[Video courtesy of JKK]
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Windows Mobile Phones and UMPC meeting at one point.
Once again Bill Gates use the same sentences to describe how Windows Mobile Phones and UMPC will bring some common services to users.
[Video courtesy of JKK]
[Video courtesy of JKK]
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Just some food for thought to stir things up...
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting. It feels to me like a bit of a reaction to the upcoming iPhone. When the iPhone was announced Job's went out of his way to say it run OSX, the same OS as the Mac. He really drove that point home. He of course left out any technical details, like is it a stripped down version, what processor is it running on etc.
Now lets switch to Gates, he is really beating his drum about the convegence of the PC and the phone.
Now what I don't get is how is the iPhone different from a PocketPC phone edition? Sure it has a slicker interface, and that neat multi-touch screen, but I have yet to see it does something I can't already do on my PocketPC. And if MS put some effort into it I'd be able to do all that without resorting to 3rd party tools. So if MS is worried about responding to that, why not just put some more effort into the PocketPC platform?
It is well known that Gate's doesn't care for Windows CE or any of the current Windows Mobile solutions. I know his dream is a PC in your pocket. But what will we gain by pushing the PC into the same formfactor as the PDA? The ability to run the same apps as a desktop? Not likely, most apps' UIs are just not designed for the small screen. So just because you can run, them doesn't mean you can use them. If you doubt this try and remote desktop from a VGA pocketPC to a desktop. I've done it, just I can bring up apps etc, but they really aren't useful. Either things are so small I can read or click on them, or I scale everything up and run out of room to do actual work.
Don't get me wrong, I love my UMPC. I'm just not so sure about my dream of an uber convergence device anymore. The utility of full windows on a 7" screen is very nice, but I'm not sure it would bring me the same joy at say 5". What I'd really like is a 7" tablet that was just barely larger than the screen, 1/2" thick and very light. But even then how useful would that be as a phone? Should I where it clipped to my belt? Or maybe around my neck like bling?
Maybe a phone should just be a phone?
John, have you seen the U700 UMPC, that's the kind of device I like, a little bigger than the 7" display. This units can be smaller if they take out all the border around the display. ;)
ReplyDeletehttp://onlyumpc.com/news/us700-umpc-more-deets
Yeah thats more like it. Too bad they didn't go with a pentium M over the celeron. In that form factor, I wonder what the battery life will be like.
ReplyDeleteBecause, according to some sources, Intel has discontinued the Pentium M.
ReplyDelete