[Nurhisham Hussein]

http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=3548

"Windows Mobile 6.5 will have a widget engine, allowing applications built from HTML and JavaScript to run using the IE 6 Mobile engine, but without the "chrome" (IE menus, address bar etc) one normally associate with web pages."

This looks interesting - and probably not before time. Samsung for instance already have flash-based widgets for their WM devices, so to have Microsoft putting this capability right into the base OS is great. Maybe WM6.5 will be worth the wait after all, and I can imagine just how much better WM7 will (hopefully) be.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=3548

"Windows Mobile 6.5 will have a widget engine, allowing applications built from HTML and JavaScript to run using the IE 6 Mobile engine, but without the "chrome" (IE menus, address bar etc) one normally associate with web pages."

This looks interesting - and probably not before time. Samsung for instance already have flash-based widgets for their WM devices, so to have Microsoft putting this capability right into the base OS is great. Maybe WM6.5 will be worth the wait after all, and I can imagine just how much better WM7 will (hopefully) be.

[inteller]

pft...so much for that WebOS the Pre was touting.

[Rocco Augusto]

Originally Posted by inteller

pft...so much for that WebOS the Pre was touting.

Not really. The thing Palm has managed to master, at least from the info they have given us, is not just creating a mobile platform that using existing languages that are easy enough for anyone to write applications for such as (x)HTML, CSS, and javascript but also connecting all of that data into an incredibly sexy and easy to use UI.

Being able to log into Facebook and automatically combining the contact information from that site with your phones contacts or Google contacts and other information from any other service you use is the holy grail of mobile device zen.

I for one am interested in seeing if Palm's new device will live up to the high bar it has set for itself.

[superrrguy]

Now that the Pre is coming out, will MS delay WinMo7 until 2012 to copy some features from the WebOS?

Doesn't some form of Widgets/Gadgets seem like a natural progression for the small screen? No one @ MS could think of this before the competition?

As a current WinMo user I wonder if Wigets will make any difference. The quality, usability, and "coolness" of most programs/apps I use on WinMo are pretty bad and anything that has an iPhone version is always much better.

[Bob Anderson]

Originally Posted by superrrguy

The quality, usability, and "coolness" of most programs/apps I use on WinMo are pretty bad and anything that has an iPhone version is always much better.

Yeah, I suppose the iPhone versions are better .... until you try and cut-n-paste information from, say a text message to an e-mail, and you find that you can't!

On the main topic - let me just say that I hope there are many more "little gems" hidden away that MSFT is working on but have not made public for either WinMo 6.5 or 7. God knows the platform is going to need all the help it can get to keep up. As for the Palm Pre, admittedly it is pretty cool looking, but Microsoft has already shown they can beat Palm and I'm relatively convinced the Pre will make Palm a viable competitor, but they won't re-write the mobile market single handidly like the iPhone did. Microsoft still has a chance.

Ballmer - please be looking in your rear-view mirror - you've got some serious work to do to keep your position in the marketplace. WinMo 7 MUST BE a home run or you will never be a serious player in the mobile space again.

[superrrguy]

Originally Posted by Bob Anderson

Yeah, I suppose the iPhone versions are better .... until you try and cut-n-paste information from, say a text message to an e-mail, and you find that you can't!

I don't even understand how that's acceptable. It's one of the reasons I don't bother with the iPhone.

Evernote is one of those apps that looks better on the iPhone than WinMo just because of the 4 buttons on the bottom of the screen but I don't understand how usable it is for adding new notes on the iPhone without Copy/Cut/Paste.

I do know that when trying to explain Copy/Cut/Paste to general computer users, they're baffled. If this is Apple's idea for dumb proofing, I wish they would give some "advanced" features (if you could call copy/cut/paste advanced at all) without having to jailbreak.

Back to Widgets. It will be great if developers can use web standards to create quick and hopefully useful apps for WinMo. I just wonder what happened to integrating WiMo Standard & Pro into one Os with one handed operation (which I liked) as they take away D-Pads and other buttons and add unnecessary swiping, and tapping.

[kdarling]

Doesn't anyone remember back in early 2007, when a MS-WM guy showed off..

Vista Gadgets running on Windows Mobile:

YouTube - Vista Gadgets running on Windows Mobile

??

[Bob Anderson]

Originally Posted by kdarling

Doesn't anyone remember back in early 2007, when a MS-WM guy showed off..

Vista Gadgets running on Windows Mobile:

YouTube - Vista Gadgets running on Windows Mobile

??

Well, actually, no ... I didn't remember this. What I will say is that we are now in "early 2009" and we know that WM6.5 isn't coming until later this year (like 2nd half) which tells me that MSFT has been "developing" this "new" functionality for 2 YEARS before it "might" be available to users. (I say "might" because I've seen nothing that says it will be an official part of the new WM6.5 release.)

With the depth of talent and resources MSFT has, how can they not capitalize on these "initiatives" faster? This is exactly what is going to kill the monolith in Redmond. Innovation needs to come at a rapid pace or you become irrelevant in the market.

[TTown]

Based on the MSN Money screen shot you can tell this is very recent. Lot's of declining stocks and the dow at 6809.

Insiders say they hope to get this out before the Dow hits 4000!!!