Microsoft working hard on Windows Mobile improvements
Microsoft just held a summit on the next version of Windows Mobile, and one attendee is excited about the product, but worried about the timing.
Brandon Miniman of PocketNow posted a recap (thanks, Gizmodo) of his trip to Redmond for the Microsoft MVP Summit to check out Windows Mobile 7. He couldn't get into details, as he had signed an NDA about the event, but hinted that the leaked screenshots earlier this year are pretty close to what you should expect from Windows Mobile 7.
Windows Mobile 7 is expected to be a dramatic improvement over 6.1, shown here, but when will it arrive?
(Credit: Microsoft)Microsoft just released Windows Mobile 6.1 at the CTIA show on April 1. The latest version was a pretty incremental improvement to Windows Mobile 6, with a redesigned home screen as the most prominent change. Microsoft's Robbie Bach spent much of his keynote address to CTIA attendees talking about how Microsoft needs to make Windows Mobile easier for consumers to use and enjoy.
While he honored the terms of his NDA, Miniman said "as icing on the cake, think of your biggest complaint with Windows Mobile 5.0 or 6...it's likely that in Windows Mobile 7, it's been fixed." Most Windows Mobile users in the unofficial smartphone survey I conducted last month complained about a stodgy user interface that looks pedestrian compared to Apple's iPhone, so that's the biggest hint of what might be to come.
But Miniman came away from the summit with two thoughts. One, Microsoft won't be ready to release Windows Mobile 7 until 2009, and maybe not until the second half of the year. That's a bit of speculation on his part, but he makes the point that Apple, RIM, Google, and even Palm will probably have released improved operating systems by mid-2009, and Microsoft will just be catching up.
His second suspicion is that Microsoft is going to use the talent it acquired from Danger to build a Microsoft-branded hardware phone. As recently as last month, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told my colleague Ina Fried that Microsoft wanted Danger's expertise in delivering applications to handhelds, not the handhelds themselves, when it acquired the company.
But given Microsoft's success with building the Xbox hardware division, it's interesting to ponder whether it would try and turn the mediocre-at-best performance of the Zune group into a phone.
Miniman closes by saying: "Microsoft is working like mad to make Windows Mobile 7 be an OS that we all drool over (both for businesses and consumers), and they've listened pretty well to our bitching and complaining over the last few years." However, he points out that if the company waits too long, it might not matter.
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom. 
I see Zunes infrequently on commuter trains and buses. You can only compare them to IPODs with screens. I see ~10 or more IPODS vs each Zune.
This is even after they wrote off 1 billion for he RROD problems.
Windows Mobile, Symbian, Linux/Android, MacOSX etc just
providing the boring plumbing. It's all about the experience, and
right now the iPhone is the benchmark. And with all the
attention on iPhone (and Android and Linux in general), why
would any device maker even consider the WinMo option in the
future? Because they want to pay MS in order to offer a lame and
uncool end user experience? Only way for MS to be successful is
to ship their own WinMo devices, the rats are already
abandoning the sinking WinMo OEM ship... But it's not a strategy
without Danger;-)
Mobile, and one attendee is excited about the product"
The rest were underwhelmed!
Microsoft could buy this fella out and offer an upgraded interface tomorrow if it wanted to.
That being said, if Android kicks WinMo's ass, I'm getting it. I'd have to be pretty awesome as I actually do enjoy using WinMo.
Meanwhile Itunes/Ipod = open
They can keep that DRM crap....
Hmmm. which would you pick????
- LOL - You are alone
- by nothankscnet April 19, 2008 2:01 PM PDT
- The only reason you are saying that is because you have not used an iphone.
- Reply to this comment
-
-
- Re: Lol?
- by tdreher April 21, 2008 11:17 AM PDT
- I hope that is a joke. The iPhone is a great toy, but until it has the many applications WinMo has available it will be a toy. People who use their mobile devices for work, need these things. The iPhone SDK it a huge step forward, but without 3G, ability to tether, or use multiple sims, (and for me a physical keyboard), plenty of use just cant have just phone as an option. My at&t tilt will let me telnet into a server and perform maintenance, and until the iPhone becomes more than an iPod with porn, I will stick with my HTC phones and blackberries.
-
-
(20 Comments)MS is dead.