News On Windows Mobile "Photon", Out Of Mobius [Archive]

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Janak Parekh

12-09-2005, 03:30 AM

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=62196' target='_blank'>http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/f...pic.php?p=62196</a> </div>Jason and SPT managing editor Mike Temporale are at Mobius, and it looks like they've gleaned a little public information on an upcoming version of WM from Seattle: "I've been able to gather a little information on Photon. For those that are not aware of Photon, it's the code-name for the next major version of Windows Mobile. When I say a little information, I mean little. I have been told by some people inside Microsoft, that Photon will see the merge of Pocket PC and Smartphone platforms together into one common base. That means there will be no more Smartphone and no more Pocket PC. It will all be Windows Mobile. :mrgreen: Unfortunately, there is no official release date in mind. :(" The Engadget folks at Mobius <a href="http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000890071630/">say basically the same thing</a>, adding that "We can’t say too much about it...but what we saw was hot, it’s without a doubt a big (and much overdue) leap forward for the platform. The new OS is still 'years' away...". I'm not going to comment on this--my NDA takes precedence--so if I knew anything about Photon, I don't think I could say I knew anything. ;)

Darius Wey

12-09-2005, 03:54 AM

Nice! Looking forward to this.

Of course, to go with it, there will be another wave of consumers getting pissed off at OEMs for not providing upgrades (unless some dramatic changes are made to the way Windows Mobile upgrades work). ;)

Patrick Y.

12-09-2005, 04:08 AM

Come on! Tell us more about it!! Do you accept bribe? :devilboy: :rotfl:

gibson042

12-09-2005, 04:44 AM

Everyone cross your fingers... merging the Pocket PC and Smartphone platforms could either be very good or very very bad.

Good: Developers can have one codebase and will only have to compile (and test, presumably) once, even if they are not using .NET. Applications will all be cross-platform. Future innovations like Persistent Storage will be very nearly concurrently introduced.
Bad: The Smartphone security model may win out. And you thought installing and running unsigned applications was difficult on Windows Mobile 5.

MVPs, you know what to do.

CookieKid

12-09-2005, 06:05 AM

Crazy! I can't wait to hear more info on it! So sad fot the HX4700 series users, they still haven't gotten their WM5 yet. :lol:

KTamas

12-09-2005, 06:50 AM

How will they solve the missing touchscreen on smartphones?

ricksfiona

12-09-2005, 07:09 AM

I think this is a positive. We're already seeing Pocket PCs that look so much like a regular phone. It's just silly to have two different OSs for these devices. I have clients with Smartphones that need Pocket PC applications.

thenikjones2

12-09-2005, 08:39 AM

say basically the same thing (http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000890071630/), adding that "We can’t say too much about it...but what we saw was hot, it’s without a doubt a big (and much overdue) leap forward for the platform. The new OS is still 'years' away...". I'm not going to comment on this--my NDA takes precedence--so if I knew anything about Photon, I don't think I could say I knew anything. ;)

Let's hope it's a bigger leap forward than WM5 was; the softbuttons are a nicec idea, but my JasJar is much less responsive and has less memory than my x50v, so not a great improvement. I tried an iMate SP5m (WM5 smartphone with WIFI) and it doesn't have the connection settings that the PocketPC has - so I can't get onto my network at home, whereas I can with my JasJar. Why on earth did MS think that a Smartphone should have crippled Connection Manager software?? WiFI settings are WiFi settings, irrespective of the device you access them on.

It's nearly enough to send me back to Palm OS

thenikjones

alese

12-09-2005, 01:52 PM

I hope that the Photon will bring more than just "merger" of smartphone and PocketPC. While this is great especially for developers it does not do much for users/consumers (with exception of not having different versions of Software).

If Microsoft does not want people to complain that there is nothing new in the system they will have to change/add something more apparent to the users.

gt24

12-09-2005, 02:45 PM

<snip>
If Microsoft does not want people to complain that there is nothing new in the system they will have to change/add something more apparent to the users.

Especially since the user's point of view is that this merger happened in Mobile 2005 (in that they look pretty much the same... although I haven't exactly used Mobile 2005 and thus I wouldn't know of any glaring differences).

I'm certain there is more cooking than the merger of the platforms, unless this next OS is going to be named Windows Mobile 2005 SE. :)

Brad Adrian

12-09-2005, 04:36 PM

How will they solve the missing touchscreen on smartphones?
It's possible to develop apps that can utilize either a touchscreen or joystick. It could be a bit tricky for some applications, especially games, but there are plenty of smart developers out there.

CoreyJF

12-09-2005, 05:10 PM

I would love to see a mobile office that is not crippled shadow of it’s big brother. I would also love to see the OS actually close programs. Yes there are plenty of third party solutions that do that, but that actually just proves the point of how badly it is needed.

Phillip Dyson

12-09-2005, 08:42 PM

I'm not sure I have the energy to muster any excitement over the next OS. There's too much potential for disappointment.

Maybe this will be WM5.0SE
Just give me 2-way category filtering in ActiveSync and I'll be happy for a few years.

WM5.0 left me with a better luck next time feeling.

But, the next iteration is coming none the less. I better prime my excitement engine. :D

jlp

12-11-2005, 05:39 AM

I thought WiMp5 ALREADY was supposed to be the merger of PPC and smartphone; hence the new specs for smartphones to use QVGA screens, etc.

I had to read the article date again to make sure this was not an old article from one year ago when Magneto aka WiMp5 was talked about :roll:.

Besides if it's "still 'years' away...", given that we are almost in 2006, well in just a year timeframe Windows XP/Vista based Ultra Mobile PCs are supposed to be out at the same time: 2007. (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=41935&highlight=ultra+mobile+2007)

Ed Hansberry

12-11-2005, 07:10 PM

I thought WiMp5 ALREADY was supposed to be the merger of PPC and smartphone; hence the new specs for smartphones to use QVGA screens, etc.

I had to read the article date again to make sure this was not an old article from one year ago when Magneto aka WiMp5 was talked about :roll:.

do you have a link to the authoritative article that says WM5 was supposed to be the merger? maybe it is the same mysterious article you quote but won't link to that has the "RAM doesn't need power" statement.

jlp

12-12-2005, 01:12 AM

Ed,

It's NOT I don't want to, I don't have the time right now (and don't feel like it now either, it's well past 1 AM here :sleeping:) to look for this thru hundreds of threads and thousands of posts, AND that was about more than one year ago (regarding Magneto).

But who really cares anyway, it's déjà vu all over again.

Probably other people will remember and/or have more time at hand or desire to dig into the caves of PPCT... :D

Stik

12-12-2005, 02:19 PM

Ed Hansberry

12-12-2005, 02:41 PM

do you have a link to the authoritative article that says WM5 was supposed to be the merger?

Don't know about authoritatitve, but Wickpedia's description of PPC's and WM5.0 ( aka Magneto ) leaves this reader w/ the same impression ( rightly or wrongly! :wink: ) of the new OS as jlp noted...

" Windows Mobile 5.0 marks the convergence of the Phone Edition and Professional Edition operating systems into one system that contains both phone and PDA capabilities. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocketpc

That says the Phone Edition and Professional Edition are converged. That happened. No longer is there a 3-6 month delay while the Phone Edition is finished. THe phone edition is not Smartphone.

My point is it isn't logical to get ticked off at MS because they didn't live up to erronious expectations based on leaked info that was incorrectly interpreted. If MS said it was the convergence and it isn't, then by all means, blast 'em. But I don't know where they said it was. The most I can recall is they said the UI was getting more similar and this was the road to convergence, but never did I hear or read from MS that WM5 was the convergence. Whatever jlp seems to have read, it was wrong and until he shows otherwise, it cannot be assumed it came from MS, anymore than the "ram doesn't need to be powered" comment did.

Stik

12-12-2005, 05:12 PM

That says the Phone Edition and Professional Edition are converged. That happened. No longer is there a 3-6 month delay while the Phone Edition is finished. THe phone edition is not Smartphone.

You know that 8) , and I kinda know that :oops: and I'm pretty sure jlp knows the difference :lol: , but, when it comes to terminology ( Phone Edition/Smartphone ) I don't think the average consumer would know the difference. Maybe they'd know...

" A smartphone is any electronic handheld device that integrates the functionality of a mobile phone, personal digital assistant or other information appliance. This is often achieved by adding telephone functions to an existing PDA or putting "smart" capabilities, such as PDA functions, into a mobile phone. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphone

... but just maybe. :mrgreen:

My point is it isn't logical to get ticked off at MS because they didn't live up to erronious expectations based on leaked info that was incorrectly interpreted.

Understood and totally agree. :wink: