wp7 – Terence Eden’s Blog

Ten Years Later - Was Elop Right?

@edent — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 12:25:17 +0000

A decade ago, Stephen Elop made the announcement that Nokia was adopting Windows Phone 7 as its platform of choice.

Being the mobile nerd that I was, I live Tweeted the press conference.

Let's take a look back to see what Elop and I got right or wrong.

Nokia killed off Meego - their new Linux platform. I was never that enamoured with it - but it could have had a promising future. The Balmer-led Microsoft was not as keen on Linux as the modern MS, so it's hard to see this as anything other than MS "disrupting" mainstream Linux adoption.

Windows Phone 7 didn't last. I was invited to review early version of the platform. And, while I liked the innovative UI, it wasn't close to its rivals at Apple or Google. It was obvious - to me at least - that Android was the superior platform and had the momentum behind it.

If you had a Mac, you could code for both Android and iOS (and others). But Microsoft's short-sighted decision to only allow development WP7 app development on Windows machines didn't encourage developers to code for WP7. You needed a Mac to make iPhone apps. Now MS expected you to buy a Windows laptop to code for their minority platform. That didn't fly.

As far as I recall, they didn't reveal any handsets. They basically told the market "Stop buying Nokia phones. Anything we release now will be unsupported shortly." That didn't encourage developers, customers, or retailers.

I got a Nokia Lumia to review in December that year. It was shit.

The Mobile World Congress show was the day after this announcement. If I remember correctly, the Nokia stand was weird that year. Dozens of phones which had no prospects. It did nothing to build hype in the platform.

There was no momentum. If they could have shown the secret phone that they'd been developing - and announced a launch date - it would have been a "wow" moment. Instead... nothing!

It is hard to launch a new device - especially in secret. But announcing a concept means nothing without something tangible to go with it.

Elop was right. Nokia would have been "just another" Android manufacturer. Instead, it became "just another WP7" manufacturer. I can see the arguments for both, but I would have loved to have seen a heavyweight Nokia as a counterbalance to Google.

And that's what happened. Why would HTC or Samsung or anyone make a WP7 phone if Nokia is Microsoft's preferred partner? Android was free and had fewer restrictions. Small companies like OnePlus would eventually find success with Android, in a way they could never have done with WP7.

I was wrong on this one! At the time, Blackberry was a surprising hit in the European youth market. Elop clearly didn't see them as a threat - and he was right. It was a dwindling platform with an uncertain future.

Blackberry - belatedly - jumped to Android. That wasn't enough to save them. It may not have been enough to save Nokia either.

Again, Elop was right on this. Nokia needed to continue its strategy of connecting people who had never been connected before. But splitting the company's focus between WP7 and "rest of market" wasn't a great plan. To be fair, Symbian probably wasn't the platform for that strategy either - but at least it had proven itself on low power devices. Something WP7 couldn't demonstrate.

Another page out of the MS playbook. And, to be fair, it probably kept Nokia going for a while. The mobile tech patent system was horrible (and probably still is). But did it encourage anyone to work with Nokia or MS? Or did it drive them to platforms with bigger pockets?

It was not. Nokia launched a fairly vanilla WP7 experience. There were a few Nokia touches - but they were crap:

Look, you can read the history of Nokia and see what happened to them. It was a brave an interesting choice to go with WP7. It would have been brilliant to have a three way ecosystem with iOS and Android. To be fair, WP7 could have been a contender. It had big corporate backing and was more future focussed than the ageing Symbian platform. The last few Symbian phones were awful - see my review of the N8. They were on a burning platform and needed to jump.

Could Meego have got anywhere? It was too encumbered by Nokia's desires and processes - it would never have been taken up in the same way Android was.

But, at the time, the smart money was on Android. Not just because Google were cool, but because WP7 had done nothing to disrupt the mobile market. They took the same 30% charge as other mobile platforms - so there was no financial incentive for devs. While Nokia has a huge marketing machine, Windows was a huge drag on the brand. Windows was something you were forced to use and regularly gave you a BSoD. If it had been the "Xbox Phone" that could have been something interesting - but it wasn't.

Was Elop an Microsoft plant sent to destroy Nokia? Probably not. But the board obviously thought that someone with strong links to MS was necessary to Nokia's future.

Nokia basically doesn't exist as a consumer handset brand any more in developed market. It is doing OK with basic phones in developing markets - but even there Android is the desired platform. Nokia is still successful on the radio and R&D - and perhaps that was the plan all along? Get out of the cut-throat handset business and sell big radio hardware to big mobile networks.

Either way, Elop's gamble didn't relaunch Nokia's handset business. And lots of people - including me - are still a bit sad about that.

Thirty Percent

@edent — Tue, 18 Aug 2020 11:30:01 +0000

A decade ago, I was invited to the UK launch of Windows Phone 7. It was Microsoft's attempt to compete with Apple's iPhone and Google's Android. Sure, Microsoft could make a brilliant OS and had excellent hardware partners - but could they convince developers to use yet another system?

At the time, I wrote:

The revenue share is 70/30. I really think MS have missed a trick here. It’s an “industry standard” price point because no one wants to get in to a price war. Increasing the share that goes to the developer would be an excellent way to convince wavering developers to adopt the platform.

Back in 2010, BlackBerry charged developers 30% as did Nokia Ovi, and HP's WebOS, app stores from Opera and Samsung charged the same amount, even the Amazon app store charged 30%. None have shifted their pricing in the last decade.

That's curious, isn't it? Surely a new entrant into the market - or one struggling to retain market share - would have picked a different revenue split?

What a coincidence that they all, independently, came to the conclusion that 30% was a fair and reasonable amount to charge developers.

In a healthy, competitive market, I would expect these companies to attempt to undercut each other. Sure, some of them offer incentives to large developers - and others offer promotions to smaller developers. But where's the price war to attract developers?

I doubt anyone has said "My favourite app is £1 cheaper on Android, time to ditch my iPhone and buy a Samsung!" But we know from the game console market that exclusive games drive purchases. Recently, Apple forced the removal of the popular "Dark Sky" app from Android - presumably because they wanted users to switch. Attracting developers and convincing them to concentrate on your platform doesn't rely on increased revenue share - but it sure can't hurt.

Obviously, I don't allege that they have acted as a cartel. I mean, just because Apple and Google colluded to suppress workers' wages, doesn't mean they've done so to suppress developers' income. A wide-ranging conspiracy to overcharge developers and pass those costs on to end-users seems unlikely. But I wonder why, in the last ten years, no one has challenged this seemingly arbitrary percentage.

And I wonder which app store will be the first to break ranks?

Windows Phone 7 vs Android

@edent — Tue, 01 May 2012 11:21:06 +0000

Last week, I posted this tongue-in-cheek suggestion.

Wouldn't it be great if there was a proper show-down between the two major players? You could really compare which OS was best given the same hardware. Is iOS's camera software better than Android's when given the same lens and CCD? Which runs faster when CPU, GPU, and memory are identical?

According to WP-Life, Samsung's Galaxy S III will run both Android and Windows Phone 7!

Judging by the article, there will be some cosmetic changes - but the basic hardware will be the same.

What a show that will be! I think WP7 is a beautiful but flawed OS. Android is powerful, but struggles on anything less than excellent hardware.

One day - one glorious day! - we may see hardware which will accept any software. Imagine, just like a PC, being able to buy the hardware and then choose which OS you want on it. I've written about porting Android to Nokia hardware, and I run Ubuntu on my MacBook Pro.

A true ecosystem involves freedom to move between platforms without artificial restrictions.

Windows Phone 7's QR Scanner

@edent — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 07:32:19 +0000

I think that WP7 is one of the first phone operating systems which natively has a QR scanner built in.

It's rather hidden - you have to go in to search (not camera) then click the eye icon.

However, it is one of the fastest and most accurate scanners I've ever used. It knocks Android favourite ZXing into a cocked hat simply by by speed alone - it's also very fault tolerant and was able to scan in low light and at strange angles.

There's only one problem I have with it - the user interface really isn't very good. Part of this is the design constraints of the Metro interface, but that's no real excuse.

Let's compare WP7 and Android.

Scanning

WP7

The scanner is quick and efficient - but doesn't let you see the whole destination URL. Because it can barely fit in a whole bit.ly link, this could lead to some confusion when scanning: are you going to example.com/video or example.com/games for example.

There's also the (remote) possibility of a security problem; www.hsbc.com.evilsite.xxx will only show as www.hsbc.com

Android

The layout of Android is quite different. I prefer the vertical arrangement of WP7 but Android provides better and more useful information. (The screenshot doesn't show the camera view in the background.) As well as the full URL, we're given

The destination URL for any shortened URL.
Sharing buttons.
A bunch of extraneous techy stuff (meta data about the code).

History

It's often useful to go back and see what you have scanned. Both WP7 and Android have a history feature.

WP7

Again, WP7 looks gorgeous - especially with the photo thumbnail of what you scanned. But, again, there's no way to see the full URL. And, again, the only thing you can do it click on it - no sharing options available.

Android

Android is more Spartan - but more useful. Although there's no thumbnail, we can see the full URL and any redirection. Clicking on a URL allows us to share it.

Conclusion

Windows Phone 7 has a faster and prettier scanner - Android has a scanner which has more useful features and presents less of a security risk.

The Perfect Phone

@edent — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 19:39:36 +0000

After the disaster that was my experience with the Nokia Lumia and the rather underwhelming time I had with the BlackBerry Torch, I've been thinking a lot about what my perfect phone would be.

I think I've found it...

My Photoshop skills are legendary!

Here are the things that I want - no one platform covers them all, so I've nicked the best bits from each.

Blackberry

Here's what BlackBerry provides that is missing on other phones.

Physical Keyboard

This is the big one. I've tried all of the touchscreen keyboards out there - nothing comes close to the physical click of keys.

I'm aware of a few Androids which have a keyboard - but they tend to be older models or underpowered and aimed at the teenage text market. The Dell WP7 phone has a keyboard, but appears to have been abandoned by Dell.

Start up speed.

You never really switch a BB off, it just sleeps. That gives it a phenomenal start-up speed. When you shut it down, it also tells you when it's planning to wake up - either due to an alarm, calendar, or because you set an "auto on" timer.

WP7 does have a very fast boot time - much speedier than that of Android. But there's no auto-on / auto-off feature.

Deep Twitter Integration

I can't believe no other phone has this. If I receive an email which contains a hashtag or @name, I can click on it and my Twitter client opens up. Same in calendar, documents, and (ISTR) web pages. Even if the text isn't linked it was clickable.

Spell Cheque & Auto Text

Spell checking is available on WP7 - but not to the same degree as BlackBerry. The auto-text feature on BB is brilliant, I can type a short code and text is automatically filled.

dt - prints the current time & date, perfect for note taking
sig - prints my standard contact details
ht - (one I created) prints the hashtag of the event I'm following

Android

Android is my main device. It's not without its deficiencies - but here are the bits I wish others would copy.

Time of Day Email

Perhaps the best feature of the Samsung Galaxy S - and not something I've seen elsewhere. I can set a peak and off-peak schedule for my work email.

At 1800 during the week I stop getting work email - and it all comes through at 0800 the next morning. During the weekend, I get no work email. This is one of the major features which keeps me on Android.

FLAC and OGG

I've ripped all my CDs to FLAC. I hate the fact that I have to transcode all my music in order to listen to it on a portable device. All the high end Android phones I've tried play FLAC natively.

Open

I like the fact that I'm not tied down by the operating system. If I want to replace the lock screen, the email client, the web browser, I can. And I do.

If the device manufacturer abandons my phone, there's a huge hacker community who can keep it running.

WP7

I've not had the greatest success with a Windows Phone - but there are some elements that I love.

Interface

The Metro Interface is amazing. It's fast and fluid and generally really well laid out.

Camera

I found the camera to be very responsive - both at focussing and snapping. The integrated QR scanner was also a cut above the rest.

iOS

Media hype / Coolness

It's a little depressing that all the media and developer attention is focussed on a minority platform like iPhone. Just for once, I'd like a cool game like Whale Trail to come out first on something other than iOS.

Misc

Lanyard hook. Ever since smashing my BlackBerry, I've worn a lanyard strap.
Front facing camera. I'm the only one I know who likes video calling.
Trackpad. Even the best touch screen can't get the fine grained accuracy of a touch pad.
Removable storage. I like being able to choose how much I carry with me.
Mass storage. I'm not always at a computer where I can install "media transfer" software. I just want to be able to plug in a USB lead and copy what I need.
Call recording. Must admit - never had a phone that can easily do this. Always wanted it though!
Removable battery. When the going gets tough, I don't want to have to be chained to a wall-wart. The ability to buy higher capacity batteries is also handy.

What Hath Thou Wrought?

Essentially, I've created Homer's Car - a monstrosity no one other than me could love.

So, tell me what would be in your perfect phone?

Lumia Review

@edent — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 09:52:44 +0000

It was the best of phones - it was the worst of phones...

I want to start this review by saying three things:

I got this phone for free - thanks Nokia!
I'm an extremely demanding mobile user. I recognise that I am an edge-case; what I find annoying, you may not.
I've tried to stick to actual bugs, not just "it does things differently."

Sergeant Elop's Lonely Phone Club

Imagine, of you will, you have just purchased a brand new copy of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on vinyl.

It is beautifully designed, an astonishing work of art. You play side one and it is sublime - perhaps the perfect start to any album.

The you flip the disc to side two - and it's Justin Bieber. A screeching, horrible, tune free noise that damages your calm and makes you want to smash your stereo.

That's the Lumia 800 from Nokia. It's Finland's first Windows Phone 7. It's beautiful and infuriating in equal measure.

The Good

There is much to praise the Lumia - and WP7 - for. So much potential - and nearly all of it squandered. But, we'll get to that... Let's start with what I love.

Beauty Is Skin Deep

The phone is gorgeous. Like a futuristic pop-tart. Sleek, shiny, and midnight black. It pulls off the incredible feat of being discreet and eye catching. A pure monoblock. As enigmatic and attractive as the monolith from 2001.

There's just one problem. We're in 2011.

A Brand New Operating System

Windows Phone 7 is different from all other phone operating systems before it. Sure, it has icons, widgets, lists, long presses, swipes, and ... you know what? It isn't different. It isn't a new paradigm. What it is, is gorgeous.

It's a sparse and elegant experience. Fast and user friendly.

The "Metro UI" is really easy to use, gentle on the eye, and a clever way to organise a phone.

Speed Demon

This is one of the fastest phones I've used. It's startup speed rivals that of BlackBerry. In day to day usage, I never found that it stuttered or slowed down - even while having several apps open at once.

Our Friends Connected

You can add in all your disparate social networks into your phone book. So, when you look up a contact, you can easily see their last status message, their Facebook photos etc.

Just like Vodafone 360 did years ago...

But, unlike 360, it works really well. It seemed to match up all my Twitter, Facebook, and address book friends without hassle.

Getting The Basics Right

Call quality was excellent. Good speaker phone. Fine reception. Basically, it works as a phone.

The camera is quick to focus and produces outstanding images.

Ok... ok... If you want to use it as a basic smartphone, the Lumia will do you fine. It browses the web, plays music, links all your social networks together, and looks beautiful while doing so.

It is basically fine - until you scratch beneath the surface.

The Bad

I thought that the Nokia N8 was the worst phone ever made by Nokia. The Lumia may come a close second.

I've been posting a running commentary on Twitter of all the niggles I have with the Lumia.

Here are the highlights - and slightly more in depth explanations - of every bug and annoyance I found. I have suffered, so that you may not.

Let's start off with a gentle one...

For a very modern operating system, WP7 has a fondness for outdated UI elements. I can't think of the last time I used a floppy disk.

That was the warm up. What would you say to a phone that you can't switch off?

I have since discovered that this only happens when the phone is plugged in. Maybe I'm unusual but, before going to bed, I switch off my phone and let it charge overnight. I've had several WP7 fans say that I should switch my phone on to flight mode (go in to settings, scroll through) or switch my phone on to silent if I don't want to be disturbed during the night.

There's just two problems with that. Firstly - why doesn't the phone tell me that I can't switch it off? Secondly - it's impossible to switch the phone on to silent.

Silence Is Golden

This may fall under the "just how I am used to it" school of errors, but bear me out. On every phone I've owned I've had three sound profiles that I can toggle through.

Ring and vibrate - what the phone is normally set to.
Vibrate - when I want to be notified, but having a loud ring isn't appropriate.
Silent - I don't want to be notified (I'm in a meeting).

With the Lumia, I can toggle between Ring+Vibrate and Vibrate. There's no way to get the phone to go silent without diving through a maze of menus.

In fairness, this is a problem which has affected recent Android phones - but there are multiple (free) widgets which solve it.

Screen Issues

The screen on the Lumia is a mixed bag. When it's displaying white text on a pure black background, it's perfect. When there's a white background, the screen seems - to me - to have lots of artefacts on it. The Lumia's screen is at its worst when dealing with greys, and solid blogs of colours. It suffers from lots of vertical banding which is really quite unpleasant.

I've scanned in the screen looking at a fairly normal grey image. While the scanner has overemphasised the problem (and my greasy finger prints!) you should be able to get an idea of how the problem manifests.

Browser Bugbears

Internet Explorer is a reasonable browser - but very buggy.

The URL bar keeps disappearing. I've had this a couple of times. The URL bar just vanishes when you're using the web. As far as I can tell, there's no way to bring it back.

The scrolling for the web browser sometimes stops responding.

Meeting You, Meeting Me

It's really hard to accept meeting invites on the Lumia. On my Exchange email, it works perfectly. For some Gmail invites, I have to click a link and go to Google Calendar on the web. The Lumia doesn't recognise .ics files - so there's no way the email client can talk to the calendar.

But, worse is to come. I asked someone at Microsoft to send me a meeting invite to my Gmail account. While the invite worked fine on the web, the Lumia gave me literally no way to answer the meeting invite - as this video demonstrates.

Crapware

This is Nokia's flagship phone - so you think they would have taken more care with it, wouldn't you? As well as a buggy OS, they've filled it with... let's just say "non-premium" apps.

Some apps, like this one from BA, need updating as soon as you switch on the phone. Sadly, you can't click a button to update - you have to go into the app store.

The greatest opprobrium is reserved for TripAdvisor. I know that deals like this take a lot of time and money to organise - but they really could have done better than this pathetic effort.

Still, at least they let you easily uninstall the bloat.

Things Go Better When We're Together

Microsoft may - or may not - be buying Nokia. One thing is for sure, they're working closely together. What's weird is why they've decided to duplicate some of the services on the phone.

I'm all for customer choice - but here, it just seems confusing.

Finally, Nokia seems to have its own app store. Once again, we see just how little Nokia care for UX.

Paperback Writer

The keyboard is a very strange beast. It's mostly fine, but has some oddities.

Weirdly, the word "Lumia" isn't in the Lumia's dictionary. So there's a little red squiggle ever time you write it. Or other common words.

That said - the in-line spell check is very nice. I miss it on my Android - I think I first saw it on the BlackBerry many years ago.

My Baby's Got Me Wrapped Up In Chains

We're living in a post-PC age. Unless you're Microsoft. You have to connect to a Windows PC to update software, copy across music and videos, change the BlueTooth name of the device, or even subscribe to podcasts.

What's worse, is you have to install the Zune software if you want to get music or photos off the device. You can't send via Bluetooth, you can't just shove in a USB cable and drag them off. You have to install the 100MB behemoth that is Zune, restart your PC several times, fire up the software, wait for it to detect your phone, then let it sync before you can get your photos out.

Of course, you could email your photos off the phone - but the UI for that is terrible. There's no way to select multiple images, so you have to attach each one individually.

It seems that any time you want to do something to your phone, you have to connect it to a PC running Windows.

Let's Talk About Text, Baby

Do you ever use read receipts for SMS? Perfect for seeing when someone has received your message. In every other phone on the planet, the read receipt is integrated in to the SMS app - so you can see at a glance which messages have been received.

With WP7, you get a long list of phone numbers which have received a message. It doesn't even do the simple task of showing you the name of your contact.

No Thanks

I hope that what I've shown you is a litany of bugs, errors, gotchas, and foul ups. I don't think any of the points I've raised are unfair. I like to think that I judge other phones just as harshly - see my treatment of BlackBerry and of iPhone and of Android.

I know this is a brand new OS - but you don't get credit for trying.

If you are prepared to stay in the walled garden, and put up with the bugs, the Lumia is a decent device. But there are devices which do more, cost less, and have more apps on them.

I'm not giving up on Windows Phone 7. It is still a work in progress. There is a great deal of potential here - and I look forward to seeing what the future brings.

For now though, avoid the Lumia. Wait until Microsoft fixes the bugs and until Nokia decides release a phone that they are happy with. Because, honestly, I don't think anyone at Nokia can believe this is the best that they can do.

Windows Phone 7: Mango. So what?

@edent — Wed, 25 May 2011 15:18:21 +0000

I was recently invited to the Windows Phone 7 Mango preview (no, I didn't get a free phone) - here are a few thoughts.

The first thing to note is that WP7 still looks gorgeous - the front tiles (aka widgets) are smart and add a real feeling of fluidity to the phone.

Juicy

The second thing is rather more depressing. Windows is still playing catch-up. It's a standard joke that neither the iPhone nor WP7 had copy-n-paste on release - what's not a joke is the number of "new" features that Microsoft announced are things which have been around for years.

Groups of contacts. I don't know about you, but I was able to group contacts on my ancient 6310i.
Multi-Tasking. You know, like all those Symbian phones had years ago.
Facebook events now appear in your calendar. Again, just like on BlackBerry, Android, etc.
Music pauses when you receive an SMS - the phone reads the message to you and you can use voice recognition to compose a message. Nice that it's all integrated, but hardly revolutionary.

Cognitive Dissonance

Compare and contrast the following two statements made by Microsoft.

The way in which people browse the web on a phone is different to how they browse the web on a desktop PC.

...and...

Windows Phone 7 uses Internet Explorer 9. The exactly the same rendering engine as desktop IE9. So pages look the same on both Desktop and Mobile.

While it's admirable that there's just one set of quirks for developers to code for - and potentially the same exploits on both - I can't help but think this is misguided. Do users really want all pages to render the same, or would they rather have a mobile specific rendering?

Here's a sample image provided by Microsoft.

Forget your troubles, come on, get 'appy

And so, finally, on to apps.

Where WP7 really excels in in 3D. The sample BA app had a 3D seat checker which, while gimmicky, was incredibly smooth.

With a claimed 18,000 apps, WP7 has overtaken BlackBerry and is catching up on the other platforms. There are just two flies in the ointment.

Private Apps

If you're a big business and want to put "employee only" apps on to your employee's phones, you can! Well, you upload the app to the marketplace, set it as private, then distribute a secret URL to your employees. Anyone with that URL can download the app - so if an email accidentally gets forwarded...

It's a rather unsatisfactory kludge. Why not allow developers to deploy direct to handsets? (I know, I know... it breaks the MS control.)

Developer Tools

So, you're competing with Apple iPhone. Presumably you want to attract iPhone developers to your platform, right? So, why aren't WP7 development tools available on the Mac?

Windows 7 runs perfectly on a Mac. Buy a licence. We've no interest in making our tools available on other operating systems.

That is, almost verbatim, the answer I received. I can understand not making the tools available on Linux. But iOS developers can only use a Mac. Why should they have to fork out for and install an entire OS just to run WP7 development?

Microsoft Office is available on Mac - so someone in Redmond has an eye on that market.

It just seems silly that you'd ignore all the iOS developers.

Overall

WP7 is a great platform. It's finally catching up with features that other phone users take for granted. The hardware and software work well - especially when tied in to Microsoft services like Xbox and Sharepoint.

I'm just left with a feeling of "so what?" As a platform, there's nothing I can do on there that can't be done on other devices. Yes, the 3D XNA / Silverlight thing is nice - but any better than OpenGL?

As a consumer phone, it's perfectly acceptable. For Xbox gamers, this is the only phone to consider.

As a business device, it ticks many of the right boxes. If you're heavily invested in the Microsoft way of working (Sharepoint, Office 365, Outlook), you'd be hard pressed to find a better phone.

But for everyone else, there's no "wow" factor. Nothing that makes me think "I have to get this phone because it does something nothing else does."

Perhaps I'm being slightly cynical. The hardware and software is great - it's nice to see them catching up with all the other phones. WP7 is a welcome addition to the ecosystem, even if it isn't driving forward innovation.

QR Moo Cards: New Designs

@edent — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 14:07:39 +0000

I get a lot of positive comments about my Moo Cards with QR codes. As I prepare to go off to Mobile World Congress, I thought I'd add a couple of extra designs into the mix.

Feel free to use these as templates - but please remember to change the QR Code!

BlackBerry Torch

Windows Phone 7

(I think this is a little too wide - still came out well)

The Best Phone for Blogging?

@edent — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 08:30:31 +0000

This has been a really tough NaBloPoMo for me. Work has been frantic - meaning that my lunchtime blogging has been restricted to a quick bit of copy editing. I've also had some wonderful new toys to play with - which has distracted my attention.

But the biggest problem? My Android phone. Don't get me wrong, I love Android - but for typing, it's nowhere nearly as good as my BlackBerry was. I spend a lot of my time on trains, so I'm used to being able to bash out a fairly lengthy post or email. That's just not possible on my Nexus One.

There are three major problems with the Android's onscreen keyboard.

It takes up so much room, you can only see two lines of text. Annoying if you're writing a long document.
The accuracy is very hit and miss. It's no worse than other onscreen keyboards - but it's just not as good as a physical keyboard.
The auto-correct feature is pretty good - but I miss the BlackBerry's integrated spell cheque.

The general consensus on Twitter seems to be that the HTC Desire Z is the best Android phone touting a real keyboard. I've yet to try it - but the keys look similar to the awful N97 "dead flesh" keyboard.

The Motorola Milestone has a better looking keyboard and is a similar price.

I could type around 60WPM on a BlackBerry keyboard - so whichever phone I get needs to be at least as good as RIM's offering.

With that in mind, I'm also considering going back to BlackBerry - the new Torch 9800 looks incredible.

I've been playing on the most recent BlackBerry emulator (something more companies should provide) and it really could be the phone for me. Touchscreen for quick use, keyboard for long messages, I know the email and calendaring options are better than Android. But will I find OS6 too restrictive after the freedom of Android?

There's also Windows Phone 7 to consider. I really like what I've seen of WP7 - but there aren't any phone with keyboards available in the UK. Both the Dell Venue Pro and the LG Optimus 7Q may make it over here - but there are no timelines.

Finally, there's the BlueTooth keyboard accessory. Amazon have Mini Bluetooth Keyboards from £15 - although some of the high end ones go for ten times that.

It would mean carrying yet another gadget - to go with the phone, solar charger, video glasses, Kindle and whatever else I have on my person - but could it bridge the gap? I find that I can't type for very long on a laptop keyboard. The only device I'm comfortable typing on with all 10 fingers is a Microsoft 4000 Ergonomic (although I'd love to give a Maltron a try even if they are a bit pricey though). Would a BlueTooth keyboard be as easy to type on?

So, which phone would you go for if you needed to do extended bouts of typing or blogging?

Split Personalities of Windows Phone 7

@edent — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:01:44 +0000

I've just come back from a chat with Paul Foster of Microsoft. We were discussing Windows Phone 7 - its promises and its problems.

I remain convinced that Windows Phone 7 (WP7) will be a hit. There are so many delightful touches in the operating system that I won't be surprised if it is ripped off before it is fully launched.

I was given an excellent overview of the software and proposed functionality. I also played with a demo handset. Even at this early stage the software is smooth and feature rich.

There are two sides to WP7 which I want to discuss here. The split personality of the device could really shake up the mobile market place.

What Do You Want To Be Today?

Is this a business phone or is this a gamers' phone?

The iPhone has always been a consumer device - support for corporate mail, networks and security policies has been added belatedly or not at all.

RIM's BlackBerry is the opposite. A hard core business phone which is now trying to woo younger consumers with non-corporate offerings.

WP7 is the first device that I've seen which has been designed from the ground up for both work and play. It has an (unfair?) advantage working with Microsoft's range of Enterprise software - OneNote, SharePoint, Outlook - as well as having the necessary range of security policies for a corporate environment. On the play side, it has total integration with Xbox and a wicked set of 3D graphics.

I do wonder if there is sufficient overlap between the gamer and salaryman demographics. Are corporates going to be able to justify giving their workers a powerful 3D games console (with built in phone)? Will gamers resent having to buy a phone with a load of enterprise rubbish on it that they just don't need?

Q&A

I received a bunch of questions on Twitter about the phone - so here is what I managed to glean...

Q: We know 3rd party apps won't be able to multi-task yet. But seems there's some state saving going on, how well supported is it? (Fabian Sasson)
A: There is some support for multi-tasking. You can send push notification from your web-server to the phone (via Microsoft). During an incoming call / email / etc, apps are "tombstoned" - they are essentially suspended and then "rehydrated" when the user clicks back to them. If an app is terminated - it is able to save its state so when the user switches back to it, they can resume from where they left off.

Q: Extra information on Xbox Live integration would be awesome. Does it need a subscription, for separate platforms do you buy twice? (William Morland)
A: It will work with a free "Silver" subscription - you don't need Gold membership. While some games will be free, you will have to buy other content.

Q: how many gamer points per Windows Phone7 title! Actually anything related to Xbox Live integration (Kevin Prince)
A: You can't use gamer points to buy content. It's credit card or Operator Billing.

Q: just confirm that the copy/paste rumour is actually a joke :) (Matt Rawlinson)
A: No. No joke. The idea is that quality user experience comes first. Is there a way to get rid of copy-and-paste for the most common uses? For example, the OS should recognise a phone number in an email message and let you click on it to call, add to address book, text, send to a friend etc. Where possible, that should be done automagically without the user having to manually intervene. A fine stance, to be sure, but I would expect to see c&p in the next firmware revision.

Q: Microsoft told us they have no devices for European markets. that wrong? (James Governer)
A: Wrong. WP7 will launch worldwide. US, EU, Russia, Australia, New Zeeland and a whole bunch of other territories. Not all devices will launch in all markets. Not all launches will be simultaneous.

Q: if you can manage to stop laughing, you could ask them why bother... (Sam Smith)
A: I cheated a bit and didn't ask this. It's clear that MS are putting a lot of effort in to this. They know that mobile is the growth space at the moment and that they have failed miserably with WinMo6.5. They need to get this right. If they can, they've locked in mobile, email, SharePoint, SkyDrive, Windows Live ID and Xbox games. This could be the hub for all of MS's products. If it succeeds - and that's a big if - it will reinvigorate Microsoft and consolidate all their products into one device. That's either awesome or terrifying depending on which team you bat for. Regardless, it will set the mobile industry on fire.

Games

If you're an Xbox games, you will buy this phone. Simple. I played with some of the 3D games on the handset and they are stunning. Sign in with your Windows Live ID and your Xbox Live stuff is accessible directly from the phone's homescreen.

But let's take it one step further.

Let's say you've bought a racing game on Xbox live and the companion game on WP7.

You can see your gamer score and achievements - and your friends' - on your phone. Neat.
If you unlock an achievement on your Xbox - it will be unlocked on your phone. Sweet.
If you unlock an achievement on your phone - it will be unlocked on your console and show up on your dashboard. Make your commute count for something!

So far, so good. It's a wonder this hasn't been done before. But what happens next will give you a taste of things to come.

You unlock the "Ford Mustang" on your console.
Want to customise the car? Play the next level on your phone within 20 metres of a Ford dealership. Click here to find your nearest location.
Click here to book a test drive.

Integrating achievements, location, social networking and gameplay all in one package.

Game Over, Man! Game Over!

There are some limitations to the gaming service. All of these downsides are "for now" - let's wait and see what the future holds.

No Xbox / WP7 live play. Due to the latency of 3G networks, you can't play against others on the Xbox live service.
Some gaming APIs & Xbox Live integration are only available to registered publishers. Not a big publishing house? No access for you.

Big Boys Only.

WP7 takes one "great" thing from Android - multiple vendors producing a variety of handsets.

It then marries it "great" thing from iPhone - fanatical lock down of applications and services to trusted third parties.

Want access to certain API functionality? Only available to MNOs and manufacturers?

Want to run apps in the background? Better be in bed with MS. And not casually, either.

App development is "free". Well, the SDK and the compilers are free. You'll need to be running Vista or Windows 7 - no Macs or Linux. Registration to the Marketplace - which includes code signing - is $99. That will allow you to upload 5 free apps. Subsequent free apps will cost $19.99 each to upload.

Why this restriction? Quality. MS doesn't want their Marketplace to be cluttered with thousands of poorly developed freeware titles. They believe that putting up a significant barrier to entry will deter sub-par applications. I think, it may just cost them developers who want to dip their toe in the waters.

Want to offer a "lite" version for free and a "pro" version for $5? You can't do that. MS don't want duplicate apps cluttering their store. What they will allow is for developers to build in "trial" modes. So, rather than customers paying $5, trying the app, then applying for a refund - a developer sets what functionality will be available in the app for a trial period. The customer can then upgrade in-app. A really smart solution.

If you're selling apps, you can price between $1.99 and $499.99. That's right. Five hundred bucks. There are professional apps for BlackBerry which sell in this range - that's clearly one of the markets MS are gunning for.

The revenue share is 70/30. I really think MS have missed a trick here. It's an "industry standard" price point because no one wants to get in to a price war. Increasing the share that goes to the developer would be an excellent way to convince wavering developers to adopt the platform.

Paying for goods is via credit card or Operator Billing - no paying with Gamerpoints. Operator Billing will be supported in most territories - the advantage of being Microsoft is that you can push the MNOs to open a few doors for you. There will be no price descrimination between OB and CC. Any difference will come out of MS's 30% - so developers won't be left out of pocket.

There is definitely the feeling that MS wants big, professional applications only. A great way to ensure high quality experience on the device - but it may just cost them the next killer app.

Conclusion

I do wonder if MS should have made an Xbox Phone and a Business Phone. Bundling the two together could be too confusing for customers - and ultimately dissatisfying.

The UI is fantastic. Rather than copying the Windows 3.11 UI (a la iPhone and Android) they've come up with something which fits the form factor really well.

The Xbox integration will get every gamer wanting one.

The tight integration with Sharepoint and Exchange will get every Head of IT wanting to ditch their BlackBerrys.

The range of manufacturers will ensure that there aren't shortages on launch. A wide variety of form-factors and designs (all within the MS parameters) will help convince those who can't live without a touchscreen / QWERTY keyboard / flip / slider - that this is the phone for them.

The limitations for developers will be frustrating - as will the high cost of development. The MS commitment to high quality, revenue generating apps will stifle the number of applications available. But if it means not having to wade through 5,000 fart noise generators.....

Microsoft knows that they have to score big with this operating system. WP7 is due in the "holiday season" - up to 5 months from now - and they're already trailing it massively. They're being hugely open about their plans for it (for Microsoft). They're listening to developers and users. The whole Microsoft team - from Office to Xbox - has a stake in this phone. Come Christmas, I expect their media machine to be in full swing.

WP7 looks great. It doesn't have the openness of Android. It doesn't have the hype of Apple. It doesn't have the pedigree and mindshare of Nokia. It doesn't have BlackBerry's simplicity. It successfully steals the best bits from each platform and improves upon them.

I'm not a big fan of Microsoft - as I've said many times. If I were being uncharitable, I'd say that it has dragged along the worst features from the major mobile players - fragmentation, rigid QA, crappy revenue share, lack of multi-tasking. But even I am forced to admit that it is attacking RIM, Apple, Android and Nokia at their strengths.

If nothing else, this is the phone the N-Gage should have been.

Integrity!

There are three things Microsoft specifically told me not to mention - because they'll be making announcements in the coming months.

What happens when you hold down the "Windows" key.
How OS software updates are handled.
Zune.

This post hasn't been checked, censored or spell checked by Microsoft. They did buy me a drink - but didn't give me a free phone - so I don't think I'm editorially compromised. I still run Ubuntu on my home machines.

Hate Microsoft - Love Windows Phone 7?

@edent — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 15:23:22 +0000

I'm not the biggest fan of Microsoft. Both my original Xboxes now run Linux, I've converted my laptop and computers to Ubuntu, and I generally laugh in the face of Microsoft's increasingly desperate attempts to stay relevant.

So it was with great mirth that I went along to a BizSpark event a few weeks ago. Microsoft were going to be showing off their latest "innovation" - Windows Phone 7.

I went along expecting to hate it and, instead, found myself curiously drawn to it.

Take a look at the emulator for an interactive demo.

I played with the demo hardware and software and had my expectations blown away. I'll be honest - I expected crap. I had horrible memories of the stylus oriented Windows Mobile 6. The phone which would display an hourglass if you had the temerity to receive a phone call while playing solitaire.

Windows Phone 7 (WP7) was a million miles away from the old Microsoft experience.

Pros

The user interface is refreshingly simple and fun to use. It's like nothing else I've tried before and I really think that Microsoft has outclassed both Android and Apple.

Pushing so much information to the homescreen really makes you want to use your phone constantly. iPhone only does this half-heartedly and Android does it without much animation or UI consistency.

App Store. One excellent feature of the MS app store is the "Try Before You Buy" model. Rather than a developer putting out a free, limited version and a "pro" version they can publish a single app. They can restrict the features and functionality of the "demo" version until the customer makes the purchase. Or, after a set period of time, the demo version can become non-functioning. Or have reduced function. Brilliant.

Gaming on this device will be huge. It looks like it will be simple to port games from the Xbox to WP7 - that gives it a great competative advantage. Tie in Xbox Live (or whatever it's called) and you'll get gamers buying the same game twice - once on the console and once on the phone. The 3D power of the phones was stunning.

Cons

There are some serious shortcomings in the Windows Phone 7 vision of the future which Microsoft urgently need to address.

Expand the development options. If you want to write for Windows Phone 7, you'll need Windows installed on your computer. Given that Android allows you to develop on Windows, Mac and Linux, it doesn't make sense to make developers buy a new operating system. Especially as iPhone development is tied to Apple.
Open it up. I love the idea of integrating my phone with my Xbox live account - but I don't have an Xbox! Open it up so that my Wii or PS3 gaming experience can be pushed to the homescreen.
The same goes for mail and IM - don't restrict it just to Exchange and MSN. Openness is hard for Microsoft, but it will attract more customers to the platform.
Have a firm, public roadmap for enhancements which all manufacturers stick to. Android is currently being stifled by manufacturers like HTC who refuse to update the software on their customers' devices.
Revenue share for developers needs to be better. At the moment it's the same 70/30 split being offered by Android and Apple. It needs to be lower for two key reasons.

Attract developers to the fledgling ecosystem.
To avoid any accusations of a cartel. To have all three major platforms "independently" converge on the same revenue share deal looks suspicious.

Now What?

I've played with the prototype hardware and I'm impressed. The software is really good. Much better that Microsoft's usual standard.

It has to be.

Microsoft are betting their mobile future on this platform. Win6.5 failed. Kin failed. They can't afford another high profile failure like this. Mirosoft are putting their best people on this project and, as far as I can tell, are revisiting their Xbox strategy; SPEND SPEND SPEND.

By the time the phones launch (holiday season 2010) you won't be able to move without seeing an advert. They will crank up their media machine to 11. Just like the original Xbox, they will buy their way in to the market with a view that - like the Xbox 360 - the real prize is several years away.

I hope they succeed. Not because I have any love for Microsoft, but because Nokia, Apple, and Google will all have to raise the quality of their software and hardware to compete against Microsoft's marketing expenditure.

I'm a Linux geek - and I think Windows Phone 7 is the best thing to come out of Redmond in a very long time.