I have been using windows OS for mobile phone for ages. I started with the famous Qtek s100 (magician) since 2003. Then I upgraded to the p3330 (artemis) with GPS included.
From my dear p3300 I changed to the iPhone first generation, then iPhone 3g and currently iPhone 3GS.
Up to now windows mobile has been an OS for freaks like me or business people because it was the best platform to sync with exchange. Then iPhone and blackberries came into play and since then windows mobile has taken a less important role.
Few weeks ago windows announced in barcelona a brand new OS for phones: the windows phone 7 series. A pretty bad name if I have to say… specially when they have to compete with a number one iPhone and second Android with much better names.
The new OS will not be available until the 4 quarter of the year, but you can find some videos and tests on internet.
People would wonder if there is a place for Windows when iPhone is so strong and Android is coming even stronger. A lot of iPhone users are fed up of the limitations of their iPhones (closed platform with a dictatorship filter for development).
Palm has also tried with the Pre but who has heard about them lately? It will probably die. The reason why is because they have tried to be an iPhone killer by being like an iPhone.
Android is similar but much more customizable, and open source, but there was no room for another iPhone-like (closed) runner.
Windows has adopted a different approach. They have not tried to copy iPhone at all, in fact they are bringing something new into the game, something that the iPhone or the android do not have…. and it could be big.
Windows phone 7 series introduces a very nice interface (but so is the iPhone) with a new way of approaching the experience. Windows tries to create a unique phone interface for each of the users. A custom experience.
How?
It introduces a concept they call hubs. People hub, for instance will be about the people you care (your contacts) and how to interact with them, bringing together facebook, all different ways to keep up with them, so no simple address book for phones and contact details, then an app for facebook, another for twitter, etc…
Instead, you go to Peter Smith, and there you will automatically see the pictures he has posted in flickr, the status update in twitter or facebook, etc…
I love the approach. At the end of the day you will not care about so many apps (twitter client, facebook, flickr, foursquare…), you care about people and the idea of putting everything into one place is great.
I did not play with it but thumbs up.
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