Windows Mobile 6.5 finds love |
Register here for our next TechFlash Live networking event, March 23, featuring an expert panel discussing the future of online advertising.
Windows Mobile 6.5 finds love
Reporters and bloggers in Barcelona seem to be responding favorably to Windows Mobile 6.5, the update unveiled by Microsoft today at the Mobile World Congress. Much of the attention is focused on the overhauled Windows Mobile home screen (pictured), featuring a touch interface for scrolling vertically through the menu, then horizontally to quickly access selected content in specific categories. "Despite the improvements, Microsoft is still playing catch-up here. The iPhone, Palm's webOS and even Android out-gun Windows Mobile 6.5 in usability," writes Eric Zeman on InformationWeek. "The really bad news is that this new platform won't be in customer hands until the end of 2009. That's just too, too late."
Gizmodo's initial hands-on videos provide a good overview of the interface, which is reminiscent of Microsoft's Zune device.
"From this first touch on, it looks like Microsoft is back in the game," says the influential gadget blog. "They don't have the upper hand yet, but they are clearly waking up. We will see what happens and how deep these changes really are once it gets released."
Some people commenting on the Gizmodo post noted that the software seemed a little slow to respond. I saw a demo of the new interface during a briefing in Redmond last week, and I noticed the same thing. But the version I saw was alpha software, so it's worth reserving judgment on the performance until the code gets closer to final release.
Phones based on the new Windows Mobile interface aren't expected to be available until closer to the end of the year, which is one of the major downsides for Microsoft at this point.
About Todd Bishop
Todd Bishop is co-founder and managing editor of TechFlash. He has covered Microsoft and the technology industry for more than five years, most recently as a daily newspaper reporter and blogger based in Seattle.
READ FULL BIOGRAPHYRecent Sponsor Posts
Seattle University Software Engineering
Chinwe Okeke (MSE’08) pursued her graduate degree while working as a developer and technical analyst for the Boeing Company. She picked the SU-MSE program for small class sizes and real world learning opportunities offered through the academic service-learning and capstone projects.
The MSE program at Seattle University is geared for working professionals with classes offered in the evenings. The program builds upon the computing experience of its students and offers courses in a variety of technical and management areas of software engineering, with an emphasis on teamwork and a disciplined approach to problem solving.
Marchex is one of Seattle’s largest ad technology companies with 300+ employees providing call and click based performance marketing products, and managing over $100m in ad budget for tens of thousands of advertisers. Our customers range from local businesses to the Fortune 500.
Our talented and creative product engineering group is hiring.
If you are an innovative software design engineer interested in solving difficult problems at scale, across a wide array of technologies from Lucene to Hadoop to Asterisk and SIP then we’d love to hear from you!
Apply now.
Technology Tax Planning – Did You Take The Deduction?
Technology companies require professional advisors who can assist in all aspects of the business. The BDO Technology Practice provides a full range of services tailored to help address the changing needs of domestic and international companies. In addition to core audit and tax services, BDO professionals can assist technology companies with:
· Revenue recognition
· Business combination accounting
· R&D tax credits
· Compensation and benefits
· Business valuations
Backed by 38 national offices and an international network in 110 countries, we have the domestic and global footprint to serve growing technology companies. Contact sphilpott@bdo.com (audit partner), mreeves@bdo.com (audit partner), psmith@bdo.com (tax partner), tzambito@bdovaluation.us.com (valuation), tfiscus@bdo.com, Director, 206.624.2020
Job Listings
- Software Development Engineer - Display Advertising
- Business Services Company
- Director Enterprise Architecture - IT
- Starbucks Coffee Company
- Senior Program Manager - External - 713665
- Microsoft Corporation
- Quality Improvement Specialist
- HCR ManorCare
- Senior Software Development Engineer - eXtreme Computing Group - 708427
- Microsoft Corporation
