Slashdot Mirror


Windows Mobile 7 Phone Release Delayed Again

jcoventry writes "Microsoft is delaying Windows Mobile 7, and it is thought new phones with the operating system are unlikely to reach the market before 2010. Microsoft partners who had expected to have a final release in their hands by early 2009 have been told that it won't be ready until the second half of 2009. Partners include companies like Verizon, Motorola and Samsung, all of which plan new phones that include the Mobile Windows 7 OS. Windows Mobile 7 is expected to have features like gesture recognition and speech input."

9 of 131 comments (clear)

  1. Android by ohtani · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Welp, there's always android for now.

    --
    Pancakes. Oh I blew it.
  2. Too slow by viljun · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Microsoft is just too slow and clumsy nowadays. Mobile Windows 7 may already be old at the time it hit's the market.

    --
    Ville / Varuste.net
    1. Re:Too slow by tobiasly · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Imo, version 5 and 6 were both old by their release. Windows mobile has a lot of nice features but the interface is boring and lacking and the OS is buggy.

      You ain't kidding. Its resemblance to desktop Windows is striking though... you have to reboot your phone every few days or else everything starts running slowly, rendering halfway-drawn dialog boxes on the screen, and eventually crashing. And talk about poor integration... every app that has you enter an email, phone number, or contact name does it differently. Some use auto-complete, and others don't. It's just a mess and I can't wait for Android to come out.

  3. gestures by nighty5 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm no iPhone fanboy but it seems ironic that after 6 iterations of Windows Mobile, Microsoft still hasn't released an update to handle gestures.

    iPhone is way ahead of the game in this area, and I'm sure Apple intend to exploit this position agressively.

    Microsoft must be kicking themselves for resting up during the last couple of revisions, whilst Apple takes away significant market share and "wow factor".

    p.s i don't own an iPhone :D

  4. Typical Slashdot by DavidD_CA · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Let's not mention this:

    Microsoft will push for a minor update its 6.1 version as early as this year still, calling it 6.2 -- which will have some bells and whistles like an improved browser that can display Flash and Ajax applications.

    Let's also not forget that for a significant number of business users, WM 6 is quite sufficient and still beats the iPhone, Android, and Blackberry hands-down in a corporate environment.

    For proof, take a look at the latest WM6 phones from HTC and Samsung, such as the Touch Pro about to come out in a few weeks.

    All of these competing phone OSes are making improvements (such as the iPhone 2's ability to activesync), but by the time they catch up with WM6 in the business world it will be 2010, when Microsoft has released WM7.

    --
    -David
  5. If you're going there, the iPhone is more flexibil by SuperKendall · · Score: 2, Insightful

    While you may be right in terms of the market, if you just want the best phone with the most flexibility and software, it's definitely going to be on WM6.x for the forseeable future, as long as you're willing to mod your phone

    I'd have to say you're far better off getting an iPhone and Jailbreaking it if you are allowing mods into the picture. There's already a lot of useful software from the App Store and from the jailbroken apps today.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  6. Re:Falling behind... by ceoyoyo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you know C and it takes you longer than twenty-four hours to become familiar enough with Objective-C to program an iPhone then you don't know C.

    Objective-C is an extension to C, not some completely new language.

  7. Re:Yawn... MS isn't in the running on this one by DECS · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It fits into the 2006 list. Symbian market share is now down to 55%, just as Microsoft's WiMo fell from 23% back in 2004 to today's 12%.

    Nokia is taking over Symbian and making it into an open source foundation because royalties are dropping rapidly. Nobody wants to pay for OS software. Without revenues (down 14%), Symbian can't afford to invest in modernizing.

    The era of Windows-like software platform licensing is over. From here on out, it will be integrated proprietary platforms (RIM and Apple) or free platforms (Google and Ubuntu). There's no need for paying for a commercial software OS. Symbian is adapting, Microsoft is pretending the climate isn't changing.

    Ballmer changes tune while dancing around Apple's success

  8. Re:Amusing to read that... by KevinKnSC · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Um, between Ballmer and Jobs, you've got the wrong reality-distorting Steve.