I wanted to put down some early thoughts on why I can’t see myself switching back to Windows Mobile after getting the iPhone.
Just having switched in the last month I am certainly a late iPhone adopter. When it first hit the market I thought it was an overhyped expensive device for the Apple Elite and did not see the appeal right away.
I had just gotten my first Windows Mobile smartphone a Motorola Q9h Global and was not interested in shelling out $600 anyway. So I used the Q for about 15 months, then while listening to the guys over at Mobile Tech Moment and Mobility Today constantly repeating the phrase “ It’s simple, intuitive and it just works” I thought maybe I should give it a try so when at&t had the 8gb refurbished for $99.00 I jumped on it, I arrived two days later in pretty much good as new condition, setup and activation was a breeze, and it was up and running in minutes.
My biggest complaint about the Q and WM 6/6.1 was that syncing podcasts daily was never very convienent (I downloaed into iTunes, imported into Windows media player then sync’d to Sansa e260 for daily podcast listening). As I am on the road in sales and spend about 6 hours a day behind the wheel, I like to have easy access to my listening material, and the iPhone has made this a much more pleasant experience. Everthing syncs easily and clears off the phone on the next sync after I have finished listening to it, Mobile Media Player was a nightmare to navigate and find the songs you wanted to listen to.
Application installation was not always straightforward: some worked through active sync but some had to be copied to the device and then run. However, on the iPhone, application installation is just simple and intuitive.
Video playback on the Q was lousy at best, choppy with constant lockups. Now, no matter if I stream Youtube or watch a movie or TV show loaded on the device, the video is a big bright fluid experience.
I’m looking forward MMS on 3.0 as it would be nice to send images from the field to my production shop when they have a question about a particular installation but it’s not something I “miss” as it never worked on the Q.
I thought I would miss the physical keyboard but it really only took a couple days to get used to the onscreen touch keyboard.
The only thing I can see myself still using my Q for is the rare occasion when I need to tether my laptop out on the road, but even this is negated by the much richer web browsing experience, better signal strength at my home and outstanding media functionality provided by the iPhone has led me to the conclusion that the only “iPhone killer” will be the next generation iPhone.
Bob Brobst
Twitter: @ApexMI
rhbrobst@gmail.com
Welcome to the wonderful world that is the iPhone! Once you go iPhone, you never……ah……can’t think of a ryhme.
It took me 8 years of Windows Mobile to finally make the switch and oh boy am I glad!
I knew despite it’s drawbacks that it was going to to provide a better experience then WM. And they keep knocking it out of the park with every update and hardware release. Great Article!
Bob,
Great read. Nice to see another convert. WM has it advantages but I think the iPhone is a better device, With the 3.0 firmware update it is really going to be hard to beat.
Steve
Another convert whose seen the light. Welcome to the family. WM is nice and has it’s place but for everyday use I have found the iPhone a much more pleasant experience. The only smartphone that will beat the iPhone is another iPhone. LOL, Coming soon to an Apple Store near you.
Windows Mobile 6.5 will have a lot of new apps, features and technologies that will be included and introduced. Just to name a few: internet explorer mobile, live mesh for mobile, silverlight 2 for mobile, windows media player mobile, windows mobile marketplace,.NET compact framework, .NET mobile, compact framework, and SQL server compact. The Windows Mobile contact list will get a huge visual boost and be more touch-friendly as well, with larger menu items and an updated look. Microsoft has officially confirmed a new web browser for Windows Mobile, Internet Explorer 6. The hottest new features and apps include: My Phone–a backup and recovery service for contacts, photos and other data stored on a mobile device. My Phone will also be available for phones running Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1. The new Windows Marketplace for Mobile is a centralized place to buy increasingly popular mobile applications. Windows Mobile 6.5 features a new user interface and “honeycomb”. A customizable start screen with hexagonal tiles for each program that are designed to be easier to use on touch-screen phones. The Windows Mobile start menu can be customized with Internet applications like weather or stock reports, that are automatically updated. The new Windows Mobile 6.5 user interface is designed to be more “finger friendly,” You can also move icons up or down in the new layout. In addition, the new Windows Mobile Home screen will support special widgets, which will give status information like missed calls, new messages, etc. Another new feature of Windows Mobile 6.5 allows people to go directly to waiting voice mail, text messages or other information when unlocking their phones. Microsoft Recite, came out of the company's research group. It allows people to record voice notes or other audio files on Windows Mobile phones and then search for keywords using their voice. LG is set to launch 50 new Windows Mobile devices over the next 4 years. And to boot you will get widgets in windows mobile 6.5. The widgets will appear to function just as full applications do, and will have their own icons in Windows Mobile menus and access to web content. The widgets will be powered, in part, by the new Mobile Internet Explorer 6, which will give them access to Flash and ActiveX controls. The widgets will also have control of the SK menu bar. According to Microsoft, the widgets can be written with standard web technologies, such as HTML, CSS, AJAX, and JavaScript.
Windows Mobile 6.5 will have a lot of new apps, features and technologies that will be included and introduced. Just to name a few: internet explorer mobile, live mesh for mobile, silverlight 2 for mobile, windows media player mobile, windows mobile marketplace,.NET compact framework, .NET mobile, compact framework, and SQL server compact. The Windows Mobile contact list will get a huge visual boost and be more touch-friendly as well, with larger menu items and an updated look. Microsoft has officially confirmed a new web browser for Windows Mobile, Internet Explorer 6. The hottest new features and apps include: My Phone–a backup and recovery service for contacts, photos and other data stored on a mobile device. My Phone will also be available for phones running Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1. The new Windows Marketplace for Mobile is a centralized place to buy increasingly popular mobile applications. Windows Mobile 6.5 features a new user interface and “honeycomb”. A customizable start screen with hexagonal tiles for each program that are designed to be easier to use on touch-screen phones. The Windows Mobile start menu can be customized with Internet applications like weather or stock reports, that are automatically updated. The new Windows Mobile 6.5 user interface is designed to be more “finger friendly,” You can also move icons up or down in the new layout. In addition, the new Windows Mobile Home screen will support special widgets, which will give status information like missed calls, new messages, etc. Another new feature of Windows Mobile 6.5 allows people to go directly to waiting voice mail, text messages or other information when unlocking their phones. Microsoft Recite, came out of the company's research group. It allows people to record voice notes or other audio files on Windows Mobile phones and then search for keywords using their voice. LG is set to launch 50 new Windows Mobile devices over the next 4 years. And to boot you will get widgets in windows mobile 6.5. The widgets will appear to function just as full applications do, and will have their own icons in Windows Mobile menus and access to web content. The widgets will be powered, in part, by the new Mobile Internet Explorer 6, which will give them access to Flash and ActiveX controls. The widgets will also have control of the SK menu bar. According to Microsoft, the widgets can be written with standard web technologies, such as HTML, CSS, AJAX, and JavaScript.