The blogs are buzzing with Windows 7 news. The first item that caught our eye was that Microsoft’s Next Big Thing will only allow app installation via their Marketplace. By “only allow”, we of course mean “only officially allow”, as I am sure the bright fellows at xda-developers or ppcgeeks will find a way around that.

However, it made us think. Remember when you didn’t need to Root/Jailbreak/Homebrew to get what you wanted out of your smartphone? Maybe it’s the curse of being an early adopter of smartphone tech, but I recall when I could go to thousands of sites and get whatever Palm or Windows Mobile/Pocket PC app I wanted, without Microsoft, Palm, or anyone else having to “approve” it. This certainly started shifting once OTA (that’s over the air for the two people who did not know) installs were allowed by the OS, but it was a shift to more freedom, not less: Suddenly one didn’t even need a desktop to install the latest and greatest apps. Sure, there was app piracy, but as a recent article cites, we even have that with the current business model, and it’s less a big deal than people are lead to believe.

Then came the iPhone, and with it the idea (or maybe obsession) with the original manufacturer controlling the content on your device. You have one (official) place to get your apps, period. One can jailbreak one’s phone and get around that, but it’s still a work-around. The other big three in the US added Marketplaces of their own, but you could still go anywhere. With WebOS, Palm ditched that philosophy, giving us an App Store. True, Palm has been insanely supportive of the Homebrew scene, but it’s still a solution that requires a (built in) hack. I know you can sideload on Android, but why when everything is right in the included Marketplace. Now Microsoft will be joining the “Walled Garden” business model, which basically makes it the official, accepted business model for smartphones.

The oddest thing, to me, is that this is something Windows Mobile Developers and users used to mock iPhone devotees about. Now, they’re stuck with it as well. For all their sneering, Redmond apparently saw that it was a legitimate business model, and that people would actually go for it. I don’t know if anyone can really blame them, but it seems odd as hell.

With that said, there’s certainly one thing we can blame them for, and that’s the removal of the ability to cut and paste. I seriously want to know who thought this was a good idea. To me, the downsides of the iPhone have always been:

I can actually deal with 2 & 3 if I have to, and 1 & 4 are “fixed” via Jailbreaking. But 5? I blog off my smartphones and cut and paste is one of my “killer apps”. I could cut and paste on my Palm V and my HP Jordana, for goodness sake. Heck, even Apple has reversed their stance on the matter, and added C&P. With the function built into Android, BlackberryOS, WebOS, and even iPhoneOS, this will make Microsoft the only US Smartphone OS without this very, very basic function.

In a previous article, I likened Windows 7 to a village finding out that the sleeping giant hasn’t been asleep, and has in fact been taking notes. Now I need to amend that; it looks like the giant is at least half asleep.
Wake up, Microsoft!

Anyone remember those “leaked” Windows Mobile 7 screenshots that were floating around the internet over a year ago?

After the big WP7 announcement at Mobile World Congress, I think it was pretty clear that they were, indeed, fake. However, something didn’t quite add up… If they’ve been working on WP7 for so long, why was it so unfinished at the event?

The answer, according to former Microsoft MVP Brandon Miniman, as well as some knowledgeable users at xda-developers, is that WP7’s user interface, known as codename “Metro” is only about 18 months old.

That’s right, there was originally a successor to Windows Mobile 5 and 6 (codenames Magneto and Crossbow, respectively) that was scrapped at some point in 2008-09, and they started over with codename “Metro“, which just so happens to be the same internal name for the Zune HD UI.

After reading the fascinating article from Brandon on Pocket Now, it all starts to make a disturbing amount of sense. As I said before, Microsoft HAD to start over because they recognized that even if they finally perfected Windows Mobile in its current shell, no one would take notice because the OS is so tainted in the popular view. The only way to break free of the stigma of “buggy Windows on clunky phones” is to start over with something fresh and trendy.

According to this article and another by Miniman back in 2008 that apparently lost him his MVP status from MS, Photon development could date back as early as 2004.

That explains the screenshots, the conflicting rumors, and even the leaked YouTube promo video about WM7 (see below) which all look nothing like what we’ve seen at MWC.

Honestly, Photon looks like it could have been pretty amazing. Windows Mobile has its share of missed marks and shortcomings, and Photon really looks like it would have addressed them all. All the legacy applications, plugins, multitasking and all could have been retained while bringing the look of the OS into the current generation. WM fans could have had their cake and ate it too!
But, with all of their efforts being pumped into the Zune-Phone that is WP7, it doesn’t look like it will ever see the light of day. Microsoft did what it had to, but this is awfully depressing. They were so close…

There is hope, however- MS has made mention of a WM “Classic” or “starter edition” based on 6.5 for legacy application support and business-class users. Perhaps Photon could be taken out, dusted off, and make an appearance for loyal fans of the Pocket PC platform? Only time will tell.
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Many owners of the recent HTC Touch HD2 bought their new handhelds with the expectation of a future upgrade to Windows Phone 7 when available.

However, users on blogs and forums cried out in unison today as their hopes were abruptly shattered by a statement from Natasha Kwan, General Manager for Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business in the Asia-Pacific region: The HD2 will not be getting an upgrade.

But the reason is pretty obvious to this blogger… Microsoft has made it clear that Windows Phone 7 is taking drastic measures to cut back on the fragmentation and inconsistent user experience that current devices suffer from (too many different UIs and hardware configurations can make support, innovation and deployment extremely difficult).
In order to do this, Microsoft has had to tighten the control they have over the UI and be more specific about hardware requirements (which they admitted was difficult to discuss with OEMs).

One of the requirements shown off at the MWC event was the button layout- All devices need to have 3 very specific buttons on the layout: A Windows key, a back button, and a search key.

According the APCmag, the statement issued by Kwan was that the HD2 “doesn’t qualify because it doesn’t have the three buttons”, one of which needs to be a dedicated search key with the HD2 lacks.

Technically, since I’m not aware of any current phones have a dedicated search key, it was pretty obvious to me that there would be no official upgrades for current devices, including the HD2. However, many bloggers have been passing around rumors that the HD2 would, in fact be receiving an upgrade (some sources indicated the rumor started from HTC, however I have not yet found a reliable source of this information).

What surprises me, however, is that many bloggers are now spreading the rumor that the reason is because of the 5 button layout that the HD2 has, instead of sticking to the 3 mandated by Microsoft.

I assure you, that is not the reason. Look at the statement quoted on APC’s website. I don’t believe for a moment that a device would be disqualified for having EXTRA buttons. Microsoft simply dictated the minimum, and from Kwan’s statement, its pretty obvious that the culprit here is the lack of a search button. Nothing at all to do with having more keys than the minimum.

Glad we could get that sorted out.

       An Editorial

Over the last few weeks, its become quite apparent that Microsoft plans to announce their long awaited update to Windows Mobile at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week.

Windows Mobile 7 has been speculated to be a well-overdue drastic overhaul to Microsoft’s aging legacy operating system, bringing it up to speed with the current lineup of user-friendly phone interfaces.
Now, I have to admit, I personally have owned and used many portable computing platforms over the last ten years, but I always find myself coming back to Windows Mobile. Not because I have a thing for Microsoft, or because it’s the most stylish or polished (it surely is not!), but rather because I have always found it the most versatile and useful; with over 10 years of apps developed for it (take THAT App store!) and a true multitasking OS that allows for a desktop-style workflow, its hard to find a more capable mobile platform.

The biggest problem with Windows Mobile, however, has always been that it is NOT consumer friendly. Too much of a computer in your pocket, and not simple enough as a phone. Consumers often found it unnecessarily complicated to learn and use, and jumped at the simpler platforms that actually offered less features (You know who you are!).
While Windows Mobile has found a home in geek circles and some business use, it has been sorely losing the battle in the average consumer market.
Microsoft promised to fix all of that with WM7, finally bridging the portable desktop concept with next generation user-friendliness.
Well, if the “leaked” details from PPCGeeks and MobileTechWorld are to be believed, I think Microsoft has got it ALL WRONG.

The source of said “leaks” are still unverified, but some of it seems to agree with previous rumors, including that the OS will be based on the Zune HD interface. That’s not a bad thing, since the new Zune has been met with a considerable amount of praise. The suggestion of a “Zune Phone” has been kicked around more than once. However, as I continued reading, I found some of the information downright surprising… and not the GOOD kind of surprising. Take for example (copied from the news post at ppcgeeks):

So, wait a minute here, Microsoft- are you expecting me to believe that you are cutting off the huge library of previously existing applications, forcing all future developed applications to go through your official application store, and cutting out support for multitasking and custom interfaces? Basically, cut out all the things that make your platform worth dealing with, for what? For a sleeker and simpler user experience??

Does this sort of device sound familiar to anyone? Listen, Microsoft, if I wanted an iPhone, I’d just buy an iPhone! The reason I don’t use one as my daily phone NOW is because of the imposed limitations cited above!
Sure, this model may work for Apple, but didn’t anyone explain to them that they can’t beat Apple at their own game? I sincerely hope the leaked information is not accurate… It does not make sense to ruin the very few things that make Windows Mobile worth using.

I suppose we’ll find out in a week’s time, but my current HTC Touch Pro 2 with WM6.5 may very well be the last Windows phone I will own.
Hellloooo Android….

UPDATE: While I still can’t verify any of this with an official statement, someone with close ties to internal MS developers has said the leaked information is fairly accurate. MWC can’t come soon enough…

Bing Mobile, originally Windows Live Search, was one of those super-useful yet often overlooked Microsoft applications.

The concept originally was to deliver location-based searches to your handset, such as gas stations or movie times closest to your current position. If your mobile phone has GPS, it can automatically update itself to your current location and even give turn by turn directions to the destination of choice.

While sharing a lot of common features with the more popular Google Maps, the big distinction between them to many end-users was that Google Maps was prohibited from offering real-time driving directions due to licensing issues with map providers.
LiveSearch/Bing offered to follow your GPS position, and actually route you in real time, alerting you before turns, just like a stand alone GPS unit, only for free. Back in 2007, it even starting offering a “Speak” command, in which it would do a little voice recognition to determine your destination. This effectively made it more hands-free and therefore safer and easier to use while driving than a traditional GPS unit.

Yet, despite all this, when Google finally made its announcement to start offering turn-by-turn directions in their free mapping application for Android, everyone heralded it as an industry first… Even the voice recognition part of it was proclaimed to be an innovation, despite MS doing this years earlier.

However, as is sadly the par with classic Microsoft products, sometimes functionality comes at the cost of form. The interface for Bing was sub-par compared to the easy and simple Google Maps, with many people never being fully aware that GPS routing was an option (you have to first plot a destination, then click show Map, then click a softkey and tap “follow me using GPS”. This should really start automatically or at least remember the settings from last time).

So is MS to do? Redesign Bing!
So, that is exactly what they did. Microsoft redesigned the entire interface to be more appealing and straight forward, and I dare to say they did a bang-up job. The problem is… they removed the most useful features of the application, including the GPS turn-by-turn routing!

Not only that, but the new application doesn’t seem to remember previous searches. That means unless you go out of your way to save a location as a “favorite”, you have to enter (or “speak”) a destination every time.

Some users over at PPCGeeks.com have mentioned that perhaps this new version is a technical demo / beta, and that more features are expected to come soon.
I sincerely hope this is the case, because the last thing Microsoft needs is to become a “form over function” oriented company like certain “other” companies out there…

Despite the finger-friendly changes and UI tweaks that MS released in Windows Mobile 6.5, it failed to be the game changing new OS that many of us were hoping for in order to compete with the new platforms.

That hopeful ground-breaking UI overhaul that is arguably desperately needed, apparently is still reserved for WM7.0, which is slated to come out in the third quarter of 2010 (about 1 year after the official launch of 6.5).
Which means, in other words, that WM6.5 is simply here to hold us over until the totally new 7 is completely ready for launch.

But wait- what’s this? Windows Mobile 6.5.1? Is there another iteration of Windows Mobile coming out between 6.5 and 7?

The Windows Mobile hackers extraordinaire over at XDA-Developers and ppcgeeks seem to have gotten their hands on a new version of Windows Mobile 6.5 that includes some rather odd interface changes.
Dubbing it 6.5.1, it removes all the clickable buttons from the top bar, and shrinks it in favor of a larger bottom bar that houses everything.
That is, now the Start button, X/ok button, left & right softkeys as well as the on-screen keyboard toggle switch are all on the same bottom area.


Some WM enthusiasts are hailing this to be a fantastic UI update, making everything far easier to click with your thumb. To me, however, this seemed like the opposite… clustering everything together into one place would seem counter-intuitive. The general logic here should be that larger and more spread out buttons would be easier to hit without accidentally pressing another one.
Add to that the buttons don’t seem very polished with the UI, and the questionable naming of a three digit number (Just adding a .1? Shouldn’t it be 6.6? or 6.75?), and I had some serious doubts about whether or not this was legitimate.

Thankfully, I had a rare opportunity to speak with a Microsoft representative recently, while visiting a Windows Phone booth at a tech showcase event. When I asked him about 6.5.1, he seemed taken aback… but he managed to answer many of my questions, although politely asked not to print his name.

So, without further ado, here’s the inside scoop!

(Click to read on…)
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