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Microsoft Secret Prototype Phone Stolen
bossanovalithium writes to tell us that details are emerging about the theft of a top secret prototype mobile device stolen from an executive's pocket. Time to start watching eBay. "There are fears that leaks regarding the features and early bugs in the software could mar the launch of Windows Mobile 6.5 which the company hopes will give it the edge over the iPhone and the new Google Android operating system. The new product includes support for touch-screen technology similar to that found on the Apple iPhone. Among the features offered in the new service unveiled by Microsoft's chief executive, Steve Ballmer, on Tuesday, is a version of Windows Marketplace for Mobiles, which is set to compete with the popular Apple's App Store and provide easy ways to download music and products to mobiles. "
Why would they even be giving out a secret prototype to an executive? Shouldn't it be behind a locked door? Or was this just a way to generate hype?
Posts not to be taken literally. Almost everything is sarcasm.
that it's an iPhone with the word "Microsoft" engraved on the back
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
I'm not apple fanboy, but explain again how having a phone that will have a touchscreen like the iPhone and an online music store like iTunes is supposed to give Microsoft an "edge" over Apple.
Their new phone wont have GPS capabilities.
but someone stole it...
Yeah exactly, wouldn't it be better from a marketing standpoint to release it as Windows Mobile 7, thereby cementing in the minds of the people that all things 7 are new and good?
Windows Mobile 6.5 apparently doesn't even support Capacitive touch screens. It is also lacking in anything really interesting, according to one engadget reporter. It IS kind of pretty.
Think about it though, in the history of computing, what competitive advantage has Microsoft ever had? Nothing, except momentum, starting with momentum given to them by IBM. It has always been enough for them to make a cheap copy of someone else's technology at a later date, making it 'good enough.' That is there only competitive advantage. And it's worked amazingly well for them. So it is understandable that Balmer would think a product that does nothing other than what their competitors already do would give them a competitive advantage. It always has before.
Qxe4
My Boss has a WinMo6 phone that locks up when he answers calls from his wife. He calls this a feature.
Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer today announced a new era at the Seattle software company, announcing their entry six^Wnine^Wtwelve months hence into the cell phone market with the exciting new Zune Phone, to finally get the company properly into the rapidly changing digital media landscape.
Ballmer, speaking to a group of trained-monkey analysts and cynical bloggers at the company headquarters today, unveiled mockups prototypes of the Zune Phone, which combines the Zune music player (with wifi for "squirting" songs), a CDMA cell phone, a PDA, an eight gigabyte hard disk, a camera, a laser pointer and a bottle opener into one semi-portable device. It will also allow you to "squirt" music to and from your Windows 7^W8 Service Pack 1^W2 Media Center computer.
The product underscores the shift the company has attempted to make in recent years from an office supply company to a consumer electronics darling as it aims not to become utterly obsolete in the digital future. "And even Linux fanboys admit our hardware is pretty nice," Ballmer said before the somewhat sullen and cynical crowd. "It's definitely the best music player we've ever made."
Ballmer called the Zune Phone a revolutionary device that will leapfrog current technology. He said the company expects to sell about 100 million of them next year. "Maybe two hundred million. This is so the coolest music player ever." Unlike the MP3 player market, which the iPod has dominated even with the entrance of Microsoft's Zune, the cell phone market is much more fragmented. "There is not one device that everyone buys," said completely independent analyst Rob Enderle, "but this fabulous device should trounce all comers. I've ordered three already in anticipation."
Weighing in at only 15 ounces (425 grams), with a 5-inch 640-by-480 pixel screen, the $498 (with three-year $80/month contract) Z-Phone, a rebadged version of the LG Smart Display from 2003 with new firmware, looks like a Classic Brown Zune (to come in mission, chocolate, corduroy and meconium) with a phone touchpad in place of its imitation scroll wheel. It runs Windows Mobile, Pocket Internet Explorer, Pocket Microsoft Office, Pocket Solitaire and Pocket Pool. MSN will supply e-mail, mapping, search and other Internet services to the Z-Phone. It also features an amazing 1.3 megapixel (300,000 pixels interpolated) black and white camera. Battery life is estimated at up to four hours in Microsoft tests.
To better work with its content partners and ensure that you, the user, can rest safe in the knowledge that the artists and their representatives have been paid properly for all their hard work, Microsoft has limited "squirtable" songs to encrypted WMA files purchased from the Zune Music Store, which can be listened to three times or within three days before automatically being deleted from both the Zune Phone and the Media Center computer. Songs may also be "squirted" between two Zune Phones (though not the original Zune) if both are registered with Microsoft as being linked to that installation of Media Center. Users are advised to purchase Microsoft Zune Secure Headphones ($129), which encrypt the signal between the Zune Phone and your ears, as playback quality is degraded on conventional "analog hole" earphones or when playing back unencrypted MP3 files. Phone calls may be made to or received from any number on the network carrier you bought the Zune Phone from, with only a 99-cent charge for humming a song to someone you call or are called by on the phone or ten cents per use of the camera, laser pointer or bottle opener. Microsoft will also pay $20 from each Zune Phone sold to Universal Music. In addition to the ability to "squirt" songs, the user may "squirt" his calls, which are stored on Microsoft Zune Live servers and cost $40 per month to access.
In other news, Ballmer said that Microsoft had reached over 600 music downloads since introducing it
http://rocknerd.co.uk
What's wrong with cascading menus is that there's not enough real-estate on a mobile device to do them well. It becomes an exercise in patience and fine motor skills. It takes a remarkable number of gestures to get to some arbitrary app (up to seven on the WM phone I suffered with for 3 months) and there isn't enough real-estate to put all the apps one commonly uses on the front page. Cascading menus are OK on a PC, endurable (barely) on a netbook, and intolerable on a mobile device. Microsoft apparently thinks that users will endure decreased usability and eyestrain for a consistent interface across their PC, netbook and mobile devices. It appears that in some cases they're right. But I suspect it's because the users haven't adequately explored the alternatives.
What is important on a mobile device is navigation on a small screen with imprecise gestures. The best I've ever experienced was a tab-based interface (LauncherX) on Palm -- you move between screens of applications by rocking left and right, and rock down to choose an app. I had about 40 apps in 5 categories and could get to any of them in 2-3 seconds. The second best was the iPod Touch -- wiping to different screens of apps is fast and something a toddler could pick up in minutes. Third is Blackberry, (trackball) which only has one "page" but supports hierarchical folders. Even at that, you have to choose your app placement carefully to avoid spending all your time opening and closing folders. The absolute worst is tapping "Start", then "Programs", then "Accessories", then "Entertainment" and so forth. Try another gui -- practically any other current mobile gui -- and you'll find that just about any operation is faster and more intuitive.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.