Evolution Stalled?

[Jerry Raia]

Is anyone else frustrated by the apparent lack of evolution of the built in programs for Windows Mobile? For the Smartphone I'm talking about Pocket Outlook and Pocket IE. We still don't even have Pocket Word or Excel even though many Smarphones now have QWERTY thumb boards. Can anyone explain why Pocket Outlook is still basically the same as it was when the first Smartphones came out? I know we have a third party application or two out there but the built in email is basically as anemic as it was the day it was born. Pocket IE? Even the third party applications make you struggle with things like cross hairs and little boxes! We have Photon coming and what next, Muon and then Crouton? Will we ever get some better built ins? Most of the changes in Windows Mobile have been aesthetic or under the hood. I'm glad for those too of course. Am I off base here? Does anyone else feel my pain?

[WorksForTurkeys]

I wouldn't mind so much if there actually were some usable replacements or additions. Some of the PDA software developers (eg. Landware, SPB, SBHS) have stated in email responses that they currently have no intention of supporting the smartphone platform. For the most part, the third-party application software available today, is the same software available a year ago.

I don't need a word processor for a smartphone; I do have an Excel alternative that works; I don't have a usable financial product like Quicken or SPB Finance (and none appears on the horizon); IE SP is unusable, but RSS agregators exist and seem more useful.

As the hardware manufacturers announce their QWERTY smartphone proliferation, the software developers are intentionally lagging seriously behind.

Microsoft needs to vigorously promote the platform to its developer community (I would have stated "more vigorously" except that they don't appear to be doing anything at all so far.)

[Kris Kumar]

Not only have the native applications not been improved but they also haven't been tweaked to better handle landscape screen.

My biggest gripe - the Call History screen has the time at the very bottom; I always have to scroll down to view the time when the call was received. Come on Microsoft, even a kid developer can fix this.

Make the Windows Mobile applications open source!

[Jerry Raia]

My biggest gripe - the Call History screen has the time at the very bottom; I always have to scroll down to view the time when the call was received. Come on Microsoft, even a kid developer can fix this.

That has made me nuts for years!

[Macguy59]

Is it any surpise given how they refuse to give us a true close button?

[Jerry Raia]

I can't even believe they debated that one. Give us the button already! Desktop users have managed to handle its awesome power for over a decade. I think we Smartphone/PPC users can handle it too. :roll:

[mzh]

My biggest gripe with the built-in applications has more to do with the wasted space.

I understand that Microsoft is providing at least basic capabilities with their built-in applications (calendar and tasks pop to mind).

I'd like the capability to use the space they waste. I haven't used either Calendar since Papyrus came out and Tasks was recently replaced when SBSH added Task support. I'd like to be able to load more useful (third party) apps into ROM.

I know, I know.. it's never going to happen. It just seems wasteful to have applications that will never be used on the device.

Ron.

[DaleReeck]

I think apps like Pocket Outlook have stalled because MS hasn't had a reason to develop them more. They still sell plenty of Windows Mobile licenses, even with anemic POutlook and Office apps.

I thought that maybe with push email now, MS might have had more desire to develop Pocket Outlook. But the method of delivery, Activesync, is still very limited (i.e., HTML mail still gets stripped out). That is the area where MS falls short of being a Blackberry killer. The hardware is good (Motorola Q, Samsung i320) and the push email system via Exchange functions well, but the software on the PDA end is mediocre at best.

[Kris Kumar]

The hardware is good (Motorola Q, Samsung i320) and the push email system via Exchange functions well, but the software on the PDA end is mediocre at best.

Absolutely correct. In our recent review of the Q, that is what I observed. The hardware has evolved a lot - memory, screen, screen layout, scroll wheel and keyboard, but the software doesn't seem to really make much use of the enhancements.

- The scroll wheel is more of a distraction, the user is better off using the joypad.
- The landscape screen is not being used properly because the top and bottom bars take up a lot of room. The native application like the contacts and email havent been tweaked for landscape profile.

[Jerry Raia]

In many ways, it is the same OS they rolled out in the beginning. My next weekend rant will cover another aspect of this. :D

[Kris Kumar]

In many ways, it is the same OS they rolled out in the beginning. My next weekend rant will cover another aspect of this. :D

Your rants are making our weekends more exciting. :lol:

[scottb]

I'm on the fence about this one. Yes, it would be great if Pocket Outlook was improved a bit more. I think Pocket IE in much better in WM5 SP than it was in WM2003 SP. Calendar is ok, Tasks is useless.

I guess I'm ok with having to purchase third party software since most of it is very reasonably priced. My issue is the lack of availability of certain types of software. Papyrus and Facade clearly fill a need. Maybe FlexMail will fill another, but it has a history of acting a bit flaky. Good luck finding another email client that runs on the Smartphone. An alternative browser?!? Opera, where are you?

[dh]

I guess I take a slightly different view than many on this. I see Microsofts job to be providing a good OS that is stable that various applications will run on.

I don't use WordPad on my desktop any more than I would use Pocket Word on my PPC. I've bought Word to be my desktop wordprocessor and Textmaker as my Pocket PC one.

Hopefully as Smartphone adoption increases, developers will fill some of the gaps that currently exist. I used to use Textmaker on my Zaurus, so I'm sure Martin and his guys will come out with a Smartphone version as more devices get proper keypads. Probably a spreadsheet as well. SBSH already have great apps like Papyrus and Facade that make the Smartphone platform much more useful.

Remember, serious text input for Smartphones has only been available for a few months. If the demand is there, I'm sure the developer community will be happy to come through in the same way they did for the PPC.

[Stinger]

My philosophy is that a smartphone should be fully loaded straight out of the box. It should "just work". I shouldn't need to download lots of (potentially expensive) 3rd party software in order to have a fully functional device.

What bugs me is that you can buy practically any other smartphone (Palm OS, Symbian) and it will come with at least MS Office document viewing software. Most come with full Office suites. Office software should be one of Windows Mobile's strongest selling points so why can't Microsoft produce Pocket Office for Smartphones?

[Mike Temporale]

I totally agree - the apps suck, and the time on missed calls is horrible. That's one of the things I've been repeatedly complianing about to Microsoft. Same with the defaults for IE Cache and caller display, File support in ActiveSync, etc...

I'm not trying to defend them, because I think these changes should have been done a long time ago. However, from what I've been told they are focusing a lot of energy under the hood. Working hard to get the PPC and SP to the same level while improving reliability and speed. You have to agree that these have improved a lot since the early days. I still think they could have found a little time to clean up an app or two, or move a time field to the top of the list instead of the botton. :roll:

Microsoft is listening to our (MVPs) feedback. I can't tell you what they have to say or what they've done about it, but they are listening. ;)

[scottb]

My philosophy is that a smartphone should be fully loaded straight out of the box. It should "just work". I shouldn't need to download lots of (potentially expensive) 3rd party software in order to have a fully functional device.
If this were the case, where would that leave third-party developers?

What bugs me is that you can buy practically any other smartphone (Palm OS, Symbian) and it will come with at least MS Office document viewing software. Most come with full Office suites. Office software should be one of Windows Mobile's strongest selling points so why can't Microsoft produce Pocket Office for Smartphones?
This might be device/operator dependent--the Moto Q does come with a viewer for MS Office documents.

[Jerry Raia]

I think their (MS) flagship applications should be a bit more than an after thought. POutlook should be able to display HTML after this many years and that calendar, what a joke! The main selling point for the mobile device, PIM functions, is pathetic out of the box.

[Stinger]

If this were the case, where would that leave third-party developers?

I would argue that it leaves them writing proper applications and games, rather than filling in the gaps in the operating system. For example, MacOS comes with a pretty full suite of applications, but there's plenty of 3rd party developers writing for the OS.

This might be device/operator dependent--the Moto Q does come with a viewer for MS Office documents.

Sadly, it's device/operator dependent. Even compare your Q against something like the Symbian-based Nokia E62. The E62 comes with a full Office suite with edit/view abilities, whilst the Q only comes with viewing software. Where's the synergy between Microsoft's desktop and mobile software?

[scottb]

Sadly, it's device/operator dependent. Even compare your Q against something like the Symbian-based Nokia E62. The E62 comes with a full Office suite with edit/view abilities, whilst the Q only comes with viewing software. Where's the synergy between Microsoft's desktop and mobile software?
Just for the sake of accuracy, it's the WM Smartphone O/S that doesn't have MS Office applications. The WM PPC O/S device I had (Samsung i730) did have the MS Office suite included.

My main gripe is, as Jerry stated, POutlook should handle html. The only improvement I've seen in it over the past few years is the ability to use a different smtp server vs. pop sever--a big improvement, but the only one.

[gyos23]

This is my first post on Smartphone Thoughts but I feel strongly about this subject and have posted on another forum concerning this. I have a T-Mobile SDA and I am in love with the phone but the fact that the simplest features such as MS Office is not included is a bit of a turn off.

I read somwhere that the reason that Smartphones don't carry software similar to that of a PPC is because of the QWERTY keyboard layout problem, but apparently Smartphones with full keyboards are now appearing (ex. Excalibur) so what's the excuse now??

The other thing I read was that people who buy Pocket Pc's are for the whole "Office To Go" kind of mind set and people with Smartphones are people who only need to read and write emails at most, which is somewhat true. But what bothers me is that they don't give us the option of putting that software in any Smartphone at all. People love options, and since Microsoft isn't open source oriented, the most they could do is atleast let us have fun with our phones!

I don't know guys, let me get feedback if possible. 8O

[Jerry Raia]

Welcome to the site! :D

[John Blasdell]

The Windows Mobile development team (and the R&D $$) must be very small. Each WM release -- more than a year apart -- gives us tiny improvements. :cry: And the apps...TextMaker does so much more, although the interface is cluttered; WordSmith and DateBook 5 for PalmOS have more featues and were written by one-man "teams." POutlook is so basic and primitive MS should be embarrassed. Pocket Office IS much improved in WM5, but should be much better.

Remember the IBM PC Junior? IBM crippled it in various ways so people wouldn't buy it instead of their more expensive products. Is MS afraid we'd buy fewer notebooks with Windows XP and a more expen$ive version of MS Office if PPCs and Smartphones were more capable? Bill, they're different products. I also have a notebook but can't carry it in my pocket wherever I go.

It kind of burns me when I read about Bill Gates giving millions to his latest cause. Bill, charity begins at home. Hire a few more of the best and brightest (that will also help the economy and provide more tax dollars), and give us a stable Pocket PC with real Pocket Office features!

[Kris Kumar]

It kind of burns me when I read about Bill Gates giving millions to his latest cause. Bill, charity begins at home. Hire a few more of the best and brightest (that will also help the economy and provide more tax dollars), and give us a stable Pocket PC with real Pocket Office features!

:rotfl:

Jokes aside, lets not bring in Bill and his charity.

I do remember reading that they are doing some radical work with mobile device design, putting all the folks in one building away from the main campus. Lets hope that Photon (or Jerry likes to call it, crouton) comes out good.

Microsoft has grown to big and too diverse to be able to focus on each market segment. Given their diverse product offerings they are definitely better than the other companies that have equally big portfolios. But they are not as nimble and fast moving as their startup competitors.

[Jerry Raia]

putting all the folks in one building away from the main campus. Lets hope that Photon (or Jerry likes to call it, crouton) comes out good.

I think it should be several states away. As far away from Redmond as possible!

[gyos23]

Welcome to the site! :D

Thnx lol.

And btw the development team is pretty small considering that the market for Smartphones has just gone up only a few. Now with T-mobile/Cingular/Verizon and every other provider putting out more PPC's and SP's out there, hopefully people will catch on. But then again the making this project open source would make it a lot easier...but that's just my opinion :roll: