Saturday July 17, 2010

Windows Phone 7: Don’t bother with this disaster

by Milind Alvares on July 17, 2010

Windows Phone 7: Don’t bother with this disaster →

After a week of what has been the most intense discussion on the iPhone 4’s antenna issues, totally blown out of proportions, this here put a smile on my face. Galen Gruman for InfoWorld:

The early demos were intriguing due to the use of the card metaphor to organize apps and information, providing a possible fluidity among apps and information that would let users swim through their business and social activities. And the distinct UI — though based on the unsuccessful Zune media player — looked as if it would stand out from the crowd of mobile devices that have largely copied the iPhone UI, such as Google’s Android, RIM’s touch-oriented BlackBerry Storm, and Palm’s WebOS.

But that was just the lipstick. Now, in Microsoft’s in-depth demo this week at the Mobile Beat conference, there’s no mistaking the big pig behind the gloss. Seeing the UI in action across several tasks, not just in a highly controlled presentation, shows how awkward and unsophisticated it is — I had the same feeling you get when you got a movie based on a great trailer, only to discover that all the good stuff was in the trailer and the rest of the movie was a mess. A pig, in fact.

Reader Comments

Sebastian

Well, some people see this article more critical: http://pocketnow.com/tech-news/windows-phone-disaster-hype-debunked

   

Smakus

I own a couple Zunes, and I have about 4 ipods, plus every iPhone ever made. The *only* devices I use for music are the Zunes. The user interface and the software that comes with it are vastly superior to the iPod, iPhone, or any other media device out there.

To discount the windows 7 phone (which is going to expand upon this basic Zune interface) is a mistake. The first version may not be a rampant success, but by version 2, Microsoft will have a juggernaut on their hands.

It will be interesting to see if Apple/Android updates their interfaces from a sea of nearly indistinguishable icons, into something more relevant after this comes out. Either way, the consumer wins!

   

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