Windows Mobile 7, Microsoft has to deliver!

With the imminent launch of the iPhone 3G and it’s App Store, Google Android peeping around the corner and now Symbian about to be owned by Nokia and made open source, Windows Mobile is in big trouble if it fails to deliver something really special with Windows Mobile 7.

What we need to see from Windows Mobile 7 is something that is easy to use, sure this sounds simple enough, but this particular area is where all previous versions of Windows Mobile have failed miserably to date. A first time user picks up a Windows Mobile phone and uses it for 2 minutes and gives up, it is just too complicated for the average user to get their head around.

The reason the iPhone has been such a success, even though it is missing lots of features that Windows Mobile can offer right now is very simple, how easy it is to use. It is so simple to do things that you do every day on a device without even having to think about it. I have just given my wife my iPhone and she now loves it and would never go back to a dumb phone again. Believe me this is a big deal for her as she hated T9 predictive text as that was too complicated, before that she was a Nokia or Sony Ericsson user, I gave her Windows Mobile phones to use in the past and they just do not work for her, too complicated, too slow and annoying.

The Multi Touch interface of the iPhone is fantastic, it works so well and you don’t have to touch it with any force to get it to respond, it is more like a soft caress of the screen than a touch, compare that to the recent line of HTC Touch devices and it is totally different, you have to prod the device with quite a bit of pressure, scrolling is clumsy and you end up selecting items in a list rather than scrolling through them, it is just not a good experience in comparison.

Hardware and functionality of Windows Mobile devices is way out in front of the iPhone, 3G and HSDPA is nothing new they have had it for years now, GPS is far from a new feature either so why are we so excited by the iPhone 3G. Well it really is quite simple, Apple have delivered an experience that we enjoy using, it is simple, its easy to use and more importantly it just works, add on the forthcoming App Store and 3G and it now has the things it should have had originally.

Microsoft must make sure that when they release Windows Mobile 7 that it is something special, it has to be a great user experience, it has to be powerful yes but more importantly it has to do the simple things well, no complicated menus, no sluggish touch screens, no frequent resets, no need for a stylus and no calls straight to voicemail just easy to use and intuitive to get around.

They need to work hard with the OEM’s to make sure that they can provide hardware that works well with the OS.

Music and video has to be easily integrated, podcasts are very popular, let us have an easy way to download them and listen to them, give us 3.5mm headphone jacks and let us be able to sync all that media wirelessly with our PC’s. Give us integration with the Zune Market Place, Xbox Live, make Windows Mobile part of all Microsoft’s great software, mobility is the future, this product could and should be the leader.

There is so much that can be done to get Windows Mobile back in the game but Microsoft needs to invest in it now, give us something to be proud of again, not something that is getting left behind in every way. Give us the power, the usability and something we can be proud to use again.