

Missing features are threatening to derail the promise of Windows Phone 7











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New Phone OS 7



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And we descend into petty ad hominem arguments...

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That is simply unacceptable in my eyes as an unbiased consumer.

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I disagree and agree...





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There is one reason to prevent user-addable storage.


See Apple for an example.

RE: New Phone OS 7


By PAPutzback on 4/12/2010 11:40:19 AM , Rating: 4
The iPhone and MS phone will be fine for those who want a no fuss experience and would not realize what they are missing. But for the people that like to tinker, know how to reflash a phone or like the ability to customize their phone for their life I can only see the one possible phone at this time and that would be an Android. I am a sprint customer and I am holding out for the 4g HTC EVO that is supposed to be out. I'll wait a few weeks to see what the initial reviews are but I think that is going to be a iPhone killer. And as usual MS will be too late to the game to even wait to see what they finally come up with. I will still probably go with a Win 7 table of some sort if they can get it right.






And how has this helped Palm? It hasn't.

















No expandable memory a deal breaker for me...
By funkyd99 on 4/12/2010 12:20:11 PM , Rating: 2
I was excited for the Win 7 phones until I read this article. How does leaving out a Micro SD slot make a phone "simpler" and "more satisfying"? Oh, that's right, it doesn't... it just allow MS to money-grab based on the amount of on-board flash.

Every dumbphone I've owned in the past 4 years had Micro SD slots, and it doesn't get much simpler than a dumbphone...

RE: No expandable memory a deal breaker for me...
By Suntan on 4/12/2010 12:35:49 PM , Rating: 3
All valid points, but I offer you this, look at the *average* iPhone purchaser... Do they look like they would even know what you are talking about when you say the word "Transflash?" or "Micro-SD?"

My bet is that 99% of the TF-slot equiped dumbphones out there are sitting empty. Most likely because the *average* phone user doesn't know what it is, where to get it, or even how to correctly insert it.

I could only imagine the look of complete stupification that I would get from my mother-in-law if I handed her a tiny little transflash card and told her to "turn off" her phone to install it... I doubt most people even know how to turn off their phones.

That is the market MS is going for, the iPhone market. Not the market that wants to buy an Andriod because they are salivating about the prospects of hacking it.

Just pointing out reality.


By funkyd99 on 4/12/2010 2:24:48 PM , Rating: 3
I think you may be underestimating the average user... anyone who owns a digital camera knows what a memory card is. Anyone who goes to Best Buy will see a rack full of them. I would say the Micro SD slots aren't used in 99% of dumbphones because people don't typically use their dumbphones for music and pictures (or the slot is hidden behind the battery cover.)

My LG enV3 has an external door labeled "Micro SD" along with a little picture of how to insert it, and I've never powered down the phone when inserting or removing the card. It's easy to change the save location in the options. This isn't complicated stuff if you know what to use it for (aka if it's marketed).

I'm also going to guess the average iPhone user is a bit younger than your mother-in-law (no offense), many with sizable music collections. Microsoft could use expandable memory as a way to differentiate them from the competition... instead the they'll have two versions of every phone: the reasonable-priced 16GB (or 32GB) version and the price-gouger edition with twice the memory.



A Simpler User Experience?

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What happened to RIM's BlackBerry?
By petschska on 4/12/2010 12:33:40 PM , Rating: 2
How come when the major smartphone players are listed in DailyTech articles, they don't mention RIM anymore? According to Gartner, RIM is the second largest supplier with 19.9% worldwide, behind Symbian. iPhone is 14.4%. iPhone and RIM are by far the two largest in the U.S.

Just seems a little biased to me...

RE: What happened to RIM's BlackBerry?
By Suntan on 4/12/2010 12:40:27 PM , Rating: 2
Good point.

For business users that have RIM through their work, only RIM/BB phones are what they look at.

Was looking through the corporate policy the other day at the place I work, it says that the company only supports iPhone for the officially approved cell phone...


By kmmatney on 4/12/2010 10:02:36 PM , Rating: 2
My small company has been switching over to the iPhone over the last year, and it has worked out really well. Business use is one place where you don't want people tinkering with their phones (although one of my workers jail-broke theirs). The closed policy of the iPhone also makes it a reliable business phone, which is a huge market.

By aitwith on 4/12/2010 11:49:42 AM , Rating: 2
Most companies build UP excitement for the launch of a new product. Microsoft builds DOWN excitement.

I'd might as well go buy a flipping iphone.

RE: marketing
By theapparition on 4/12/2010 12:36:03 PM , Rating: 2
I'd might as well go buy a flipping iphone.

Sorry, but they don't make the iPhone in a flip model :)

Seriously though, I agree with you.

MS has completely missed the market, but even worse, are not adapting to it. Basically they are late to the game and following everyone else. Not trying to lead at all.

This is not what MS used to be about. They used to be the innovators, delivering mass market applications that generally led their competitors. The only time in recent memory that they did that was with the Xbox360, which is a success (by any measure, they have a large user base and that division is profitable).

But now, they seem content (or incompetent) to sit back and produce "also-rans". For example, the Zune HD (probably the best PMP on the market) was never offered in 64GB flash, but as soon as Apple released one, they decided to release one too. How about beating your competitor to the punch on something as simple as a flash upgrade?

Apples device is closed with an app store, so we want to make a closed device with an app store, no skinning, no memory and no customization. Google does search so we want to do search.
Why would anyone want to avoid the "status quo" to purchase a less supported device that basically does the same thing?

Currently use a Winmo6.1 device (and a blackberry), but will go Android in the future. First decent Android model runng 4G LTE on Verizon gets my business.





I still want....


I have complete faith that MS will do it right.

RE: I still want....

By UnWeave on 4/12/2010 3:17:34 PM , Rating: 3

Is it just me that that quote makes almost no sense to? Is he saying that they will 'build' multitasking so that background apps, e.g. GPS-position apps, can pass data along to other apps? i.e. the multitasking will be true multitasking and not just a saved-state job?

Can't Wait
By metaltoiletry on 4/12/2010 11:41:21 AM , Rating: 2
I can't wait until I am able to upgrade next year. Will definitely pick this up - assuming the performance is much faster than my HD Touch Pro (WinMo 6.1), which is barely acceptable.

Android FTW!
By Cincybeck on 4/12/2010 12:02:05 PM , Rating: 2
Looks like with this news, and the crusade Jobs has going on with Adobe.(I really think it would be funny if Adobe turned around and stopped developing Photoshop for Mac OS.) Google might just come out on top in another market. I know I really like my G1 one still, wish I had the money for a Nexus One, but that's another story. I don't think I would go with anything but another Android phone at this point.

By pro5 on 4/12/2010 1:17:27 PM , Rating: 2
"Why the delay on the multi-touch? It's hard, says Kindel. "

Typo? should be multi tasking I assume. Multi-touch is of course on the phone.

I'm behind MS with this, sure they have completely changed tack compared to previous winmo and are annoying a lot of advanced users but it's in their interests to get a real competitor out there for the iPhone, because the phone/pad etc is eating into other areas. Google and MS are to be encouraged to increase competition and yes in a way we can thank apple for making MS raise their game a bit.

I have an iPod touch but have no interest in the iPhone, I would buy a WP7 or good android in future though. As a developer the tools for WP7 are great and I have lots of stuff up and running in the emulator already (which can be unlocked to show a lot of what will be in the phone) and hope to pick up WP7 at the end of the year for real testing (and using of course)

Your innovation?
By carniver on 4/12/2010 1:20:42 PM , Rating: 2
Your interface looked like something unique and promising, at least not an Apple rip-off. But now you say

> we are following in Apple’s line

So you're blaming your own missteps on Apple?

By CSMR on 4/12/2010 2:52:14 PM , Rating: 2
I'd accept the lack of microSD if phones with 64Gb flash become available.

OTOH there's no way I'd buy a phone without application access to a general store of user files, or one which needs a special sync application without a USB mass storage option. No store of user files independent of applications? No browsing music by directory? No thanks.

By damianrobertjones on 4/13/2010 3:43:40 AM , Rating: 2
I was initially planning on changing from the HD2 to the first Winmob7 phone with the same dimensions.

This will now not be happening as I DO use the memory card within the phone and like that fact. As a company, we use Winmob phones for exchange and I WILL NOT copy all the damn stuff from the phone to the dekstop and back again and would really prefer a memory card

That seals the deal
By Randomblame on 4/13/2010 3:52:55 AM , Rating: 2
Ooooooh yay no memory cards, no multitasking, no confusing features whatsoever thanks microsoft! I'm so glad you're taking care of all of these pesky problems. Those things have been annoying me for years!

Doesn't microsoft understand that the reason apples approach of cutting features and functionality works for them is that they are apple? Stamp an apple logo on a floppy disk and people will be paying hundreds of dollars for it! I can see it now:
Windows 8 - Now without the confusing features! We've done away with things like disk burning, file explorer, control panel etc and we've replaced the entire interface with a series of large bright icons. There is no start bar, just a desktop with a non user changeable background and 7 icons on it: youtube, facebook, myspace, email, news, weather, and porn. We have removed all of the confusing buttons and url bar from the internet browser, now you don't have to worry about that. Just use your computer like you always do only without the hassle!

If apple did it they would make millions - oh wait they did it already...

