I’ve been an iPhone user for a couple of years now, but it’s always nice to get the chance to spend some time with the other smartphone platforms out there. Recently I’ve gotten to play with my first Windows Phone 7 phone, the HTC HD7 (T-Mobile). It is among the first of the WP7 phones on the market, with a giant screen and plenty of features.

I’m going to do my best to break this review down into two main sections. First, I’m going to concentrate on the hardware of the HD7. Then I’ll have a go at the Windows Phone 7 operating system.

Hardware

The first thing anyone notices about this phone is the large screen. The screen measures 4.3” which seems gigantic when compared to say, the iPhone 4′s which is only 3.5”. This makes things like playing games and watching videos rather nice. The downside is that the phone itself has to be larger to accommodate such a screen. It takes some time to get used to carrying around a phone this large. Thankfully it is nice and slim, so slipping it into a pocket isn’t any trouble.

They say that size isn’t everything, and that is true of screens. While the HD7′s is large and bright, I was  disappointed by the image quality on the 800×480 display. When you turn the phone away, the colors begin to wash out a bit too quickly for my tastes. Don’t get me wrong, the screen still looks good, just not the best I’ve seen around. If you’re wanting to use the phone for viewing long videos, you’ll be pleased to find a kickstand on the back, which allows you to prop your phone on a table or desk.

As for the touchscreen capabilities, I’m plenty pleased. I had no problems navigating around the various menus, or when typing using the on-screen keyboard. Typing is one of those areas that no doubt benefits from having the larger screen real estate, as the letters aren’t crammed together so much.

While you’re relying on the screen to show you video, you’re obviously going to need some audio to compliment it. This is handled by front-facing stereo speakers. I like this idea, as the phone is generally facing you when you’re listening to audio through the speakers. I wasn’t terribly impressed by the quality here. When watching videos or listening to music, I found the sound to be muddy and lacking in clarity. It wasn’t bad enough that I couldn’t tell what I was listening to, but it wasn’t pleasing to hear.

Camera performance is about average. It can take some good shots, but it seems to have some trouble auto-focusing from time to time, which can be an annoyance. I will say that I like having the ability to activate the camera simply by holding down the dedicated shutter button. You don’t even have to unlock the phone to do this. Sometimes those few extra seconds can make the difference between snapping that perfect shot, and missing it.

Overall, the HTC HD7 is an average phone, when judged solely on its hardware. It’s really not one of the most solid phones out there, or even the best HTC phone that I’ve used. But if you’re looking for something with a nice, big screen that runs Windows Phone 7, then it might not be a bad choice. But that depends on what you think of Windows Phone 7, doesn’t it? That brings us to the next part of the review.

Software (Windows Phone 7)

The mobile phone industry has really had some major leaps in the last few years. First Apple came along with their iPhone, which revolutionized the smartphone market. Then Google brought us the Android platform, which gave us a much more open solution to the mobile phone. In that time Microsoft’s mobile platform was left in the dust. Compared to the other offerings, it just felt clunky and outdated. Thankfully the Windows Phone 7 platform gave new life to the company’s mobile offerings.

First Look

When you fire up a phone running the new OS, you’re greeted with a nice lock screen, which gives you basic information such as date, time, battery life, signal strength and messaging/call alerts. A quick swipe of your finger brings you to your phone’s main screen.

I love the look of the main screen, because it’s so simplistic. You’ll see the time, signal strength and eight tiles. These tiles are your way of accessing the most important applications on your phone. Of course this sleek look is also one of the things that I dislike about the phone’s appearance.

While it is nice to have my most-used apps at my fingertips, only allowing for eight of them to be seen is an annoyance. I’m someone who likes to use their phone to do as many tasks as possible. This means I have to pile up large blocky icons on the Start page to flick through, or go hunting through lists to find the software I need. There are no folders in which to store similar applications, or even different email inboxes. That’s right, if you have more than one mail account, you’re going to need a separate icon for each. There isn’t even a search bar that you can use to quickly find an application.

The UI itself does have some nice, subtle touches that I enjoy. These are mostly in the way of small animations when launching an app, or moving around within one. It is a nice contrast to the very two-dimensional look that the UI generally gives. One second you’re staring at a boring, organized list, only to have the tiles fly away as you launch whatever application you’ve selected.

Basic Functions

When you look at the basic functions, Windows Phone 7 does them well. Tapping on the phone icon brings up your call history, and gives you icons for your voicemail, dialer and contact list. While in a call you have nice big buttons for speaker, mute, hold and add call. If you want to bring up the number pad again, you’ll need to tap a smaller button to bring it up.

Messaging is very simplistic, which seems to be a theme here. Conversations are broken up into contacts, which are listed by the date/time of the most recent message in each. Once in a conversation, each message is listed in its own chat bubble, much as you would expect.

One very basic function that you will not find on this device is copy & paste. This is appalling. You would think with the amount of flak Apple caught for it on the iPhone, Microsoft would have this feature in from the start. It’s supposed to be coming in an update which looks to be hitting next month sometime, but that still doesn’t get rid of the bad taste its current absence leaves in my mouth.

Something else simple that is nowhere to be found is the ability to take screenshots. This feature would come in handy in a variety of situations, especially when trying to do a phone review. After much research, there is currently no way whatsoever to take a screenshot unless you are running the phone’s software on an emulator on your computer.

Marketplace

This is where you’re going to go to add new content to your phone. The Marketplace is broken up into four main sections. First is the HTC Apps (obviously not found on non-HTC phones), apps, games and music. These are further broken down into categories, including featured, free, and new content.

One of my biggest complaints here is the layout. When you first enter the apps section, you’re once again greeted with lists. These lists are written in a thin, white font. That’s perfectly fine if you’ve got a solid black background. But instead they’ve plastered a collage of pictures behind it, making this boring list much harder to read. Once you do select one of the categories from the list, you’re taken to another section, which thankfully has that boring black background that makes everything readable again.

Navigating through the Marketplace is simple enough for the most part, though one does get tired of scrolling through endless lists after a while (something you’ll find in every aspect of the OS). Downloading and installing apps is a painless process. Though I will say that after you’ve installed an extra 20 or 30 things, things start to get harder to find in the phone’s app list. (which means more scrolling).

Xbox Live

As a gamer, I’ve been disheartened to see a lack of official connectivity between Xbox Live and mobile phones. Sure, there are apps available on the iPhone, but nothing straight from Microsoft. Thankfully this is something that they did decide to integrate into Windows Phone 7.

Surprisingly the Xbox Live feature has pretty much everything I’d have wanted in such an app. Your avatar loads up, along with your Gamerscore. You’re able to check achievements, see which friends are online and check/send messages. You can even customize your avatar right from the application.

There is also a separate section for Xbox Live games on your phone. Not every game available on Windows Phone 7 is available here. These are specially-branded Xbox Live games, some of which are also Xbox Live Arcade games. They all seem to be of a higher quality, and all feature demos, so you know what you’re paying for.

Multimedia

As you can no doubt imagine, the heart of Windows Phone 7′s multimedia functionality is the Zune software. If you’ve ever owned a Zune, then you’ll feel right at home with video and music playback. You’ll use the desktop software to assemble and arrange your media, and sync it up with your phone. MP3, AAC, WMA, MPEG and H.264 are all supported.

Zune Pass is also available on the phone, which allows you to stream unlimited music to your phone, for a monthly cost. I’m not sold on the service, as I’d much rather own my music, rather than rent it. Besides, with services like Pandora offering up streaming for free, I have a hard time justifying a Zune Pass.

Conclusion

I could probably go on for days about each and every feature of the phone and its software. However, the bottom line is that Microsoft has delivered a solid mobile phone platform. It’s not without its shortcomings, but with the exception of copy & paste (which should be getting fixed in an update) none are dealbreakers for me.

So is it better than iOS/Android/etc? I would say that it is a strong enough platform that it can easily compete with anything else on the market. As for better or worse, I’d say that comes down to preference. Each has their own strengths and weakness, and it’s going to come down to a matter of preference for the user. What I can say is that the mobile phone market just got a lot more interesting.

The latest gadget to get a bad case of the shiny-sparklies is this Xbox 360 Kinect that’s been encrusted with over 5,000 Swarovski crystals. Unless you’re some sort of pretty princess living in a candy-coated castle, I can’t imagine why you’d spend $631 of your hard-earned money on this thing.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I wonder if the added weight or shimmer of the crystals affects the performance of the Kinect at all. I can’t imagine that it helps things. If you’re really compelled to drop 6 bills on one of these things, you can place your order over at DS Styles now. Be sure to pick up a matching crystal-covered Xbox 360 while you’re at it.

Me, I’m waiting for the 24k gold-plated edition.

[via Joystiq]

In this week’s episode of the Gadget Lab podcast, Dylan Tweney and I analyze Google’s Chrome OS notebook and the idea of a Windows 7 tablet while giving a sneak peek of an awesome new iPad game.

Dylan shows off Google’s stealthy black CR-48 notebook. The Chrome OS operating system, which is based on a browser, is fast and pretty capable, but Dylan couldn’t get a full day’s work done thanks to his need for Firefox. On the hardware side, the keyboard’s pretty nice, but the trackpad is clunky. Keep in mind, however, that this is a pilot device, so it’s not like you’re going to buy one.

I talk smack about a rumor that Microsoft is planning to yet again announce a Windows 7 tablet at next month’s Consumer Electronics Show. Why am I so pessimistic? Because this has been done over and over again, and Windows tablet PCs have constantly failed. Microsoft would be better off scaling up the new Windows Phone 7 OS to run on a tablet, but it’s unlikely we’ll see that happening next year because the phone platform is just getting started.

On to more fun news, I show off the new iPad version of Pocket God, a game that was a huge hit on the iPhone. You play the role of God, messing around with little creatures called Pygmies by manipulating their environment with your fingers. The iPad version, called A Journey to Uranus, just came out today. It’s even better because you get an entire universe to screw around with the Pygmies on different planets.

Like the show? You can also get the Gadget Lab video podcast via iTunes, or if you don’t want to be distracted by our unholy on-camera talent, check out the Gadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Lab video or audio podcast feeds

Or listen to the audio here:

Gadget Lab audio podcast #97

http://downloads.wired.com/podcasts/assets/gadgetlabaudio/GadgetLabAudio0097.mp3

Word on the street is that Microsoft plans to announce a Windows-powered iPad contender at next month’s Consumer Electronics Show.

We’ve seen this movie before.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer waved around a Hewlett-Packard “slate” running Windows 7 at CES 2010. HP later hyped up the device with specifications and a possible price tag, and then killed it before it even shipped.

So it’s a bit like dèja vu reading in The New York Times that Ballmer is taking the stage to talk slates again. Mind you, this time he’s going to show off not just one Windows 7 slate, but several, according to NYT’s Nick Bilton.

But increasing the device count isn’t going to make a Windows 7 slate any better. Here are seven reasons buying a Windows 7 slate would be a bad idea.

• Windows is not for fingers.

Windows 7 is designed for desktop computing, not multitouch tablets. Dragging around windows to switch between applications is not the kind of thing you’d do on a tablet. It’s why we use keyboards and mice.

At CES 2010 there were a few pilot tablets running Windows 7. They were difficult to use, because the Windows 7 interface on a tablet was an ergonomic nightmare. Scrolling was laggy, and some devices we tested even froze while we were shooting video demonstrating the products.

Even with a touch-friendly skin on top, there are still going to be times when you wish you had a mouse — like when a dialog box pops up that hasn’t been optimized for touch, and its control buttons are too tiny for your fat digits.

• Windows is too bloated for mobile devices.

Windows 7 is a big improvement over Vista and XP, but it’s still got a lot of the same Windows headaches. Plug in a peripheral, for example, and Windows 7 has to search a sluggish database for a device driver. The idea behind a mobile device is that you’re on the go and you need apps that keep in pace with your movement, and Windows just isn’t optimized for that.

On top of that, the power management is not designed for an always-on, carry-everywhere experience. For a tablet competitive with the iPad you need an OS with extremely fast boot times that can run on low power for epically long hours, and Windows 7 has neither of those features. (The iPad, for instance, has a standby battery life of 30 days.)

• There will be too many unpredictable variations.

Microsoft’s modus operandi with Windows is to license the OS to any manufacturer that wants it, and the OEMs ship Windows notebooks with their own custom software (aka bloatware). There are a thousand different variations on keyboards, controls, aspect ratios and more. The same would happen with tablets. By contrast, Android and iOS have more-or-less predictable hardware, something that Microsoft itself recognized was important in Windows Phone 7, its mobile OS.

• You’ll have to maintain it like a Windows machine.

Windows has always been a prime target for the authors of viruses and botnets because of its gigantic userbase. On a Windows 7 tablet you’d have to install antivirus software, which would inevitably affect battery life and overall performance.

Then you’d probably want to install memory-optimizing utilities, a better disk defragmenter, and maybe a registry cleaner. After a year it would start slowing down like Windows machines always do, and you’d have to do a clean install of the OS.

In short, a Windows tablet would give PC users lots of flexibility — but it would be antithetical to the experience of an easy-to-use consumer device that you don’t have to maintain.

In what very much appears to be a controlled leak from Microsoft, The New York Times has detailed “rumors” of upcoming Windows “slates” that will be shown off by Steve Ballmer at CES next month. Just like last year. And again like last year, it seems that Microsoft still hasn’t got a clue about tablets.

According to the Times, “Microsoft hopes these slates will offer an alternative to the iPad because they move beyond play, people familiar with the tablets said.” And how will Microsoft differentiate its brand-new slate offering from Apple’s hugely successful iPad? By using a tablet-optimized and touchscreen-centric version of Microsoft’s new, innovative and highly-regarded Windows Phone 7 mobile OS? Nope. By using a desktop OS, and slapping a skin on top. Again.

Microsoft is working with several hardware partners to make machines. One, from Samsung, runs regular Windows 7 in landscape mode and then, when turned upright, draws a finger-friendly skin over the top. It also has a keyboard that slides out in landscape mode, making this otherwise iPad-sized tablet quite a bit thicker.

So, instead of offering the intuitive experience of other tablets, you get a jarring two-mode machine that likely doesn’t do either job properly.

And then there are the apps. Of course there are apps. But there will be no app store. Microsoft is encouraging development of HTML5-based applications for the slates, but these will be scattered all over the web on the various developers’ sites. To find them, you will search, and they will be “highlighted in a search interface on the slate computer.”

The most telling quote from the NYT’s insider is this one:

The company believes there is a huge market for business people who want to enjoy a slate for reading newspapers and magazines and then work on Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint while doing work.

This may explain the company’s inability to make a “computer” that isn’t aimed at business. The iPad’s runaway success shows that there is a demand for an easy-to-use computer that doesn’t look or feel like a computer. Yet Microsoft just isn’t willing to — or just plain can’t — make a tablet that doesn’t look like a computer.

Microsoft’s future is looking a lot like IBM’s when Microsoft ate its lunch years ago: It’ll still be a big, big business company, but the general public will no longer be buying its wares (Xbox aside).

Microsoft to Announce New Slates Aimed at the iPad [NYT]

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

See Also:

• Dell Names Secret 'Slate' After Non-Existent Apple Product …
• More Ballmer Madness: “There's No Chance that the iPhone is Going …
• Never Before Seen 'BSOD' Debuts at Microsoft CES Keynote
• Microsoft Unveils Touchscreen Tablet

Microsoft has launched the latest version of its mobile phone operating system, called Windows Phone 7 series.

The software has a redesigned user interface and incorporates many Microsoft services such as Xbox LIVE games and the Zune music service.

The software was introduced at an event at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

According to research firm Canalys, Microsoft’s software currently has around 9% of the smartphone market.

That puts it fourth in the global market behind Symbian, Rim (makers of the Blackberry) and Apple’s iPhone OS.

The new system follows the launch of Windows Mobile 6.5 in October 2009.

The new operating system has at its heart the three must-have features of the modern mobile world – search, social, and location
Rory Cellan-Jones
Technology correspondent, Barcelona

Read Rory’s thoughts in full

“This is obviously a huge step forward,” analyst Pete Cunningham of Canalys told BBC News.

“Microsoft have really struggled with windows mobile 6 and 6.5 and have been losing market share off the back of it.”

However, he said, the firm could not “rest on its laurels”.

“Although it looks good today and competitive today, the other other firms haven’t revealed their hand.

“It doesn’t launch for another eight or nine months and that’s a long time in the mobile world.”

For example, in a little over 30 months Apple has claimed 15% of the smartphone market, according to Canalys figures, whilst Google’s Android operating system has claimed 5% of the market in around two years.

Games machine

Microsoft’s new operating system is built around a series of so-called ‘live tiles’, which pull in real time content from a users web sites and social networks.
Microsoft Windows 7 screen
The software use a new interface called ‘live tiles’

User can create their own tiles, for example, to keep tabs on the latest posts and pictures from friends or relatives on social networks.

“We wanted the software experience to fundamentally focus on what is most important to each individual user,” said Joe Belfiore of the firm at the launch.

The new interface also has a series of “hubs”, which bring together related content from the web, applications and services into a single view.

The six hubs are people, pictures, games, marketplace, music and office.

The games hub, for example, incorporates elements of the firm’s online gaming network Xbox live, including games and the ability for gamers to access their online profiles.

The music hub brings together music and video content from a user’s PC, online music services and an in-built FM radio.

The first phones using the new operating system will be available later this year from manufacturers including Samsung, LG, HTC and Sony Ericsson.

“We have a chance to make an impact on the market,” said Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer.

Although Microsoft will only provide the software for the phones, it will specify certain hardware requirements to manufacturers.

For example, all handsets will be multi-touch and will come with a dedicated hardware button for Microsoft’s search engine Bing.

Manufacturers will also be restricted to the smart tile user interface, according to Mr Cunningham. Other operating systems – such as Android – allow manufacturers to customise the look and feel of the interface.

“That may make [Windows Phone 7] less attractive in the long term,” he said.

via bbc

Gesture-recognition technology, such as that seen in Project Natal, has changed the face of gaming, but Microsoft’s Craig Mundie (pictured) believes it will also transform the office.

In a demo at Microsoft’s financial analyst meeting in Redmond, Washington, the company’s top research and strategy officer showed how the desktop computer of the future will use an entire office as both display and input device, with voice and gesture control augmenting the use of a number of touchscreens.

“The real question is what killer apps [will mark the] new era and what will be the user interface that people use to get at them,” Mundie said.

His demo included hologram-like videoconferencing, a virtual digital assistant, and multiple surface computers, along with voice-, touch- and gesture-recognition technology. The desk in the demo was a multitouch surface computer, and the office’s walls were also a display that could easily switch from being a virtual window or collection of digital photos to a corkboard of sticky notes or various workspaces. In one case, Mundie also used Project Natal-like depth cameras to put himself in the middle of an architectural demo, essentially putting himself inside a building that was not yet built.

His talk followed a demonstration by Microsoft entertainment chief Robbie Bach of the gaming potential of Project Natal. Bach played a game called Riccochet, in which players use their body to push, block and kick balls at various bricks. Microsoft showed off Project Natal at the E3 trade show earlier this year but hasn’t said when the Xbox 360 add-on will be commercially available.

“I’m not playing the Riccochet game, but I am using these technologies,” Mundie said. “This is our dream, but it is really not that far away. We see a pretty direct path to make this happen. We have all of the technologies to make this happen in our research labs.”

In an interview earlier this month, Bill Gates told CNET UK sister site CNET News that Microsoft plans to use Project Natal beyond the Xbox, including with Windows.

via cnet