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Windows Phone |OT2|

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H

hwalker84

Member
I guarantee you the gutter is gone because theirs something to the left of the home screen now and not just the right. Hoe stupid would the design look if the gutter stayed?
 
S

StudioTan

Hold on, friend! I'd love to share with you some swell news about the Windows 8 Metro UI! Wait, where are you going?
NotTarts said:
How does that solve anything? The reason they introduced the small tiles in the first place is because the icon density on the start screen is ridiculously low. Look at this:
statictiles.jpg


All of those icons are completely static. They display nothing except maybe a number, and that they still take up the same space as a useful live tile is a bit pathetic. With the new start screen, I can condense all of those into the space of 2 tiles. That's huge. Even with the increased tile size, I can now make much better use of my space and put the important applications near the top instead of needing to make the decision between live and static tiles.

I don't really consider this..
omnia7.jpg


...to look amateurish at all. But that's just my opinion, of course.
Click to expand...

Looking at those 2 shots I much prefer the bottom one.
 
S

Steelyuhas

Member
Fjolle said:
They should probably have made that point more clear at their conference, and at their homepage and in their press releases.

But who cares. Nokia is cheap now.
Click to expand...

Yeah they seem to have made it quite clear that it's just the start screen for 7.8, which is a baffling decision considering that it's apparently not the case.
 
K

kharma45

Member
B

brotkasten

Member
Which Looks Better? A Comparison Between Popular Apps on Android and Windows Phone

App designs on Android don’t seem to really follow any kind of guidelines or consistent style. Sometimes there are big tabs at the top with icons, sometimes there are tab-like buttons at the bottom, and UI buttons can vary drastically in size, style and position between each app. Windows Phone apps tend to follow a consistent panoramic layout design where each panel reveals a different type of content and circular buttons are always at the bottom with an ellipses indicated a pop-up menu for more commands.
Click to expand...
http://pocketnow.com/2012/06/27/whi...en-popular-apps-on-windows-phone-and-android/

And I wanted to get an Android phone, wow. Guess I dodged a bullet.
 
S

snap0212

Member
Commodore said:
e: Also this one: How Angry Should WP7 Owners Be About Windows Phone 8?
Click to expand...
Absolutely horrible article.

First of all, he talks about a feeling (anger) and shows in his article that he doesn't have the slightest clue about how they work. Article should be named "Why I personally feel like...".

The main problem of this article is that he completely ignores the fact that he's in a position where he doesn't really have to worry about two year contracts or the costs of upgrading to a new system. Not making that clear in his article shows that he didn't take that into consideration when creating an opinion about what's happening / what happened.

He talks about the "mean for the individual user" and then explains his own personal perspective that is highly influenced by the fact that he's part of the industry as a whole. That's like a person of the video games press talking about being totally down with publishers rising game prices to $100.

Aside from the comparison to iOS not being the same on every platform, I can't see anything good about this article. The iOS argument could have been a great start of a discussion about whether it would have been smarter of Microsoft to bring WP8 to all devices but with a limited feature set.
 
T

tino

Banned
I find it bizarre that MS allow actual png/jpg file as icon image. That's reason the new UI is so ugly. WP should only allow a 2 tone mask file as the icon image. Basically the positive mask will be interpreted as the white color on the icon, and the negative mask will be interpreted as the background color. That's the only way to police consistency on the launcher.

Also, there is no design guideline for the thickness of lines, min size for the font on the icon? Nothing? That tunein radio icon stick out like a sore thumb. It should have the same padding space as the other icons. More evident that Microsoft's graphic department has always been and will always be run by engineers.
 
K

Kamakazie!

Member
tino said:
I find it bizarre that MS allow actual png/jpg file as icon image. That's reason the new UI is so ugly. WP should only allow a 2 tone mask file as the icon image. Basically the positive mask will be interpreted as the white color on the icon, and the negative mask will be interpreted as the background color. That's the only way to police consistency on the launcher.

Also, there is no design guideline for the thickness of lines, min size for the font on the icon? Nothing? That tunein radio icon stick out like a sore thumb. It should have the same padding space as the other icons. More evident that Microsoft's graphic department has always been and will always be run by engineers.
Click to expand...

I'd hate every icon to be the standard 2 tone as it would make finding apps at a glace more troublesome. Having the Xbox live icon a different style makes it much easier to find.
I agree with stuff like font / layoyt guidelines though.
 
J

JaggedSac

Member
Commodore said:
Incoming game rec: Letris. It's Boggle and Tetris. Do a Wordament multiplayer duel of sorts, or two player face off ala Puzzle Fighter, and this is massive win. Also instead of swiping, you punch the letter in like a keyboard, needs to be changed. Great concept.
Click to expand...

Neat little game. Rough around the edges, gameplay speed/progression needs some adjusting, but with some patching, it could get big I think.
 
C

Commodore

Member
snap0212 said:
Absolutely horrible article.

First of all, he talks about a feeling (anger) and shows in his article that he doesn't have the slightest clue about how they work. Article should be named "Why I personally feel like...".

The main problem of this article is that he completely ignores the fact that he's in a position where he doesn't really have to worry about two year contracts or the costs of upgrading to a new system. Not making that clear in his article shows that he didn't take that into consideration when creating an opinion about what's happening / what happened.

He talks about the "mean for the individual user" and then explains his own personal perspective that is highly influenced by the fact that he's part of the industry as a whole. That's like a person of the video games press talking about being totally down with publishers rising game prices to $100.

Aside from the comparison to iOS not being the same on every platform, I can't see anything good about this article. The iOS argument could have been a great start of a discussion about whether it would have been smarter of Microsoft to bring WP8 to all devices but with a limited feature set.
Click to expand...


Uh, what you read was an editorial. But you're right, he wasn't thinking of it as a consumer with a Windows Phone that won't get features, he was thinking of what WP8 brings to the platform versus not including more features to legacy WP7 owners. Ultimately, WP8, with that shared core with Windows 8, is going to do far more good to the platform in terms of support and marketshare than including a few more features to WP7 legacy users. Its sucky, but it'll end up better in the long run. You'll get a new phone next year, or the year following, and whether its a Windows Phone or not, you're choice, but as an editorial for the platform, not you as a user, I thought he was on the money.
 
S

snap0212

Member
Commodore said:
he wasn't thinking of it as a consumer with a Windows Phone that won't get features, he was thinking of what WP8 brings to the platform versus not including more features to legacy WP7 owners.
Click to expand...
Which is why it's a bad article. ;)

Commodore said:
Ultimately, WP8, with that shared core with Windows 8, is going to do far more good to the platform in terms of support and marketshare[...]
Click to expand...
Windows Phone 7 owners don't benefit from this at all.

Commodore said:
[...]it'll end up better in the long run.
Click to expand...
Which also doesn't benefit WP7 owners.

I get where you're coming from and I get where he's coming from as well. However, the article is about how “How Angry [...] WP7 Owners [should] Be About Windows Phone 8?” and he doesn't bring up one single reason as to why they shouldn't be angry.

If he doesn't want to talk about that but the benefits of WP8 instead, fine. Write an article about that. Don't sell me a “Don't be mad, WP7 owner article” when you don't have a single reason as to why I shouldn't be. :)

I personally feel left out by Microsoft. The fact that they don't really offer Podcasts* outside of the US bugs me personally and makes me personally feel like I'm less of a good customer than people in the US are. Microsoft still, to this day, has not given me a good reason as to why I cannot have Podcasts in my region. They still haven't given me a reason why Audiobooks aren't available or why there's no way to pay for something if you don't have a credit card (or simply don't want to give MS your CC information). There are many other things that could be improved with WP7. All this time there was still hope that improvements were going to come up but the announcement of WP8 is basically the final nail in the coffin for me. It sends me the message “We're done with this platform”.

*Yes, I know I've been bitching about that since I got the phone. ;)
 
V

VanMardigan

has calmed down a bit.
tino said:
I find it bizarre that MS allow actual png/jpg file as icon image. That's reason the new UI is so ugly. WP should only allow a 2 tone mask file as the icon image. Basically the positive mask will be interpreted as the white color on the icon, and the negative mask will be interpreted as the background color. That's the only way to police consistency on the launcher.

Also, there is no design guideline for the thickness of lines, min size for the font on the icon? Nothing? That tunein radio icon stick out like a sore thumb. It should have the same padding space as the other icons. More evident that Microsoft's graphic department has always been and will always be run by engineers.
Click to expand...

Don't you own an android phone?
 
B

brotkasten

Member
Guys, Android 4.1 looks good.

And by that I don't mean the features. It actually looks good. Using an Android device with that OS version is no longer embarrassing.

So weird.

Oh, and they totally ripped off the film strip feature in the camera app.
 
V

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
brotkasten said:
Guys, Android 4.1 looks good.

And by that I don't mean the features. It actually looks good. Using an Android device with that OS version is no longer embarrassing.

So weird.

Oh, and they totally ripped off the film strip feature in the camera app.
Click to expand...

If the Project Butter actually works it makes me thinking I might jump ship. It fixes the one main problem Android always had aka the laggy UI. Plus the voice stuff seemed great.

Still think I'm waiting till the Fall to get a new device so MS has time to show the consumer facing features. MS needs to bring it though as I/O got me hyped about Android. MS' conference didn't really hype me about WP8 that much sadly. :/
 
B

brotkasten

Member
Brettison said:
If the Project Butter actually works it makes me thinking I might jump ship. It fixes the one main problem Android always had aka the laggy UI. Plus the voice stuff seemed great.

Still think I'm waiting till the Fall to get a new device so MS has time to show the consumer facing features. MS needs to bring it though as I/O got me hyped about Android. MS' conference didn't really hype me about WP8 that much sadly. :/
Click to expand...

I'm doing the same.

But the issue of ugly 3rd party apps remains.
 
G

giga

Member
I used to promote cheap WP7 devices like the Focus before. A used Nexus S, which should fall to under 200 due to the GN being $350 new, seems like a better deal than a device that won't get the latest major OS update now.
 
V

VanMardigan

has calmed down a bit.
giga said:
I used to promote cheap WP7 devices like the Focus before. A used Nexus S, which should fall to under 200 due to the GN being $350 new, seems like a better deal than a device that won't get the latest major OS update now.
Click to expand...

I agree with this, although I would probably recommend the Galaxy Nexus if they can afford it, it's possible Jelly Bean is the last update the Nexus S gets.

About the announcement, I missed I/O, what was the big story? I'm catching up on the Verge, but how is the UI different now? I understand they are making it more smooth, but have they changed the look a bit? And what's the point of the Q? It seems wildly overpriced.

I'm still going to wait to see what else MS has in store, and what hardware is going to be out this year and early next year. I just haven't seen anything on Jellybean that's mindblowing, maybe someone can link me to a video of the UI.

edit: Also, I can't believe the $199 tablet doesn't have an SD card slot. That's so stupid.
 
T

Tomcat

Member
VanMardigan said:
I agree with this, although I would probably recommend the Galaxy Nexus if they can afford it, it's possible Jelly Bean is the last update the Nexus S gets.

About the announcement, I missed I/O, what was the big story? I'm catching up on the Verge, but how is the UI different now? I understand they are making it more smooth, but have they changed the look a bit? And what's the point of the Q? It seems wildly overpriced.

I'm still going to wait to see what else MS has in store, and what hardware is going to be out this year and early next year. I just haven't seen anything on Jellybean that's mindblowing, maybe someone can link me to a video of the UI.

edit: Also, I can't believe the $199 tablet doesn't have an SD card slot. That's so stupid.
Click to expand...

nothing amazing dont worry you didnt miss anything important
some things you have them already on your phone like that camera feature and the bing scout.... i mean google now lol
i think ms handled very clever their wp8 unveiling. Google and Apple played their cards and personally i wasnt impressed and i dont believe i am the only one. Now ms with the user end features that they have kept secret and will show in the next months they can top them.
 
G

giga

Member
VanMardigan said:
I agree with this, although I would probably recommend the Galaxy Nexus if they can afford it, it's possible Jelly Bean is the last update the Nexus S gets.

About the announcement, I missed I/O, what was the big story? I'm catching up on the Verge, but how is the UI different now? I understand they are making it more smooth, but have they changed the look a bit? And what's the point of the Q? It seems wildly overpriced.

I'm still going to wait to see what else MS has in store, and what hardware is going to be out this year and early next year. I just haven't seen anything on Jellybean that's mindblowing, maybe someone can link me to a video of the UI.

edit: Also, I can't believe the $199 tablet doesn't have an SD card slot. That's so stupid.
Click to expand...
None of the major new OS updates this year have been really as "big" as past releases. They're more about picking away at the small features that make it overall better--which I think is fine. In terms of end user features, 4.1 basically addresses UI sluggishness, some notifications enhancements, resizable widgets, Google Now, and offline speech to text. The fact that the Nexus S is getting all this as well as Chrome makes it a no brainer if I was recommending <$200 phones.
 
D

DagsJT

Member
Hmm, got Tango on my Lumia 800 and can't get to the wifi screen. Pressing it just flashes and takes me back to the app list. Same with email and accounts.

Restart hasn't fixed it either. Great.
 
V

VanMardigan

has calmed down a bit.
DagsJT said:
Hmm, got Tango on my Lumia 800 and can't get to the wifi screen. Pressing it just flashes and takes me back to the app list. Same with email and accounts.
Click to expand...

You have to flash the language pack. That's the same issue I'm having, there is a homebrew app that is supposed to tell you which language pack to flash, but I'm not sure if it works AFTER the fact. I was in the process of testing it when Zune flashed and told me I had an update, so I hope that fixes it for me.
 
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