Windows Phone 7 Reviews are in: Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have Ourselves a Race

Business Insider ^ | 10/21/2010 | Matt Buchanan, Gizmodo

[SeekAndFind]

Let's just get it out of the way: Windows Phone 7 is the most exciting thing to happen to phones in a long time.

WHY IT MATTERS

There's a million reasons why Windows Phone 7 matters. It's the most important PC company in the world, battered, bruised and badly lagging, coming back to the next generation of PCs, after crashing on a bunch of rocks and abandoning ship. It's potentially the most tectonic shift in mobile since the launch of iPhone and Android. It's Microsoft starting over and betting massively on its future.

SNIP SNIP

USING IT

Windows Phone 7 is the most aggressively different, fresh approach to a phone interface since the iPhone. Everything is superflat and two dimensional. Ultra-basic squares, primary colors and lists. Fonts are gigantic and clean, white text on an almost universally black void. It's fluid. This spartan nature is emblematic of the entire OS, for better and for worse. You don't get a lot of choices; there are no custom ringtones, for instance. It just is how it is. And while it looks and feels very different in some regards, it's still uncanny just how deeply inspired Windows Phone is by the iPhone in its philosophy, versus anything else Microsoft or anybody else has made.

SNIP SNIP

THE VERDICT

Windows Phone 7 is really great. A solid foundation, it's elegant and joyful. True, a lot of that greatness is potential. But if anybody can follow through on their platform, it's Microsoft. Should you buy this instead of an iPhone or Android phone though? In six months, after the ecosystem has filled out, the answer will be more clear. But right now, Window Phone is definitely an option. Considering where Microsoft was just a year ago, that's saying a hell of a lot.

[SeekAndFind]

CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE COMPLETE REVIEW

[Alex Murphy]

Ping for later

[DManA]

Google’s had it for a couple of months.

[Incorrigible]

It rocks!

http://www.windowsphone7.com

[Jerry Attrick]

I love my android but will seriously look at the Windows 7 phone.Partly because there are still un-resolved issues with the android and partly because Ballmer gave $485,000 to defeat the income tax law the libs are trying to pass here in Washington. He appears to be the only (at least fiscal) conservative among the big three - Apple, Google and Microsoft.

[libh8er]

How much did MS pay Business Insider to write this ?

[ixtl]

What carriers accept/market it? Sprint? AT&T? Verizon? Who?

[Paradox]

The reviews I have seen all say that the phone is quite good. Before it got stolen, I used my Zune a lot, the interface was very good. Apparently they put a lot of Zune in this interface. I am not surprised that they have apparently succeeded.

[thinkthenpost]

That's interesting news about Ballmer, my understanding is Gates is really pushing for the income tax in WA. Yet one more thing to get out an vote no on, I hope the folks in Washington turn out. Way to go Steve.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: What carriers accept/market it? Sprint? AT&T? Verizon? Who?

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Microsoft announced Windows Phone 7 and the handsets that the new mobile platform will launch on. Below is a list of the new Windows Phone 7 devices broken down by carrier in the United States. Check out GottaBeMobile’s coverage for a quick overview of the Window Phone 7 UI :

1) T-Mobile Windows Phone 7 Devices:

•Dell Venue Pro – 4.1″ vertical slider with Gorilla Glass

•HTC HD 7 – 4.3″ handset with 720P video recording

•HTC 7 Mozart – 3.7″ handset with an 8MP camera, Xenon Flash, Dolby Mobile and SRS Wow HD virtual surround sound

2) AT&T Windows Phone 7 Devices:

•LG Quantum – 3.5″ horizontal slider with DLNA support built-in

•Samsung Focus – 4″ Super AMOLED handset. This is the thinnest WP7 device measuring just 9.9mm thick.

•HTC 7 Surround – 3.8″ handset designed for entertainment viewing. It has a pop-up speaker and kickstand.

3) Sprint Windows Phone 7 coming in 2011:

•HTC 7 Pro – 3.6″ horizontal slider with 720P video recording, geared towards business users.

4) Europe Only

•Samsung Omnia 7 – 4″ Super AMOLED handset that reportedly has a more heavy, durable construction than many other WP7 devices.

•HTC Trophy – 3.8″ handset with 720p video recording and a 5MP camera. This will be the cheapest of the WP7 handsets.

[Bookwoman]

I have the original Samsung Omnia and just love it. However, I have to be on Verizon because the other vendors don’t have very good service where I live and travel. I’m hoping Verizon is going to have one of these phones.

[Texan Tory]

With all the money and resources available to Microsoft for marketing, I’m surprised they didn’t come up with a better name than “Windows Phone 7.”

[SeekAndFind]

RE: How much did MS pay Business Insider to write this ?

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Business Insider did not write this review, they asked the reviewer (from the website : GIZMODO )if they could put it on their website.

The original article can be found here :

http://gizmodo.com/5668738/windows-phone-7-review?skyline=true&s=i

GIZMODO is a website that reviews a whole slew of technical gadgets that come out on the market.

Here’s another review of the Windows Phone 7 from CNET :

http://www.cnet.com/8301-17918_1-20020254-85.html

CNN gave it their review also here :

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/10/21/windows.phone.samsung.wired/

[capt. norm]

With all the money and resources available to Microsoft for marketing, I’m surprised they didn’t come up with a better name than “Windows Phone 7.”

It would seem that Microsoft wants to make the numeral "7" as a part of its trademark.

[BigBobber]

Competition is good!

[pgyanke]

Windows Phone 7 is the most aggressively different, fresh approach to a phone interface since the iPhone. Everything is superflat and two dimensional. Ultra-basic squares, primary colors and lists. Fonts are gigantic and clean, white text on an almost universally black void. It's fluid. This spartan nature is emblematic of the entire OS, for better and for worse. You don't get a lot of choices; there are no custom ringtones, for instance. It just is how it is. And while it looks and feels very different in some regards, it's still uncanny just how deeply inspired Windows Phone is by the iPhone in its philosophy, versus anything else Microsoft or anybody else has made.

I'm sorry... this whole paragraph just made me laugh.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: It would seem that Microsoft wants to make the numeral “7” as a part of its trademark.

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What if they did a major upgrade of the phone or their current OS, are they going to at a DOT after the 7? or will it be Windows Phone 8?

They’ve been experimenting with names for the longest time.

First it was Windows 3.1, then we had a slew of other names, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows VISTA (I’ve lost count ).

[USNBandit]

They should have named it Windows Phone Vista.

[brent13a]

Business Insider did not write this review, they asked the reviewer (from the website : GIZMODO )if they could put it on their website.

Which means that MS didn't have to pay anyone to write it because Gizmodo is a shill for MS and Google and anything else that might put a hurtin' on Apple. Remember the whole "stolen" iPhone 4 prototype fiasco......that was a Gizmodo blogger that was arrested. They've been at Apple's throat on their blogs ever since. So just like EVERYTHING in journalism there is yet again rampant conflict of interest. The real reviews I have been reading about MS Phone 7 (mostly overseas reviews) have been saying it's a mix of Vista and XP and equals "not quite there yet".

[brent13a]

This spartan nature is emblematic of the entire OS, for better and for worse. You don't get a lot of choices; there are no custom ringtones, for instance. It just is how it is. And while it looks and feels very different in some regards, it's still uncanny just how deeply inspired Windows Phone is by the iPhone in its philosophy, versus anything else Microsoft or anybody else has made.

"deeply inspired" -nice semantics. What "Smart Touch Phone" of this day and age doesn't HAVE to admit that it was inspired by Apple's Iphone? At a minimum they are all rapid responses to the profit, at a maximum their OS's are all heavily "inspired" by the Iphone OS.