MobilityMinded » PROFESSIONAL

Windows Mobile 6.5 Development – What about Developers?

Paul Willen — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:46:16 +0000

For Windows Mobile development there is the Windows Mobile 6 Professional SDK and the Windows Mobile 6 Standard SDK. This “Software Development Kit” is the base of good Windows Mobile development.

Earlier this week Microsoft released a “Developer Tool Kit” (DTK) for Windows Mobile 6.5. This toolkit contains emulators, gesture API’s and other stuff for developing for Windows Mobile 6.5. This toolkit is an “add-on” on top of Visual Studio and the Windows Mobile 6 SDK’s.

And then there is the “Developer Recourse Kit” or DRK. The DRK is an

offline DVD copy of the most useful and relevant Windows Mobile application development tools and resources. [ref01]

All these are great tools for developers to develop nice Windows Mobile applications. Microsoft is doing a very good job for people who have a Visual Studio 2008 Professional License.

For the other developers however, Microsoft has…. sadly nothing. To me raises the big question: Is Microsoft being helpful enough towards developers to get them behind their computer and do some serious coding for Windows Mobile? Wouldn’t it be great that any developer uses his creativity by making great Windows Mobile applications.

There are thousands of great developers out there creating applications for Google Android and Apple iPhone. Every single one of them didn’t need to pay to even start creating applications.

When starting developers would like to explore Windows Mobile development they can download the 90-day Visual Studio 2008 Professional trial. After that they have to purchase a license for Visual Studio 2008 Professional (which is around $799 at the Microsoft Site). So Although a lot of developers are using Visual Studio, I think its a major leap for starting developers, or even hobby-developers to start developing for the Windows Mobile platform. I think this is a great loss and I surely think that there are a bunch of developers out there willing to develop for Windows Mobile but just being helt back because of the investment they have to do.

I can understand Microsoft’s point to charge developers for having their application in the upcoming Marketplace. Microsoft facilitates their applications and brings the applications to the public, but I think its sad to see that a very good developer has to do a great investment before his application can actually become a product in the Marketplace.

That’s why I hope Microsoft will re-consider the choice and gives something to starting developers. Something that will make it easier and cheaper to start developing.

Steve Ballmer said it himself: Developers, developers, developers, developers.

[ref01]: http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2009/06/04/sdk-dtk-drk-wtf.aspx
[ref02]: http://blogs.microsoft.nl/blogs/windowsmobile/ (Dutch)

HTC Touch Pro2 review

Mark Briggeman — Sat, 30 May 2009 22:55:01 +0000

The long awaited successor of the HTC Touch Pro has finally been released to the public. Only two days ago I received an email from Clove Technology informing me they had the HTC Touch Pro2 on stock, almost one month before it would be released in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe ! I ordered it straight away and had it delivered to me in one day thanks to FedEx Priority. I grabbed it from the FedEx delivery guy’s hands (sorry about that!) and started unwrapping. It is always a lot of fun unpacking a brand new device which you have only seen on pictures. What will it look like, how will it feel? Is it big, is it heavy? I am going to answer all these questions in this review. So, let’s get started!

First impression

First impressions are crucial they say, which is more than true in this case. The Pro2 is a bit bigger than the old Pro and also a bit heavier. Whereas I found the Pro sometimes a bit too small, the Pro2 lives up to my expectations. I think size and weight of the device are just right. I also like the grey/silver color and the chrome outline of the screen gives the device a very stylish and distinctive look. It reminds me a bit of the HTC Universal, which had the most excellent keyboard. The keyboard on the Pro2 is good, but not as good as the keyboard on the Universal. However there are more similarities with other HTC devices. Again, it has a tilt screen option, just like the TyTn II. I loved that feature and was very disappointed it had not been incorporated in the Touch Pro. But now it is back again ! The Pro2 also features the extra numeric row on the keyboard, just like the old Pro, something I can’t do without. It enables you to type without having to use the FN key for every number you type.

But there is more. The Pro2 also features a hardware zoombar to use in applications and use for instance while taking a picture. You can use the zoombar to zoom in: very nice ! One of the other hot new features is Straight Talk.

Straight Talk integrates messaging, voice, and conference calling, allowing you to seamlessly transition from a message to a single call or multi-party conference call. With dual microphone and speaker that enhance voice quality and reduce noise, Straight Talk turns your device into a conference room speakerphone system.

This all comes together on a large 3,6 inch WVGA screen with a resolution of 480×800 pixels which also features a Proximity sensor. The old Pro featured a light sensor which would switch off the screen when making a call. Often times the device would have to be switched on again in order to get the display back. The sensor on the Pro2 is now similar to the one used on the iPhone. If you hold it to your ear the display switches off: if you move it, it is back on. Very nice feature I must say. The last sensor this device features is the G-sensor, which automatically turns to landscape mode when you turn it over.

First impressions are very positive. Now let’s take a look at the specs.

Specifications

Operating System: Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional
Processor: Qualcomm® MSM7201a™, 528 MHz
Memory: ROM: 512 MB RAM: 288 MB microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
Dimensions: (LxWxT) 116 X 59.2 X 17.25 mm (4.57 X 2.33 X 0.68 inches)
Weight: 187.5 grams (6.61 ounces) with battery
Display: 3.6-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with WVGA resolution Adjustable tilt screen
Network: HSDPA/WCDMA: Europe/Asia: 900/2100 MHz Up to 2 Mbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Device Control: TouchFLO™ 3D; Zoom bar
Keyboard: Slide-out 5-row QWERTY keyboard
GPS: Internal GPS antenna
Connectivity: Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g HTC ExtUSB™ (11-pin mini-USB 2.0, audio jack, and TV Out* in one)
Camera: Main camera: 3.2 megapixel color camera with auto focus Second camera: VGA CMOS color camera
Battery: Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery Capacity: 1500 mAh
Talk time: Up to 270 minutes for WCDMA; Up to 419 minutes for GSM
Standby time: Up to 454 hours for WCDMA; Up to 348 hours for GSM Video call time: up to 150 minutes (Subject to network and phone usage)
Special Features: Proximity Sensor, G-Sensor, auto speakerphone on when facing down the device

These specifications are quite impressive I must say. Almost forgot: What’s in the box ?

In the box

In the box you’ll find the Touch Pro2 and a battery of 1500 mAh. A spare stylus is also included in case you lose the original one. There’s also a power adapter. Each power adapter is specific to the country you ordered it from. Mine therefore came with a (pretty useless) UK power adapter. Have to see if you can buy this EU part somewhere online. Also in the box is an (imitation) leather carrying pouch to protect your precious device. Another item is the USB headset. You can use it to listen to music as well as answering your incoming calls with a push on a button. A USB cable comes standard with every device these days and the usual amount of CD’s with manuals, quick start guides and Activesync installation files is also there. Finally there’s a warranty guide which hopefully you’ll never need and a screen protector.

Now let’s have a look at the device itself:

Design

Please note that I am using some of the press pictures made by HTC. I took some pictures myself but they were nowhere near as good as these and I was in a hurry to write this review. The picture below gives me a lot to talk about.

The front of the Touch Pro2 shows four buttons. Below on the left you’ll find the Answer button, which obviously answers your incoming call. Next there is a Windows button, which allows you to access your programs the same familiar way as on your desktop. The Pro2 is the third HTC device with a Windows button (just like the TyTn II and Diamond 2). Next to the Windows button, you’ll see an arrow pointing left. This button sends you back to the home button on TouchFlow. When inside a submenu, it functions like the backspace key: it returns you to the previous menu. The fourth key on the right ends your incoming call and double functions as a Home key.

The left side merely shows two buttons: volume up and volume down. One thing I really miss here is the jog dial. I enjoyed it very much on the TyTn II and wish it would have been incorporated on the Touch Pro2 as well.
On top there is one button: On/Off. Pretty straight forward I would say. To switch off, press and hold for approximately 3 seconds. The right side does not show any buttons at all: it houses the stylus and on top there is a microphone entrance.

At the bottom you’ll find the USB connector which also serves as an earphone Jack and a TV-Out (cable not included). HTC calls this the ExtUSB (TM) port. The second microphone for Straight Talk is here as well.

At the back of the device there is a camera lens and a mute button for Straight Talk. More about Straight Talk in the next chapter.

Straight Talk

Straight Talk is one of HTC’s brand new features.

Straight Talk integrates messaging, voice, and conference calling, allowing you to seamlessly transition from a message to a single call or multi-party conference call. With dual microphone and speaker that enhance voice quality and reduce noise, Straight Talk turns your device into a conference room speakerphone system.

For this feature HTC has completely redesigned the back of the Touch Pro2. The back now has a double speaker and a microphones allowing all participants to be heard crystal clear. It uses the microphone on the side as well as the one at the bottom.
The concept is very easy: Straight Talk allows you to add several people together in one conference call.
First you select the participants. This is easily done by opening the phone screen and pressing the button next to Talk, which will enable the Conference option.

Now select all participants and press Conference when you’re done.

The conference screen will now be opened and each of the participants can be dialed. Now slide open the hardware keyboard, displaying the Conference Room screen. This is an intuitive interface which will make it much easier to set up conference calls. Simply tap photos or buttons on the screen to dial participants, joining them to your conference call and more.

Tap the first participant’s picture and right after he/she has answered, tap the second picture. The first participant will be put on hold. As soon as the second participant has answered, press Join to connect the calls and dial the next participant if needed.

Now all participants are connected and your conference call is in progress. When you’re done press End Call to stop the conference call.

HTC TouchFLO 3D on the HTC Touch Pro2

“Leveraging HTC’s TouchFLO 3D, people-centric communication and Push Internet technology, the Touch Pro2 features a high-resolution 3.6-inch widescreen VGA display for an expanded viewing area and large finger-friendly QWERTY keyboard. “

The following section will describe the continuous development of TouchFLO 3D, and focus on the people-centric communications as stated in the press release. HTC TouchFLO 3D now consists of 11 tabs. A few of the new tabs have undergone some improvements, others were added. A few examples are:

People

The people-tab has undergone some drastic changes. In the TouchFLO 3D version on the first Touch Diamond and Touch Pro, a short-list with your main contacts could be added. If you wished to communicate with a particular person, you simply clicked their name which would open the contact card, etc.

With the people-centric communication HTC has made some clever improvements, linking contact data (mobile phone, work phone, home phone, sms, e-mail) directly under the picture of the particular contact. This development has a few advantages:

It takes fewer clicks to access the contact card and select the data from there. Now it’s just a matter of hitting the right communication button and Bob’s your uncle.
It gives you all communication options, linked to that specific person. You don’t have to open the dialer nor Pocket Outlook.

This approach makes communication really simple and is probably one of the biggest improvements in TouchFLO 3D.

Internet

The internet-tab has also changed quite drastically. It now gives you more functionality in one overview. On top there is a search box to insert your search-parameters. Clicking it will automatically open Google-search in the Opera Mobile web browser. The second and largest section is the open browser field, followed by a YouTube field. Clicking the latter will open a “custom” YouTube client / viewer.

Further down the bottom there are four fields saying “Add Push page”. The push-internet technology is meant to automatically download the content of your favorite websites in given intervals. This means there’s no need to open your web browser and re-type the URL. The website will refresh automatically, in a way similar to synchronizing your e-mail account over IMAP.

This feature is very helpful if you regularly check a website on the go. You could for instance program a website that shows traffic jams in your local region. Simply give in the URL, a name for the website, and the update frequency. Its contents will now be kept up to date automatically.

Calender

The calendar-tab gives you the overview of the current month whereas with the left soft-key you can switch to a daily overview. I personally think this is really helpful, for you often need to quickly access your calendar program to make an appointment. This is now possible straight from TouchFLO 3D without first having to enter the start menu. With the right softkey you can add a new appointment.

Summarizing:

TouchFLO 3D has matured and has evolved into something more than just an easy user interface. Especially if you note that HTC has also changed the layout of the notifications and menus to make them more finger-friendly. Main reason for this conclusion would be that TouchFLO 3D allows you to use the most important features, without having to use the start menu or even deeper layers in TouchFLO.

One of the best features of the HTC Touch Pro2 is the people-centric design for optimal communication. In my point of view it is a really clever integration and/or connection of the different databases for each type of communication. However the strongest feature is in the way people are linked to their contact details.
With this improvement you can speed up communication and minimize your search-time, which is extremely helpful for business people on the go. Note also the fact that in the e-mail of a contact there is a call-button in the header. This will enable you to directly call the person who e-mailed you.

Everybody loves TouchFlo 3D and now you are going to love it even more. The TouchFLO 3D interface now remains unchanged, regardless of your mode of operation. Whether it be landscape or portrait mode, all functionality remains available at the tip of your fingers.

Overall there is one single conclusion. HTC is continuously developing and improving TouchFLO. There truly is a world of difference between the first incarnation of TouchFLO 3D and the current version. The current version truly makes everyday life easy, resulting in very efficient use of this type of work tool. TouchFLO 3D has become more than just a user-interface. In now is a complete set of applications on top of Windows Mobile that help you to effectively manage the information on your device.

Zoombar

The Zoombar at the bottom of the screen is a relative new feature. Although not functional yet within every single application, there are quite a few applications that already make use of it. The browser for example. On any given website, simply sliding your finger from left to right zooms in the page. Repeating this gesture zooms in even more. To zoom out simply slide your finger in the opposite direction, from right to left. The zoombar can also be used in the camera application. In the camera application the zoombar will function as a digital zoom for the pictures you take.

In addition to that the Zoombar also is functional within Pocket Outlook or Word documents. In a similar manner sliding your finger from left to right increases the text size, sliding from right to left to decreases the text size.

Haptic feedback, Proximity Sensor and G-Sensor

The Touch Pro2 also features haptic feedback. This means that the device gives you tactile feedback when you press the screen within TouchFlo 3D. With every screentap you will feel a little vibration that confirms that you have touched the screen. It is enabled by default and cannot be turned off. A very nice feature I must say.

The next thing I would like to mention is the Proximity Sensor. An extremely cool and useful feature of the Touch Pro 2. It senses whether the device is being held next to your ear. Once the device is raised up to your ear, the Proximity sensor immediately turns off the screen in order to save battery life. Moving the device away from your ear turns the screen turns on again. PDA screens by nature are one of the biggest battery drains, especially when a screen is as large and bright as this one.

The Touch Pro2 also has a G-Sensor built-in. We have seen this feature before in other devices such as the Touch Pro and Diamond / Diamond 2. The G-sensor automatically turns the screen to landscape when you turn the device over.

Overall conclusion and wrap-up

With such a great and feature-rich device like the HTC Touch Pro2, it is hard to summarize an overall conclusion about the device. As I previously mentioned it combines great features of different HTC devices (HTC Universal, HTC TyTn II) into a nice form factor. The Pro2 actually even is a little bit smaller than HTC Touch HD. Overall the design is very modern and clean, with a nice business finish to it.

Hardware wise it truly is a tremendous powerhouse. The HTC Touc Pro2 is quite the responsive device. The tilt mechanism is great and the slide-out QWERTY keyboard makes it a great messenger. The large 3.6″ WVGA screen, the good camera and the 1500 mAh battery make it fun to use. Not to mention the great straight talk “design” and the built-in sensors (Proximity & G-Sensor).

Software wise only have one conlusion. This version of TouchFLO 3D is by far the best yet, and works identically both in portrait and landscape mode. The people-centric communication approach in HTC TouchFLO 3D makes life so much easier. Add the graphical changes on the start menu, the notifications, and the menus on the softkey that have significantly improved. All of this shows that HTC is continuously working on improving the user-interface in front of the different facets of the Windows Mobile OS.

A good device is a combination of great hardware and stable, fast and easy to use software. With the introduction of the HTC Touch Pro2, HTC has brought a killer-device to the market. This device definitely will be loved by a large number of people, simply because the hardware and software are so well balanced and the fact that that a ton of features are packed with it.

Underneath you will find a few lists describing my likes and dislikes about the device. While they represent my personal opinion about the Touch Pro2, they could be used as a starting point for a discussion. On a side note, I need to emphasize the fact that I have only used the Touch Pro2 for a few days now. While this review does highlight the most important features and aspects, you might want to keep visiting mobilityminded.com for follow-up articles about this device.

Editorial note (Willem Ditters): Close observation of the back of the Touch Pro2 reveals a very nifty little detail. If you look closely you will note the edges of an immensely thin transparent layer that spreads over the entire battery cover. The best area to see this is around the volume buttons. If you look really closely you will see these same edges around the stylus and microphone cutouts as well. Nice detail indeed. For me this means I can lower some of my caution when lying the device down on a desk somewhere.

What I like about the HTC Touch Pro2 ?

Straight Talk
Straight Talk (yes, that is two times)
Great design with chrome finish
Large 3,6″ WVGA screen
Newest TouchFlo 3D version

What I like a little less about the HTC Touch Pro2 ?

Biggest disavantage: No 3.5mm headphone jack. It finally appeared on the Touch HD, why dropping it now?
Limited number of hardware buttons; I use those to control the softbuttons so I miss these.
It tilts a bit easier than the TyTn II. On a flat surface it is not as stable as the TyTn II either.
Where is the D-Pad ?
Although it is quite common now, I would love to see a camera hardware button.
Laying the device face-down on a table for the purpose of a conference call increases the risk of screen damage. Therefore, a screen protector is an absolut must. Regrettably the screen protector that comes with the device only is of an average quality.
Where is the FM radio? All pre-release versions had it, the HTC website listed it … Now that the device is out, the software has gone and the HTC website has been updated by taking out the FM radio from the specifications list.

Acer M900 Windows Phone preview

Mark Briggeman — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:38:56 +0000

In this short preview we will show you the new Acer M900 Windows Phone. The long awaited successor of the Eten Glofiish M810 will soon be available to all you gadgeteers out there. The M700 was the first QWERTY slider Phone Edition from Eten. After that it has been followed by the M800 and the last high-end model M810. Since Acer has aquired Eten, it has developed a second full QWERTY keyboard slider Windows Mobile device. As you can see, even the keyboard perfectly matches the layout of MobilityMinded.com! The specs are also quite impressive:

It runs on Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional (Crossbow), has a Samsung S3C 6410 533 MHz Processor onboard and the memory is 128 MB SDRAM for user applications & storage and 256 MB FLASH ROM for the Operating System and embedded applications.

The display is a 3.8″ WVGA TFT LCD touch screen with 800 x 480 pixel resolution and 256k colors, which is quite a big screen as I might say ! The dimensions of the M900 are 119 (L) x 62 (W) x 17.1 (H) mm and it weighs 188 grams.

When you are on the road, you’ll have plenty of wireless options to be connected at all times:
HSDPA Category 8/ HSUPA Category 5 ( 2100/1900/850 Mhz)
GSM/EDGE: Quad-band, 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
GPRS/EGPRS: Class B, multi-slot class 11
WLAN: 802.11b/g Wi-Fi CERTIFIED® network connection
Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
It also sports a GPS with Embedded SiRF Star III chipset, so you won’t get lost !

The camera is a 5M pixels VGA Auto-Focus with flashlight CMOS camera,
up to 2560 x 1920 resolution and with Digital zoom (1x, 2x, 4x)
On the front we’ll find a VGA CMOS Camera for video calling, which has a 640×480 resolution.

The M900 also has a Finger-Print Recognition mechanism for security and navigation and a Light Sensor for sensing the brightness of environment to adjust panel luminance. A Gravity Sensor is also present for Auto-Sensing of device position for displaying in potrait or landscape mode

You might read on other websites that it has a TV-Out also, but the M900 has NO TV-Out. It’s power comes from a Lithium Polymer rechargeable battery with 1,530 mAh capacity.

Below you will find some screenshots which shows the new Acer Shell and some more improvements.

The new Acer Shell now consists of two pages where you have easy access to your tasks.

In Settings you can easilly manage your Communications Manager, Sound profiles, Backlight, your Today Softkeys and if you want to, you can even unload the Acer Shell to get the Windows Mobile Classic look.
The Communication Manager has clear buttons, where you can turn all your connections on or off.

This new M900 also features the new Internet Explorer 6 Mobile. This new version has been improved a lot and you will enjoy a better expierence when surfing on the net !

The ROM on this previewed M900 has not been finalized, but when this device is released to the general public, we will publish an in-depth review of this brand-new device.
If you have any questions about this new device, don’t hesitate to ask them.

MWC 2009: Windows Mobile 6.5 announcement & screenshots

Remo Knops — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 12:00:28 +0000

At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Steve Balmer and Andrew Lees announced Windows Mobile 6.5, together with two additional services: (1) MyPhone and (2) Windows Marketplace for Mobile. This article will focus on the main changes in Windows Mobile 6.5 and provide some background information together with screenshots.

“Windows phones bring together the best of the Web, the PC and the phone so you can connect instantly to the experiences you care about, no matter where you are,” Ballmer said. “We’re working with partners across the industry to deliver a new generation of Windows phones that break down the barriers between people, information and applications and provide great end-to-end experiences that span your entire life, at work and at home.” [ref01]

The first remarkable fact is the naming: “Windows Phones”. Since a phone running the Windows Mobile platform is per definition a MOBILE device, the term Mobile is absolete. It’s al in the simplicity of the word choice: A phone running Windows. In slightly different words Clinton Fitch’s describes Balmer’s idea’s above:

“Microsoft is working on the concept that people and information are the center of your personal universe, not necessarily a phone, pc or other digital device. Accessing those people and that information is really what is key – on what you use to access them is somewhat secondary. To that end you will see with Windows Mobile 6.5 a focus on getting to the information you want to access quicker. Further, you will see more of this information being available in different locations. You can see some of that now with Live Mesh and with the introduction of My Phone, you will see this vision further develop.” [ref03]

The essence however is to connect the different platforms (PC, Cloud & Phone) and to get quicker acces to your information With this essence in mind I will guide you through the main area’s of change, and focus on the different aspects shown in the accompanied screenshots. After that I will provide a summary an some initial thoughts about the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system.

1. LOCKSCREEN

The first major area of change is the lockscreen, which is shown in the screenshots above ! Research has shown that people want to know three things on the first screen they see on a mobile device: (1) the time, (2) the next appointment, (3) the status of their phone. The latter means the notifications about missed calls, voicemails, new text messages etc. This lockscreen is shown when the device is touched or turned on. If you have enhanced security enabled on your Windows Phone, you probably need to enter the code AFTER this screen. The next appointment and the time are more or less obvious (remark the homescreen of SPB Mobile Shell and the background information I provided in the review of version 2.0). However the phone is locked and the blue box shows the total number of notifications. If you tap or click on the blue notification box, the notifications are split up per type. As an example you have a missed call, than you simple make a sliding gesture to the left or right, which results in the automated action of opening the dailer and calling the “missed call” number.

2. HOMESCREEN

The second major area of change is the homescreen. I will start to lookback at (1) the sliding panels which were introduced with Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard, and (2) the interface of a Zune Player. It looks like bits of both interfaces have com together in the new Windows Mobile 6.5 homescreen design. While the sliding panels were only available on Windows Mobile Standard, this homescreen is rolled out both on Standard and Professional devices.

“The order of the items on the home screen are not movable but you will be able to add web widgets for things like weather. These widgets will automatically update so you don’t have to tap around to update them, improving the information feed to you.” [ref03]

For the readers among you who hooked up to the livestream of the keynote already saw this homescreen in action during one of the demo’s. Personally I was pleasantly surprised by the speed of the interface on the HTC Touch Pro2 device (Windows Mobile Professional). At this point in time it’s not clear to me if and how this new homescreen will interact with custom userinterfaces like TouchFLO 3D.

3. START

The third main area of change, and probably the most dramatic is the honeycomb-style start menu. Let’s have a look at a current professional device where you have a folder with programs and a folder with settings. If you install third party applications some get their link in the programs folder, others in the settings folder. With the new Windows Mobile 6.5 start menu both the settings and programs are merged into one single honeycomb-style menu, which is fully customizable. The end-user can manipulate the icons where-ever he or she wants to have it in the list. If you look at the darkened sides of the screen, and not showing additional honey-combs to the left and right a user knows that he cannot scroll to the left or right (and the same applies for scrolling up in the screenshots above). The start menu isn’t a single-level list, but consists of more levels:

“If, for example, you were to tap on Settings, you would see the Settings menu in this same honeycomb layout with thinks like Bluetooth, Owner Information and so forth occupying the cells of the menu.” [ref03]

The question may remain: “Why a honey-comb and not a box or a circle ?” There are two arguments which favor for use of the honey-comb design, which came out of Microsofts Research groups. (1) The honey-comb is the optimal area to tap on with your fingerprint (not a box or a circle), in short finger-friendlyness, and (2) The honey-comb design makes it possible to pack relative a large amount of links / icons into the screenspace. The combination of these two arguments results in this easy to use, simple start menu.

4. BROWSER

The fourth main area of change is the browser: Internet Explorer 6 (for Mobile). This browser supports flash lite, and is optimized for finger use like you can see in the screenshot above. Cool but very functional features are the zoombar and the breadcrumb, which shows up in the corner during panning accros a webpage. Furthermore Microsoft claims that it’s possible to complete more online transactions on this mobile browser (than on any other mobile browser). Furthermore this browser is based on the (desktop version) Internet Explorer 6, and now brought to the mobile platform.

“One of the questions that many of us MVPs asked was why the version was based on IE 6 when Internet Explorer 8 is near release. The answer, which makes good sense, is that the vast majority of website were built to the IE 6 standard. This will make sure the browsing experience more robust for users.” [ref03]

5. SERVICES

The last area of change is not directly ON the Windows Mobile platform, but consists of the services which INTERACT with the Windows Mobile 6.5 platform. Recently the Microsoft Live Mesh service was introduced, which easily connects and let you share files on the PC, in the cloud and on your phone. This only supports the fact that Microsoft will explore the service domain a little further. During the Micrsoft Mobile World Congress keynote of Steve Balmer and Andrew Lees two additional services were announced: (1) Microsoft MyPhone, and (2) Windows Marketplace for Mobile.

The MyPhone service was also shown in a demo, and if you are interested you can read more in my article about the MyPhone service. The second service Windows Marketplace wasn’t shown in a demo, nor in any screenshots, so we have to be a little patient to see more on this service.

WRAP UP & FINAL THOUGHTS

This article highlights the main changes that will come to the Windows Mobile platform in the next upcoming release called Windows Mobile 6.5. While there are changes in five main area’s I assume that Microsoft will do a lot more tweaking and finetuning under the hood, for example to increase batterylife. Overall I do think that this is a step in teh right direction, where both the Professional and the Standard platform get the same look and feel, resulting in a more unified platform. Furthermore Microsoft tries to simplify the use, and make it more easer to use (fingerfriendlyness), and for all to get quicker acces to your information. Also the addtional services are good signs, since I think that there is a bright future for services (compared to applications).

A first question might be: Is my phone compatible ?”

HTC’s Touch Diamond 2 and Touch Pro 2, announced today, will be upgradeable to Windows Mobile 6.5. New enhanced contact integration combined with new Internet capabilities deliver a people-centric approach to mobile communication. HTC’s Touch Diamond 2 features TouchFLO 3D, a sleek and compact design with a large 3.2″ high-resolution wide-screen display, while HTC Touch Pro 2 introduces one of the best-ever mobile productivity experiences on a phone highlighted by HTC’s new Straight Talk technology, an integrated E-Mail, voice and speakerphone experience.
The LG-GM7300 is a stylish, user-friendly phone with features such as one-click E-Mail set up to help people stay connected to the information they care about most. Available first on Windows Mobile 6.1, LG will add a Windows Mobile 6.5 version to the family, complementing an expanded alliance to dramatically increase the number of LG phones running Windows.” [ref01]

A second question could be: When will it be available ?

“The new Windows phones are expected to be available in the second half of 2009.”

While during the keynote we already saw some first impressions during the demo’s. I would like to finalize by asking your opinion about the changes, the direction Windows Mobile is heading, the services and the time frame of the whole development.

Reference list: