Windows Phone 7 – design / content separation
It seems as though Windows Phone have taken a leaf from web design when it came to developing the Windows Phone Dev platform, as design is separated from the ‘functional’ code in a similar way to the relationship between html and css. (Not saying that design doesn’t serve a function, but you know what we mean!)
The various parts can be styled separately, allowing developers to get an app working in a basic state before handing it over to designers to make the whole thing attractive and user friendly. A great example can be found over on the Microsoft blog, as the designer wasn’t even aware they were working on a phone app!
Is this Microsoft removing yet another barrier to development, by allowing for app coders who may not have a penchant for design?
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Getting a feel for Windows Phone 7
We've seen the videos, the online demos, and read the reviews - but do we really know what it's going to look like?
Thankfully Microsoft have uploaded an interactive video allowing us to see how it will really look and behave: http://www.windowsphone7.com/
Our initial reaction is that it appears very smooth, and clutter free. The simple, square designs appear clean and modern, making the app-cluttered iPhone and busy start menu of Windows Phone 6.5 seem dated. The fluid movements are a nice touch, bringing the design to a standard we are familiar with from Vista and Windows 7.
It's nice to see it 'in use', with everyday actions taking place. There is a point during the 'Outlook' demo that we got a little confused - but it's just seamlessly allowing you to edit Office documents, and respond to calendar invites. The smoothness really is impressive, and we are crossing our fingers that this video hasn't been edited too much!
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We did think when we first saw the Windows Marketplace with the initial scattering of apps, that Microsoft might have forgotten something important. With the iPhone app store stocking over 225,000 apps, 70,000 on the Android Market, and 2700 in the Blackberry App World, the 1000 apps available on Windows Marketplace seemed like a poor effort (figures from July 2010).
Bearing in mind that Windows Marketplace was only launched in October 2009, a full year and 3 months after the iPhone App Store, it is to be expected that it will take a while to become established. Also, it launched while Windows Mobile 6.5 was the latest offering, an OS which has received mixed reviews.
Windows Phone 7, due for release later this autumn, operates in a completely different way to 6.5, and will not be available as an upgrade. Instead, a whole host of new apps designed specifically for this platform will be required.
Can an already sparse app store cope with Windows Phone 7?
Microsoft are aware that they need a decent, competitive App Store in order to attract new customers to their Windows Phone 7 platform when it launches. They have been busy encouraging their staff to go home and write apps in their spare time, and now seem to be encouraging outside developers to give it a go.
Microsoft are offering the development tools as a free download, and have even created a website where users can post their ideas for apps, thus giving developers everything they need to start coding Windows Phone 7 apps.
Go and offer your app suggestions at: http://www.mobileappmatch.com/
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We continue to wait for our developers phone, eagerly awaiting the postman, sat on the doorstep - hoping today might be the day... (ok, perhaps not quite that excited, but it would be nice if it arrived soon).
In the interim there are still some new reviews coming out from a general user perspective. We especially like the Q&A's section in this report, as it shows us where Microsoft have put their priorities. As the Zune player does not seem to have all it's functionality migrated to Windows Phone 7, then Microsoft are not 'doing an Apple' and just turning a popular music player into a phone.
Instead, what they seem to have focused on (and something which has bugged me in both iOS3 and 4, as well as Windows Mobile 6.5), is proper full functionality of Outlook.
The main feature of a smartphone for me is the ability to access the internet quickly and easily while on the move. These days that means checking emails as a basic requirement, and ideally the options to do all the things you can do from your PC whilst out and about.
Decent Outlook integration has been lacking, and it is paramount that Microsoft themselves are the first to really set a benchmark and show that this is possible. This could really be the dealbreaker that could win over the BlackBerry brigade, as it finally offers a better way of managing those mails.
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New app launching soon!
We have been busy getting things ready for a new app launching soon! We aren't going to spoil the surprise but will let you know that it is going to help with ending a certain bad habit...
The product will be launching on Windows Marketplace shortly.
Watch this space!
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