I have a confession – I worked in Windows Mobile for about three years, helping to launch the original SPV Smartphone. Over the last few years, I’ve become a bit disillusioned with Windows Mobile and whilst I would normally be testing new builds and new devices I’m still running an old HTC Excalibur. It’s just a great, solid device.
Given this, I wasn’t expecting much from Mobile World Congress but then I saw the Gizmodo quote “it looks like Microsoft is back in the game”
Time to take a look. I’m glad I did as they video above has me genuinely quite excited about 6.5 and I think we finally, something that will get consumers interested excited about too.
Seems like Andy Lees is turning the ship.
watched the video -- lots of good stuff. A huge leap forward from the frankly horrible previous product.
however, a couple of points:
1) I sat there saying "yup, iphone/mobileme/appstore etc etc" does that.
2) i saw nothing which made me think "coo, thats *really* neat and innovative"
3) the Q&A somewhat torpedoed the whole event. So WinMob7 is coming... how many 6.5 handsets will upgrade? Relying on the partners is a huge hole in ms's strategy here. I will *not* buy a 6.5 mob knowing that 7 is coming unless I have a concrete upgrade plan stated at point of sale.
4) The presentations by ballmer et alia jus smacked of "cooo look whats new in windows mobile" with no knowledge of the wider space. OK, so I dont expect humility from ms, or even a recognition that they are playing catchup. But "new on Windows" was said too many times and it started to grate. Either Ballmer and Lees are genuinely pumped up about these new features and know no better, or they are pushing a slightly desperate sounding marketing line. The reality, I fear, will be both.
jon
Jon
we both know that the "next thing around the corner" is always going to be an issue in the world of IT and even more so with phones which are more fashion driven.
i can't decide whether to get the new iPod or wait for the next one :)
the track record of Windows Mobile isn't too bad on upgrades (Zune is excellent)
but I take your points...we're catching up here on a number of things and frankly I'm glad to see that rather than slipping further behind.
oh yes, "jam tomorrow" is the story of the industry.
buy the new ipod or wit for the next one? Are you serious? Have you *seen* my collection of ipods? My bentley has the new stunningly good Alpine head unit in it, which totally integrates with ipod, and has usb/ipod pluggery in the glove box. And six ipods in there <cough> :-)
Zune has been one major upgrade so far? There is no way ms would have got away with it not being updatable. But go back a couple of years and look at the upgrades for previous ms winphones and pdas. Especially those with some carrier "improvements" (I use the term in its widest possible term). I cannot remember having one where there was an os upgrade offered when a new os build came out. MaybeI struck unlucky, but i have had a lot of these (in double figures) for test. Hopefully Windows Phone will be better but i fear hardware vendors would rather try to sell me a new unit than provide me with a 6.5 to 7 upgrade in the future, even at a cost.
Gizmodo is saying "back in the game", while engadget is saying, "looks like a paint job". Hmmmmm....
Either way, the momentum is definitely not with WinMob at the moment. I'm not sure how it can compete long-term with brand new, ground-up mobile OS platforms like OSX, WebOS and Android. Also written thoughts here: http://is.gd/k9KF