Microsoft Courier

[GoinAllTheWay]

Want

[Shazam]

iPad what?

[Barnes]

I should also mention that Windows Phone 7 Series will not support multitasking but pause and push application data, not have Flash and require developers to submit applications for approval in the Windows Marketplace.

[Pastiche]

What is the reason for a lack of multi tasking in most of these devices? Is it a technical issue?

[mykalberta]

Hopefully whenever it comes out that it goes though more testing than the Xbox360 did.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by Pastiche

What is the reason for a lack of multi tasking in most of these devices? Is it a technical issue?

There is multitasking on the iPhone in a way and will be on Series Seven phones as well ie, you can listen to music while you surf the web or play a game. The problem with full blown multitasking is there is limited resources on a mobile phone and it is difficult to provide a user with a way to know which applications are shut down vs still running in the background. You would need some application killer which makes for a not so nice user experience. On a desktop it works well because it is very clear which applications are running and which ones are not.

If a user goes and launches a whole bunch of apps and the phone starts to bog down or crash, it is much less of an acceptable user experience on a mobile device. Basic phone functionality should not be compromised by cowbell, fart machine, streaming radio, solitaire apps. Because Apple and Microsoft can't control 3rd party App code, they can't afford to allow it to crash phones when your trying to call a cab at 3 in the morning.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Barnes

The problem with full blown multitasking is there is limited resources on a mobile phone and it is difficult to provide a user with a way to know which applications are shut down vs still running in the background.

Maybe early on but no so much anymore, I have an app called Taskiller on my Hero that shows how much memory you have left. You can tap the app shortcut to kill all processes or use the main button to see whats running and kill on app at a time. Pretty handy actually.

Seems phones are getting better at it anyways. One of the newer phones has a 1Ghz processor which could handle a number of apps and a ton of on board memory. Even with the one I have now, I can chat on the phone, d/l new emails with large attachements and even play video with no problems.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Barnes

There is multitasking on the iPhone in a way and will be on Series Seven phones as well ie, you can listen to music while you surf the web or play a game. The problem with full blown multitasking is there is limited resources on a mobile phone and it is difficult to provide a user with a way to know which applications are shut down vs still running in the background. You would need some application killer which makes for a not so nice user experience. On a desktop it works well because it is very clear which applications are running and which ones are not.

If a user goes and launches a whole bunch of apps and the phone starts to bog down or crash, it is much less of an acceptable user experience on a mobile device. Basic phone functionality should not be compromised by cowbell, fart machine, streaming radio, solitaire apps. Because Apple and Microsoft can't control 3rd party App code, they can't afford to allow it to crash phones when your trying to call a cab at 3 in the morning.

It's less to do with the phone bogging down or crashing that it is the power budget. Any of these modern OS's loaded on phones would allow you to lock the pages of memory required for essential functions like call handling, so that the core functionality of the phone can never be swapped out or starved for RAM. Similarly, background process could be accorded much lower execution priority, ensuring that there are always, always, CPU cycles available for the foreground application.

But the battery life, with a browser chewing on javascript in the background, or a chat app updating the status of your contacts, a facebook app refreshing, etc, would be unacceptable. The power budgets on cell phones is unreal - they go to almost any length to minimize the amount of time spent processing anything, offloading as many tasks as possible to dedicated hardware (eg. music playback in the background), etc, all in the name of saving a few milliwatt-hours of power consumption.

Imagine leaving your browser on a static webpage, and having enough power to all day. But the next day, with a power-intensive page on a second tab, your phone only lasts a couple of hours. It would be completely unpredictable and insane, you'd never know if your phone was going to run 12 hours or 2.

From a user interface perspective, I think there's lots of innovative ways you could show a user which apps are running. Something like a light glow or pulsing of the icons, with a push and hold to turn them on and off. Or maybe, on the iPhone, you could designate the four apps slots in the "dock" as your multitasking slots, and any apps loaded down there continue to run when exited.

But even with better UI control of multitasking, the power requirements are too variable with too small a battery for it to behave predictably (and in the case of the iPhone, Apple is never going to introduce that level of, or requirement for, manual control and abstract app management in their product)

[HotHotHeat]

That thing is seriously sexy. If it operates as smooth as they suggest, it's going to blow the iPad out of the water.

[QuadCityImages]

As anti-iPad as I am, I'm not sold on this either. Do we really want to go back to writing?

[bluejays]

What I find interesting is the size of it. Given battery technology isn't up to par, I think it's a good move by MS to make it as small as it is. I guess the beauty of such things as this is the "thin" factor, but I think that's where a company can really say screw it, concentrate on better performance. Certainly there is a thin line between optimal performance and aesthetic appearance, but personally, I'd rather a tablet be 2" thick and run 2Ghz and have multitasking than 1" thick and run 1Ghz and no multitasking. It's just me, but I'm finding it odd that MS even after seeing Apple monkeying around bigtime with no multitasking, and launching their version much later, doesn't allow for it when that could be a dealbreaker for many. Cool device, though looking more and more of a niche product than the iPad unfortunately.

[kermitology]

Possibly Courier related or more likely Windows Phone 7 related..

Though the "sharing" tagline does make me hopeful about it having some Courier info.

http://bit.ly/cTrzBt

Also, in case you missed the accidental possible confirmation of the device's existence: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/23/m...anys-jobsblog/

[getbak]

Perhaps a bad choice of font. Had to do a double-take there.

"It does what?"

[kermitology]

I was left wondering how the Courier would be able to ignore the touch of my hand on the surface while I write..

This explains how that works. I think it's a pretty impressive interface idea:
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2010/04/mi...titouch-magic/

[Russic]

It's funny, as somebody who's looking forward to the iPad, I look at this device with the same skepticism that people bring to Apple's tablet. I have to give MS full credit for innovation. I've never viewed them as overly innovative, but the Zune HD, Windows 7 and now this are actually quite impressive. The creative horsepower that went into this is pretty fun to watch.

I am stuck wondering how it would fit into my daily workflow though. Not a big sketcher, I hate writing and I've never had a journal. I can definitely see a chunk of the population (creative types) loving a device like this ... I'd like to see more from MS on how other types of people could use it though.

Possible release in Q3 or Q4 ... so perhaps we might see a functional unit over the summer? By functional unit I just mean something other than a mock-up.

[La Flames Fan]

Quick and Dirty.

[QuadCityImages]

Originally Posted by Russic

I am stuck wondering how it would fit into my daily workflow though. Not a big sketcher, I hate writing and I've never had a journal. I can definitely see a chunk of the population (creative types) loving a device like this ... I'd like to see more from MS on how other types of people could use it though.

That's my hangup with it. It looks amazing, but nothing they've demonstrated is useful for me. Going after the fraction of people in the world that do graphic design and artsy stuff doesn't seem to be a path towards selling millions of devices.

[mykalberta]

My problem with it is that I hope the Windows phone does what it could do.

I need a laptop and a phone with email. If my phone allows me to rdp into servers and telnet into switches and routes, i dont know why i would need this. I guess it could replace my axim but I have almost already replaced it with my blackberry and the notes function. I just wish there was a way to organize notes better on blackberry - I have 187 different notes on the blackberry.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by QuadCityImages

That's my hangup with it. It looks amazing, but nothing they've demonstrated is useful for me. Going after the fraction of people in the world that do graphic design and artsy stuff doesn't seem to be a path towards selling millions of devices.

Exactly. I'm certainly not saying the device is useless, I just don't like the marketing campaign. If I wanted to sell my mom on getting an iPhone I sure wouldn't sit her down and explain how it'll tune a guitar, play Call of Duty, keep you connected to your friends via chat or let you send money via paypal.

I understand they're thinking outside the box and I applaud them for it ... I just have a hard time visualizing how I'd use it and I'd guess that many would be in my boat.

[kermitology]

Courier is and shall never be:

http://gizmodo.com/5527442/microsoft...tablet-project

Extremely disappointing Microsoft.