WP7 – Mango Is a Go
Just a quick heads up for all Windows Phone 7 owners that the Mango update that makes your phone essentially Windows Phone 7.5 is finally being rolled out across the US /Canada and the rest of the world today. Unlike Apple though this is not a universal release to all phone owners as the individual carriers are the ones pushing it out. Reports show that it is going to be a staggered release so don’t fret if you do not receive an update notification today as it might arrive in the coming weeks. Of course you can just force install the update if you want but do so at your own risk.
Doing a quick check of all global phone carriers it looks as if everyone has been given the green light to release the update with the exception being Telefonica in Spain which is lagging in the testing phase for some reason or other.
I had originally intended to write a review on Windows Phone 7 a while ago but I never got around to it and there really is no point now that Mango has arrived. To make a long story short current Windows Phone 7 owners are going to be really happy with this massive update that more or less brings the platform up to par with iOS and Android and in some cases surpasses it. Of course, most people will realize that iOS 5 is coming soon as is Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich update with a whole raft of new features so whatever enhancement advantages Microsoft has cooked up might not last long. However, if you are a Windows Phone 7 owner you can still rub other mobile OS fans the wrong way by stating that your phone runs silky smooth and only requires one CPU core unlike competing operating systems that lag and crash every so often even though they are running on blazing fast dual core processors with more RAM.
Microsoft has to be applauded for coding such a huge update in less than a year so current WP7 phone owners should be ecstatic with the level of support they are getting even though market share remains much lower than Microsoft would like. With the WP7 marketplace now over 30,000 apps and increasing there is certainly some relief that the platform will remain viable and morph into the third ecosystem that the industry desperately needs. Of course, RIM isn’t going anywhere soon and would argue that they are still relevant but that’s a discussion for another post.
For those who really haven’t been paying too much attention to this update then prepare to be shocked at almost 500 improvements that Microsoft is touting including things like multitasking, deeper Linkedin/Facebook/Twitter integration, IE 9, custom ringtones, visual voicemail, improved live tiles etc. There are just too many to list here so if you are interested head over to Microsoft’s Windows Phone website at mango.microsoft.com or watch the spanking new commercial that Microsoft has released for its Youtube channel at the bottom of this post.
As for this website, I have a backlog of Windows Phone 7 game reviews that are still in draft form that I need to polish up but once done I’ll start posting them up at regular intervals. If you don’t have a Windows Phone then I highly recommend you go check out a demo unit at your local mobile store although I do have a word of caution being that staff on hand are usually quite unprepared to sell you on the technical merits of the platform. Obviously if you live in the US near a Microsoft store then that is the place to go for a more informed experience.
With Mango now released look for a bunch of new Windows Phone 7 handsets that will be releasing in the coming months such as the HTC Titan and HTC Radar as well as Samsung’s Omnia W and Focus S offerings which come with Super AMOLED screens. Obviously though industry watchers are waiting for Nokia to finally launch their first WP7 phones hopefully coming before the end of the year.
Note to Microsoft: Better start cracking on more effective training programs as it is embarrassing to walk into a mobile store and the first thing a sales rep says is that Windows Phone is old and archaic and needs a stylus to do simple tasks. Clearly, this person is living in the Stone Age but nevertheless will give the wrong impression to consumers that this platform is to be avoided.
© 2011 The Galactic Pillow
I think WP 7 is very complicated to use, which makes it a boring device. It takes a long time to fish through many “key press”/touches/screens just to find the options or settings that I want (maybe I’m just not smart enough to use it).
LOL it’s a matter of preference. If you like the look of something then it’s great. If not, it’s just not meant for you. I just wish consumers made good purchase decisions based on more criteria than thinking something looks cool or because of peer pressure. A smartphone is NOT a simple purchase decision as the consumer is effectively marrying themselves to a complete ecosystem. Anyone who buys an iPhone and spends significant money on apps is going to be very resistant to move to another platform unless there is an overriding reason to do so. The same goes with Android, RIM or WP7. Hopefully, consumers who want to upgrade from a regular cell phone to a smartphone will take their time researching each platform and then going to the store to demo each unit that they are interested in. Consumers who think they can change the icons or use live wallpaper on iOS or WP7 are going to be in for a shock as they should have realized they can’t unless they do something drastic to the operating system themselves. In other words — pick the ecosystem and platform that is right for YOU — who cares if all your friends are on something else if you can’t stand it.