

Windows Phone 7: The Ars Review - cubicle67
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/reviews/2010/10/windows-phone-7-the-ars-review.ars

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cubicle67
Found the second half of this paragraph quite amusing (from page 16)

 _When the phone is locked, the camera button still works. This is by design:
it's so you can take a quick snapshot of something that's exciting without
having to unlock the phone. It's certainly a sound idea—after all, I don't
have to unlock my DSLR if I want to take a photo. Unfortunately, it also
resulted in me taking a bunch of pictures of the inside of my pocket and some
random dude on the bus, as I happened to sit in such a way as to trigger
camera mode. And because I configured the phone to upload pictures
automatically, they got sent to Facebook. It's like a whole new kind of pocket
dialling; pocket photographing_

~~~
po
This sounds like a nightmare feature: you're having a nice quiet night home
alone with your girl... You accidentally press the shutter button on your
phone as you are plugging it into your nightstand charger... you've just
invited everyone you've ever met into your bedroom.

Keep in mind that there's no way to permanently delete images on facebook:

[http://www.techspot.com/news/40662-facebook-keeps-photos-
aft...](http://www.techspot.com/news/40662-facebook-keeps-photos-after-
deletion-wont-clear-chat-history.html)

------
mikeklaas
The design aesthetic in the WP7 OS is probably the single coolest thing I've
seen from microsoft. It makes me seriously reevaluate my opinion of the
company to see that they let it emerge unscathed (bing was a huge step in the
right direction, too).

------
mahmud
Developers, the future of mobile computing is in your hands. Code across
platforms, sell across platforms, and don't let anybody corner you into
supporting just their platform.

Plurality, my friends.

Support WP7, Android, iOS _and_ Symbian. And if you still have time, others as
well.

Screw the segregationists.

~~~
jan_g
Actually, the situation is pretty bad for developers. Making a client for all
major platforms (iOS, Android, blackberry and now wp7) is difficult. Every
client must be built from ground up. Different languages, different tools. Not
bad in the sense of plurality and choice, of course, and I love learning new
stuff. But _it is_ difficult and time-consuming.

~~~
emehrkay
Well too bad MS once again is lacking on the browser side. Devs cannot even
target WP7 on the browser, I will not develop non-HTML5 mobile sites. Fuck
that, WP7 phone users will not be able to use my sites.

~~~
stcredzero
"Take care of the customer, or someone else will!"

------
aresant
Summary for those not in the mood to read 18 pages:

"Microsoft doesn't often get version one releases right, but this time, it has
got the release very right indeed."

He loves the interface, says SMS is the only feature MSFT screwed up, dev
tools are good but could create sloppy UI in apps if MSFT doesn't address.

His major complaint is missing features, says the features that are there are
executed brilliantly.

Play by Play:

\- "The styling is uncompromising. I love it." Smoothness major cool factor.

\- "Hubs" feature is major differentiator, applications can data share -
example facebook data / photos imported into contact list.

\- Built in apps are solid, email client is "very, very good".

\- "correction and completion mechanism is good" better than iphone, maybe not
as good as android.

\- Browser is good, HTML5 support is lacking.

\- Music is just like ZUNE.

\- Maps is a "solid, well thought-out application" but lacking turn-by-turn
GPS.

\- Camera itself will change by OEM but the interface " works well, and it's
particularly pleasing when you've taken a picture"

\- Office itself not much of an update from 6, nothing exciting to see there.

\- Games integration is lost on the author (not a gamer), the avatar
integration was the only thing on the phone that felt "sluggish"

\- "The SMS application is the one area where I think the platform really
falls short" - he says SMS functions are lacking inbox style sorting, no
message counter, etc.

\- Marketplace is easy and straightforward to get new apps. Not a lot of apps,
but apps there work and have integrated into the design style.

\- Syncing is done over the air, even for small firmware updates.

\- Mac syncing gets a "alpha-quality sync client"

\- Windows Live support lets you do fun things like lock the phone, wipe it,
geo-locate it, etc. but no SMS backup.

\- Before launching into complaints he says ""I have grown to like Windows
Phone 7 a hell of a lot, and I'm certainly going to be using it from here on
out."

\- Complaints: Can't take screenshots on the phone itself, no copy-paste until
early 2011, no multi-task, no manage files, no connect to VPN, no transfer
files over bluetooth, no sharing 3G over Wifi etc, no ability to act as mass
USB storage.

\- He counters his complaints with "I would imagine that. . . Microsoft has
serious plans for multitasking, tethering, VPNs, and corporate security
policies, etc"

\- Microsoft's communication on missing features is making early purchasing
decisions difficult, they could stand to improve communication.

\- Some interface issues he doesn't like, in particular BING search doesn't
search phone in its entirety.

\- "The integration of Facebook and Windows Live is fantastic".

\- Media management isn't awesome, highlights major problem with the
integrated HUB is that MSFT must choose to support apps and standards which
means most apps wont work, notably twitter not integrated yet.

\- Curious that there's no native windows chat client.

\- Windows 7 Mobile dev tools are good, but not great. Notably lacking ability
to access camera, and compass, bigger concern is that the cool Windows 7
interface cues are missing forcing devs to recreate, making some apps look
clunky and could cause repeat of Windows app clunkiness.

\- He thinks the naming strategy is stupid, should have gone with ZunePhone,
too tied to single release but clearly piggy backing on Windows 7 desktop
success.

\- Major complaint is missing features, features there executed brilliantly.

\- "Windows Phone 7 looks great, works well, and is a treat to use."

Phew.

~~~
cubicle67
Disagree strongly with ZunePhone as a name. People who've actually owned a
Zune seem to quite like them, but the general buzz is pretty negative (a bit
like Vista?)

WP7 isn't great, but it doesn't have the negative connotations 'Zune' has. It
may remind people of Windows Mobile 6 however, but I think so many years have
passed that most of us have been able to repress those memories

~~~
scrrr
I don't remember why Zune has a bad name, but I suppose the early models
weren't as good. The 2nd gen Zune that I owned was a great mp3-player,
definitely up to par to the iPod. And if WP7 has a Zune-player built in then
that is a selling point.

~~~
kenjackson
Zune has a bad name because it sold poorly. Even from day 1 it was a good MP3
player. But it got a name as being an MS device that sold poorly compared to
the iPod. It was a market failure, but for people that used it was/is a great
device.

It's the Amiga (in the 80s) of MP3 players.

~~~
cubicle67
The Zune's a fine device, but in the end it's just another mp3 player. The
Amiga was something special

------
risotto
I'm quite glad WP7 is looking like a real contender. Viable competition raises
the bar for all phone companies, and consumers ultimately win.

This is a really fun time to be a a gadget lover -- Microsoft, Google, Apple,
Nokia, etc. are bending over backwards to give us the coolest toys ever
invented.

I'll wager that in a year from now, all of these phones will be nearly perfect
experiences in their own way.

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AndrewDucker
I believe it's still the case that you can only install apps from the
marketplace.

Which is a deal-killer for me.

------
stcredzero
_it's arguably good for consumers, as it means that they can buy a Windows
Phone 7 phone with confidence—if you know your way around one Windows Phone 7
phone, you know your way around them all.

It may, however, be bad for the OEMs, who may find themselves with little
ability to differentiate and distinguish themselves from each other._

How about the carriers distinguish themselves by providing good network
service and good customer service instead of loading up the phone with crap
hardly anyone ever wants? (Manufacturers can distinguish themselves on
price/quality as they see fit.)

