Windows Phone 7
It’s true! I got a new phone! (like that is a surprise) If you read the title of this post, you probably are not only aware of what the new phone is, but may also be confused as to why I would do such a thing!? Well, the fact of the matter is, Microsoft did something very right this time around! After having used and seen what Microsoft has done in the past with windows Mobile, I was not holding my breath for the launch of Windows Phone 7. Once Windows Phone 7 finally hit I was quite impressed with what I saw. After watching a bunch of videos online and reading a bunch of reviews I had decided that I liked what I saw and thought I might be in the market to pick up one of these phones.
(Side Rant: Almost every time you see a picture of a Windows Phone, it is of the phone I have placed to the left here. Problem with this is, THIS PHONE DOES NOT EXIST! I love the design of this phone and this is the phone I wanted to buy. I can’t imagine how it makes any sense to anyone to market your product to consumers with a device that does not exist??)
Moving on.
Since the phone I really wanted was fake, I decided on what I thought to be the best phone in the first round of WP7 phones, the HTC HD7. The phone is quite beautiful, not perfect, but quite nice. I really like it. That is about all I am going to say about the hardware, since after all, the hardware really doesn’t matter. The OS is what is important here, that is the part that is going to stick around, phone to phone, and (hopefully) grow with you.
From the very first use of the OS, I really thought they did it right. The design and user interface are very beautiful and easy to use. I find the interface to be quite intuitive. (Somewhat hardware related) the OS is VERY snappy and responsive as well. The phone came with a pretty solid base of applications and services.
I really feel that if Microsoft stays on top of this platform and updates regularly, adding features, this platform is going to do very well and bring them back from the dead in the area of smartphones. Windows Mobile 6.5 was a complete disaster, which means they have an uphill battle trying to convince people that WP7 IS actually something different, not just a rev of that pile of garbage. I am really hoping they do not drop the ball on this one, because with enough effort, they will dominate the competition that has gotten far too comfortable in the mobile OS space.
Windows Phone 7 is definitely something to go check out in person.
Issues I am having:
- If you use Google calendar, and have multiple calendars, it only seems to sync the main one.
- I have had a couple apps crash, but a reboot fixed it. To be expected from a 1.0
- Unlike other mobile platforms that give you a choice of search engines and so forth, this does not. So far WP7 means you have to use all Microsoft properties. Bing, Bing maps, Internet Explorer, etc. I have to think this will evolve to more choices in the future if they want to compete and gain users.
Features that are still needed:
- Taking screenshots (really?)
- Custom ringtones (really?)
- Copy & paste (really?)
- Folders
Applications that are still needed:
- Pandora
- Evernote
- Toodledo sync
- Google Maps
- Dropbox
- More twitter apps (of course)
- Navigation Apps (that don’t cost $9.99/month)
- Official Google Voice
- More photo editing apps
If you have a WP7 phone and have more suggestions/hints/tips please feel free to leave them in the comments. If you don’t have a WP7 phone, feel free to ask anything in the comments also!