I’ve been in full-blown bunker mode lately trying to finish the book, and I think most people understand that. However, I still pay attention to the news every day, and a few things of interest have happened this week. So have a few things that are not interesting. But I think this speaks to how Windows Phone is on people’s minds. Even when there’s nothing to say–or nothing new to say–people are still generating press about Windows Phone. That’s a good sign.
AT&T to Be ‘Premier’ Windows Phone 7 Vendor
Hot or not? Hot
Why: AT&T is the only company in the US that sells the iPhone. It’s nice to see Microsoft aggressively courting them and we all know how much AT&T wants to feel special.
Bonus points: It will be easier for me to switch phones if I can just stay on AT&T.
Windows Phone 7 Design Resources – UI Guide and Design Templates
Hot or not? Hot
Why: It’s gotta be the most boring blog post title ever. But the two resources Microsoft points to here are huge. One thing I’d point out, however, is that there are some weird little inaccuracies in the UI Design and Interaction Guide for Windows Phone 7 v2.0, which mentions, among other things, that Windows Phone supports microSD. I’ve been told repeatedly this isn’t the case. Did something change?
Windows Phone 7: Why the Missing Features Matter
Hot or not? Not
Why: Tony Bradley adds absolutely nothing to the conversation, choosing to cite other people’s reviews and then cart out the same tired complaints. Add something, don’t just parrot.
HP Gives Up on Windows Phone 7
Hot or not? Not
Why: HP spent $1.2 billion on its own smart phone platform this year, WebOS. Why the heck would it develop and sell products based on a rival platform? Is it news that Apple doesn’t sell Windows-based PCs? This a prime example of a non-story, served up like it means something.
Microsoft Names, Then Unnames, Windows Phone Partners
Hot or not? Not
Why: Microsoft announced its partners in February. Just take HP off that list and you’re there.
Bonus points: OK, I smiled a little bit because Greg Sullivan got caught up in this. :) Sorry, Greg.
HTC Sense Coming to Windows Phone 7
Hot or not? Not
Why: I can’t believe how many people email me with, "But, Paul, you said that companies wouldn’t be able to change the Windows Phone UI!" Actually, Microsoft said that. And it’s still true today. So HTC is free to port Sense functionality to Windows Phone via animated live tiles and apps, and it’s not hard to imagine what that might look like. But they cannot replace the Windows Phone UI. Geesh.
Microsoft Giving Away Windows Phone 7 to Employees
Hot or not? Hot
Why: That’s almost 90,000 new users on Day One. It’s also a positive sign that Microsoft is proud of this product and wants employees to be as well.
Does Microsoft Have a Secret Weapon for Windows Phone 7?
Hot or not? Not
Why: Secret weapon? If there’s an employee at Microsoft sitting on the ideal Windows Phone app, it will happen regardless of this give-away. I believe that Ed’s been busy lately finishing a very long book, which I completely empathize with. But that also explains this post: He just got a Windows Phone and has nothing to say about it just yet. I can’t wait to see what he does think, though: Ed will cut through the bull.
–> HP Gives Up on Windows Phone 7
I’d argue that HP already gave up Microsoft and the mobile market…. Outside of the iPaq line of phones, did HP really have anything in the mobile market that was Microsoft-based? I don’t think so (I could be wrong). And I would really challenge someone to show me that the iPaq was competitive.. ;)
HP has always been a faithful foot soldier, and came out with some version of virtually every Microsoft product. Tablet PCs. Media Center PCs. Media Center Extenders. Phones. etc. None have done well besides the basic PC stuff, I bet. Even their home server products, while excellent, can’t possibly have been big hits.
My mistake for lack of clarity. I meant “Microsoft and the mobile Market”, not “Microsoft” and the “Mobile Market”.
I am a proud HP Home Server owner, and own a tablet from them. (I have owned a Media Center extender as well from them).
I agree with most of your comments, but not on the phone.. Of late, HP has not been serious at all about supporting phones from Microsoft, and with Windows Mobile, I don’t blame them at all.
Windows Phone 7 does support microSD cards, but only as internal storage as Microsoft doesn’t allow them to be user-replaceable. I think I read that in one of your articles… ;)
By the way, do you know which font Microsoft will be using exactly? In the PSDs there’s a mix of Segeo UI, Segoe WP, Segoe WP N, and even Zegoe UI (the latter two seem to be identical to me, with more traditionally styled numbers similar to Segoe UI), but there’s only Segeo WP available in the current emulator build. Although I guess this isn’t exactly “hot”, it’s interesting nonetheless, especially as Microsoft is touting this extreme consistency in WP7.
No, I wrote that that’s what the prototypes used. But that it wasn’t a ship-level feature.
Not sure about the different fonts, but I believe they’re all some version of Segoe WP.
Awesome post! I can’t wait to see what Ed thinks as well.
“HP Gives Up on Windows Phone 7 ”
I see the anti-MS pundits are still alive and well and it is amazing how creative they can get at creating anti MS spin. Shouldn’t that title read:
“HP bets its future on webOS by abandoning WP7 and Android” ?
Yeah it should, but they seem to forget the android bit in all of this HP stuff. Oh well, hey the iPhone had it’s fair share of negative press and nitpicking till it started selling millions. So if anything, with people trying to take potshots at WP7 for this and that, it could be a sign that we’ve got a winner here. I can’t wait to get my WP7 device later this year, and just hope MS sticks to a tight update cycle from now on.
One big difference with HP and Android is that HP already has at least one netbook out there running Android (the HP Mini and the Compaq 201, if I recall correctly). I don’t think they’ve stopped building them, although I could be wrong on that.
I think, though, that HP made a bad decision buying webOS / Palm. HP does not have a great history with SmartPhone design and Palm didn’t break into the Smartphone market (a main reason they were for sale..). WebOS was cool (from what I saw), but not cool enough to sell phones. And not many ordinary people base their phone buying decisions around operating system types.
Apple has the iPhone mindshare / apps / design. Not to mention huge momentum.
Android has apps and many different people building on it. Not to mention the Google brand name.
Microsoft brings corporate support and ease of development to the table with Windows Phone 7.
–> What does HP bring to the table that can really compete with those other platforms? Nothing, that I can see.
The one thing hp has to offer is large corporate sales. I could be wrong but I was under the impression hp mobile sales came from large bundle and bulk sales to their existing clients. We have just made a bid deal of Microsoft planning on seeding the market with 90k phones with their employees.
quick question that I hope has a quick answer:
I get that V1 will have missing features and that over time they’ll be added. But can you comment on whether all those infamous missing features will be enabled on whatever V1 hardware comes out at launch?
I’d just hate to buy a phone at launch , wait for copy/paste, multitasking, combined inbox, etc. only to see it come out one day on newer hardware only.
All Windows Phone devices will be updated. None can be locked down by phone makers or wireless carriers. That is part of the agreement for using the Windows Phone OS.
“f there’s an employee at Microsoft sitting on the ideal Windows Phone app, it will happen regardless of this give-away.”
Yes, but they would have to get rid of their Blackberries and iPhones and Android phones and get a Windows 7 Phone for that first. If Windows Phone is good enough, it might happen eventually. This at least jump starts the process.
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Paul can you comment on the Windows Phone 7 not having an option to automatically download images from email. I know this is standard stuff but my iPhone does it just fine, and I am sure Google lets you choose download all or one at a time. Any idea if this becomes an option before release?
It’s not there now.
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