Big uproar at the moment about whether existing WP7 phones will get an upgrade to WP8 (Apollo).
I can understand technically why they might have to do this. WP8 is basically supposed to be a cut down version of Windows 8 whereas WP7 was still based on WindowsCE. However, this would be a massive “FUCK YOU” to the early adopters of WP7 (myself included). They’d effectively be starting from scratch AGAIN. Although WP7 apps have already been confirmed to work on WP8.
Cool video from May 2011 given by the founders of Instagram.
Great quote at around 45:30 from Kevin:
I still don’t make as much money as I was offered out of school - the job I didn’t take. I’ve made decisions along the way, that have taken less money along the way, because I love what I’m doing and hopefully that pays back some day.
A few days ago Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion.
Apple just dropped a bomb whilst Eric Schmidt was giving his MWC Keynote.
Apple have put an interesting message on the invitation:
We have something you really have to see. And touch.
I believe by saying there is something we have to see I think Apple are teasing the fact it has a high resolution screen. Also, some comments on The Verge article are suggesting there is no Home button. Whilst others say it’s probably in landscape mode I think this might be what Apple are hinting at by mentioning touch. It’s possible to use the iPad today without touching the Home button at all due to the multi-touch gestures they introduced with iOS 5.
Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft:
WOA includes desktop versions of the new Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. These new Office applications, codenamed “Office 15”, have been significantly architected for both touch and minimized power/resource consumption, while also being fully-featured for consumers and providing complete document compatibility. WOA supports the Windows desktop experience including File Explorer, Internet Explorer 10 for the desktop, and most other intrinsic Windows desktop features—which have been significantly architected for both touch and minimized power/resource consumption.
It seems very locked down which I think is a good thing. I can see the desktop mode being completely removed for ARM by the time Windows 9 rolls round in another three years. It also seems that they’ve kept it in purely to allow them to deliver Office 15. I guess delivering a new version of Office for WinRT was simply just too much to ask in the time they had.
Although I would have preferred it if the desktop mode was completely removed for ARM I think this is great news. The Consumer Preview can’t come soon enough!
Well this should ramp up the quality bar on Windows Phone 7.
The problem is that there are not enough decent apps. This just encourages people to release four crappy apps to get a phone. Why not give those phones to established iOS developers instead and get them to port over their successful apps?
An iOS Developer reviews Android 4.0
Having observed from afar the development of Android since it came onto my radar (sometime around 2.0), I have felt compelled to purchase various models of Android devices from time-to-time in fulfillment of mere curiosity and overall, to test the waters with…
Interesting to hear this about the new version of Android.
I must admit, when I first started using a Windows Phone I loved the back button idea compared to the iOS way. However, I’ve had similar frustrations myself with sometimes wonder where I will end up if I press it. This was compounded for me by the way manufacturers insist on using capacitive touch buttons instead of real buttons. I was constantly catching them and making mistakes. On the LG Optimus 7 with real buttons I rarely make mistakes but the confusion about where I’ll go back to remains. Although, Windows Phone seems to be streets ahead of Android in this area as it made sense where you ended up, it was just difficult to know beforehand.
Whilst Metro is the new application model for Windows, Microsoft says that dropping into normal Desktop Mode will still be something that users will still want to do. Will probably even need to do at first.
After using the Windows 8 Developer Preview for a few months switching to Desktop Mode is a lot less jarring. There’s no doubt that it would be much better if it was also given a Metro makeover.
So it was quite a relief to see some evidence of this when I was going through some of the posts over at the Building Windows 8 blog. There’s one screen shot of the new Task Manager UI in particular that shows how the desktop is changing.
I did think they would do something like this since the chrome of the windows was flatter than those in Windows 7. Hopefully we’ll get to see more in the beta that is scheduled for release in February!
The grand revealing of Windows 8 is getting closer and closer. The BUILD conference happening in September should reveal everything.
Things are getting exciting and the Building Windows 8 blog has kicked off proceedings…
Now that things are hotting up with Windows 8 I decided I would have another go at blogging. I’m also starting a new job soon and I’m getting into Mac/iOS development so I should have a lot more to talk about.
I thought I would add the Windows 8 video to set the scene. Things seem up in the air at the moment and although I’ve enjoyed working with Silverlight the recent furore over the new Windows 8 HTML5/JS API has made me realise I need to not put all my eggs in one basket. I’m sure they’ll be some sort of Silverlight API for Windows 8 too but branching out a bit more won’t do me any harm.
Covering Silverlight, WPF, Windows Phone and Windows 8...
