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back to article Windows Mobile 7 feature details mined

Microsoft's answer to the touchy-feely iPhone will hit handsets next month. But it's only a partial answer. Windows Mobile 6.5 will see limited touch-based input and motion controls, meaning its Windows Mobile 7.0 that Microsoft is really banking on against Apple's phone. Microsoft's refused to discuss details of Windows …

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  1. h 6
    FAIL

    A bit late for that.

    Aside from the ass-ugly Powerpoint slide (is it me or does Powerpoint lend itself to ass-ugly presentations

    ?), it's good to see Microsoft playing catch-up to apple, Android and Pre. Maybe they will innovate something that will spur more innovation from the other three (yeah, I know, fat chance).

    But late 2010? The best they can do is over a year off? Apple iPhone OS 4 will be out by then!

    Dust. Microsoft sees nothing but dust.

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  2. Giles Jones Gold badge

    Killer features?

    Where are the killer features? video calls seem to be the only thing they have over the iPhone.

    But given nobody has ever asked me to make a video call despite having owned handsets that have it, I don't see that it is much use.

    Many businesses hate cameras on phones, they're even banned in some organisations. So having two cameras is even worse.

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  3. l3v5y

    WM6.5.X

    WM7 alphas have been out for ages. Snapdragon will probably be supported by WM7 (there's a BSP for it anyway).

    There may well also be more WM6.X builds between now an WM7 (there's WM6.5.1 for a start).

    WM7 is a completely new OS, and is very different to WM6.5.X.

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  4. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    How late ...

    ... does that make MS to the market?

    12 months? 24 months? Manufacturing lead in times, so say 3 years?

    I don't know if that is sad or good.

    Probably good for Apple, sad for MS?

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  5. Ty
    Jobs Halo

    lol

    Oh please.

    Designed to "close the gap on Apple" huh?

    That is the MOST it will do.

    But somehow I don't think iPhone development is standing still.

    Wave goodbye to the mobile market M$!

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  6. This post has been deleted by its author

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    O joy..

    What makes the iPhone and Win mobile diffrent from your average phone? Is it mobile net access...no any modern phone can do it, if you want full browser use probly best to install opera mini. Is it being able to look at map...o wait most phones take google maps.

    So, what is the diffrence ummm the cost and o yes the ability to buy a childs app that pats you on the back for buying your new cool toy while its creater says what kind of idiot actualy buys me.

    Bravo you have spend all that money and you still look like a prick.

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  8. Sooty

    video calling?

    it was one of the features of 3g, pretty much all 3g phones did it on launch. However, despite it being available for years, i don't think i've ever known a single person to use it.

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  9. Jack Harrer

    Re: Ty

    "Wave goodbye to the mobile market M$!"

    As much as we all wish this, don't be too quick. If that system is even half arsed, then MSFT can find some small Chinese manufacturer (remember HTC?) that aspires to be bigger, bribe them (I mean "give marketing incentives") then "give marketing incentives" to networks, and we will have another bastard breeds of mobile handsets on the shelves.

    Also iPhone is not a competitor for WinMo. It is only locked for 1 range of phones. The true one is Android. Android is controlled by archrival Google, it's free and open source. Everything that they hate. Also it can be used on wide range of handsets which directly competes with WinMo. Just look at HTC. They pretty much lost it. Even the flagship handsets are switching from WinMo to Android.

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  10. sleepy

    No worries

    Plenty of time to write another "Windows" OS for this market, especially as it probably doesn't need to have any actual windows. There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance.

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  11. Ryan 7
    Stop

    Errrr...

    What a load of bulls**t.

    I've got all of those features (bar a compass) on my WM6.1 Touch Diamond 2. And there's no reason a compass couldn't be supported in WM6.1.

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  12. Jon H

    Video calls?

    "Microsoft is looking at adding the ability to make video calls" - But I can already make video calls on my WM6.1 phone. Explain!

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  13. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    3 years of difference??

    They said it will come out late 2010 huh?? Therefore, if we can count on Microsoft to preserve its traditions, it will come out let's say about 2 years later. "Catching up" on the features that the iPhone has/had in 2008-9 in 2012 won't be that much of help.

    I don't want to sound as an iFan (I don't even own an i*) but this is seriously a big fail, Microsoft. It's good we have the Android, otherwise Apple would slowly gain a monopoly in phones... which is kind of happening anyway.

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  14. James O'Brien
    Coat

    "Microsoft's rival Bing Maps"

    Got I hate the name Bing. Everytime I see it I get this sudden urge to punch a baby because there is some moron marketing droid that got 6-7 figure to think of that.

    ARG!!!!

    /Mines the one with the boxing glove in it

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  15. TeeCee Gold badge
    Stop

    @Ty

    You appear to have made an error there:

    Should read: "Wave goodbye to that bit of the mobile market made of brain-dead sheep who don't mind their device being completely controlled by someone else."

    I'll admit that's most of it, but still....

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  16. Dan 10

    @video calling

    Ok, I confess - I am that one person who knows someone who used video calling.

    Once. To walk through an apartment he was buying while showing a relative (who was on the other end of the v.call) his new pad.

    Maybe MS could make an entire differentiating feature out of that...

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  17. Ty
    Jobs Halo

    lol

    @Jack - I concur!

    @TeeCee - lol I THOROUGHLY Concur! My bad. ;)

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  18. Des
    Paris Hilton

    @Sooty - Video Calling

    I have used it... once or twice... not recently though as my iPhone doesn't support it. I had a WinMo phone and made the video call to a colleague with a Nokia. Shame was his Nokia only had one camera so whilst he was looking at my pixelated face I got a great view of the pixelated pavement.

    Paris - cos she knows which end of the camera does what!

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  19. Chris Beach

    UI

    Are they going to properly ditch the win3.1 UI?

    If so they might have a slight chance to catch up to the top of smartphone pile where they were for a while!

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  20. Goat Jam
    Flame

    @Ryan 6

    "I've got all of those features (bar a compass) on my WM6.1 Touch Diamond 2."

    uhuh, and WinMo has been out for like 10 years? In all that time it didn't really manage to excite the market though, did it. I wonder why?

    " And there's no reason a compass couldn't be supported in WM6.1."

    Oh, it will be I'm sure. But by then it will be called WinMo7.

    Different shit, same stench.

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  21. David Pickering
    Coat

    ja

    ive been using 6.5 on my raphael for over a month now - imo its not much different than 6.1 - only its got a new home screen and you can drag the contents of certain window controls around with your finger instead of having to try and pick at those crappy scrollbars. a few tab-based dialogs look a bit different too - other than that i cant think of much else that has changed from 6.1 - however, 6.5 is still a big improvement, even though ive got htcs manilla2.1 plastered all over my device so i rarely have to interface with windows directly anyway, though titanium (the new home screen) does look rather nice.

    as for video calling though - wtf? ive been able to hold video calls on this device ever sice i got it - even on wm6.0 - so im not quite getting that part of the article.. unless you mean its just baked into the OS rather than as a third party app or smt (in which case that to me isnt exactly profound).

    anyway - mines the one with the huge scorch mark where the pocket used to be

    srsly tho - scew apple! ha ^^;

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