Taking a Look at Caller ID: Part 2 - What's Changed?

[Mike Temporale]

Back in mid-December of 2005 I wrote <a href="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,9849">this post</a> about the total uselessness of the built-in Caller ID template on Windows Mobile 5 based Smartphones. While it's great that they finally added the ability to use the Outlook contact picture, when it is actually displayed on the phone, it's of no value at all. <br /><br />In the discussion that followed on that post, we had some answers provided to us by Neil Enns from Microsoft (who was actually involved in the development on that piece of functionality.) It turns out that the default template was just meant as a place holder and the carrier and/or the device manufacturer were meant to customize this. Unfortunately, no one did. <br /><br />So, why the post now? Windows Mobile 5 has been available to ODMs for over a year now. I can understand that the early devices like i-mate SP5m and the Cingular 2125 might not have had the time to customize, or perhaps didn't realize that it could be done. What I can't understand is why devices like the Q or the StarTrek are still shipping without an improved template? I'm not looking for a fix from Microsoft, but surely the carriers and the manufacturers could have dropped in a nicer template by now. Take a look at the Caller ID on the new Motorola Q.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/Temporale-20060628-CallerID-MotoQ.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/> <br /><i>Look at all that wasted space! A simple tweak to show a slightly larger picture would have made a world of difference.</i><br /><br />Microsoft needs to learn that the default should at least be usable and realistic. If I took the time to test the cache limit size on the latest batch of Smartphones, I'm pretty sure that we would see the same results - Carriers and Manufacturers have failed to set something reasonable, leaving Microsoft's default value that will allow IE Mobile to fill all the available space on your device with it's cache. :evil:

[xultar]

Well first things first.

That lil kid in the picture is a DOLL!

[seaflipper]

Mike,

I think you would quickly find that many of the "builtin" features of WM5 (and WM2003 before) were designed with carrier &amp; or ODM customization in mind and or the opportunity for 3rd party developers to step in and make their own. It's one of the biggest complaints about WM5 in my opinion - the blandness of some of the included apps that I hear the most complaints about.

Orange has done a marvellous job with their home screen customziation, it doesn't resemble any of the default WM homescreens - it's great to see what they have done. Does anyone know if Orange customized their caller id function?

[Mike Temporale]

Well first things first.

That lil kid in the picture is a DOLL!

Thanks. That's my son. Looks just like his dad. :mrgreen: :wink:

[Mike Temporale]

I think you would quickly find that many of the "builtin" features of WM5 (and WM2003 before) were designed with carrier &amp; or ODM customization in mind and or the opportunity for 3rd party developers to step in and make their own. It's one of the biggest complaints about WM5 in my opinion - the blandness of some of the included apps that I hear the most complaints about.

Yes, I think you're right. most of the built-in stuff is plain, but for the most part, they do the job. The default on Caller ID, and IE's Cache settings are the worst. IMHO. I understand Microsoft's approach, and I don't blame them. The carrier, ODM, and 3rd party design is a great way to do it. Just the defaults should be better. My rant is more directed to the carriers I guess.

Orange has done a marvellous job with their home screen customziation, it doesn't resemble any of the default WM homescreens - it's great to see what they have done. Does anyone know if Orange customized their caller id function?

True. They have done a good job. Excellent question you bring up about their homescreen. I wonder if we can get an answer about that.

[leslietroyer]

Is this something we can customize wtih xml - similar to the home screen??

[Mike Temporale]

Is this something we can customize wtih xml - similar to the home screen??

Unfortunately, no. You either have to live with it, or buy a 3rd party photo contacts application.

[Jerry Raia]

It doesn't seem so bad on the 2125 because the screen is smaller. On the Q it is ridiculous!

[Jason Dunn]

I feel your pain Mike - every time I see that silly caller ID come up, I sigh, because it's most definitely not a good user experience. Frankly, I remain stunned that Microsoft would include such a poor default template. I think it's great that they give the OEM/partners the ability to customize the device, but why not have the template be 100% functional BEFORE they give it to the OEMs, just in case, you know, they forget to adjust it? :?

[yoos]

The default picture size is a JOKE!!!! Microsoft should have a larger default size, period. (IMO)

[Rocco Augusto]

im always annoyed when someone calls me that i hapen to have a photo for. uually i leave my phone on my desk during work, if someone calls me i cant just look over and identify them via picture, i actually have to get close enough to read the screen or hope its someone i put a custom ringtone to. its annoying :(

[Foxbat121]

Lucky for me, I was able to find a useful dialer for my 8125 PPC phone. Obviously, E-Ten spent some time to create a dialer with larger photo and also larger buttons (for PPC). So far I have yet to see any other carrier or ODM create their own dialer yet. Microsoft needs to learn from this and create more useful apps. Look how nice those apps come from Palm OS.

While we're on this, what about a useful app for ppl that don't know WM much to download ringtons easily? We laugh at dumb phones like Razor so much. But those phones don't need a rocket scientist to download and apply custom ring tones.

BTW, how can you limit IE cache size? A secret registry key?

EDIT: never mind, found the registry entries.