Microsoft has come up with a new way to promote Windows Mobile to device makers and wireless carriers. Members of the Windows Mobile team, both in the U.S. and U.K., will help develop customized user interfaces (UIs) that enable these vendors to differentiate their offerings, company representatives have revealed.
Windows Mobile has sometimes been criticized for its uniformity, particularly in light of the desire of device-makers and wireless operators to position their products as unique. While the PDAs and smartphones it runs on can be quite diverse, the standard Windows Mobile home screen (shown below) is usually the same across devices.
Windows Mobile's standard home screen
A few vendors -- most notably HTC, with its TouchFLO interface -- have replaced this home screen with their own, however. TouchFLO, sometimes seen as the Windows Mobile world's answer to Apple's iPhone, is said to be able to distinguish between finger and stylus input, responding accordingly. It lets users launch an animated, three-dimensional interface, says HTC.
T-Mobile's custom UI, courtesy of Microsoft
But now, Microsoft, too, is in the business of creating custom UIs. According to a new post on the Windows Mobile team's blog, the company created a custom UI for T-Mobile to use on its recently released Windows Mobile 6-based Shadow smartphone (pictured at right).
As Windows Mobile team member Jay Ongg writes, "Normally ... we release [Windows Mobile] out to OEMs who then do their own customizations. With this release, however, Microsoft worked with the OEM to create an experience that catered to what T-Mobile wanted.
"The OEM, HTC, had their talented industrial design team working on the hardware form-factor and wheel," Ongg continues. "Microsoft wrote the homescreen and worked out an interface for the myFaves information to bubble up for the user to see."
myFaves, seen below, was inspired by the fact that T-Mobile's service allows customers to make free calls to five different people. The UI allows contacts' pictures to zoom on and off the screen and provides a variety of other animations.
According to Ongg, the standard Windows Mobile user interface is designed for users who want to view things on the go without touching the device. It therefore crams as much on the screen as possible, to minimize scrolling.
T-Mobile's myFaves interface was created by Microsoft
In contrast, he writes, the myFaves interface is designed so that each function takes up an entire screen (right-hand screenshot, above). However, an animated navigation bar tells users where they are and allows quick access to other functions.
...and another for Vodafone
myFaves becomes the second time Microsoft has openly taken credit for a custom Windows Mobile UI. In September, the company's Enterprise Mobile Solution Specialist Jason Langridge wrote on his blog that Microsoft created an interface for Vodafone's Treo 500v.
"Our UK team created the Vodafone UI," Langridge wrote. "When I first saw it, I thought it was amazing -- really smooth and provides quick access to the key features on the device very easily. It makes Windows Mobile accessible to a lot more inexperienced Phone users."
Microsoft UK created this UI for Vodafone
The Vodafone interface, shown above, provides an iconic home page plus a "carousel" at the top of the screen that simplifies changing settings.
Microsoft has not commented on what its future plans for creating custom Windows Mobile UIs might be. However, the openness and enthusiasm of its developers suggests they are eager to leave Windows Mobile's stodgy reputation behind and go toe-to-toe with Apple's iPhone.
To see Jay Ongg's posting about the T-Mobile myFaves interface, visit the Windows Mobile team's blog, here. An animated video demonstrating the interface, created by Ongg, is available on his personal website, here.
To see Jason Langridge's posting about the custom Vodafone interface, visit his personal blog, here. Langridge has also created the following YouTube video, which shows off the interface.
Vodafone's customized Treo 500v Windows Mobile UI (Click image to play)
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Microsoft has come up with a new way to promote Windows Mobile to device makers and wireless carriers. Members of the Windows Mobile team, both in the U.S. and U.K., will help develop customized user interfaces (UIs) that enable these vendors to differentiate their offerings, company representatives have revealed.
T-Mobile's custom UI, courtesy of Microsoft
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