The biggest chunk of eye candy we've seen
out of Microsoft's MIX10 event so far today has been the unveiling of the significantly-retooled Windows Phone Marketplace that'll debut in
Windows Phone 7 Series -- and needless to say, it's a looker. It's got support for credit card purchases, operator billing, and ad-supported content -- a hot topic right now with Google's and Apple's mobile advertising acquisitions -- and a try-before-you-buy scheme not unlike Android Market's policy (though WP7S devs can choose what kind of trial period they want to offer; Android devs have no such option). We've been offered some video of the new Marketplace in action, and it looks super polished and well-integrated with the typical WP7S way of getting around -- you're given a "panoramic view" where you can browse categories and titles, see featured items, and get details with ratings, reviews, screen shots, and pricing information. Purchased apps can be pinned to your Quick Launch screen, saving you a couple taps for your favorite and most frequently-used items. Watch the full video after the break -- and keep an eye out for the trick "tilting" of menu items based on finger location toward the end of the clip, something we haven't seen before.
posted March 15th 2010 2:00PM
The music and the voices are so much like Apple's product demonstration videos.
I'm really liking the innards and hubs of WP7. But I still hate hate hate hate the home screen tiles; simply way too big, too ugly, and don't display enough information.
@who Exactly my thoughts. Everything is like that: too big, and not enough information.
I don't mind it so much on the homescreen, because I like not having a homescreen on my Pre. But pretty much every application they've shown shows three or four entries at a time. Sure, it looks nice in some situations, but I can usually see five or six at a time on my Pre.
Meanwhile, the Windows Phone is supposed to have 800x480 resolution... aka 2.5 times the pixels of my Pre. Let's stop wasting space, and start taking advantage of the pixels. There's ways to make things look nice without wasting the advantage the resolution gives.
@jhoff80 Why don't you like having a homescreen on the Pre? I use my TP2 for work with a custom Sense 2.5 ROM, and being able to see so much information instantly after unlocking my phone is so useful to me. One of the things I didn't understand about the Pre is the lack of information on the home screen (and the lack of a universal settings feature, but that's for another day). I understand that it makes for a much more serene experience, but that's not what I'm going for, and I'm guessing it's not what many current WinMo users are looking for either.
@who I like the cleaner look without one, and everything important comes up in a notification icon that opens to a panel when I tap on it.
And then when I need to be able to glance at the phone while it's on the Touchstone, all of the notifications banners are open so I don't even have to tap on anything.
I've used WM phones before, and also Palm OS / Garnet phones that I used a today app on, but on the Pre it just doesn't feel necessary to me.
But anyway, to get back on topic, I just want the Windows Phone to make more efficient use of all that resolution.
@jhoff80 Agreed. Crossing my fingers that MS lets HTC do at least a little tweaking.
I"m sick an tired of all you icrap boys saying this looks like an iphone this and an iphone that.....
Let me remind you that apple copied copy and paste from MS yes copy and paste, or how about being able to play music on a mobile device? yes MS was there first.
Apple just improved on what was already available, and MS is doing the same. MS did it to palm then Apple did it to MS and now MS is doing it to apple again, so it makes me think who will be the next company? Certainly not google, we all now now cheap that looks compared to this.
and what about the eco system ?
can you plug your ms phone on the iphone dock of all hifi stuff ???
can you use the same app from your desktop like the combo nokia/maemo/linux ??
arg non you can just dock it on trash can.... that the right place !
and what about the wga ?? oh !! damn !! my phone is locked, i don't have my license number on me... damn !
Lolwut?
@whiterbt
What about coherent sentences?
Also, seriously? You're expecting a Microsoft Phone to use an iPhone dock? They use entirely different connectors... Idiot.
I for one hope that Microsoft also goes the iPhone/iPod Touch route by making the Zune HD 2 into the a WinPho7 device, without the phone but with Wifi.
I'm using a Nokia phone with Wifi and, importantly, Joikuspot, which makes my phone a wifi hotspot, so, yeah, I'd have the benefits of WinPho7 without the $40 AT&T data plan every month.
It's an amazing system indeed, but no multitasking = no buy. I understand that most people (those that use their phones only for facebook and ifart) don't need multitasking, but it's a must for a more advanced user.
@daguila29
are you kidding for copy paste ??? do you know unix ??
what about multitouch ???? what about the great user experience ???
microsoft soft isn't useable for newbie... just look around, everybody is calling 4 help just to do simple thing on ms plateform... isn't it ?
Win7 + Winphone 7 + courier = 2011 WIN
OSX + iPhone + iPad = 2011 second place
Could 2011 be a repeat of the early 1990's for Apple, when MS kicked their asses into oblivion and they only survived by an infusion of MS cash?
@Johnny Tremaine
Thank you !!!
I have a nokia e71 and it's a very good phone ( not a good computer hein ) and he's an hard AES encrypted phone !!!!
that's a good really good point for professionnal !!!
do you know another phone like it ?? even iphone is not !
@whiterbt
Well, most Nokia smartphones can run Joikuspot; most Windows Mobile phones 6.xx (not the new WinPho7) can run similar software created by the same company.
@astrocramp
I can't see anything like that on market !!! eheh maybe it's like WINFS !!
or LIKE duke nukem forever !!! mouahaha
but i can for years go into a shop an buy an iphone to really use apps, ( and not just to show them )
Can you turn off the pointless sliding transitions? They are making me feel seasick.
@astrocramp
we'll see... in france, microsoft buy french president to keep their os in place instead of linux... this is not liberalism...
where is the truth of the real computing.scientist world ?
Good stuff. Might wait it out to get me one of these. I'm really curious to see if the 2nd Gen Zune HD is gonna use the same software as WP7, much like the iPod Touch uses a near identical OS to the iPhone. There'd be epic buyer's remorse from those with a 1st Gen Zune HD (or those with a Zune 80/120 like myself, lol), but it'd do wonders for Zune sales I think.
@kenny goo
My view is that you should buy devices for what they can do now, not for something they may be capable of, or some firmware update, in the future. The latter way only sets you up for disappointment later.
I own the Zune 80, but I bought it to just be an 80GB great music player and a 'meh' video player. I don't expect it to turn into an iPod Touch, and that's fine, though I may be heading that way in the coming months. I do want the Apple apps without dealing with AT&T's data plans and re-upping my contract with Big Blue.
HHmmmm Microsoft & a Phone...
YYYAAWWWNNNNNNNnnnnn!!!!!!
Dont need to have My Computer & My Phone Crashing On ME..
@ThinkpaxX200s riiight. mobile safari inexplicably closing, mail app inexplicably closing, app after app after app inexplicably closing.... that's not my iPhone crashing is it? that's just a great Apple feature! :/
@ravissimo
I Cant speak to the reliability of everyones iPhone , I do know of folks that Have trouble with thiers and they Normally fall into one of two groups 1. folks that have jailbroken their system to run "Untested" Apps 2. People that dont take the time to keep thier Iphones Up todate with the Latest Firmware upgrades.. I'm an IT Manager and I have Virtualy NO Issues and Mine gets used around 90% on APPS as opposed to talking on it, that includes 7 Email Accounts , Winadmin & Logmein Ignition (Plus a Few entertaining Apps)
...and what is a 'ketplace' or an 'applicat' exactly?
Has the user accidentally switched the phone language to Turkish or something?
Wow. Not the iPhone killer but truly the very first and only iPhone competition out there. Apple needs this kind of device to be real and realize that they aren't the only company that innovates, after this Phone 7 I assure you all of the Apple devices will update and grow from the ise era they are now. They need something better to expand and this is in my opinion the best competition Apple will had. Microsoft at least learned from Apple. Maybe I will buy it maybe not. but this is truly remarkable.
I wonder if the search button will contextually search the market place.
They need a way slicker name for the marketplace like Apples app store, this will take an hour to say
WTF ?! I've just watched all the videos on Win7phone...this baby is hell fire! I wonder what the guys in Cupertino CA are thinking right now? iphone 4.0 might have to go back to the drawing table if Apple underestimated what the competition would be like in in Fall 2010.
I bet Apple looking for ways if Windows Phone is infringing on their so called intellectual properties!!
Aziz
http://www.azizrahman.com
I liked this the first time, when it was called the APP STORE! Holy crap Microsoft everything you have ever made is just a crappy copy of Apple.
@plunderp
apple invented the concept of a marketplace for mobile phone apps? News to me.
AM I the only one who'd just become annoyed if he always feels like he can only see half or a quarter of the screen? That panoramic thing would always just make me feel like you do on Windows computers on a resolution that's too high (where it scrolls up or down when you reach the edge of the screen.
Plus, looks nice, but everything looks exactly alike, and there's never any info anywhere. I don't want a phone with nice background pictures... I want one that does what I want it to. But well, I'm not the one to talk anyways, nothing ever convinced me to switch from my Nokia E61 (I know it looks like shit, but I still love that brick)
Jesus, what is with people saying that Windows Phone 7 looks like a rip off of the iPhone? What does it take to not be a rip off to you people? Should there be no text? Is it the idea of an app store in the first place? WP7 is the most original phone OS since the iPhone release, and this is compared to lots of other OSes which aren't very similar to the iPhone OS
I'm liking the way WP7 looks, MS has definitely decided to bring the heat after years of letting WinMo stagnate. I can't switch right away since I just got my Droid, but in a year it will be interesting to see where MS is in the market, especially compared to Android. The ball is firmly in Google and Apple's court right now. Apple especiay is really going to have to innovate in June and July.
What the hell is contoso?
I couldn't help but notice that the App was listed in dollars instead of Microsoft points. Does this mean that they might get rid of those damn points, and allow us to simply pay the $2.99 for the app? Please yes!
I have an 2 iPhones and they are both getting ditched for Win Mo you will see alto of that.
Why can't I ever see the videos on Engadget?all I see is a frame showing loading video information
looks like MS has really been paying attention to why the iPhone works so well. Aside from being a totally different UI look, it sounds like this new phone OS has way more in common with the iPhone than anyone initially expected.
- limited, set hardware requirements
- capacitive multitouch displays
- no multitasking for third party apps
- push notifications
- closed marketplace
- no side-loading apps
- $99/year developer fee to develop for the OS
Sure there are also big differences and even some advantages, such as xbox integration and a fresh new UI (although I personally dislike it a great deal), but there are a lot of very specific, very important similarities going on here that have been major differentiators of Apple's idea of what makes a good smartphone. Even more interesting is that many of them were almost universally bashed by commenters on this website when they were iphone specific "features".
I'M LOVING IT!!
(wrong company but that's exactly what I'm thinking)
For the first time I think Apple actually has something to worry about. Microsoft has done an outstanding job with this new OS.
If I could afford and justify having two phones I wouldn't think twice about picking this phone up. If MS can match up with Verizon that can offer better rates than AT&T I might actually consider dropping my iPhone all together. I'm still a die-hard Mac guy but this phone is changing my mind about Microsoft.
If they could make Windows 8 look like this or at least provide a really cool theme that acted like the Zune/WP7S OS I'd almost consider givnig up Macs. Almost.
after switching from a zune hd to an ipod touch, i def miss all the eye candy that the zune/windows phone 7 has... the way that things scroll across the screen and its ability to find photos of bands when playing music and throw in other photos in the backgrounds when looking at photos/videos usually caught my eye for a few seconds every time i did anything (what esp. annoys me about the ipod touch is that itunes seems completely unable to find about 3/4 of the album art for my music. i know thats petty, but after going from all the zune hd's eye candy to the complete blandess of an ipod touch (well, before it was jailbroken) makes me want a windows phone 7)
def looking forward to stepping up from winmo 6.1 to this after debating for months on a palm pre or droid, i'm def waiting for one of these phones
@acniehaus03 I did the opposite, I went from a iTouch to a HD, and I am LOVING the eye candy on the HD. I completely understand how the iTouch feels "bland" in comparison. If half the people that are hating on the WP7S UI would give the HDs UI a try, I'm sure they'd change their minds.
The UI is so gorgeous makes my my mouth water
All the comments raving about this UI are simply confirming to me why Apple devices have been able to dominate so easily. Most people just have no idea what makes a good UI. They think they do - and then it's too late when they realize how impractical or messy a UI ends up being.
Those animated transitions are nastily slow and loose. The layering of action screens and buttons is atrocious. No doubt, just like with Office, MS will waste time, money and reputation trying to improve a horribly flawed UI while being restrained by the fear of changing that flawed UI too drastically.
That's great. News