Windows Mobile 6.1 Gets Tweaked - The Hits Just Keep on Coming!

[Rocco Augusto]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/03/26/windows-mobile-61-part-2/' target='_blank'>http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008...bile-61-part-2/</a><br /><br /></div><em>&quot;The rumors that Windows Mobile 6.1 is going to make its long-awaited official debut next week are flying fast and furious, but if you can't stand the wait, it looks like Boy Genius has managed to score yet another Moto Q9 running the update and he's posted up some deets and a bunch of screenshots. There's nothing too earth-shattering in this latest rev, but there are some minor tweaks from what we've seen before: AT&amp;T's Video Share is now supported, as is TV out, the camera UI and home screen have been refined, there's a new Albums feature in the media player, and photos and videos can now be uploaded to your Windows Live account. Right, nothing major, but that's fine -- the smaller the changes, the sooner the ship date, right? Hit up the read link for tons more shots.&quot;<br /><br /></em><img border="1" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/500/spt/auto/1206555406.usr8.jpg" alt="" /><br /><br />I step away from my computer for two seconds to get a fresh cup of coffee and BAM - even more Windows Mobile 6.1 goodness. It appears that the Boy Genius was nice enough to give us a slew of new screenshots from the much anticipated upgrade of our favorite mobile operating system. Personally, I think being able to upgrade photos and videos directly to your Windows Live account from your handset is a really cool feature and I am glad that Microsoft is starting to integrate more of their services and platforms. As stated above there is nothing earth shattering with this recent tidbit of information but all of the tiny updated features are a huge breath of fresh air for the Windows Mobile platform. Hopefully Microsoft can keep up this momentum and excitement up!<br /><br />You can check out the Boy Genius Review images by following this <a href="http://www.boygeniusreport.com/gallery/handsets/windows-mobile-61-part-2/?gal_set_page=125">link</a>!

[ajwalker]

Rocco;

Looking good!

Still mighty iffy about that April Fool's Day launch though, still doesn't feel right.

Just seems to be too much weird karma about something so significant (at least to us WinMo lovers ) being introduced on a day that will be rife with pranks, tricks and falsehoods everywhere.

[Fritzly]

The problem with WU 6.1is that almost surely MS will let hardware manifacturer and, even worse, carriers handle the delivery of this minor OS update. What this means, if history repeated itself and usually it does, is that the vast majority of users will have to buy a new piece of hardware to get it.
As far as I am concern when the iPhone 2 will be released in June together with PocketInformant I will jump boat.
It is a shame that MS wasted the advantage they had over the competition but as an user I am agnostic to brands; I get the best offer available, simple as that.

[Rocco Augusto]

Still mighty iffy about that April Fool's Day launch though, still doesn't feel right.

Wishful thinking theory:

Windows Mobile 6.1 is a huge April Fools day joke and Microsoft is really bringing us WM7 on April 1st... if only real life was that cool :)

[aarcam]

I think they bring out 6.1, but do it a little early. They beat April 1, save some face and get some free press out of the deal because of the April 1 tie in.

Regardless, here is to hoping they dont dissapoint and we are able to get this onto our devices soon. Been trying to replace my SP5 for what seems like ages, but nothing fits the bill for me right now. BJII is so close, yet with 6.1 coming out I really wanted to wait. Lets see for how long.

[stevew]

The problem with WU 6.1is that almost surely MS will let hardware manifacturer and, even worse, carriers handle the delivery of this minor OS update. What this means, if history repeated itself and usually it does, is that the vast majority of users will have to buy a new piece of hardware to get it.
As far as I am concern when the iPhone 2 will be released in June together with PocketInformant I will jump boat.
It is a shame that MS wasted the advantage they had over the competition but as an user I am agnostic to brands; I get the best offer available, simple as that.

Ya it's really sweet that I can just sync my iPhone, the update installs, and when all done everything is still intact and ready to go. No reloading and reconfiguring everything. Or possibly having to buy a new device just to get the upgrade.

[ajwalker]

"Ya it's really sweet that I can just sync my iPhone, the update installs, and when all done everything is still intact and ready to go. No reloading and reconfiguring everything. Or possibly having to buy a new device just to get the upgrade. "

Steve: If Microsoft were smart, that's what they should be demanding from carriers now.

If Apple has that kind of deal, why shouldn't Microsoft?

The iPhone shouldn't be looked at solely as a game changer on the consumer level, but also on the corporate level.

I know if I was in charge of the department at Microsoft that handled Windows Mobile upgrades, I'd be demanding similar treatment for the upgrades to my OS.

--------------
"Windows Mobile 6.1 is a huge April Fools day joke and Microsoft is really bringing us WM7 on April 1st"

Rocco; That would be so awesome if it were only true :(

[Rocco Augusto]

If Apple has that kind of deal, why shouldn't Microsoft?

Apple has it easy, they control the software and the hardware and on top of that, there are only two different hardware variants they are supporting - the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Granted the iPod Touch isn't a phone and the hardware is so close between the two devices that updating both of theme is trivial (in theory at least), but on Microsoft's end of the world there are countless upon countless different hardware specs and devices out there that it would be close to impossible to just issue an update the way Apple does it.

There is however, no excuse for the not backing up of data. Sure a good majority of it can be restored pretty easily via Exchange/ActiveSync... but what about my programs? What about my pictures? What about my applications? What about my email settings? What about my Exchange settings?!?! There should be no reason whatsoever that we should have to purchase a program like Sprite Mobile Backup, this should be baked into WMDC and ActiveSync already!

It just makes me so frustrated. Grrrrrr. :mad:

[ajwalker]

Granted, Apple does have it easier. But I think some of that is Microsoft's fault.

By going the "partner" route, they gave up many pieces of the pie that they didn't do with XP or Vista. The core of the OS is the same, what PC makers put on the computer for the end user is their own business. So, Microsoft can issue service packs all day without having to be concerned with the end user since the updates, tweaks and fixes only affect their part of the puzzle, the OS.

But when it comes to Windows Mobile, they are far less "protective" and now it is biting them in the butt.

They allow the OEMs and the carriers to have their way with what should be viewed by Microsoft as Microsoft's property, they are only licensing it. And that licensing agreement should have restrictions, just like the End User Agreements to consumers.

I can't alter or remove core components of XP or Vista, that would violate my End User Agreement. Why shouldn't the creator of Windows Mobile have similar agreements with OEMs and carriers who use their product?

Windows Mobile is a product, licensed for use. Microsoft should tighten the end user agreement to OEMs and carriers now that Apple has shown the way to do it.

Microsoft should get the backbone to say: "No more mucking around with Windows Mobile without our consent. This is our product, you are simply using our OS to sell your product. It will have this, this, and this, and, as the owner of said product, when we come up with something we feel will make it better, more useful, more appealing, we reserve the right to issue an immediate update."

At it's most basic level, that is all Apple did. They said this is ours and you (AT&T) aren't allowed to interfere with how we manage our product. (And also notice there is an obvious lack of AT&T crapware on the iPhone.)

Vista has built in tablet functions, supposedly far superior to XP Tablet Edition. The PC OEM is not allowed to remove it, it just isn't available because the hardware doesn't support it, but it's still there.

By the same token, PC OEMs are allowed to have whatever boot screen/desktop they want, but it's still Windows. They can load whatever crapware they want, but it's still Windows.

Windows Mobile should be treated the same.

[JonnoB]

The 6.1 update is one of the worst kept secrets. Maybe Microsoft does not care, but the hacker community has already created many variants of this OS for the Standard (Smartphone) and Professional (PPC) HTC devices available.

[superrrguy]

I've been using 6.1 on my StarTrek for quite a bit now and it's so much better than WinMo 5.

I'd say this is a 1st usable version of WinMo. You can filter/search media and emails/sms just like the contacts app has done since version 1 and the threaded sms is such a big improvment. A lot of other things still need improvement but at least it's not a chore to use during the day.

Every casual user I know that bought a Q or Blackjack has given up long ago even before the iPhone came out and went with anything else.