08-09-2006, 08:30 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Spend $100 On Windows Mobile Features
http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2006/08/08/one_hundred_feature_dollars.aspx
"We go through this exercise during the planning stages with customers sometimes. I like it because "to ship is to choose" - it's easy to describe things you want, but we have to ship the product eventually and some things don't make it. Deciding what stays and what goes is the hard (and painful) part of product development. So now it's your turn. You have $100 feature-dollars. How do you spend them? Anything we can do is in scope. Adding more RAM to your Treo - out of scope (we don't manufacture the device) Bring back wifi debugging! - in scope!
Here's what I came up with for me (biased by the team I work on):
� $40: cheaper and easier M2M process for ISVs
� $30: automatic install of root certificates on first exchange sync
� $15: Better one-handed navigation on PPC, especially in messaging
� $15: unified power model between PPC and Smartphone
If you had $100 feature dollars, what would you spend it on? I gave them my answer. 
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08-09-2006, 09:37 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,341
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Good answer, Ed.
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The whole $100 - fix connection manager once and for all.
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Mine would vary slightly....fix Activesync once and for all. :
....this is going to be a big thread. 
Dave
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08-09-2006, 10:00 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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I think at this point, I'd spend about $80 on one thing: SPEED. The sluggishness of Windows Mobile devices compared to, say, Blackberries, is really embarrassing.  ops:
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08-09-2006, 10:35 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 193
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$30 to improve memory management. It still needs work.
$20 to improve PIE funtionality.
$25 to improve the multimedia functionality onboard.
$15 to pay off the guy who killed wifi syncing to get it back
$10 to improve landscape mode. You have less actual space in it currently
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08-09-2006, 10:57 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,183
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I've played this game all too often with Macromedia. What typically happens is that the whizz-bang super-duper new features get voted for, and the simple, basic, long-missing but somehow essential and super-irritatingly-missing features get left by the wayside. And so we have products that can (say) connect to 3,000 different types of databases at the touch of a button, but there is no way to dynamically change the colour of the text on a button ...
I used to enjoy all the fantastic new features, but as I get longer in the tooth I crave the simple things in life be fixed. So for Windows Mobile, my initial thoughts are
- Office Integration (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, Outlook) still needs a lot of work. I no longer by the argument that it's not possible on such a limited platform. I've used at least four fantastic apps that can replicate the majority of features of the desktop application they are mimicking ... no names for the PDA apps, but the desktop apps are Word, PowerPoint, Excel and PhotoShop (OK I know, not an 'office' app).
ActiveSync needs fixed. It seems Vista is bringing improvements to that, but I gave up testing it coz Vista is too slow on my machine and Mobile Sync does not work with WM 2003SE.
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity is still too cludgy.
We need to be able to connect to external monitors, preferably wirelessly.
By default, when connecting the PDA to PC or Mac, it should be possible to see the PDA screen on the PC and control usingf keyboard and mouse. WinCE Pro and some others enable this, but it is basic functionality that I actually expected to be there right out of the box.
I am sure I can think of more, but for now let's give therse $20 each :-)[/list]
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08-09-2006, 11:57 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 7
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1) $10 stop programs from being able to leave bits of themselves in different directories! Especially \windows dir. I don't know WHY I must sacrifice my meagre 64MB of space when I have a 2GB card. There really is no excuse.
<begin rant> Opera is an example of the above by not 'easily' allowing the cache dir to be moved and installing files all over the place, despite being set to install to memory card. And I don't want to hear about 'wake up times' and 'initialising the card reader delays' when turning my PDA back on causing a 'need' to put these apps in main memory.. just frigging FIX IT </end rant>
2) $4.98 Have activesync able to CHOOSE WHERE I want 'my documents' directory on my PDA to live. I think most users nowadays don't really need the ActiveSync filters. I'm happy just having the originals of my documents on my PDA, but need to ensure the apps on there can open them. For me, I have Adobe PDF reader (no conversion needed), TextMaker for word files and PlanMaker for excel. PowerPoint is still lacking, but never had a strong need to do a PPT presentation from my PDA, but can see that happening in the future. Just stick with native file formats already! Size saved by convertion isn't really an issue anymore (I don't think)
3) $38 to take out a 'hit' on the guy who killed off wifi-sync (ok.. maybe an exageration... $35 anyone?)
4) $25 Faster processors
5) $20 VGA only displays - I don't care how small in size, but must be VGA capbable only - none of this 240x240 etc
6) $0.02 fix Media Player. I don't know anyone who uses it!
7) $2 Standard USB hosting so I can plug a mouse/keyboard/USB drive etc into my PDA if I want
I don't care for PIE, I'm happy with Opera, and I don't care much for Messaging, I use FlexMail (and no, I would NOT like to see these apps bought out by MS as they would just ruine them, I'm happy to pay for some great pieces of software, Pocket Informant being another)
Just my thoughts. Not sure thats what this post was about, but hey :P
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08-09-2006, 11:57 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 459
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$10 Close button that does what it says
$25 Application uninstall / upgrade system that works
$ 5 Configurable LED flash rates (right down to zero)
$30 Much improved 'phone functionality: The built-in software lacks stuff like profiles that exist in the cheapest dumb 'phones
$20 Radically improve ActiveSync to
- put back WiFi sync.
- stop it taking 9-10% of desktop / laptop CPU cycles when it's doing nothing
- include a *real* back-up solution.
$10 Get the Bluetooth stack right (i.e. include all the profiles and make sure the thing can handle several BT connections at once without throwing a fit) so OEM's don't need to screw around with it
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08-10-2006, 01:07 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 123
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My feature dollars
$50 : UI Navigation and beautification
$30 : Provide a reasonable app shutdown model for developers!! *
$20 : Allow sync with more than 2 computers, and allow sync with another Windows Mobile device
$10 : Better built-in games
Oh wait, I spent too much again.
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08-10-2006, 01:11 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 123
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Re: My feature dollars
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Originally Posted by caywen
$50 : UI Navigation and beautification
$30 : Provide a reasonable app shutdown model for developers!! *
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BTW, what I meant by this is that applications should be able to opt in for automatic closure if memory runs low. If this happens, the app should be instructed to shutdown and save state.
Also, the person who made it impossible to get a compatibility logo just because the software has an Exit menu item should stop doing drugs. Drugs are bad, mkay.
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08-10-2006, 01:17 AM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,183
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Re: My feature dollars
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Originally Posted by caywen
$20 : Allow sync with more than 2 computers, and allow sync with another Windows Mobile device
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... and I'll add, include sync to other devices. For e.g. I have a Symbian phone (Nokia 6682), and I try to keep contacts and calendar synched on both devices. Right now, to do so, I have to sync each, separately, with my laptop. I don;t really ever NEED these contacts on my laptop, except as a backup for the phone and PDA. I'd liek to be able to directly sync the phone and PDA without using the laptop. And let's face it, many people have multiple pocket devices, but no PC or laptop.
$25
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Linear Mode
