Samsung Windows Phone 7 prototype hands-on
By Nilay Patel 
posted June 22nd 2010 8:31PM
posted June 22nd 2010 8:31PM
posted June 22nd 2010 8:31PM
Microsoft Windows 7
Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5
Microsoft Windows Phone 7
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@Sinnobrefakir how can you talk about an OS's apps when it hasnt even launched. this is also funny because thanks to expression blend 4 anyone can really make a great app.. I wouldnt be surprised to see a couple thousand apps at launch.
I'm patiently waiting to see how the Samsung Captivate will be, but I'm also still interested in seeing how WP7 shapes up in the time that phone is slowly creeping its way into the market (I hope it won't be devastated by AT&T like the backflip), that being said I think MSFT needs to make a form of hi res displays a hardware requirement. I'm looking forward to more news since it seems like Redmond has put WP7 on hiatus for a while until now.
I'm looking forward to wp7 , I got an evo to hold me over for a year or so until they work all the kinks out.
I loved my WinMo 5 and 6 phones, but after owning my Nexus One, I can't imagine going to anything that I cannot setup the way I want. I personally think that the UI is ugly on WP7. Can someone tell me what they find so appealing about this OS? I must be missing something. What are they bringing to the table that other OSes have not?
@Droider
Finding it ugly is a personal point of view. This UI certainly gives the market an alternative look to the iOS and Android UI i'd call it different.
The market will be the ultimate judge.
@Wharoll Personal point of views aside, why are there so many people excited for this platform?
@Droider .NET developers are excited because they can easily develop for it.
@Andy4 I am also a .net developer, but I don't see this platform having very high earning potential. I learned java to write for android and I found it not much different than c#.
I do appreciate your comment, but I doubt that .net is what has all these people excited.
@Droider What gets me excited is the fact that theyve pretty much made the zune hd into a phone... If you dont understand maybe you should demo the zune hd sometime, its like art work...
First thought: phew, new IE icon.
@Mamacita
I wouldn't go there if I was you
Both Microsoft and Apple are pioneers in desktop computing.
FYI the first home computer with a GUI was Apple Lisa in 1983. In 1985 Microsoft launched Windows.
Who's first and who's second is irrelevant (except for fanatics) what's important is competition. Just imagine the tech world with Apple alone or Microsoft alone in the market.
It's just SO FREAKING UGLY
beyond me how they could make something so ugly
The colors remind me of Windows 3.1 for some reason.
I really want a windows phone but this is tooo shiny. I like dells phones but for some reason i have a gripe with having a dell logo on a phone. I dunno it just seems out of place. I'm sure ill get over it. /cool story
- bro
I can't wait for WP7 to come out. I love the UI and so many of the other features. Granted the first release will have some features missing, but there are SOOO many features that make this phone a definite buy for me. The many carriers and devices coming out by multiple hardware vendors will make this a HIT!
@GAM3R
+1 Microsoft make it happen!!
@GAM3R
Actually after the EvO and enjoying internet in my car while on the go, I will not buy any phone that does not have wifi-hotspot.
Wow...THAT`S a camera !
When will the home screen get revamped? It's such an obvious disaster.
Is the theme for this phone "It's hop to be square"? I think this interface is ugly so the phone better be awesome in ways that no other devices is if it's going to sell. And at the snail's pace WP7 seems to be progressing it will be irrelevant before it ever hits a carrier.
@isprobi OOPS that should have been "It's hip to be square".
@isprobi
How is this progressing at a snail's pace?! They made a new operating system and debuted it in February for a holiday 2010 release and most of the sites in the tech blogosphere have phones being released as early as October. If you feel that the UI is ugly then, to you, it is what it is but in terms of progression or lack thereof when the road map has been revealed isn't a gray area.
In terms of the UI, I think it makes sense. The whole point of a UI is to clearly show the way to pertinent data. Funny enough, that's the first thing I learned back in '99 in a VB6 class. Sure the screen real estate could be managed better and the applications list a little prettier but the UI as a whole is clean. I love apps but there tends to be redundancy after a while (think updating status messages on multiple sites). Pull up 3 apps and a safari to update facebook, twitter, LinkedIn and windows live or just goto the hub and check boxes. Again to me, it makes sense.
"Interestingly, we were told that this hardware will never be released to market "
Best misquote from a former MS employee I've ever heard.
@Wesscoast @highestranked2
trolling....trolling........trolling down the river. You guys crack me with your propaganda. 1984 (apple commercial) all over again.
@HighestRanked2
if you want to troll at least spell correctly
Awesome....
amazing phone with Window 7... me want it!
holy crap are the trolls out in force. i love how people continually spew the same thing over and over in every wp7 article. android and iphone have more apps! no way!?!?! really? an OS that's not out doesn't have more apps than other OSes that have been out longer? get the hell out of here! iphone os is old and dated. it's the same thing over and over. woo, a grid of icons to launch apps! innovation baby! android does it right with its app drawer, multiple homescreens, and widgets. wp7 is still a big question mark. its UI however is very slick and different from the grid of icons everyone else has. it will be very interesting to see what happens when wp7 finally comes out.
I kinda like and dislike the idea of tiles. On one hand - it looks creative and unique. On the other hand, these tiles are all the same looking from a distance, and will look bad when there are a lot of them.
Also, i ain a big fan of Zune type of navigation. It's nice looking, but for some reason is seems over-thought (over complicated). I like things simple. I want the phone to check mail, make calls and sometimes play games. WP7 seems to be thinking about WOW factor too much, instead of just giving easy access to what i need.
Seriously Microsoft, if you want ideas on how to make a good looking OS, look at MeeGo. Your seizure inducing green tiles are not going to get you anywhere.
@GoodToGo If the colors are bothering you, you should know its all customizable.. hell on this page alone you can see in different Engadget topics that there are different colored uis out there..
Seriously Microsoft, if you want ideas on how to make a good looking OS, look at MeeGo. Your seizure inducing green tiles are not going to get you anywhere.
Seriously Microsoft, if you want ideas on how to make a good looking OS, look at MeeGo. Your seizure inducing green tiles are not going to get you anywhere.
@GoodToGo
The tiles are blue. Check your oftalmologist.
(and no, i won't repeat this response three times)
The real challenge is going to be for developers to build applications that span all the different OS platforms (iOS, Android, WebOS, MeeGo, ChromeOS, WP7, ...). "Installable" HTML5 web apps are likely to be the best solution. It will be interesting to see how much of the HTML5 work being done for IE9 makes it into mobile IE for WP7.
interesting UI but meh, it doesnt bring anything truly new to the mobile platform.
Yeah, the homescreen won't be customizable and this isn't a prototype. Sheesh.
@HKCally
Not to mention that WP7 has already been released and by no chance anything could be changed in future updates.
Microsoft need to buy Gameloft to send a powerfully message to Apple and Google...
@xoxo2020
If you refer to mobile gaming, they already did send a powerful message: Xbox Live integration.
And it's using XNA if i'm not mistaken, so all the games already in Xbox Live Arcade could be ported to WP7 without a hassle. But i get your point: without Gameloft, every other gaming platform would get seriously wounded. Not happening, though.
must find some way to get a dell lightning prototype.....
So, I really don't understand why everyone loves this UI so much. I'm a huge Microsoft fan boy but in reality I think the Android and even iPhone interface looks more intuitive and sharper. This UI looks like it came straight out of Windows 98 and I do not care for it at all.
For some reason, Samsung phones never appealed to me. The designs are just not elegant enough (and get rid of that huge, bold fonts!). Dell Lightning is still my desired WP7 phone. But I've seen a WP7 live on an LG phone and everything is snappy, and superb.
The tiles idea is great so we can access what we want fast and get info at a glance but for Gates sake, make them appealing!
This is truly the uglyest UI I have seen in a phone since WM6.0 (I didn't have WM5 but it must have been better... ;) )
Throw some colours in there! Make a weather tile that actually shows real pictures of a sunshine and blue sky or of a thunderstorm for example... (A bit like the HTC Sense weather icons)
I guess having the animated XBox tile and some contacts pictures on the homescreen will help a little (depending on your friends faces... ;p )
The UI looks way stupid to me!