Windows Phone 7 Looking Better Than Android?

[SamuraiBigEd]

My graphics/art/design background loves the layout, breaks the mold of what a gui is expected to be! My business/practicality side questions whether it will make it to the market in that form.

If you take time to consider it, this is a logical approach to a liquid gui. The flow from homepage to program/app is slick and polished looking with interesting animations. This is the next step in touch-screen control gui's, which are going to continue to evolve rapidly. The problem is, most people don't really want this. They still prefer a single page at a time and simple or no animation between screens. Personally, I prefer the eye-candy, if I have to deal with it on a daily basis I would rather it be visually stimulating and appealing.

If this is the actual gui and not a skin then Windows Phone 7 could very well turn the market on it's ear like the iPhone did when it was first released.

I only hope the next major release from Android heads in a similar ground-breaking direction.

 

[Optimus]

I'm on board witn Windows 7 Series. I already own a ZuneHD so I'm familiar with the metro UI. Plus I'm already somewhat in Microsoft's ecosystem with MS office, xbox, windows 7, and my zuneHD. This phone pulls all of that together which is a excellent effort on Microsoft's part.

Plus I think people are really not realizing how good the Zune player is...I LOVE my ZuneHD...having that as basically an app on a smartphone is just insane to me. I use the Zune software EVERYDAY, and I don't even have Zune pass (atleast not yet)...it's awsome. I really hope they offer 64GB so I can just cram alot of media onto one of those phones.

I still don't regeret getting my Driod...it will always be handy for when I need it or want a device to play with.I think my appetite for Andriod has been satisfied with the Driod...which I think says alot about how good the phone is. The increasing fragmentation and WIP nature of Andriod isn't appealing to me, plus beyond google's services (which I'm not that tied too) there isn't much more.

 

[jamo]

I'm on board witn Windows 7 Series. I already own a ZuneHD so I'm familiar with the metro UI. Plus I'm already somewhat in Microsoft's ecosystem with MS office, xbox, windows 7, and my zuneHD. This phone pulls all of that together which is a excellent effort on Microsoft's part.

Plus I think people are really not realizing how good the Zune player is...I LOVE my ZuneHD...having that as basically an app on a smartphone is just insane to me. I use the Zune software EVERYDAY, and I don't even have Zune pass (atleast not yet)...it's awsome. I really hope they offer 64GB so I can just cram alot of media onto one of those phones.

I still don't regeret getting my Driod...it will always be handy for when I need it or want a device to play with.I think my appetite for Andriod has been satisfied with the Driod...which I think says alot about how good the phone is. The increasing fragmentation and WIP nature of Andriod isn't appealing to me, plus beyond google's services (which I'm not that tied too) there isn't much more.

I agree about the Zune software, I even like the Zune when it was a brown brick, I was one of the few who liked the brown I am really going to have to see if W7 comes out with a good phone, the software alone won't do it for me. I reallllly didn't like the LG they demo'd, but the Samsung didn't look too bad.

 

[CarControl]

you've had push gmail since day one. =/

Do we actually know if it's push or just IMAP IDLE? The inventor of IMAP (Mark Crispin) posts in this Google group about the difference between the two.

 

[AndroidsOfTara]

This just in: WinPhone 7? Won't. Have. Copy-paste.

Defective by design.

I use copy & paste all the time on my Droid. It was incredibly useful when entering a few 63 character completely random WPA2 pass phrases into my phone for the various wireless routers I have in different locations (home, work, etc.). I would not have wanted to try typing all that error free even on the Droid's physical keyboard.

 

[gwlaw99]

The netflix app has me drooling, but we will see what kind of app development it has.

 

[pwabbit]

Iphone was a game changer. WebOS was a further step forward. I don't see WM7 being better than the WebOS, Android or the iPhone. A couple weeks after the WM7 is released, some developer will make an Android home replacement that will mimic the WM7.

Will the WM7 be as customizable as the Android or the WM6x? If it is not customizable, its a non-starter.

Also since the social network will be "live", I bet the battery life will suck.

 

[Fonseca]

Almost forgot, Netflix streaming over Wifi and 3G


Windows Phone 7 Will Stream Netflix

Iphone was a game changer. WebOS was a further step forward. I don't see WM7 being better than the WebOS, Android or the iPhone. A couple weeks after the WM7 is released, some developer will make an Android home replacement that will mimic the WM7.

Will the WM7 be as customizable as the Android or the WM6x? If it is not customizable, its a non-starter.

Also since the social network will be "live", I bet the battery life will suck.

I doubt the battery life will suck. Smartphones have to have good battery life in order to be successful. I think that it is not going to be customizable (ie HTC Sense). I think Microsoft has said that somewhere. As for development, Windows Mobile was pretty easy to develop for, as well as Zune games.

 

[jamo]

I think that the C&P will be there by the time they release it, they do have months to work that out before it comes out. Also, I like Android, but if I'm a designer right now, I am all about social integration. On WinMo, it looks like Facebook and Twitter are integrated into the OS like no one else's so far. Facebook and Flickr pics as a folder in your gallery? Live update feeds on the home screen? I really like Android, but so far all Google has managed is Buzz, which has just resulted in class-action lawsuits, and the worst Facebook app of any platform so far.

 

[screamster]

WinMo 7 looks bland imo. The theme and interface lacks basic usability. Looks to confusing.

Granted, the gaming potential is huge if they do it right. (Imagine actually having a ultra-portable World Of Warcraft account)

I had a Winmo 6.5 phone. Man... it sucked so bad, I almost swore off smart phones all together because of the experience.

 

[AndroidsOfTara]

Also, I like Android, but if I'm a designer right now, I am all about social integration. On WinMo, it looks like Facebook and Twitter are integrated into the OS like no one else's so far.

No, there's no social integration on Android...

Motoblur on certain Motorola Android phones must be my imagination.

Friendstream on HTC Android phones with SenseUI must also be my imagination.

I'm glad my Droid is running stock (BB, close enough) Android and does not have all this social integration crap polluting my desktop. When I feel the need to see what's up on Facebook, I use the Facebook app. Same for Twitter. I don't need a constant stream of mainly pointless babble wasting my battery.

 

[argenys]

People need to realize that this is going to be release 1 of WP7. They already have this in mind for release 2 and will be taking feedback from the public and developers. So keeping in mind that the platform is made so they can personally give OTA updates instead of having to deal with carriers like android does now, there will be new features and fixes in no time.

 

[3devious]

I doubt the battery life will suck. Smartphones have to have good battery life in order to be successful. I think that it is not going to be customizable (ie HTC Sense). I think Microsoft has said that somewhere. As for development, Windows Mobile was pretty easy to develop for, as well as Zune games.

I think that owners of the Droid, Hero, Eris, and Samsung Momment would disagree. They are all great and successful phones, but I want to kick whoever designed those batteries in the junk! They have awesome battery life if you just use them for a phone, but when you start playing online games, surfing, and watching your *ahem* movie collection, battery life becomes as sought after and mythical as a fountain of youth.

Forget electric cars! That fuel source was meant for my phone, damn it!

 

[Fonseca]

I think that owners of the Droid, Hero, Eris, and Samsung Momment would disagree. They are all great and successful phones, but I want to kick whoever designed those batteries in the junk! They have awesome battery life if you just use them for a phone, but when you start playing online games, surfing, and watching your *ahem* movie collection, battery life becomes as sought after and mythical as a fountain of youth.

Forget electric cars! That fuel source was meant for my phone, damn it!

My friends with Droids and Heros have no problem with their battery life, but I do not know what all they are running on it. I know one of the guys with the Hero rooted his and the battery life improved.

 

[jaxxstorm]

Personally, If that's the "Final" look of the UI... I will not even give it another look.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this. The UI looks ugleee from the screenshots I've seen.

 

[screamster]

I think that owners of the Droid, Hero, Eris, and Samsung Momment would disagree. They are all great and successful phones, but I want to kick whoever designed those batteries in the junk! They have awesome battery life if you just use them for a phone, but when you start playing online games, surfing, and watching your *ahem* movie collection, battery life becomes as sought after and mythical as a fountain of youth.

Forget electric cars! That fuel source was meant for my phone, damn it!

With great power, comes great responsibility.

Use your power bar to disable features you are not using when you watch a movie. Wifi, GPS, etc.

 

[Krugger]

MS has two major advantages over the android platform.

#1: A clean start with almost zero fragmentation. Not only does android have many flavors (1.5, 1.5, 2.01, 2.1) but it has a fairly broad range of hardware (different resolutions, RAM, CPUs, GPUs, etc...). Android developers are usually forced to develop for the lowest common denominator. WM7 devs can take full advantage of hardware/software features because all the platforms will be similar. This is a major reason why the iPhone has been so successful.

#2: A wealth of development tools and experience. Let's face it, eclipse/java can't hold a candle to VS in terms of development time and options.

So we might see MS develop an app store full of good looking apps very rapidly.

Don't get me wrong - I love my droid, but after doing some android development projects I find myself looking more and more towards WM7.

wait, no fragmentation?
I think for instance the HTC HD2 users that are going to be stuck on windows mobile 6.5 might disagree with you

 

[3devious]

My friends with Droids and Heros have no problem with their battery life, but I do not know what all they are running on it. I know one of the guys with the Hero rooted his and the battery life improved.

With great power, comes great responsibility.

Use your power bar to disable features you are not using when you watch a movie. Wifi, GPS, etc.

I am a horribly irresponsible person.

Just kidding, I am pretty bad with it. Due to a bug/design flaw in Parallel Kingdom, I try to leave the game open all of the time which uses the GPS all the time. I know that I am using a lot of apps/memory/power at once. I am even harder on my computers.

I also know that they were able to really get a lot of performance out of the Samsung and HTC phones after rooting.

I just want more and I hope that the Winmo 7 people can accomodate wanty people like myself.

 

[grainysand]

wait, no fragmentation?
I think for instance the HTC HD2 users that are going to be stuck on windows mobile 6.5 might disagree with you

Yeah, poor buggers. Must be a real slap in the face that their freshly bought phone's already obsolete.

 

[jamo]

No, there's no social integration on Android...

Motoblur on certain Motorola Android phones must be my imagination.

Friendstream on HTC Android phones with SenseUI must also be my imagination.

I'm glad my Droid is running stock (BB, close enough) Android and does not have all this social integration crap polluting my desktop. When I feel the need to see what's up on Facebook, I use the Facebook app. Same for Twitter. I don't need a constant stream of mainly pointless babble wasting my battery.

Good point, I don't want that much integration either, but I'm impressed at how they've done it. And I didn't say that they don't have any integration, I just said that WinMo's looks better is all. I would really like to have integration with my flickr, that would be awesome. We still don't have good flickr integration on Android. I like the open source, but I would like some legit apps, made by the companies themselves.

 

[dugwhitney]

I think once SPB releases their mobile shell app for android it will have quite a bit of social integration for those that want that sort of thing. Seeing as how WM7 won't allow for third party "desktops" I would be surprised if this didn't come out sooner than later.

 

[grainysand]

More breaking news: WP7's app store will include remote revocation of app licenses.

See also: Kindle fiasco with books disappearing. Sounding better and better.

 

[Optimus]

I think social integration is trivial to be honest. Anyone can integrate feeds into their OS. Andriod has done an OK job..it could do better. Windows 7 is just taking what WebOS and MotoBlur does in a different way. Windows 7 trumph cards for consumers is Xbox live and Zune..which is icing on the cake to the data aggregation (pictures, feeds, news). I believe the apps and improvements to Wind7 will come in time just like it did for the iPhone OS. To be honest I think WebOS is superior to them all..even Win7..but we can all see how they have struggled. Microsoft has a gathering ecosystem. The hardware will come too..i'm salivating over HTC's Win7 superphone b/c they make superior hardware (think HD3, or imagio 2).

 

[spoonard]

I think it looks fantastic, to be honest. I am an Xbox Live user, so I am curious to see the implementation.

I'm curious too. It's gotta be better than the few Xbox Android apps.

 

[AndroidsOfTara]

I would really like to have integration with my flickr, that would be awesome. We still don't have good flickr integration on Android. I like the open source, but I would like some legit apps, made by the companies themselves.

Browsing flickr on Android isn't bad via the browser, but I'd like an app that integrates into the Android Gallery app and also allows bulk direct uploading via the 'share' menu in Gallery.

If I recall from when I had an Eris, they did integrate flickr into the gallery app in Sense, but I could be just having a faulty memory.