- November 11, 2009 3:12 pm
You would think that after numerous missed deadlines and broken promises, a company such as Garmin who has been hyping up their Nuvifone offerings for well over a year now would have something that would truly drop our collective jaws. Sadly, with the latest announcement of all new Nuvifone M20′s dropping Garmin’s proprietary OS in favor of WinMo 6.5, a grim painting is starting to form on this once great concept. This is but one example of how a perfect idea on paper can falter and become a sad disappointment once it materializes.
Those of you who picked up an M20 before this decree went out can will be able to pick up the WinMo 6.5 download for free (some saving grace I guess.) The countries named that are to receive the new Windows love include Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Czech, Turkey as well as “elsewhere by the close of 2009″. Strange that the western world is left out of the loop though not the first time we’ve had to sit back and watch our fellow Eastern geeks receive such lavish attention.
It may seem sad that some will miss out on the 6.5 love fest. But if you’re like me, an “upgrade” to WinMo 6.5 is anything but. Where do you stand?
BGR
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And another nail in the Windows Mobile 6.5 coffin. As if it wasn’t bad enough already, Motorola, a major manufacturer who has supported Windows Mobile for ages is “waiting” to see Microsoft’s next move in the mobile market meaning 6.5 ain’t gonna cut it! This is in line with earlier statements of a “two, strategic mobile os approach” as Motorola’s Christy Wyat was quoted saying:
we (Motorola) are waiting for the next generation of platform software from Microsoft before it will begin making Windows Mobile devices again
Ouch….again. The two strategic platforms Mrs. Wyat mentions are obviously (1) Android, and (2) Windows Mobile 7? I can’t imaging them pumping out WinMo 6.1 devices for the next year alongside WinMo 6.5 while waiting for WinMo7. Though I’ve seen stranger things.
What do you think? Is the fact Microsoft royally screwed up their mobile os clearly apparent yet?
PhoneScoop
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The reviews of Windows Mobile 6.5 are trickling in and the overall consensus is rather bleak. So far I’ve seen the words “suck” and “Windows Mobile 6.5″ used together, describing each other quite a bit today. I’m sure camp M isn’t too thrilled. Though the Balms knows how to get a crowd going with his at times crazy onstage antics. Can his endless enthusiasm for 1998 tech and countless pep talks carry WinMo through until version 7 arrives sometime late next year? While I dog WinMo a lot, I am still hoping and praying Windows Mobile 7 really brings something to the table as is widely known, competition is good. Oh, in case you needed some reassurance on these claims of overall 6.5 suckiness, a few of the bigger names finding WinMo 6.5 rather uninspiring include:
- Tech Digest (Not as good as “others” [read: Android and iPhone])
So what’s your early take? Regardless if you’ve actually “felt” WinMo 6.5 in your hands or are merely commenting on screenshots and videos, (I promise, it’s not that much better in real life), do you feel as if the wait until next year and Windows Mobile 7 is an eternal voyage with no end in sight?
- September 3, 2009 1:59 pm
If you run with the WinMo crowd, you’re no doubt bored with Windows Mobile 6.5 already (because you’ve probably been using it for weeks to months now) and have already set your sights on Windows Mobile 7. To the uninformed general public, Windows Mobile 7 is something that they shouldn’t expect to see or touch until it’s time to kill a 2010 turkey. However, some speculating and bullet points put out by UX Evangelist builds a pretty solid case concerning Microsoft dropping some info and possibly hands on time with early beta builds of Windows Mobile 7.
The reasoning includes a history of big announcements at PDC as well as slip ups on Microsoft employee’s LinkdIn profiles to interpretation of Microsoft slides highlighting Windows Mobile roadmaps. As far as the history of big announcements go, Windows 7 is already out of the bag as is the Zune HD with Office 14 not exactly holding that “wow” factor I would choose to lead a keynote with.
Does the UX Evangelist have an weight to his claims or is he a mile from base?
WM Experts, UX Evangelist
While Steve Ballmer aka “The Balms” may be steadfast on his belief and assertion that Windows Mobile will always be a single OS in the sense that their won’t be several tiers like the desktop variant, new information that is coming out seems to suggest otherwise. With the recent leak of the HTC Leo ROM which incorporates the new TouchFlo 3D 2.6, we can see that the interface appears to be moving more towards the finger users in the world and eschewing the trusty but old stylus. Further adding fuel to the good ‘ol rumor fire comes by way of DigiTimes with new information that an actual “Touch Interface” update to Windows Mobile 6.5 is due out sometime around February 2010. Now, this upgrade won’t be a new OS, merely an update to the October 1st release of Windows Mobile 6.5. Windows Mobile 7 on the other hand isn’t slated for public consumption until long into next year — Q4 of 2010 to be exact. So why bring a touch interface update to 6.5 later in the game?
