In truth, Think Different summarizes Windows Phone in a nutshell.

Ubiquitous Social

See the full gallery on Posterous

There really is something cool when you can get Facebook in a people-centric form, sans the updates of pages you've liked, plus your Twitter stream. Converge that all into a hub and you really do get a good scope of your social media friends, from top to bottom.

Open up your own tile, or a friends, and you get instant access to their current status, all their contact information, their feed of status updates from Facebook, Twitter, and if you have it set up Linked In, as well as their pictures and history of text messages and emails with them.

In terms of messaging, this is, this is the untold story of the device. If your friend is available on Facebook, you can chat with them there. Messenger? Yup. Text Messaging? Absolutely.

With that said, the future here is interesting to say the least. With the concept of reducing steps and making things simplier, it would be interesting to see FourSquare integration here, or even the location service of Facebook to the extent of showing a friend's location, not just being able to sign in to a location. Also, since Microsoft did purchase Skype, it would be interesting to see them integrate that into the OS, something said to be coming, but not seen yet.

Gaming

See the full gallery on Posterous

Achievements, need I say more?

In truth, gaming on the phone is as much fun as one would expect, all of your games easily available under the Games hub on the phone. Split between games and XBOX Live Games, the qualities can vary, but it's very much what you'll find on other platforms.

In terms of the big names, such as Angry Birds, Plants vs Zombies, Fruit Ninja, and others, they fall under the umbrella of XBOX Live, supporting the option of trials, as well as achievements when you purchase the games. I can't really speak to how much time I've lost enjoying Plants vs Zombies, or Angry Birds.

Again, with that said, some of the games have the feeling that they need to be updated to support the multi-tasking ability of Mango, Angry Birds starting from the boot screen every time, and Plants vs Zombies being a touch slow to load on my Samsung Focus.

Apps

See the full gallery on Posterous

First of all, let's recap the Metro Design Language and underline what this means in apps. In short, you're talking about making actions quicker to achieve, as well as reducing UI to the essential base of what's needed. Now, how many apps achieve this is extremely erratic.

Included above are some of my favorites I use on a near daily basis, including 4th & Mayor, a FourSquare client, Rowi, a Twitter client, MetroTube, a YouTube client, and WeatherLive, a weather client.

In terms of look and feel, each are quite fair to the language, respecting the light/dark and color choice of the user, WeatherLive adding a background image from Bing as well.

Now, in terms of actual simplicity and steps, that's a mix. 4th and Mayor probably tops the list due to the option of a "Check In Now" tile which actually makes checking in an almost automatic activity, followed by Rowi and MetroTube, both which make browsing their respective mediums easy. WeatherLive is a big of a mess, the app going through a UI change in the latest version to be more understandable, but still a touch too much information for a pivot UI.

Which brings up the issue with Metro, at least how people make use of it. The weakness of the language is in how people use layout styles, as well as forgetting the concept of "reducing steps". Panoramas, Pivots, and the other styles each serve a select purpose, and some apps don't understand this, such as my local news channel's King 5 app.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Built from an apparent template. the app includes pivots throughout to the amount of over 80. 80! This isn't to mention the point that as a template there's pieces that are broken, presenting just a simple block with a paper icon indicating something I'm not quite sure of. Add to that the point that it features ads and it's just a deal breaker.

See the full gallery on Posterous

On the other end of the scale, you have a third party app like BBC News Mobile which really present's a news organization in a great way. Starting out a user in a panorama with the latest stories listed right in front, a user can also view tiles with imagery of the story, or even dive into the feeds they choose. Once you jump in, you get a long feed of stories, and diving into any one of them presents the story, as well as imagery when possible. Elegant.

Aggravating? You bet. Deal breaker. Nah, you just avoid the bad ones.

Part 2 To Come...

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

So, why am I sharing what I use?

The main purpose of this is just to be objective. I have experience in what I use on a daily basis, and it builds what I believe in, will defend, and where my criticisms are formed from.

So, let's go...

Hardware at Home

• Gateway SX 2800-01 Desktop [Core 2 Quad, 8GB Ram, 1TB HDD, ATI HD5570]
• Microsoft Arc Keyboard
• Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 [Downtown]
• Logitech Z313 2.1 Speakers
• HP w2338h 23" Monitor on a Neoflex LCD Stand

Hardware on the Go

• HP Mini 1030nr Netbook [1.4GHz Atom, 2GB Ram, 16GB SSD]
• Microsoft Zune HD 32GB [Platinum]

OSes

• Microsoft Windows 7 Professional [at home]
• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium [on the go]

Software Used Regularly

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 9
• Google Chrome
• Microsoft Zune
• Skype
• MetroTwit
• TweetDeck
• Windows Media Center
• Windows Live Messenger
• XChat 2
• Microsoft Office 2007
• Adobe Design Standard CS5

Services Used Regularly [more detail @ Wakoopa]

• Windows Live Hotmail
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Tumblr
• DailyBooth
• Zune Pass
• Netflix [1 disk + streaming]
• PicPlz
• Mostly365

Websites Visited Regularly

• Bloomberg
• BrandNew
• DeviantArt
• Engadget
• Mediaite
• TVNewser
• The Weather Channel
• WinExtra
• WinSupersite
• ZDNet

Also to note, I have regular weekly experience with Macs and OS X at the college I'm attending, and that includes using the Adobe suite on that hardware, plus the Safari browser.

So, what's what I use, what do you use?

*Also, I am going to take pictures, albeit likely slow, of what I use here

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Alas, tonight it appears everyone is getting excited about this Amazon cloud streaming service that's going to launch, but I'm wondering, will it be usable?

Gah, I turned to Amazon MP3 years ago after I began to grow tired of iTunes and wanted to go DRM free, and the one thing you noticed immediately is that Amazon is not strong in the UI department. Yes, they understand purchasing straight items, absolutely, and their suggestion engine there is fantastic, but for their MP3 service? Forget it.

Yes, the world appears convinced the Cloud is our savior, but if you want to explore music and purchase it, I'm sorry, applications win in that department. Between iTunes, and the superior Zune, I'll take an in-app, easily navigable, quick and easy service any day.

What about movies? Amazon is horrible in this department as well, streaming only available through an extremely primitive Flash player [compare this to Netflix's decent player, for example], and their movie files have their own class of DRM, which ties you into using their download application on Windows, which is honestly a joke.

So, how does the app purchasing system work? I honestly don't know, but most accounts seem to approve of it, though the initial setup can be a bit difficult. Their curation may be fantastic, but how well it works will be the question in time.

And, this circles back to this dream of the geekdom: Streaming cloud music. It exists elsewhere, Zune for those in the Microsoft ecosystem, assorted other services elsewhere, and now Amazon.

Question is, will this be usable, or will this be as klugy as most of their offerings?

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

To be honest, the Apple routine has grown tired to me.

The presentations are one in the same, for products one in the same, and nothing ever changes. Look, it's the same thing, thinner, lighter, faster, and it puts that thing you bought last year out of date. It's the same tired UI that we've thrown so many darts at you can only imagine what comes next. It's the same tired numbers of thousands of apps that someone's apparently using.

It's revolutionary, it's magical, it's, oh shut up already.

Yes, I've never been in the Apple boat, but seriously, what is it people are looking for in these presentations anymore? The same horse and pony show happens every year, and the amazement is gone as Apple becomes as leaky as the next major corporation. They aren't the small company, they aren't the runner up, they are the top media company, probably top phone company, and it just seems like they can't play this game anymore.

Then, this is the thing that drives me nuts, STOP telling everyone they are an artist, seriously!

One of the quotes from today's iPad event was Steve saying "...anyone can make music now..." after the presentation of Garage Band, and you know what, NO. I'm sorry, but the ability to tap on a screen does not equal the years it takes to build up the ability to play an actual instrument, much less actually write music of any decent quality. I get it, everyone is hyped into the dream of being an artist, but stop feeding this lie. People should explore everything they are capable of, and some people need to come to accept that they will probably spend reality working on spreadsheets, sitting in a cubical doing something they are capable of.

I don't know, I'm heading off into a diatribe at this point, but seriously Apple, stop it.

*Oh, and Microsoft, again, where is your tablet?

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Oh Firefox, what happened to you?

I remember the early days, you were the dwarfed cousin of the Mozilla suite,
focusing in on one function, running sleeker, faster, better, but today?

Today you've become the has-been browser, falling into the traps of bloat,
performance issues, and overall stagnation. Chrome beat you on speed, even if it lacks the quality of add-ons I grew to love about you. Internet Explorer
9 even beats you on speed, even if it lacks add-ons period, plus spell check.
I tried you again, I seriously did, but I just found myself with the same frustrations that lead me into Chrome in the first place.

You've simply become bloated. Why should I use a browser that takes a couple seconds to load, plus stalls out on my computers, taking a few more seconds to then begin to respond, even with only one add-on installed? Chrome starts the second you think about it. IE9 is similar.

Yes, you have the add-on I love (Yes, I'm an AdBlock user, mainly due to the worst sites, not the better ones), but that isn't enough anymore. I do miss that functionality, I truthfully do, when I hit a page that's polluted beyond belief in ads, but that isn't worth lock-ups and slow starts.

But still, why am I jumping back to Internet Explorer 9? First off, it starts on the snap of the fingers, alike to Chrome. Second, the hardware acceleration makes the fonts look better, which yes, I do notice (I'm an art student, I notice things :) ). Third, the ability to pin web apps, i.e. Hotmail. Facebook, and all the rest, right on my taskbar for use at an instant.

Yes, I wish IE9 had the ability to have real add-ons, though I only use one these days. Yes, there are websites that don't work properly, like Posterous even. Yes, it lacks spell check, which is just idiotic when everything has that these days. But it works, IT works!

You've lost your way Firefox, version 4 should be your salvation, but yet, it seems you've become exactly what you replaced.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Are Intel and AMDs traditional chips heading to a dump?

As Microsoft ports the next version of Windows onto ARM chips, Apple did the same (remember the iPhone launch?), Blackberry likely runs on them as well, plus all the Android devices, are we seeing the death of the traditional CPU as we know it?

While the people who do speciality work will still strive for the quad cores and GBs of ram to get their work done, what does the average office worker really need? Or your relatives who check their Hotmail and look over their headlines at MSN?

With a move to ARM ourselves, we'd look at far better battery life, far thinner and cooler (temperature) devices, and a whole expansion on form factors, whether that's to tablets, phones, or other unimagined areas, such as coming up with one device which powers all your experiences (phone/tablet mobile, computer home/office).

Even this week, CES brought us the introduction of the Motorola Atrix, which is a new smart phone which has the capability of being docked to power a regular monitor-keyboard-mouse setup. While, in my opinion, it needs a lot of refinement viewing from a distance, this is something different, almost that last piece to that future where you have one device for everything.

Who knows? It's an interesting concept, the question is how many years out is a good, truly polished version of this? One? Two? Five? We'll see. But I'm starting to think Intel has something to worry about, which is part of why they're moving into the ARM space.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

It's a simple enough idea, but seriously Microsoft, where is it?

NO, I'm not talking about Windows 7 on a tablet, or Windows 7 + some third party layer on top, but a separate version of Windows made directly for tablets. Take cues from the Metro design language, Windows Phone, Zune, even the XBOX and Media Center, and find a way to make something as easy to understand as the Windows Phone and Zune UI's.

The opportunity exists! You've created the first, true, next generation UI in mobile post the iPhone revolution, and you are in a prime location to make something amazing for tablets. Mix in a little stylus action for optional writing, and you'll have topped everything else in the market. Add a Windows Phone style setup, controlled experience + hardware specs, and you'll be miles beyond the Google experience, and more affordable than the Apple experience.

The main point to all of this though? You have an opportunity here like you have an opportunity mobile, but you have the chance to make it out on par in time with the rest, not years behind.

Don't miss this chance, please. You have the UI, you have people thinking you know mobile again, it's the time to try tablets one more time, for the consumer market.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Using Internet Explorer 9 since the beta was released, it's been interesting to see how my use of the internet has changed.
 
I've pushed myself to using Windows Live Mail online, which is also fantastic since they just pushed HTTPS for all use. My primary websites are pinned along the bottom, including Hotmail, Facebook, DailyBooth, Engadget, DeviantArt, plus a ton of my other regular websites. It's interesting to have them down there, though I tend to pop in a couple tabs on each window on occasion, for the other websites that don't have fav icons, or just sites I don't usually visit.
 
The problem I have is that I now have a cluttered taskbar, which is both great and not great. Website's available in one click, but also as cascading icons across the bottom. At the same time, I wish a lot more actually utilized the jump list, Live Side ( http://liveside.net ) being the only one which shows updates in the list that are directly clickable.
 
Overall, interesting change. The only sad thing is I have to use other browsers for select websites, such as the schools, which only appears to work in Firefox ... for some reason.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Bored to death, but yup, watching it...

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

I thought I'd do a rundown of what I use on a daily basis, technology wise:
 
Computer
Gateway SX 2800-01 (Core 2 Quad 8200, ATI Radeon HD 5500 series, 1TB Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EARS)
 
Monitor
HP w2338h 23" Widescreen LCD @ 1920x1080
 
Keyboard
Microsoft Arc Keyboard
 
Mouse
Logitech Marble Mouse
 
MP3 Player
32GB Platinum ZuneHD
 
Camera
FujiFilm FinePix J100 (yes, very basic)
 
Speakers
Logitech X-530 5.1 Speakers
 
Netbook
HP Mini 1030NR
 
As for software, I'd direct you to my Wakoopa account which is located here: http://wakoopa.com/clindhartsen Also, for all of my gadgets, visit http://user.gdgt.com/clindhartsen/
 
So, that's what I use, what do you use? Reply via. Twitter, posts elsewhere, or what have you, I'd really love to know.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »