... I don't like it...
@bill cant fart The poor MS Mobile OS is like that intelligent chick in high school that had the potential of looking beautiful but that was badly adviced in Fashion and Make-Up as everyone and their mom wanted her to look differently.
For some it was too much gloss, for others her skirt too long, for others she should cut her hair shorter. Everyone wanted to give advice to the nerdy girl to make her look like a Supermodel but so much pressure and input ultimately made her look like a clown.
WELL, in conclusion, 50% of the population may think windows 7 Mobile is beautiful, 25% may think it's all right, 25% may hate its guts. It is impossible to make something that everyone likes - unless is comes with some weird iVoodoo that makes people go bananas over it and forget about the World and just follow Saint Jobs.
@bill cant fart
Tell you what, the interface is taking on the shape of the Zune a lot now, from what I can see in those pictures... but I do remember about a year ago everyone saying that MS should take the Zune and make a phone out of it, now that they seem to be doing that, people complain again... people never happy with what MS does..
@TikiTeko Your analogy made no sense at all...
It looks good, but I can still see the old winmo UI somewhere in there. However, I like the home screen, it looks totally different.
@One Love
Not sure if you are joking but that is the stock homescreen (Titanium) that was in 6.5. It is ok but requires quite a bit of hacking to get it really useful.
Still not a huge fan with the look, the way the windows launcher and notifications look beside each other at the bottom looks... off to me, the way they each have their own "bubble" looks weird to me. It's like Palm, Apple etc etc have done a more artistic job with the interface and still managed to keep it finger friendly. It looks like they went with the first design that was finger friendly for the user, which wasn't the best looking.
@werty1432k
The bubble buttons are changeable through standard themes. I don't know why they picked those fugly bubbles as default. My TP2 has nice square buttons. You can see some examples here:
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showpost.php?p=1184690&postcount=3
(Some of those are just of his 6.5 version but others are 6.5.3.)
On a side note, that 23091 build confuses me...the builds we are seeing are 280xx.
@Kamokazi I think one of those was from 6.5.3 with the new placement for the start "button", and it looked a lot more professional and clean
@werty1432k
Actually, they probably went with bubble buttons because people keep saying the Zune UI is amazing and they wish it was a phone. Take a look at the bottom of the Zune HD's now playing screen.
finally the windows button is on the bottom, it makes more sense to have it on the bottom.
@unknown714 yeah I was glad they did that too, it makes sense too! like on all of thier PC OS's its there why not stick it there on their phones and keep the experience unified rather than have it as a tiny icon on the status bar
@unknown714 What I love more is that it is an actual round button ( Vista / 7 Style). I loved so much the new Vista Orb - that was one of my fave things on that OS and I am much happier with the new 7 taskbar and the continuously present Orb.
I actually have my Orb on the Upper Right Corner. I like to keep my taskbar on vertical right alignment. For me eying down a llist of items is more natural than the right to left scanning - I am not reading. The new 7 tabs allow that to happen nicely.
taitherin: My thoughts exactly...the same is at gizmodo. They both have a hard on for the iphone which hasnt changed a smidgen since it's first release and looks totally dated...I'm not an anti-apple guy as I like their hardware but let's be truthful here....windows mobile is the most flexible platform and these changes shown today make the standard interface look great(although there were always touch interfaces available to customize the standard interface for years and years...another reason this platform is good...
Engadget, time to be a bit more fair with your reporting...
@lip lol, you know you can hit reply and it will automatically go under their comment as an '@' reply.
@werty1432k
Sorry if I offended you...I'm sad now.
:-(
@lip ahahah, if anyone dares to like anything other than WinMo it can only mean that the reviewer is biased, right? ahahahahahaha
@HighestRanked No. That wasn't what he was implying. What put you in a Ferrari and drove you to that conclusion?
@lip
Flexible my ass, Windows Mobile is the laughingstock of the industry for a reason.
@lip I am divided. I somehow think the pressure was necessary to get our loved MS mobile in shape, but hey... she might not be very hot right now, but one thing she has been able to do is FUNCTION. She has been multi-tasking for a very long time. So "It's still not pretty, but this is a case where function is at least earning its money trying to trump form." is an unfair statement.
I still prefer ugly but functional than hot but stupid.
If Windows Mobile was a home-maker: "Honey, I made breakfast while I was doing my Math Homework and I got the kids ready for school. I also have the Dryer and Washer running. My Teacher also IMed me with some new Test deadlines which I also updated in my calendar"
If Mac OS X mobile was a homemaker: "Dude, I can't walk, make coffee and open the Fridge to browse our Food at the same time"
@Goona Sounds like you're confusing likability and customization. Or trying to put more gas in your troll car. WinMo may be the Tiger Woods of mobile phones, but that wasn't his point now was it? It was the many things you can do and change. Maybe, read it over again you don't come to the same dumb-ass conclusion HighestRanked came to, eh?
@N900
Hey genius explain to me why Windows Mobile is the laughingstock of the industry and bleeding marketshare?
@Goona You didn't even read my comment, did you?
"point" was the keyword in there.
@Goona WM is not Bleeding anything.. The LG chocolate and Moto RAZR are bleeding marketshare genius.. WM isnt the laughing stock of anything... Check how many corporations have implemented the iPhone or Android for their IT Dept... Lmao name one other phone has a real homescreen then respond back...
@Celz
Its numbers have remanded static, and until recently was #2 behind RIM. So for all of its supposed horribleness, it has held up pretty well.
@HighestRanked
I don't like you
@Celz
It is the laughingstock of the industry, for being crappy. Why don't you go check how much marketshare they've been bleeding for the past few quarters. Why iphone, Android, and RIM are going up, Windows Mobile is going backwards. With their outdated interface, no wonder they've becoming the laughingstock. They used to be leaders, now everybody is laughing at how crap they've become, everybody except their fanboys.
@N900 "That wasn't what he was implying. What put you in a Ferrari and drove you to that conclusion?"
The sheer ignorance of his comments.
1) "iphone which hasnt changed a smidgen since it's first release"
In fact, Apple has released two full version updates (with several version updates in between) since first release. Now iPhone OS 4.0 is coming soon.
2) He believes that making a phone look pretty (skinning it) is going to make it work better. Never mind WinMo's outdated legacy garbage of WinMo's CE Kernel and rotten APIs and frameworks. You know, the things that make a smart phone, smart.
He is unaware of all the serious work that needs to happen in the lower layers beneath the GUI in order for a phone OS to work properly. To him it's all about looks, if he doesn't see some flashy icon or menu bar it means the phone is outdated.
iphone ui come on nothing impressive microsoft
About the only thing that will stop me buying a WinMo phone to replace my BlackBerry is if MS force me to use Bing.
As a search engine in only ever want Google.
WinMo is just getting better and better. 6.5.3 looks great and I just cannot wait for 7.