[Eriq Cook]

"Five specific hardware buttons required: Start, back, search (a dedicated Bing button), camera button, and power -- no more, no less"

(http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/17/w...anted-to-know/)

Windows Phone 7 Series will be VERY interesting. It will be a completely different experience than any current/previous Windows Mobile version. I think it will be very successful, but I have some reservations about certain features.

This is more of a rant, but after reading this article on engadget, it appears that there will be even less hardware buttons on the next gen of Windows 7 phones. What is the deal with this? Having specific hardware buttons on devices makes certain actions much faster/easier, like placing a phone call, adjusting the volume or opening a frequently used app. It appears that Microsoft is mandating that manufacturers leave out even more common buttons like phone start/end and record/custom button. Which means that to quickly make a phone call, I'll have to tap somewhere on the screen to exit the current app and open the phone. I've gotten used to having a dedicated phone button that I can quickly press to dial a phone # like on the Touch Pro 2 and every prior Windows Mobile device.

I hope that this is not true, and that Microsoft will allow device manufacturers to add more hardware buttons if they desire. If so, I will be very disappointed. This is one other thing that I liked about Windows Mobile devices when compared to the iPhone.

I also wonder what will happen with MS VoiceCommand and 7. With fewer buttons, I certainly hope they built this feature in. That could be a deal breaker.

I'm sure there are many people that would agree. But I'm curious as to what you think about the "trend." Do you think that having fewer hardware buttons is a good thing or a backwards step?

[Eriq Cook]

"Five specific hardware buttons required: Start, back, search (a dedicated Bing button), camera button, and power -- no more, no less"

(http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/17/w...anted-to-know/)

Windows Phone 7 Series will be VERY interesting. It will be a completely different experience than any current/previous Windows Mobile version. I think it will be very successful, but I have some reservations about certain features.

This is more of a rant, but after reading this article on engadget, it appears that there will be even less hardware buttons on the next gen of Windows 7 phones. What is the deal with this? Having specific hardware buttons on devices makes certain actions much faster/easier, like placing a phone call, adjusting the volume or opening a frequently used app. It appears that Microsoft is mandating that manufacturers leave out even more common buttons like phone start/end and record/custom button. Which means that to quickly make a phone call, I'll have to tap somewhere on the screen to exit the current app and open the phone. I've gotten used to having a dedicated phone button that I can quickly press to dial a phone # like on the Touch Pro 2 and every prior Windows Mobile device.

I hope that this is not true, and that Microsoft will allow device manufacturers to add more hardware buttons if they desire. If so, I will be very disappointed. This is one other thing that I liked about Windows Mobile devices when compared to the iPhone.

I also wonder what will happen with MS VoiceCommand and 7. With fewer buttons, I certainly hope they built this feature in. That could be a deal breaker.

I'm sure there are many people that would agree. But I'm curious as to what you think about the "trend." Do you think that having fewer hardware buttons is a good thing or a backwards step?

[Reid Kistler]

Can understand how either too few or too many might be considered problematical, but would tend to fall on the side of having MORE hardware buttons as opposed to Fewer --- but at least part of that preference would be predicated upon the ability to (re)assign the buttons that do exist.

I find the Fuze to have too few buttons, as compared to my Axim - but at least it does have dedicated Phone, Home & Volume controls...

[doogald]

I can understand Microsoft wanting to standardize the hardware experience, so that anybody can pick up and WP and have it be consistent with any other. The lack of hardware volume buttons is the one thing that puzzles me. Maybe I'll be wrong about this, but I would think that having to touch the display, after unlocking the device, etc., to change volume levels - for ringers, playing audio through the speakers, or in-call volume levels in the ear speaker - will be a royal pain in the butt.