Windows Phone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

Check out the hottest Windows Mobile devices at our Expansys store!


Digital Home Thoughts

Loading feed...

Laptop Thoughts

Loading feed...

Android Thoughts

Loading feed...




Go Back   Thoughts Media Forums > WINDOWS PHONE THOUGHTS > Windows Phone News

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 11-13-2008, 06:00 AM
Rocco Augusto
Editor Emeritus
Rocco Augusto's Avatar
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,432
Default Could This Be Windows Mobile 6.5?

http://209.85.171.104/translate_c?h...JWaaQuoMwQT8wmg

"While the arrival of Windows Mobile 6.5 for the year 2009 was announced here and there, then confirmed by Steve Balmer himself at the PDC 2008, Smartphone France is very pleased to present exclusive World 2 first screenshots of what should be Windows Mobile 6.5. If for the moment there is no real information on the new version of Windows Mobile, what is happening is that Microsoft has finally decided to redesign the interface of the aging systems to try to catch up with his lags behind its competitors."

While the above screenshots are fun to look at I highly doubt these are official screenshots from Windows Mobile 6.5. For starters a large majority of the icons look awfully jagged, as if someone did a horrible job cutting them up in Photoshop. Secondly, these so called screenshots barely resemble anything graphically relevant to what is currently released, or soon to be released, by Microsoft. Over the past few years we have seen Microsoft start to make graphical tweaks and changes throughout its product line to bring their products closer together in likeness - not... this. This looks like someone’s attempt at making a homescreen, or at least mocking one up in Photoshop.

The above images are nowhere near the quality of a product created by a company with billions of dollars at their disposal. Sure we can say the same about the previous versions of Windows Mobile, but the very reason we heard that Microsoft is releasing Windows Mobile 6.5 is because they understand as far as design goes they are nowhere up to par with the competition. Knowing that, I have faith that Microsoft will put together something that is pleasing to the eye and doesn't look like something thrown together by some kid in his bedroom over the weekend. Then again, I could be wrong. What do you guys think?

__________________
Follow me on Twitter - @therocco
 
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 11-13-2008, 07:48 AM
Cattle-Dog
Ponderer
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 69
Send a message via MSN to Cattle-Dog

I share your skepticism. Definitely a photoshop job. Not only for the reasons posted all over the internet (migrating battery and signal icons, today icon stolen from a Mac, etc.), but the little details are off too.

The "hex" themed Start menu icon is a resized cut and pasted mess. It is also a pixel or two further to the right than the Zune theme one. The battery indicator is a pixel row lower in the hex version. The signal strength is not centered between its adjacent icons in the hex version. What is the "2" indicating on the hex one? Two missed calls? Two text messages? Two voicemails? Number of minutes spent designing... Nah, I won't go there.

Nothing about either one says Microsoft mobile to me, short of the crudely pasted Start icons, and I just could not see Microsoft not embracing their brand. Even if they do fresh'n it up.

If I had to guess, I would say we are going to see little change in the UI for Windows mobile standard and 6.5 will mainly be about enhancing Pro (similarly opposite of 6.0 to 6.1). The Pro Today screen will end up with sliding panels similar to standard. I think they'll also add global gesture support and other finger friendly enhancements and possibly support for capacitive touch screens. ...or maybe that�s my wishful thinking.

Last edited by Cattle-Dog; 11-13-2008 at 07:53 AM..
 
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 11-13-2008, 01:51 PM
andyb
Pupil
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 17

The first one doesn't seem too far fetched as a concept (although I'm not sure why they need two clocks showing different times), as it's reasonably similar to what they have on WM Standard nowadays. A touchscreen version of that would be good enough for the time begin IMO.

Their biggest problem will be how they can continue to accommodate Today plugins, which have been there since day one. Plus, of course, what happens when you get past the first couple of screens. I can't see them completely redesigning the PIM apps for 6.5, for example.
__________________
www.smartphonedaily.co.uk

Last edited by andyb; 02-24-2009 at 10:55 AM..
 
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 11-13-2008, 04:06 PM
Kirkaiya
Theorist
Kirkaiya's Avatar
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 300
Send a message via Skype™ to Kirkaiya

Gawd, those are ugly! Let's hope these are just some fevered photoshopping, and not anything being planned.

To be honest, I am starting to wonder why Microsoft doesn't do now what it did to the original Max OS, back when they created Windows 3.0. Blatantly copy the parts they like. Seriously.

Things they should copy:
  • Multi-touch: Microsoft had multi-touch on their "Microsoft Surface" (as anybody who watched election-coverage in 2008 is well aware), so they're pretty immune to lawsuits over it.
  • Smooth, real-time touch panning/scrolling. The delicious part of using an iPhone is the almost magical way the display tracks your finger's movements. Everytime I use my wife's, I reminded how much more "fluid" it is than my HTC Touch Diamond, or the core WM 6.1 "fixed speed" panning/scrolling.
  • Get rid of the nested, tiny menus. They're annoying, they're not finger-friendly, and make using WM6's advanced features a pain in the butt.
  • Generate thumbnails once for photo albums, so that they scrolling thru photos doesn't become an annoying "wait for the thumbails to render" exercise in patience. This seems so damn obvious (and the iPhone's photo handling, including cacheing the thumbnails for later, is just lightyears ahead, even on my Touch Diamond, which has a fast processor)
And I know that Microsoft has only limited control over the hardware, but pushing the device-makers to embrace capacitive touchscreens would also be a good move.

I've said it before - Microsoft has the money to lure some iPhone UI designers away from Apple. They should bite the bullet and do it, and execute on this quickly. A delay until Q3 of 2009 is totally ridiculous for a company with Microsoft's resources. Mobile Devices are the fastest-growing computer market on Earth, and Microsoft seems hell-bent on blowing it. I just don't get it. They need a serious, serious, "come to Jesus" talk in their mobile division. Steve Balmer should fire somebody, and bring in outside help.
__________________
Casio Z7000 >> Ipaq 3650 >> Viewsonic V36 >> Ipaq 1915
Dumb phones >> Axia A108 >> HTC StrTrk >> Touch Diamond

blog.HackingBangkok.com
 
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 11-13-2008, 06:59 PM
LordFuzzy
Pupil
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 21
Talking Start Over.

I hope not. I agree for a multi-billion dollar company they better come up with something better than that. I'd be happy with something in between the Windows mobile and iPhone interface. Definitely with gestures. I've also been hearing rumors that there might be more voice commands coming but whats the point. The current ones only work when it�s quiet anyway. I dont know about the rest of you but how often is it quiet enough to use voice commands. Rarely for me and i really dont feel like repeating myself so its just easier to touch the screen. IMO.

As far as the actual screenshots shown here, they are most definitely photoshop and poorly at that. And if this so happens to be a rough draft of something Microsoft is planning or thinking of planning, they should read this forum and take note that it's not going to work. Take some of that money from Vista advertising and start over. That�s about the only way they are going to be able to make a new interface. Start Over.
 
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 11-14-2008, 02:41 AM
ucfgrad93
Intellectual
ucfgrad93's Avatar
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 251

Wow, both of those screens look horrible. I can't believe that these are legit.
__________________
2.4 20" aluminum iMac - August 2007
2.2 15" MacBook Pro - January 2008
8GB 1G iPhone - January 2008
 
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 11-14-2008, 03:08 AM
bnycastro
Sage
bnycastro's Avatar
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 621
Send a message via MSN to bnycastro Send a message via Yahoo to bnycastro

I actually like the 'hive' look
__________________
bnycastro: blog|twitter|plurk
 
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 11-14-2008, 04:48 AM
Cattle-Dog
Ponderer
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 69
Send a message via MSN to Cattle-Dog

I thought it looked like Hexic. Hey, you just made a star!
 
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 11-15-2008, 06:16 PM
kdarling
Pupil
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 37

Must've been a slow news day.

Nowadays any kid can post a fake picture, and news bloggers fall all over themselves talking about it.
 
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 07:36 PM.