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Windows Phone 7 Series Hands-On Pics and Video
Windows Phone 7 snuck up on the world today, but having played with it, I'll tell you Microsoft is putting all it's muscle behind this. No matter who you root for, to be anything short of impressed is stupid.
How does it feel? Nothing like an iPhone, for starters. The slippery, rotate-y screens may take a little getting used to, but they feel right. Microsoft deliberately wanted to get away from icons and this notion that all behaviors get the same size button on the home screen, and you definitely get more of a sense of priorities here: Entertainment, social networking, photo sharing—those matter, and oh yeah, here's a phone if you need a call, and here's a browser if you need that too.
It's hard to tell from looking at this stuff, but much of it is customizable, including almost everything on that home screen. Don't let the uniformity of design language fool you, there will be a lot you can do to differentiate from other people.
As you can see, the fluidity of the "panorama" navigation is here—when you enter a hub, you get those little teasers to the right, showing you want you'll get if you flip one screen over.
Though details are scarce in these early days, the device here is built "to spec," so probably running 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. I can tell you that everything ran smoothly. This is obviously too early to make any technical statements, but it really was impressive, and where there are a few hiccups, it's hard to say whether it was human error or a glitch, but we'll leave it be for now. This is just demo software.
On to the screenshots—click here if thumbs haven't loaded, or if you just hate gallery format:
As you can see from the screenshots above, most hubs are fleshed out, though we couldn't have a look at Marketplace. Some of the shots here are "in between" shots, that moment between tapping a start screen element and the whole hub springing in behind it. There is also one shot of the slide transition from sleep screen—which has a lot of great heads-up information—to the start screen.
There aren't a ton of answers yet, but what we do know you can find above or in Matt's piece: Windows Phone 7: Everything Is Different Now
Send an email to Wilson Rothman, the author of this post, at wilson@gizmodo.com.
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I think I am going to have see this in person. For some weird reason, I am not impressed. In fact, I found myself getting a little irritated at Microsoft because it doesn't seem that good?What am I missing here? Reply
@yoshi: as nice looking as it is etc, it seems to be more like a media center, than a proper platform OS, very limited like the zune, just big fonts and pictures. Replyyoshi promoted this comment@yoshi: I'm wondering the same thing, all the articles seem to be amazed by this but I don't really see what this gives you that other OS' don't. Sure its way better than the old Windows Mobile (which I currently have I'm sad to say) but I don't see why I would want this over an Android or something else especially if it doesn't multitask. I guess for Windows making a phone that doesn't crash is "magical". If it has 4G then we can talk turkey Replyyoshi promoted this commentWait, did you just say that it would be stupid to be unimpressed? Well, I'm not impressed, and I'm decidedly not stupid.
The breathless tone in the several articles I have read today on Giz regarding this phone is disconcerting. I have watched the videos; I see lots of eye candy, and a device that won't be available to buy until this fall. In other words, a UI that only exists in the land of make-believe.
I'll reserve judgement until I can actually test usability. Until then, it's only cool "looking" and nothing more. ReplyLaraPandion I promoted this commentEdited by PhyrePhox at 02/15/10 3:18 PM"No matter who you root for, to be anything short of impressed is stupid."I'm not really rooting for anyone - but I'm not impressed by the UI - therefore, by your proclamation, I am stupid. Thanks for the judgment. Reply
LaraPandion I promoted this comment@MacJedi: With a name like MacJedi you aren't rooting for anyone? Clearly you are rooting for the Jedi. Reply@LaraPandion I: Maybe he is more of a Jedi that works for McDonalds...... ReplyLaraPandion I promoted this comment@Mihos: Although being a proud McDonald's employee does not rule out being biased, it does have a high correlation with being stupid (at least if you are out of High-school and/or basing your screen name on it). Reply@LaraPandion I: I am rooting for the Jedi - you're right.But just because I'm a Mac fan don't assume I have an iPhone or can't appreciate anything non-Apple. I don't have an iPhone, I have an Env2. And my next phone will probably be Android-based. Reply
@LaraPandion I: I honestly did not mean that as a dig. I learned long ago to never make fun of someone's job.... unless they are in politics. Screw those guys. ReplyEdited by Mihos at 02/15/10 3:47 PMI know it's still way too early but does anyone have any speculation which carrier this phone will be on in the US? Reply@PurpleMonkeyDishwasher:: This isn't a phone, it's a phone OS, so while their premium partner was said to be ATT, I'd say all of them, just like you can find WinMo phones on all carriers now. ReplyPurpleMonkeyDishwasher: promoted this comment@cmaceachen: Yah that's a good point. For some reason i thought there was custom hardware involved as well. I'm getting ahead of myself. Reply@PurpleMonkeyDishwasher:: MS has set minimum hardware requirements for the phones they'll allow the OS to be licensed for, so they'll all meet a minimum standard and the OS will perform as intended. Could very well end up being a specific phone showing up on ATT at some point... a zune phone even? who knows... ReplyI'm curious, is there no accelerometer on this phone? Cuase that would seem an obvious feature even my cheap and nasty C903 has that! ReplyLaraPandion I promoted this commentI like the look of it a lot. But I have a feeling when I'm in a hurry that stupid graphic back and forth from the home screen is going to get annoying. Lag via the UI visualization is still lag none the less. ReplyEdited by TonyWonder at 02/15/10 3:02 PM@TonyWonder: The Zune HD has the same interface and I see no lag, on the slower older Tegra 1 chipset. Reply@Donatom3:
Hes not talking graphics lag, he is talking about time wasted waiting for the visualizations to complete. ReplyTonyWonder promoted this commentIt does look impressive, minus the few hiccups. I'm not sure if I'm sold on the interface quite yet. Not sure if those swipe tabs are the most intuitive way to sort through information, but I'll wait to pass judgment until I know more about the UI. It's a little reminiscent of the new Xbox live interface, where they assume that you want to swipe through more tabs to get information you used to be able to see on one page of the old dashboard. On a slightly more positive note, aesthetically, I think the design is pretty sexy. ReplyAre there really that many people that play video games, let alone want some kind of phone that can interact with said games?I just don't know what the benefits are, I'm honestly asking. Reply
FriarNurgle promoted this comment@Russ Savage: Considering games dominate Apple's App store, MS is on the right track. Only problem is that Apple has been on that track for a really long time already. Time will tell. ReplyIf they can keep a tight control on the hardware specs, this will be a phone to reckon with. This may actually change my feelings about WinMo phones. By the time my iPhone contract expires, these may be mature enough to consider. ReplyDon Nguyen promoted this commentThis is definitely a game changer. Impressive no doubt about that. I am curious, like other commenters here, regarding the degree of customization. Probably there could be something for the font and the animation. This is a good direction for Windows Phone 7. ReplyDon Nguyen promoted this commentI wonder if you'll be able to stream from your homegroup etc. And the through the Xlive marketplace such as music and video from Netflix etc. very impressive so far. Reply
Lookin good!
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