04-29-2006, 01:00 PM
|
|
Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
|
|
Mike Calligaro: Batteries or Clocks?
"Upgrades from WM5 to MSFP (AKU2) have started to hit the streets. One of the major features (direct push) has been a big hit. But one of the smaller features (a battery icon) has been met with ... less enthusiasm. On Pocket PC, AKU2 replaced the clock display on the Title Bar with a battery indicator. The clock was moved farther down into the today page. We've gotten a lot of feedback on the relative usefulness of clocks and battery indicators, and we've gotten a lot of feedback on the usefulness of this particular battery indicator. We're taking both pieces of feedback to heart and ... we need to give users a way to switch back to the previous behavior. The bad news is that there's no way to get the clock back in AKU2. The good news is that there will be a way in the next minor release (AKU2.2). But the other bad news is that I don't know which hardware devices will use AKU2.2. So I can't tell you when or even if you'll be able to make use of this change."
Mike Calligaro has written up a lengthy post at the Windows Mobile Team Blog discussing the new battery and clock displays in AKU 2. It's a widely-known fact that some of you dislike these new changes, so a newer revision of the update, AKU 2.2, will offer you the chance to place the clock back on the title bar by adding a new DWORD value to the registry. However, as Mike hints, the dependency on OEMs to roll out AKUs means that not all current devices will support this back-door method, so unfortunately, some of you will be left hanging out to dry. 
|
| |
|
|
|
04-29-2006, 05:31 PM
|
|
Ponderer
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 100
|
|
Fascinating. This whole debate takes me back way to the early days of Smartphone when we were trying to figure out what goes in the title bar. The only real thing we had to look at was Pocket PC, and it showed the time on all screens across the device. The problem on Smartphone was the sheer amount of space that took.
When we dug into it more we realized that because the home screen on Smartphone is far more insistent about showing itself (after 5 minutes of inactivity, rather than something like 4 hours on PPC), and that you launch pretty much all applications by starting at the home screen. These two behaviours combined mean that you'll be making regular trips past the home screen. Given that, we felt comfortable just showing the clock there.
This actually worked out really well. We were very concerned that lots of people would complain about the clock not being on all screens, but it never happened. The one small tweak that was made in later versions was to add the clock to the title bar of the reminder screen. It was the one other place where you really needed to see the time, but couldn't.
Neil
|
| |
|
|
|
04-29-2006, 06:41 PM
|
|
Pupil
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 28
|
|
Quote:
|
We were very concerned that lots of people would complain about the clock not being on all screens, but it never happened.
|
Errrr.... maybe because complaining to MS developers is useless??? Maybe because despite all the complaints about the below list (just to mention a few), we were NEVER heard:
- "X" to really CLOSE running programs;
- sync over WiFi on AS 4.x;
- AS activating itself automatically, even when not craddled;
- allow ClearType in all programs, screens...
Complaints exist (and are still happening). Believe me. Please remove that stupid useless battery icon from Title Bar. It's the least you guys could do.
|
| |
|
|
|
04-29-2006, 06:57 PM
|
|
Pontificator
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,043
|
|
Add a DWORD value? Come on. How many users even know what a registry editor is, never mind actually having one installed? So the average user is going to have to suffer... or get something like WisBar, which will display a clock/date just nicely. Chalk another one up for those inventive folks at the Microsoft Mobile Development Team. Yet another inconvenience promoting third-party software. Brilliant. And yet one more item on the list of reasons I'll stick with WM2003SE devices.
|
| |
|
|
|
04-29-2006, 07:26 PM
|
|
Thinker
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 450
|
|
Quote:
|
- "X" to really CLOSE running programs;
|
(bit offtopic)
I think that'd be the other bad thing; there should be a solution for either minimizing OR closing a program such as tap minimizes, hold closes or vice versa.
About the clock, this is a stupid thing indeed, PE devices are NOT smartphones.
|
| |
|
|
|
04-29-2006, 07:42 PM
|
|
Pupil
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 10
|
|
Clock
To: Microsoft
PUT THE CLOCK BACK
Really not liking the joke of a battery indicator here. Johnny Bravo RJ adds some other goods points where MS has failed to step up to the plate. They have the resources, they can do these things, why do they make such lousy decisions?
There are numerous 3rd party battery indicators, if MS thinks they will come up with something as useful, they are sadly mistaken. There really is only one format for a clock and they had it nailed in the previous implementations - come on guys, put settings options in PPC to allow the user to decide what goes in the title bar - its the only way.
__________________
T-Mobile MDA (w/AKU2)Visit my blogs: RickMahn.com or The Mobile Lifestyle
|
| |
|
|
|
04-29-2006, 09:13 PM
|
|
Theorist
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 260
|
|
It's nice to see the WM team respond to this in a blog, but it's sad that it still has to go through the Microsoft's way of thinking before it gets to this which is.. (Oh, Our way is the only and Best Way of doing things). I mean if some common sense was used first or if the WM team actually tested this with other people who actually use the OS besides it just being on the phone they use they could of figured thisout long ago with out getting their end users frustrated.
|
| |
|
|
|
04-29-2006, 10:03 PM
|
|
Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
|
|
I like the new behavior. It doesn't matter to me if the clock is in the bar or on the Today page. the K-Jam and JasJar allow you to put the clock back in the title bar for all apps, just not the Today Screen.
What is lame though is the battery indicator itself. [i]Two</> levels? 8O How useful is that? :?: The Smartphone has at least 3 or 4 bars. The PPC could easily have 4-5 on a QVGA device and more on a VGA.
To those of you complaining about the clock movement... are you saying you can't add the clock back to all other application windows in the Clock control panel (3rd tab) or you just don't like the fact that on the today screen, it is about 15 pixels below where it was?
|
| |
|
|
|
04-29-2006, 10:33 PM
|
|
Sage
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 800
|
|
Re: Clock
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by rickmahn
There are numerous 3rd party battery indicators, if MS thinks they will come up with something as useful, they are sadly mistaken. There really is only one format for a clock and they had it nailed in the previous implementations - come on guys, put settings options in PPC to allow the user to decide what goes in the title bar - its the only way.
|
Agree...Users can easily found some freeware that shows the battery level, but better.
Anyway, I don't think I will have to worry about this. Dell is not going to implement AKU2.0 on Axims anyway. :roll:
|
| |
|
|
|
04-29-2006, 10:46 PM
|
|
Pontificator
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,043
|
|
The funny part is in the timing; with WM6's flash-based storage, battery levels are supposedly a lot less important to users. So why now put a (lame, 2-bar) battery indicator in place of a far more useful clock? Why not leave it out altogether, since data loss due to power failure is a thing of the past? And if they're going to do this, why not build a battery performance logger (like BattBench .NET for example, or BattMemTime, or Pocket Battery Analyzer...) and use that to display a numerical battery life countdown estimate? .
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Linear Mode
