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Thursday, February 25, 2010

Windows 7 Phone Series... Finally

When I first heard about the Windows 7 Phone Series, I was hopeful.  I really love my Zune, and I was hoping for some kind of integration with a phone platform (I was even willing to make Windows Mobile my primary phone platform if it only had Zune integration).

When I first heard about this device, I didn't believe it.  I wondered if someone out there was playing a great prank (Microsoft made no apparent mention of it on their site).  After researching a bit, I discovered the rumors were in-fact true.

I have one word... Awesome.

Not only did they incorporate Zune, they use a similar UI to that of the Zune HD.  Anyone who's used a Zune HD consistently will understand that this is very exciting news.

I do have a few fears about it all.  First, I hope the update schedule on this device isn't as slow as it's been on the Zune platform.  Second, I hope this isn't an announcement for a device that'll be released in 2012.  Third, I hope hardware vendors DON'T incorporate their OWN UI to run on top of this one.  Fourth, Internet Explorer???  Really???  Why not use a webkit based browser... oh wait... this is a Microsoft device.  I will say that in the demo, IE's performance actually did look pretty good.

I'm excited for this platform to be available, let's just hope the hardware production quality is on-par with that of the Zune HD.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Tablet hype - re-visited

I still feel like I'm missing something here.

All incredulity aside, I still don't see this selling as well as other people do. I was disappointed in the device's feature-set. Don't get me wrong, I didn't at all believe some of the rumors that were floating around out there regarding TV tuners, and built in cameras. I never expected the Apple tablet to be THAT capable - at least in it's initial iteration.

The OS was the disappointment for me. This device seems as though the hardware engineers put in all the work, and the software engineers - well, the OS software engineers slept. Even though the individual applications look absolutely beautiful (contacts, calendar, etc.), the OS is lack-luster. Apple didn't do anything to give ME a good reason to buy one. They stuck an iphone on an air compressor, and blew it up... It looks different, but it's not.