Microsoft and Nokia’s new partnership is looking like the above.
No word on the hardware, yet, but it looks like things are moving in the right direction.
Any thoughts? Nokia and Microsoft in bed together – a good thing?
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by Tom
Microsoft and Nokia’s new partnership is looking like the above.
No word on the hardware, yet, but it looks like things are moving in the right direction.
Any thoughts? Nokia and Microsoft in bed together – a good thing?
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BenJPickett says
A good thing or not, neither of them have anything to loose from this partnership. They are both in a position with this market where any ground that they can gain is only a good thing.
On another note, Nokia makes some amazing handsets.
I was in a position (last night actually) at Costco my wife was getting a warranty replacement done on her phone and I have a dumb phone and we needed net access really quick. The only working display they had was Windows Phone 7. First, I’ve used Android extensively (I support about a dozen) and iPhone pretty regularly. I was absolutely floored by the interface and user experience, in the 15 minutes I was on it I could tell it was missing some very important things but I don’t think I’ve ever been that impressed by a user experience on a phone since the first Blackberry I used (around 2.0 or something and that was because of capability, not ease of use).
Eric Dye says
That’s awesome!
What was it that impressed you so much about the user experience?
BenJPickett says
Sorry about the delay, got slammed with work and had to cut internet time to stay caught up.
WP7 is fluid, makes sense and despite popular findings with MS and innovation, it is naturally intuitive and quick. The mobile browser was a bit choppy and felt patched together but until recently most mobile browsers have. I think what I liked the most is how the core functions with the phone, camera, contacts, mail and messaging felt and worked the same. The only “tiles” that really changed how I interacted with WM7 were for Media through the Zune interface and Documents with mobile Office. Both of which were still very easy to use and what I toyed with in Office was by far the best mobile document editor and organizer I’ve used on a small screen. Given another 5 minutes or so I would have liked to have had time with Excel. Based on what I’ve used from smart phones in the consumer arena given a real chance to reach a more mature state this could be a valuable addition and a viable solution. As opposed to Android, as that’s what I have the most experience with, every aspect feels like a different tool on the same device, not bad thing but very independent of other features. With touch being so important, as for typing and navigation, this is on par with the iPhone, I didn’t play games or anything like that just pinch-to-zoom and basic browsing. And for the 10 minutes I used it, I was much more impressed with the response and accuracy than most of the Android devices (Droid X and HTC Incredible being the 2 exceptions, which respond pretty much the same as iPhone and this particular WP7 handset) I’ve used.
The only thing that I’m seeing right now, even in the young life of all-encompassing Smart Phone and the manufacturers eco-systems, the phone OS is integrated so far into the companies services that once you’re in, it may be more trouble than it’s worth to get out. Think iTunes, everything that Google has built around Gmail, all of the capabilities MS has added to Hotmail and even RIM has started building a Blackberry eco-system to try and lock in their customers. It all makes purchasing a smart phone a very serious decision.
And just to note at WMC later last week, MS said they are doing away with the mobile browser the phones will be getting hardware accelerated versions of IE9 and real multi-tasking Q3-Q4 of this year; and (what really should have been available at launch) copy and paste with a host of other improvements coming in an update next month.
Eric Dye says
Insightful stuff!
I really appreciate you sharing your experience.
A HUGE help to those that are in the market for a new smartphone! Like you said, “It all makes purchasing a smart phone a very serious decision.”