08-27-2007, 02:51 PM
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Executive Editor, Android Thoughts
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,233
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What Would You Ask The Windows Mobile Team?
After using these devices for any amount of time, invariably one ponders "Why is it like this?" or "Why didn't they do it this way???". And if you hang around the community long enough, you start to wonder "What is the next big improvement" or "How are the working to fix <blank>?". Finally, you graduate to the level of the deep philosophical thoughts like "Why the sound of a dog barking?" or "Why doesn't Activesync just work better?".
And now, you can ask these pressing questions to the Mobile & Embedded Devices team, courtesy of Pocket PC Thoughts!
Here's the deal. John Starkweather & team have agreed to be interviewed by our readers. If you've got a pressing question, a desire to know what features are being developed, or one of those deep philosophical questions mentioned above, post it in this thread! At the end of this week, I will go through the thread and pick out 6 - 12 of the most interesting, topical, or bizarre questions (and maybe add 1 or 2 of my own) and we'll send them off to be answered, and then posted back here of course! So put on your thinking caps, and post your question!
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Dr. Jon Westfall, MCSE, MS-MVP
Executive Editor - Android Thoughts
News Editor - Windows Phone Thoughts
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08-27-2007, 03:49 PM
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Banned
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 38
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Will microsoft exploit the touch screen interface as Apple did with the iPhone, or will they leave this up to 3rd party developers ?
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08-27-2007, 04:12 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 184
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I have a few items I would like to see addressed. First, I wonder why a telephone number can not be called directly from the appointment as you can from an e-mail. In an e-mail, the phone # is usually highlighted in a blue hyperlink and you can dial by clicking on it. Very handy. But it would be even handier if this one was able to do this in the Calendar.
Second, I wonder why HTML e-mail screens in WM6 can not be automatically formatted to fit the screen like the pocket view in PIE? It is a real pain to have to scroll from side to side to view an entire message. PIE seems to do a good job of formatting pages in the pocket view, so I would like to see this with HTML mail.
Third, when calling a phone number from Call History, you click on the number and then you get sent to another screen where you have to click the number again. Would be nice to just click on the number in the history list and have the phone dial the call right away.
Thanks.
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08-27-2007, 04:17 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 359
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Somewhat minor but has been a little annoying: I password-protect my device using a 4-digit # (and automatically locks after 2 hours of inactivity). On older devices running Windows Mobile 5, when I type in my passcode, the device would automatically unlock. Now, I must type in the passcode, THEN tap unlock in the lower left corner. It's an extra step that's a little annoying. It's very minor I know but still wish it worked like it did in WM5.
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08-27-2007, 04:32 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2
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Sync at work and home
Why can't activesync honor the categories that are attached to contacts, appointments and tasks in Outlook.
In MS Outlook I have tagged all contacts at work with one of: "Company", "Vendor", or "Partner". At home I've tagged all contacts with one of the following: "Family", "Friends", "Food". I would like only the "Company" contacts from work and the "Family" contacts from home to sync onto my PDA/Phone (and for "Family" contacts not to end up on my work machines).
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08-27-2007, 04:36 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 165
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These 3 items come to mind:
* Why can't Microsoft come up with a secure way for us to use Activesync over WiFi so we can once again have that capability?
* Will Pocket IE ever get interactive zoom and pan?
* Why do we rely on the OEMs to provide us updated ROMs for newer versions of Windows Mobile? Seems it would be a better for Microsoft to allow anyone to upgrade to a newer version for a fee, regardless of our device or who we bought it from.
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08-27-2007, 04:53 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 359
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A few more things regarding MS VoiceCommand:
This may not be for the WM team to answer, but when is the next version of MS VoiceCommand out?
And will the call announcement bluetooth bug be fixed??? I was very used to having incoming calls announced, but with devices running WM6, calls are announced through the Bluetooth headset (and not the device speaker) during active calls, so I have to disable it entirely now. Picture this scenario: I'm talking to a client using my bluetooth headset, and a loud blaring voice announcement mutes my client out with no warning notifying me of who's calling. And to make it worse the person I'm speaking to can HEAR the announcement as well. It worked flawless on my devices running Windows Mobile 5, where calls were announced through the device speaker during ACTIVE calls. And yes, I do know how to adjust the settings. It simply doesn't work anymore the way it should. This is a big issue for me.
Last question regarding VoiceCommand: When will we see dication in VC? And is it currently being tested? VoiceCommand already has a built-in dictionary, and since VoiceCommand can also query names in contacts when placing phone calls, this feature shouldn't be terribly hard to implement. It'd be a killer feature to make new calendar appointments (using names already in your contacts) and write emails and text messages by voice instead of using a keyboard.
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08-27-2007, 04:57 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 359
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Gator5000e
I have a few items I would like to see addressed. First, I wonder why a telephone number can not be called directly from the appointment as you can from an e-mail. In an e-mail, the phone # is usually highlighted in a blue hyperlink and you can dial by clicking on it. Very handy. But it would be even handier if this one was able to do this in the Calendar.
...
Third, when calling a phone number from Call History, you click on the number and then you get sent to another screen where you have to click the number again. Would be nice to just click on the number in the history list and have the phone dial the call right away.
Thanks.
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Agree!
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08-27-2007, 05:11 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,341
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Updates.
Will we ever see Microsoft directly release updates to the end user? I don't mean OS upgrades to new full versions of the O/S, just the run of the mill updates. At present it can take many, many months for the simplest patch or fix to filter down through MS>OEM>carrier. Even then many times the update is never made available by the carrier. This can be very frustrating.
We know that the ability now exists to flash a ROM at the file level which means that the process to install OS patches that are outside anything that directly effects carrier specific functions is possible.
I understand this is somewhat of a political issue as well. I think there has always been some hesitation in this area for fear of interfering with a carrier's devices and their customers. However the platform has now grown considerably in recent times. It has now matured to a state where this issue needs to be addressed, if it is going to continue to satisfy its users.
I must add that Microsoft's decision to give OEMs free licenses for WM6.0 upgrades has had a very positive affect on the number of WM6.0 upgrades made available to the end user. It seems to me, more OEMs and carriers issued more upgrades this round than ever before. Excellent work!
Dave
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08-27-2007, 05:16 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 359
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by signothefish
Why do we rely on the OEMs to provide us updated ROMs for newer versions of Windows Mobile? Seems it would be a better for Microsoft to allow anyone to upgrade to a newer version for a fee, regardless of our device or who we bought it from.
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I've seen this question asked many times. It does make sense, but my understanding is that since no device is exactly alike, the OEM's must thoroughly test the ROM and make adjustments for each device before releasing to the public. With the complexities of Windows Mobile, I don't think Microsoft can make a ROM update work universally across all devices without work from OEM's.
I do agree with Paragon as far as non-rom updates. Heck, why is there a "Windows Update" icon in my system settings if it's never used?
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Linear Mode
