Windows Phone Get Together Event – Microsoft engaging with end-users !

The very first edition of the Windows Phone Get Together Event was yesterday evening in Mediaplaza, Utrecht. It is a great  initiative of the local Dutch Windows Phone team, to get in touch with the actual users of Windows Phones and interact with them in an open setting. 

Who is who !?

Maarten Sonneveld, Business Group Lead Mobile @ Microsoft Netherlands, opens the event with a warm welcome and an introduction of the local Dutch Windows Phone team. 

Most members of the team are present, and its nice to see the actual people who are driving the Windows Mobile products in the Netherlands. You could see the different technical- and business area’s as well as the customer segments of each team-member. 

Second there is an introduction of the Dutch Windows Phone Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVP), Jaap van Ekris, Mark Briggeman, Halil Yüksel. Great to see that Johan van Mierlo is announced as well, as a USA Windows Phone MVP visiting the Windows Phone Get Together event.  

Remember the HTC Wallaby and the Cassiopeia E-200 ?

Maarten Sonneveld, Business Group Lead Mobile @ Microsoft Netherlands, continues the event with showing the HTC Wallaby/O2 XDA. It is a Windows Phone from back in 2002, a converged device that had both pocketpc- and phone capabilities. The Windows smartphone for Maarten started here. 

The question “Is there someone in the audience with an even older Windows Phone?” was answered with the Cassiopeia E-200 ! The owner won himself a brand new HTC HD Mini, one of the latest Windows Phones running Windows Mobile 6.5.3 ! 

Windows Phone Usergroup

The idea for a Windows Phone Usergroup is born in the minds of Mark Briggeman and Jaap van Ekris. 

The Windows Phone Usergroup aims to become a dutch Windows Phone community for end-user and by end-users, that get together both online and physical, via forums or meetings like this event. The underlying reasoning is relative simple: connecting with end-users, openness from Microsoft, interaction, sharing information and knowledge, support, etc. 

Microsoft Windows Phone NL users Mobile app

On Windows.nl you can find a set of Microsoft (social) forums categorized by product-groups:  (1) Windows, (2) Windows Phone, (3) Windows Live, (4) Office and (5) Security Essentials. 

Windows Phone has its own forum, which is an online strategy part of the Windows Phone Usergroup. 

The local Dutch Windows Phone team really values the open interaction with customers of the Windows Phone products, and there for the team even wanted a Windows Phone application in order to  facilitate this end-user interaction (even on the go). MobileLayers, the company of Halil Yüksel, has developed this application for Windows Phone, commissioned by Microsoft Netherlands,  that gives you the ability to connect with the Dutch Windows Phone forums and read the latest topics. In addition you can read “De Nederlandse Windows Mobile Blog” and the Twitterfeed of @WindowsPhoneNL from within the same application. 

In other words you can read all the aggregated Dutch Windows Phone (Usergroup) information in one and the same application on your Windows Phone. Download the Microsoft Windows Phone NL users Mobile app directly from the MobileLayers website, and the application will become available via Windows Marketplace for Mobile as well. 

Windows Mobile 6.5.3

The next part of the event discusses the current state of Windows Mobile, more in particular the Windows Mobile 6.5.3. release. In all the 

You might remember that Windows Mobile 6.5.3 has been covered on this website in the article ”Windows Mobile 6.5.3 – A major set of incremental improvements !!“. 

Windows Mobile 6.5.3 powered Phones (and its applications) will continue to exist and continue to be supported, according to Maarten Sonneveld, despite the fact the Windows Phone 7 will become available later this year. 

Furthermore it seems that Windows Mobile 6.5.3 will be strategically (re)directed towards the large business customers (compared to the wider, more consumer oriented offering of Windows Phone 7. The reasons at this point seem to be the available deployment- and management tools and great integration with Microsoft Exchange Server. However Windows Phone 7 probably will catch-up (and overtake) on this area in the future releases of Windows Phone 7. 

Support of the continued support of Windows Mobile 6.5.3 are some new devices, and new applications in the Windows Marketplace for Mobile. 

• Sony Ericsson Aspen;
• Samsung Omnia Pro 4;
• HTC HD Mini;

I was fortunate to have some hands-on time with the Samsung Omnia Pro 4 last week, and if you want to learn more about the Windows Mobile 6.5.3 implementation on the HTC HD Mini you should definitely check out the review. Different devices, different formfactors … choice for the end-users. 

Windows Phone 7

The grand finale of the Windows Phone Get Together Event is of cours the Windows Phone 7 part of the presentation. Maarten Sonneveld plays the video above to refresh our memories and provide an overview of Windows Phone 7.  

Furthermore Maarten Sonneveld provides a comparison overview between the different mobile operatingsystems on the market. Most use a grid with icons on the homescreen, and this is where Windows Phone 7 is different, because of the live tiles. Maarten Sonneveld explains the underlying concepts of the Windows Phone GUI and Metro Design Language, inspired by the information boards in the public transport sector. 

A number of OEM’s have already committed to develop and build Windows Phone 7 devices: HTC, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, Dell, Toshiba, Acer, Asus, according to PowerPoint slideshow. 

Another interesting aspect is the timing, with the holidays 2010 being a wide range. However it seems that you can expect the first Windows Phone 7 device(s) become available in the Netherlands via online retailer Coolblue around October/November this year. It is unclear which device will hit the Dutch market first. 

Q&A session and open discussion

After this all the information it was time for questions from the audience, and not surprisingly most of the questions are Windows Phone 7 related. In the following list I summarized the most important facts and questions: 

• No sideloading of applications anymore, applications only be installed via Windows Marketplace for Mobile;
• A developer asked “What the costs are to bring an application to Windows Marketplace for Mobile, and the timeframe in which you get an answer for approval?”. Matthijs Hoekstra, Developer Evangelist @ Microsoft Netherlands, answers this question. The complete list with policies and guidelines for Windows Phone 7 applications is available via the Windows Phone Developer Website. Furthermore Microsoft aims to make the approval process as predictable and transparent as possible. If you application is rejected, you will get a bullet list with arguments and feedback why you application is rejected.
• Zune Software will replace Windows Mobile Device Center (WMDC) or ActiveSync;
• Zune Software will be the only local non-over-the-air-connection with your Windows powered pc or notebook;
• Time seems to have constrained the engineers to put copy-paste-functionality in the upcoming “first” version of Windows Phone 7. However it seems to be a well known piece of feedback, despite the smart-linking functionality is build in that recognizes links, phone numbers, etc.
• Microsoft will push-out over-the-air upgrades for Windows Phone 7 (finally). While the Zune software also offers the functionality to upgrade current Zune devices, it will be interesting to learn about the channel mix for upgrades. In other words which type of upgrades via which distribution channels;
• Multi-tasking Windows Phone 7 is also an interesting topic in the open discussion. Can it or not ? Windows Phone 7 has some clever memory management build-in, and native applications like the Zune player simply run in the background. In this context I would like to recommend the article “Can Windows Phone 7 Multitask?” by Most Valuable Professional Mark Arteaga !
• An IT professional asked a question about the deployment- and management tools, certificates and security-features  for Windows Phone 7. At this point Windows Mobile 6.5.3 has been wider developed at this point, but according to Maarten Sonneveld it can be expected that Windows Phone 7 is going to catch-up and overtake in the future.
• Finally there was a highly interesting discussion about HTC Sense, Samsung Touchwiz or the LG S-Class interface in relation to the Windows Phone 7 GUI. These kind of GUI-overlays / enhancements are not possible anymore on Windows Phone 7, while the argument from the audience is that these differentiating interfaces provide choice for the customers. For example you can choose the HTC Desire over the Google Nexus One, because of the presence of the HTC Sense interface.
• Can Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) differentiate enough on hardware, custom/branded live tiles and pre-installed applications ?

Some of the items in the list above are more extensively discussed in the Charlie Kindel Interview @ DevDays 2010, for example the role of the Zune software or the HVGA resolution that is more suitable for devices with a physical QWERTY keyboard layout like the HTC Snap or Samsung Omnia Pro 4. 

Concluding thoughts and wrap-up

My compliments to Microsoft Netherlands and the partners Samsung and Coolblue for the excellent organization of the Windows Phone Get Together event. I think it is pretty unique to have an event in which a large company like Microsoft directly interacts and engages with end-users of their products. 

In addition it is good to see this “open” strategic orientation extended to the local Microsoft Windows Phone forums, -blog and -twitter account. The Microsoft Windows Phone NL users Mobile app aggregates this information in a central place on your Windows Phone. Keep an eye on the website for a review of the application ! 

It was nice to get some idea of the direction for Windows Mobile 6.5.3 and of course it was awesome to hear that Windows Phone 7 devices will hit the Dutch market in October/November this year. I’m really excited and looking forward to that moment. The Q&A session was highly interesting, very lively and approached Windows Phone 7 from different perspectives (customer, developer, technical decision maker). 

Hands-on time with a working Windows Phone 7 device !!

Probably the best part of the event was that every attendee was allowed to play with a working Windows Phone 7 prototype device from LG, which has been covered on the web a few times. However we were asked not to take pictures of the device, and of course I play by the rules of the game. Again it is very unique situation that Microsoft allows end-users to have some hands-on time with prototype hardware AND software ! 

Finally it was very nice to catch-up with old friends, the local Dutch Windows Phone team, and the attending Microsoft partners. If you missed the event, please reserve some free time in your agenda on November 9th for the next Windows Phone Get Together Event ! Meanwhile stay tuned via forum, blog, twitter and app !