In a press briefing I asked Dean if they fear the new features they showed off today could be implemented by other browsers that ship sooner, he responded “the Windows API is very rich” and he supports other applications who take advantage of them.
Of course this shouldn’t take away the fact that when Internet Explorer 9 will be great for end-users and the web as a whole when it finally ships, but by that time, it might be back right where it started – catching up to what is easily the fastest evolving industry in the world with an update cycle that doesn’t match.
We’ve survived Las Vegas and it’s day 2 of Microsoft’s MIX10 conference. The word of the day is “Internet Explorer” and the number is 9.
To bring you the event live, join Ed Bott, Mary Jo Foley, Kip Kniskern, Benjamin Rubenstein, Paul Thurrott and myself in our hallmark group liveblog. Audience participation will be enabled by default so feel free to ask questions and provide your thoughts on the announcements live.
As news came out of Microsoft MIX10 that application deployment on Windows Phone 7 Series will be limited to only the Marketplace, question marks started lighting up on what side-effects this might have on third-party application developments on the platform. I took the chance to clear up some of those concerns in a meeting with a Microsoft representative today.
An obvious point of concern that stems from this announcement is the fact that Microsoft will inherit more “control” over what applications can be deployed to end-users and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to draw a comparison to the Apple App Store who also inherit a similar “power”.
To avoid falling into the same trap Apple is now continuously drawing criticism for “banning” applications, Microsoft insists its Marketplace is already and will be more “objective”. Like today, Microsoft will be publish criteria for WP7S developers that they claim will not only guide developers on what’s “allowed” but also allow them to test themselves if they will pass the certification process.
Furthermore Microsoft states if applications “meet the criteria” they won’t deny any applications on subjective grounds. For example, even though WP7S has a strong emphasis on good application design and Microsoft will publish style guides for developers, the Marketplace certification process will not have any power to stop applications that don’t meet the guideline or, frankly, look ugly. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” as they put it.
Finally, developers who are looking to beta test their applications to a wider audience than themselves and enterprises can look forward to changes to the Marketplace “later this spring” that will allow private distributions of applications to support both beta and enterprise scenarios. The Microsoft representative hinted at a method to “unlock” Windows Phone 7 Series devices, although not easily, but presumed will allow loading applications using a USB cable.
In a meeting today with Todd Brix, Senior Director for Windows Phone Product Management at Microsoft MIX10 he revealed that Microsoft will be delivering a Windows Update-like service for all Windows Phone 7 Series phones. As many Windows Mobile users would agree in saying, “about time”.
The update service in WP7S is designed to give users improvements to the operating system quickly and reliably. It will be prioritized first on delivering performance, stability and performance improvements and when appropriate, both in terms of new software trends and hardware capabilities, the update service will also be pushing out new features and additional functionality.
Microsoft will reveal what users should expect in terms of update schedules closer to retail availability but there will be a combination of both small and large updates as well as structured and out-of-band updates.
Coming from a mobile operating system which requires flashing the “ROM”, this is a big investment and improvement for Microsoft who seems to have all the right cards to the best hand in the mobile industry.
At Microsoft MIX10 today the Windows Phone 7 Series team are handing out a very special picture book all about our favorite user interface, Metro. There is 47 pages full of beautiful text and icons that explain where Metro comes from, what Metro represents and what guide Metro.
It’s rumored to be on Oprah’s reading list next week.
P.S. I have gained a lot of respect for automated book scanning projects.
The Windows Phone 7 Series emulator is out now and here’s a second look at what’s in it (although there isn’t much out of the box to explore).
This screencast takes a look at the Internet Explorer application and its capabilities in the WP7S emulator, although I can’t confirm if this indeed the same build of IE on actual device – it feels inferior. A quick ACID test reveals a test score of only 5, but a more real life example of it rendering this blog shows it’s very much capable of displaying modern websites.
In a meeting today with Todd Brix, Senior Director for Windows Phone Product Management at 