Windows Mobile needs User Experience Improvement

by Donald Burnett

I have had a number of Windows Mobile Smartphones, and PDAs. My first Windows CE PDA was a Casio, with a grey scale lcd screen no color.. It worked great for Windows CE 1.0.

 

My next was a Casio E-125,  and later an HP IPaq

Then I bought a couple of Windows Mobile phones and my latest phone is a Moto-Q 9m.. It's a great phone and email messaging device, it lacks some things, which I will get into with you shortly that I think need to change about WIndows Mobile.

Recently I looked at the Apple iPhone and really loved it, but didn't really like the provider so I ended up buying an Apple iPod Touch and a new Moto-Q for phone functionality, which far and away has the features I have always wanted in Windows Mobile but haven't gotten based on phone handset makers design decisions.. This month Apple updated the iPod Touch to feature many of the applets it was missing from the iPhone and the update supports third party installable applications (provided Apple deems them secure). For email (including access to an exchange server), the device is fantastic though I do miss having a REAL keyboard. The web browser with it's Zooming capability makes quick work out of most pages and is fully featured (except no RSS built-in, but Google's online reader takes care of that problem).

What's missing from the Moto Q9m that I totally think should be there? Well let's talk about it. Internet Explorer Mobile really is missing some features, simply put the web browser on the iPhone and the iPod Touch is better. Screen rendering is much better and it's a much easier way to browse the web than Mobile IE, this is a hands down fact. This is not to say IE Mobile isn't very useable, it is, but it's scope is rather narrow in terms of functionality and  it's got a less natural UI feel to browsing..

        

A Better Web Browsing Solution  

Now some folks have heard Microsoft is working on improving this with their DEEPFISH product. Unfortunately they showed this for Windows Mobile 5 devices, and I just bought a Mobile 6 device and it's not present in it.  They have added Windows Update to Mobile 6, but there have been no updates there to speak of yet.  Microsoft would be smart to re-issue the beta preview of this from Live Labs right away, even if it's a work in progress. It would make Windows Mobile owners believe some progress is being made.

 

I really hope this isn't a Windows Mobile 7 type update, because another fact of the market is there isn't a good upgrade path with a lot of Windows Mobile devices. If there is a new version of the software you can't always update you have to buy a new device.. This is unfortunate, because I believe this is what needs to change about the Windows Mobile Market place across device makers and service providers.  The Apple devices have an advantage because so far you can just update the hardware you just bought.

Office Mobile Needs Improvement

My other beef about Windows Mobile is not all applications work on all devices. I recently decided to buy the Office Mobile update, for the Moto Q 9m so I could do document editing. I was really upset and disappointed to learn just before purchase (at the Handango Store, not at the Windows Mobile site) that I could not purchase this because my new device wasn't compatible with Office Mobile. That fact alone really made me steamed. I had got out the credit card ready for purchase and boom no deal..

After this experience, I decided to check out features of Office Mobile.. I was shocked and disappointed after seeing SoftMaker Office 2006 for Windows Mobile Pocket PCs a few years ago and learning that Windows Office Mobile just isn't as functional...

On my old WindowsMobile CE/ PDA (which wasn't nearly as endowed with ram, processor speed, functionality) I could have an almost total Clone of the full-blown Microsoft Word and Excel, with much much more functionality than Office Mobile..  Why doesn't Microsoft just buy this company's product and replace Office Mobile with it? If someone hasn't suggested it to Microsoft they should.  I really wish someone was paying attention to the third party market more carefully.

Simply put it seems we are loosing functionality on Windows Mobile to design considerations which are different among different handset makers.. Even if the interface on the Softmaker Office looks cluttered, the experience and functionality totally wins out..

Here's a comparision..

       

                              

 

Now let's do some comparison of Mail Clients. I am throwing in the Apple iPod Touch/iPhone in for comparison, because it does HTML email as well..

iPod Touch E-mail..

      

Windows Mobile 6 Email

There is not much difference here in functionality at all except for the cleaner font and navigation on the iPod. However both perform this very well..

As for mapping GPS, etc..

I am also very fond of Windows Live Search Mobile.. The Mapping, Directions, and database besides the fact that you can SPEAK to it and it will find something is very amazing. This functionality alone makes Windows Mobile a great buy! It's much more integrated and supports GPS, unlike Apple's current solution.. This is a KILLER application for Windows Mobile.

So for me it's a toss up, Microsoft wins it on real-world features that you want (like live search)  but you just can't beat the iPod/iPhone on style and usability.. The feeling you get is you really love to look at the iPod Touch/iPhone, while Windows PDA's and SmartPhones don't seem to be in the same typographical and layout design world. 

Windows Mobile 7 WishList..

• A better web browser user experience with scaling and zooming like deepfish, and less UI compromises.
• A revamped interface (A media center style browser doesn't sound better to me hint! hint! It works on a 10 ft away tv, not on a 3 inch screen)
• Microsoft buys Softmaker Office and revamps Office Mobile with it
• Better UI customization
• More functionality in applications. I think if there aren't more they are going to get killed on this.
• More speech support in everything (it's better than a touch pad when it works)

Technorati tags: Windows Mobile Makeover, iPod Touch, Apple iPhone, Microsoft, Moto Q9m