It's been a busy few weeks in the mobile world, with several new WinMo overlays to scrutinize. Most of them failed to really impress, so let's find out why.
Windows Mobile, the mobile operating system independent developers have loved to tweak and improve, is now targeted by major manufacturers looking to do the same. Of course, it would be natural to believe that such efforts would become a significant part of the Windows Mobile experience. For the most part it hasn't, and in many ways, independent developers still offer superior solutions when it comes to squeezing out the potential of WinMo.
HTC, Sony Ericsson and Samsung have all released new smartphones on the U.S. market this fall, boasting WinMo overlays of various kinds. Responsiveness issues aside, why do these efforts seem so half-hearted? Why can't these companies put as much pride and effort into its development like many independent developers do? The answer is as simple as the corporate structure of the latter.
If you make 20-50 phones a year, the chances of ending up with 20-50 mediocre phones is high. If you spend all your resources on a significantly lower amount, however, you'll not only be able to come up with great concepts, but you'll also be able to fix bugs quickly through firmware upgrades. Think Apple or RIM.
And that's the key issue with Windows Mobile overlays from especially Sony Ericsson and Samsung right now. These companies are all busy in multiple platform camps, only to end up with half-hearted attempts all over the place. The concepts are getting heavier on paper, but a lot of the hard work is handed over to the same independent developers who work pro bono in comparison.
HTC, on the other hand, and its "covering up Windows Mobile" idea also seems a little bit strange to us. Now that they have a vision of becoming a leading phone brand, why not do like Motorola, and offer a great collection of third-party software out-of-box as well? It's not hard to accomplish if creating a great concept is the goal.
At least that's how it looks like from our perspective right now. And with 800 developers showing up at RIM's developer conference recently, we guess there's yet another shift in developer trends emerging. Developers want to be part of a healthy ecosystem and framework, and loose ends like WinMo overlays and non-standard screen resolutions suit them poorly. So unless you are part of a corporate developer house, stay away from Windows Mobile at this point, because it's turning into a circus beyond our imagination.
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