Windows Phone 7 Launch Thread

evolutionqy7

WP7 or Windows Phone 7



A complete rewrite of Microsoft mobile system that has been so neglected for a long time. And has been used more for business purposes and in GPS systems rather then for the average user

The Operating System target was to make an easy user interface that would suit majority of people and remove all the question marks in the usability and looks of the user interface.

This why the square blocks came with whats called live tiles where live updates come up from ie. your Facebook friends or messages or emails pop up and interact in the tiles. As you can see its completely different from any other leading phone manufacturer. You can play around/move edit and add content to your home screen.

Also as the name suggests that Microsoft is trying to move away from PDA's and PDA style phones that were completely stylus operated and being finger friendly and easy to use.

Windows Phone 7 Platform currently doesnt support some essential features as copy and paste or multi-tasking third party applications but has said to bring those in the upcoming updates in 2011

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0-pxBZBvlM

My review of HTC HD7 vs Samsung Omnia 7

also some useful links added for readers

Microsoft's Website

Windows Phone Central for Updates and Coming Phones

More links/info Provided by AntiVirus

Xbox Hub, Need for Speed, & Rocket Riot

The Sims 3 on Windows Phone 7

Sharepoint & Office 2010 on Windows Phone 7

angel01

To be honest, I doubt I would go Windows Mobile again.

evolutionqy7

why not thought you loved ur HD2

idk while i want a new OS to be out there...there's only 2 decent OS for phones there...that iOS and Android and both of them are fading off now...

the philosophy behind WP7 is easy UI...which i think was easily done by MS since EVERYONE hated the Windows Mobile cause it had too much customization and the UI was ugly until HTC Sense came along...

its still sad that Flash wont be natively supported by WMP7 and HTML5 wont come out for another year

angel01

I do like my HD2 but it is prone to turning itself off, today I had to take the battery out to get it to restart again, the freezing, I love the HD2 more than I love WinMo.

I mainly use it for browsing on Opera and motweets, if it wasnt for the screen and good for browsing & tweeting, I doubt I would have stuck with it.

Not enough people are developing for WinMo. It is dying..

I think I would probably go Android next time.

evolutionqy7

well if its a htc android you wont find alot of diff between them...though i prefer win sense it has nicer colors and layouts. idk what you do to your phone...my phone is loaded with apps and it never freezes...

me being more advanced user than an average joe i find WinMo with Sense the ultimate OS cause you can do anything you want with it.

Stephen

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

idk while i want a new OS to be out there...there's only 2 decent OS for phones there...that iOS and Android and both of them are fading off now...

wtf? Android is the fastest growing smartphone OS out there.

angel01

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

well if its a htc android you wont find alot of diff between them...though i prefer win sense it has nicer colors and layouts. idk what you do to your phone...my phone is loaded with apps and it never freezes...

me being more advanced user than an average joe i find WinMo with Sense the ultimate OS cause you can do anything you want with it.

I don't do anything to my phone, I use motweets and opera. It is a common windows mobile issue.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5813092_fix-windows-mobile-freezing.html
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=607949
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PHLIXoLd3A
http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2010/06/17/htc-hd2-review-problems-and-questions/

angel01

Stephen wrote: »

wtf? Android is the fastest growing smartphone OS out there.

Yes and even internally, Microsoft are worried.

evolutionqy7

its growing because there's nothing else out there...

@Angel well thats why hotfixes are provided...guess you havent upgraded your phone software in a while?

AntiVirus

angel01 wrote: »

Yes and even internally, Microsoft are worried.

Microsoft aren't worried now, microsoft will be worried if the new OS is a failure.

angel01

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

its growing because there's nothing else out there...

@Angel well thats why hotfixes are provided...guess you havent upgraded your phone software in a while?

There are lots of competition out there.

I have upgraded a while ago, I will probably flash it to the O2 Uk ROM soon.

angel01

AntiVirus wrote: »

Microsoft aren't worried now, microsoft will be worried if the new OS is a failure.

Believe me they are already worried...

AntiVirus

angel01 wrote: »

Believe me they are already worried...

Why should I believe you? Microsoft have said many times they are well behind in the mobile phone battle, they know how good Android and Apple are doing.

Can you back that up with anything?

partyatmygaff

Windows Phone 7 looks interesting but it's too little too late. Android is growing exponentially with growth increasing every month. Apple are catching up but due to the fact they launch one phone per year that's getting more and more difficult. If Windows Phone 7 can make enough of an impact then I would guess they would reclaim the corporate market.

evolutionqy7

well i do hope that happens...i always like to have a choice when it comes to phones...and lately ive been extremely bored of android...it was kinda a big deal to go through the app market at first cause didn't have so many on Windows Mobile...

but now its gone a bit boring...

and as i said Android and iOS has such a big share because their the only decent phone OS out there...

hence why i want a new player in the market to bring more competitiveness in to shake both apple and android to make more innovative phone features!

AntiVirus

It will be interesting to see how well xbox live works with the new Windows Mobile 7. I'm sure Microsoft will be pushing some xbox 360 games developers to build mini games to run along side the main 360 game.

evolutionqy7

well if im right windows mobile phones will have xbox scaling chips for sweet graphics

AntiVirus

Here's a list of the first wave of games for Xbox LIVE games on Windows Phone 7. There's a new xbox live on Windows Mobile website with a nice little video clip of some of the games running.

http://pocketnow.com/windows-phone/microsoft-announces-windows-phone-7-xbox-live-gaming-titles

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/phone/default.htm


3D Brick Breaker Revolution (Digital Chocolate)
* Age of Zombies (Halfbrick)
* Armor Valley (Protégé Games)
* Asphalt 5 (Gameloft)
* Assassins Creed (Gameloft)
* Bejeweled LIVE (PopCap)
* Bloons TD (Digital Goldfish)
* Brain Challenge (Gameloft)
* Bubble Town 2 (i-Play)
* Butterfly (Press Start Studio)
* CarneyVale Showtime (MGS)
* Castlevania (Konami)
* Crackdown 2: Project Sunburst (MGS)
* De Blob Revolution (THQ)
* Deal or No Deal 2010 (i-Play)
* Earthworm Jim (Gameloft)
* Fast & Furious 7 (i-Play)
* Fight Game Rivals (Rough Cookie)
* Finger Physics (Mobliss Inc.)
* Flight Control (Namco Bandai)
* Flowerz (Carbonated Games)
* Frogger (Konami)
* Fruit Ninja (Halfbrick)
* Game Chest-Board (MGS)
* Game Chest-Card (MGS)
* Game Chest-Logic (MGS)
* Game Chest-Solitaire (MGS)
* GeoDefense (Critical Thought)
* Ghostscape (Psionic)
* Glow Artisan (Powerhead Games)
* Glyder 2 (Glu Mobile)
* Guitar Hero 5 (Glu Mobile)
* Halo Waypoint (MGS)
* Hexic Rush (Carbonated Games)
* I Dig It (InMotion)
* iBlast Moki (Godzilab)
* ilomilo (MGS)
* Implode XL (IUGO)
* Iquarium (Infinite Dreams)
* Jet Car Stunts (True Axis)
* Let’s Golf 2 (Gameloft)
* Little Wheel (One click dog)
* Loondon (Flip N Tale)
* Max and the Magic Marker (PressPlay)
* Mini Squadron (Supermono Limited)
* More Brain Exercise (Namco Bandai)
* O.M.G. (Arkedo)
* Puzzle Quest 2 (Namco Bandai)
* Real Soccer 2 (Gameloft)
* The Revenants (Chaotic Moon)
* Rise of Glory (Revo Solutions)
* Rocket Riot (Codeglue)
* Splinter Cell Conviction (Gameloft)
* Star Wars: Battle for Hoth (THQ)
* Star Wars: Cantina (THQ)
* The Harvest (MGS)
* The Oregon Trail (Gameloft)
* Tower Bloxx NY (Digital Chocolate)
* Twin Blades (Press Start Studio)
* UNO (Gameloft)
* Women’s Murder Club: Death in Scarlet (i-Play)
* Zombie Attack! (IUGO)
* Zombies!!!! (Babaroga)

evolutionqy7

well WP7 looks promising itself...i don't think MS can afford to loose 2 years of development...and if they spent 2 years researching and developing what users want i think they got a thing or two right...and with xbox live being available a lot of xbox fans will buy it...a lot of old people will be able to buy it cause it has big tiles in the menu which are easy to read and its a menu that's not hard to access (well neither it was on 6.5 but ppl are just lazy to test what their phone can do)

all they need is good tv campaigns like they did with Windows 7

like androids big break came from Motorola droid and Verizon campaigns actually teaching people what their droid could do...after that seeing android on it knowing it could do the same they would buy an android handset and it could do all the things and it was great campaign to it...

so good advertisement campaigns for average joes is what they really need...

they need to make a big deal out of it as apple does with their projects...

Apple iPhone got sold out in every shop in the US on the launch...so did HD2 on its launch...it was short on stock for over a month...even with Windows Mobile Running it...but who d **** heard about that? so a good intro is whats needed!

evolutionqy7

http://wmpoweruser.com/recap-of-confirmedleaked-wp7-devices/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WmPowerUser+%28WM+Power+User%29&utm_content=Twitter

all the leaked phones so far...

wheresmybeaver

I've had two Windows Mobile 6.5 phones in the last 2 years and have been fairly happy with them, but definitely feel like I've been missing out on all these apps and options that Android users enjoy.

Having said that I have fairly specific requirements for my mobile, so as long as I can get something like SPB Wallet and iGo 8 for the new Windows Phone 7 I'll be happy.

And IMO the main sellling point of the new WP7 platform is the simplicity and integration of live data (calendars, contacts, photos, updates, etc being pulled from facebook, windows live, google etc in the cloud). The emphasis is on the clear presentation and organisation of all of this data, and that's what appeals to me. The idea of a single app for facebook, a single app for calendar, a single app for mail, a single app for twitter etc is very outmoded since there is now so much overlap between all these apps.

Anyway yeah, looking forward to it!

evolutionqy7

hmm i tried spb shell on my hd2 before its a big dull home screen as the design is a bit poor...but i love the carousel

what phone do you have?

wheresmybeaver

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

hmm i tried spb shell on my hd2 before its a big dull home screen as the design is a bit poor...but i love the carousel

what phone do you have?

It's actually SPB Wallet: password, pin and bank card management etc. Syncs with a desktop client as well, top notch.

I've tried SPB Shell as well, doesn't hold a candle IMO to Sense UI 2.5 provided by HTC. My current phone is a Touch Diamond 2, my previous was a Touch Diamond.

evolutionqy7

nah sense is better it looks more professional though their PSB backup software is the ****...such a great piece of work to back up everything when changing roms or need a hard reset or something aswell CHT makes the diff...HTC should buy it and provide it with all their HTC Sense Win Mo phones...though probably htc wont even make 6.5 phones anymore...

hd2 was probably the last HTC win mo...and lmao is was a damn good one

Mr Bloat

MS can never be written off, they have shown before that they are ready to make a loss to break into a market and then once they are in, they are difficult to get rid of. Look at the first Xbox and even the 360 for a long time. There's no way they made money on the first Xbox but it got them in the door of that market.

I would imagine that WP7 will ultimately be Microsoft's handheld gaming platform, as well as a phone OS and will take on the PSP and the DS. If they get a few big name game devs to port an Xbox exclusive or two over to WP7, they could be laughing. Most normal (non geek) people won't give a tuppenny damn what OS runs on their phone, they'll be looking for the bells and whistles and a phone where they can play games which earns them XBL achievement points and link into some of their Xbox games could be a big draw.

Personally, it would want to be pretty damn awesome before I'd move from Android to WP7 but I wouldn't be swearing lifetime loyalty to Android either. Once it's not iOS, I'm fickle...

Edit: I voted Yes on the poll, purely because another OS on the scene brings more competition and competition forces all parties to innovate.

evolutionqy7

i agree but i cant remember was it a speculation article i read or some one on the boards said that microsoft has to fail before it can come up with something brilliant to learn from its mistakes...given the fact its probably one of the few companies that can afford failing!

look at it this way...
xbox wasnt a great success but xbox 360 was...
vista wasnt a great success but windows 7 was...
Windows Mobile wasnt a great success but windows phone is meant to be...

though alot of people have been kinda getting the idea that WP7 will be xbox mobile gaming platform and will alienate most common users...though i disagree on this

Mr Bloat

Well, the jury is still out on Windows 7, although it is better than Vista, that wouldn't be hard. Of course, MS had one or two other Windows versions before Vista...

John_Mc

Mr Bloat wrote: »

Well, the jury is still out on Windows 7, although it is better than Vista, that wouldn't be hard. Of course, MS had one or two other Windows versions before Vista...

Maybe with you it is, but I have Windows 7 and love it. Everyone I've talked to who has it also loves it. It's gotten good reviews from all of the tech sites as well.

wheresmybeaver

Mr Bloat wrote: »

Well, the jury is still out on Windows 7, although it is better than Vista, that wouldn't be hard. Of course, MS had one or two other Windows versions before Vista...

Jury just got back in...

Anyway, you might notice that Microsoft essentially abandoned the old-style WinMo even before 6.5 was released back in October last year, and features such as the Marketplace were token gestures. There was no major courting of developers or advertising or anything. They left most of the innovation up to HTC with their increasingly-brilliant Sense UI and related enhancements (in fact, this will be the only thing to miss from WinMo 6.5). The HD2 I think will be the historic proof of this.

But with WinPhone7 you can see that incredible resources are being put in to attracting developers in particular; the support here and elsewhere shows their determination. As Mr Bloat mentions above, Microsoft were in it for the long haul with the console market and they're now in a pretty good place with the xbox platform. So in this case, I would think brute force combined with some genuine innovation will get them some decent smartphone market share.

Recent WinPhone7 developments seem to be really emphasising the xbox integration, but I think this is just one aspect of a strong platform; the zune player alone makes it a terrific music phone.

partyatmygaff

Mr Bloat wrote: »

Well, the jury is still out on Windows 7, although it is better than Vista, that wouldn't be hard. Of course, MS had one or two other Windows versions before Vista...

Windows 7 was released with critical acclaim. It's brilliant and you'd be hard pressed to find fault with it. Mac and Linux users haven't a leg to stand on anymore when it comes to berating windows.

evolutionqy7

lmao no one slags Windows 7 its the best Mircosoft OS to this date...

well best OS in general but others can argue about that



I love the way people that didnt have a good experience with computers cause of their inability to understand how to use it always bring up something thats completely outdated and irrelevant...

and now back to WP7

Mr Bloat

There's a lot of W7 love in this thread..

Don't get me wrong, I have been using and supporting W7 machines since beta and while it's the first OS that MS have released that is brilliant out of the box (and I have been supporting Windows since 3.1), it's not perfect and there are still a few issues with it, especially for corporate IT. That's what I mean about the jury being out, until it's widely accepted by big corporates, it will still be looked on with skepticism. But that's neither here nor there, this is a WP7 discussion, not a W7 love in.

evolutionqy7

well personally metro ui isnt somethin that would catch my eye and make me think wow...the ui that did was all hated winmo 6.5 with sense...with its big clock and wether animations. im eager to see what htc brings for wp7...even though their not allowed to tamper the core as much as in win mo but im sure it will be something nice for the eye...well i hope...all this hype ms crating to help devs for apps will sure be a success...would be quite disappointing to see.wp7 fail after years of development.

one app i hope to see is to use your phone as keyboard or touchpad for xbox live interface...even as a controller would be.cool

AntiVirus

Mr Bloat wrote: »

There's a lot of W7 love in this thread..

Don't get me wrong, I have been using and supporting W7 machines since beta and while it's the first OS that MS have released that is brilliant out of the box (and I have been supporting Windows since 3.1), it's not perfect and there are still a few issues with it, especially for corporate IT. That's what I mean about the jury being out, until it's widely accepted by big corporates, it will still be looked on with skepticism. But that's neither here nor there, this is a WP7 discussion, not a W7 love in.

Corporates are always the last to upgrade, the reason for that has nothing to do with Windows 7

Mr Bloat

AntiVirus wrote: »

Corporates are always the last to upgrade, the reason for that has nothing to do with Windows 7

Oh for Gawd's sake, I really have stumbled onto a 'don't diss my fave OS' group, haven't I? Why do you think corporates are the last to upgrade?

Corporates upgrading to W7 has a lot (not everything but a lot) to do with the OS and backwards compatability to accounts systems, payroll, legacy hardware like printers, plotters, etc. All of these things have to be tested before something new is rolled out. Any IT head worth his/her salt is not going to roll out a new OS just because it's new, (s)he is going to wait until SP1 is released at the very least and let all the early adopters do the testing for them. We have been bitten too often by MS' earlier shoddy products and just because Zdnet, Slashdot or a tech blogger say it's great doesn't mean we'll jump on the bandwagon.

Windows 7 is great, I've said that already but it isn't the second coming of Jesus. You don't have to get all defensive over it and argue with me just because I'm hesitant about saying it's the greatest OS ever to be coded. The first time I used Millennium Edition and Vista I thought they were decent enough but look at the crud they turned out to be!

evolutionqy7

OK CAN WE LEAVE W7 ALONE??

It didnt do anything to WP7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY5P6KvfDcI

personally i have my eyes on this (depending on the hardware)

i love the design

Mr Bloat

It looks way too much like an iPhone to me, to be honest. Why do the designers think we all want to have iPhone clones?

evolutionqy7

what it doesnt look anything near the iPhone...did you see the back of it?

i had E51 before and i liked the chrome details...guess thats why i like that one...

AntiVirus

Mr Bloat wrote: »

Oh for Gawd's sake, I really have stumbled onto a 'don't diss my fave OS' group, haven't I? Why do you think corporates are the last to upgrade?

When a corporate has spent millions of dollars/euros/pounds on a software system they don't ring microsoft and ask them "is my X system going to be compatible with your new Windows 7 operating system?" they ring the software developer and ask them, "is this compatible with Windows 7?"

This has been the case with "every" single operating system that has ever come out, Windows 1, Windows, 2 Windows 3 Windows 95 ... Windows 7, any IT head worth his/her salt would know this. This will always be the case.

Mr Bloat

Whatever about the back but the way the power button and headphone socket are positioned plus the chrome bezel and the positioning of the home button? The first thing I thought of was the 3G/3GS.

Schubert:


3GS

Mr Bloat

AntiVirus wrote: »

When a corporate has spent millions of dollars/euros/pounds on a software system they don't ring microsoft and ask them "is my X system going to be compatible with your new Windows 7 operating system?" they ring the software developer and ask them, "is this compatible with Windows 7?"

This has been the case with "every" single operating system that has ever come out, Windows 1, Windows, 2 Windows 3 Windows 95 ... Windows 7, any IT head worth his/her salt would know this. This will always be the case.

Yawn. Let it go, guy.

AntiVirus

Mr Bloat wrote: »

Yawn. Let it go, guy.

:rolleyes:

Your the one who posted garbage! Corporates are treating Windows 7 the exact same way they have (and will continue to) treated any new OS upgrade.

Mr Bloat

AntiVirus wrote: »

:rolleyes:

Your the one who posted garbage! Corporates are treating Windows 7 the exact same way they have (and will continue to) treated any new OS upgrade.

I think you should go back and read what I said because we're essentially saying the same thing. Any company, small or large, will refer back to the developer or manufacturer for compatibility questions but, compatibility aside, most IT departments will want an new OS to be in the wild for a while before they embrace it fully.

You seem to have a bee in your bonnet because I, having been bitten in the past when I thought that Microsoft's latest cool and groovy system was great when it turned out to be a turd, am treating W7 skeptically. It's not even released a year yet. It's a fine system and the best that MS have done on launch so far but until I personally have seen it bedded in more environments than SOHO and home user, I will remain skeptical.

AntiVirus

Mr Bloat wrote: »

I think you should go back and read what I said because we're essentially saying the same thing. Any company, small or large, will refer back to the developer or manufacturer for compatibility questions but, compatibility aside, most IT departments will want an new OS to be in the wild for a while before they embrace it fully.

Which is exactly correct. What I'm saying is that Corporate take up to Windows 7 is no different to any OS before. Your above quote will be the same thing that happens with Windows 8, Windows 9 etc...

The jury is not out, its just how Corporates work with any new OS.

I had to make sure our software was compatible with Windows 7 before Windows 7 was even released. I wish I was able to have just rang Microsoft and said "Our software won't work on Windows 7, can you fix it?"

evolutionqy7

damn it you ruined my liking for Schubert now...

evolutionqy7

few interesting reads

HTC WP7 is 100% conviced that WP7 will be a success..

as well as i seen this yesterday a browser test between nexus one 2.2/iPhone 4/and LG Panther WP7...IE was quite surprising

also a new rumor phone to the list HTC T8788

its kind odd to see all these chrome stylings...kinda makes me think has that anything to do with the managers from Sony Erricson being brought into HTC management system since they kinda remind me a small bit of styling from the Xperia X10

wheresmybeaver

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

its kind odd to see all these chrome stylings...kinda makes me think has that anything to do with the managers from Sony Erricson being brought into HTC management system since they kinda remind me a small bit of styling from the Xperia X10

I'm not a big fan of these chrome stylings. The very first prototype device was the one that still appeals to me the most (seen here); basically just a flat black slab with a thin form factor.

Since the design emphasis of the Windows Phone 7 software is "Metro", ie minimalism with lots of straight and simple lines and graphics, and minimal use of glossy or excessive styling etc, it seems to go against the grain that the hardware should have curved, glossy or "fancy" elements

I'm waiting for a boring black slab really.

evolutionqy7

thats a nice one ahri

AntiVirus

There should be plenty of different styles to chose from on launch. You won't be stuck with the one style. I'd like one that's looks like my HTC HD2 running Windows Phone 7

wheresmybeaver

AntiVirus wrote: »

There should be plenty of different styles to chose from on launch. You won't be stuck with the one style. I'd like one that's looks like my HTC HD2 running Windows Phone 7

+1

evolutionqy7

AntiVirus wrote: »

There should be plenty of different styles to chose from on launch. You won't be stuck with the one style. I'd like one that's looks like my HTC HD2 running Windows Phone 7

WP7 will probably get ported once cottula is finished porting android (maybe not)

but cottula from xda seems to always make things happen once it comes to hacking HD2