Video-on-demand (VOD) is all the rage in TV and games. The BBC’s Project Canvas should initiate open platform set-top boxes in 2010 with elements of IPTV and video on demand streaming services. Sky needs a plan.

Similarly, Xbox bosses desperately need to combat the PlayStation 3 upcoming movie on-demand service that will sit alongside its existing BBC iPlayer interface. It’s expected to include streaming and downloading of 2000+ movies and many more TV shows.

Step forward the ultimate solution: Sky Player on Xbox 360. You’ll find it in the Video Marketplace on your Xbox 360. Once downloaded and various subs paid, (though it will let you watch a random live TV channel as a demo), the interface works in exactly the same way as its host’s dashboard.

That is, quite brilliantly. Spacious and uncluttered, ducking between the live TV channel slots and those for on-demand content is so easy, and so familiar. There’s rarely any delay, save for an occasional wait for the movies homepage to load.

As for live TV, if you pay your subs and go for the entertainment and sports packages, respectively, you’ll get Sky Screen 1 and Sky Screen 2, and ESPN, ESPN Classic, Sky Sports 1, 2, 3 and Xtra.

However, it’s unlikely viewers of the basic package will make much use of the live channels provided; iPlayer-envy is sure to set in. Sky channels include only Sky Real Lives, Sky Arts 1, Sky News and Sky Sports News (so no Sky One), plus third-party channels – GOLD, MTV, Eurosport UK, Nat Geo, Nat Geo Wild, History, Eden, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr and the Disney Channel.

The video on demand library is just as easy to navigate, and includes material from Sky One. As usual with Sky, content goes from the sublime to the ridiculous. On one hand there’s exclusive Premiership football and rugby aplenty – as on-demand re-runs, too – while a few flicks away are a stack of Gladiators episodes that cost 98p each. And a lifetime’s worth of Ross Kemp-related material.

For live TV only, it’s possible to watch in a virtual living room. Your avatar, along with your friends’ avatars (if you’ve invited them), sit together on a huge couch staring up at a bigscreen that shows the action. Get a headset and you can talk to your chums, or just click the Emote and you can make your feelings known, albeit in a rudimentary way; for sports TV your avatar can wave, shout, clap or remonstrate over a bad decision, while for movies can express love, fear, or even boredom. Pointless, yes, but fun.

The service works well on a 2Mbps broadband line, though if others are using the bandwidth live channels and VOD do buffer and cut out. There is an option to watch in medium or low quality too if your broadband line is shaky, but this is a last resort; make sure your broadband line is well over 2Mbps meg – 3Mbps should be fine – before considering Sky Player on the Xbox.

Content-wise, Sky subscribers get a similar service to their satellite feed, plus VOD. And if you’ve no Sky subs, there’s a taster trial before you commit to paying a considerable sum: for ?29.99 you an get a Sky Player retail bundle pack that includes a month’s access to Sky Sports, a media remote and a 3 month Xbox LIVE Gold membership card.

Verdict:

For non-Sky converts, you get what you pay for; an expensive though an excellent IPTV solution that fits seamlessly into the Xbox experience. For existing Sky subscribers, it’s a must-have no-brainer; grab yourself Sky in the bedroom, or even in another property, for the cost of Xbox LIVE Gold.

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Tags: Gaming Home Cinema Sky Microsoft Sky Player Xbox 360

Sky Player on Xbox 360 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:16:03 +0000

Microsoft has quite a task on its hands. Most people agree that its last operating system release, Windows Vista, was actually a perfectly respectable bit of software once driver manufacturers were on board after a year or so, but that didn't stop it becoming the butt of almost every single one of the tech industry's jokes since 2006 (that weren't about the Zune).

This time round, Microsoft has taken a decidedly different approach to the launch of the OS. In stark contrast to the relative secrecy of the Windows Vista release, combined with a marketing campaign with the slogan: "The Wow Starts Now", the launch of Windows 7 has been totally open and subject to very little marketing.

Many technology enthusiasts, ourselves included, have been running 7 in either its Beta or Release Candidate version since early 2009. The OS hasn't changed significantly in that time, but a few features have been tweaked and improved upon, and we've been running the final release of the OS now for a little while.

As such, we've got a good idea of how it runs in both the short and long-term. We've worked with it, played games with it, and this review will aim to answer three main questions - "is it any good?", "should I install now, or wait a year like with Vista?" and "is Ultimate worth the price over Home Premium?".

So let's start with the first thing most people will experience - the install procedure. For a long time Microsoft has been trying to cut down the amount of steps required to install its operating systems and Windows 7 seems to have stripped the whole thing down to the bare minimum.

The whole process is mercifully brief - slightly longer if you want to upgrade from Vista rather than reformat your hard disk (required if you want to switch from XP or any of the early releases of Windows 7). You just pick a language, pick a drive to install on, and that's it! Go make a cup of tea and you'll be done.

When you get into the OS itself, the first thing that'll strike you is the brand new taskbar. It's wider, and the start button no longer says "Start" on it, but it functions mostly the same as it always did with one exception - the quicklaunch area and the list of running programs have been merged.

Now, when you launch a program its icon appears along that list and mousing over it will give you a preview of what the window looks like. In some cases, you'll also be able to interact with that program, thanks to "jump lists" accessible with a right-click. These lists include options like skipping between tracks on a music player, or setting status on an IM application.

This seemingly minor UI improvement actually increases productivity quite a bit. Instead of a rammed taskbar where you can't see which windows are which, icons will stack, so it's a rare situation where you run out of space. Also handy is that the system tray won't fill up with icons either - it's easy to relegate ones you don't need into a hidden space.

That usability factor is a difficult one to pin down. We found that after using Windows 7 for a bit it was actually a little bit painful to go back to Vista. We would work slower, despite having used Vista for years in the past. Windows 7 is a genuine pleasure to use, and seems to suffer considerably less than its predecessors from random crashes and blue screens.

Media streaming is another big deal in Windows 7. Straight out of the box you can have a hard disk chock-full of content (acquired legally, obviously) and then share that media with other Windows 7 devices on your network, or even over the web. A biref download lets you link a Windows Live account with your Windows account, and from there you can use Windows Media Player to send audio and video wherever you like.

You can share particular libraries from Windows Media Player 11 and 12, from Windows Home Server, but most excitingly of all you can hook up a DLNA-enabled television or stereo and see it appear as a device on your network to stream music to. From there, you can just right-click tracks and send them to your television, for example.

Windows Media Centre is mostly unchanged from its Vista incarnation, but has a few nice features that you may find useful. There's a whole pile of media extenders available that are a bit like Firefox Extensions - they can enable additional functionality.

For example, if you have an Xbox 360, you can install an extender that lets you view all your computer's multimedia content on your Xbox. If you have a Sky subscription, another extender will add a tile in the "TV" section that enables Sky Player content streamed over the web. Windows Media Centre is a well-put-together bit of software that should cover most of your audiovisual needs in the OS.

Those of you who are purchasing the Ultimate edition of Windows 7 will get a few extra features too. There's BitLocker encryption for drives if you want to protect particular content from prying eyes. This offers AES encryption algorithm in CBC mode with a 128 bit key, combined with the Elephant diffuser for additional disk encryption specific security not provided by AES. If you're not sure what that means, then it basically means "you're not breaking into this one".

If you're upgrading from Vista to 7, you'll have relatively few of the problems that you might have run into between XP and Vista. 7 uses almost exactly the same architecture, meaning that if something worked in Vista then it's more-or-less likely to work fine in Windows 7 too.

In fact, it's fair to say that if your device doesn't work in Windows 7 or Vista now, then the blame can only be pinned on the manufacturer - they've had nearly four years to get things working. The only issues we faced were linked to running a 64-bit operating system which, while supported pretty well, didn't have quite the same catalogue of drivers as the 32-bit edition.

And if the worst happens, and a program defiantly refuses to work then Ultimate edition also includes an XP Mode that lets you virtualize the aging OS inside Windows 7. From there, anything that worked on Windows XP will work, though you'll suffer a slight performance degradation.

Those who experiment a lot with different operating systems will also find Windows 7's virtual hard disk booting a boon. This allows you to section off a bit of your drive and pretend that it's an entirely different hard drive, allowing you to test out alternative operating systems without having to partition your drive. It's a bit like Boot Camp in OS X - allowing you to run more than one operating system with ease.

There's now widespread support for more file formats. Wordpad, for example, supports .docx and .odt extensions from Office 2007 and upward and OpenOffice respectively. Microsoft seems to have tried very hard to make Windows as compatible as possible with a wide range of different bits of hardware and software - a task that's not trival for it to accomplish thanks to the huge ecosystem of software developers that code for its platform and the sheer weight of users that go for Windows.

We don't really do benchmarks or overwhelm you with graphs here - instead we prefer to tell you what kind of experience you'll get. With Windows 7, performance is great. While Windows 7 isn't as lightweight as the latest Linux builds, it behaves beautifully on both weak and powerful machines alike.

We didn't get the change to test it on a netbook, but we did try a laptop that's about four years old. We found Windows 7 perfectly operable on systems that Vista struggled with. Give it a try on a netbook or old laptop to see what we mean - you'll likely be impressed.

You might have to turn off Aero mode, which is the translucent window edging that you'll see in many screenshots of Windows 7. This was present in the more expensive editions of Vista and also lets you use the Windows and Tab keys to scroll between Windows as if they were bits of paper. Try it and see.

Windows 7 doesn't waste the capabilities of top-end hardware, either. While you might lose one or two frames per second on the latest games compared to the same hardware on XP, you'll benefit from considerably better security and usability than Microsoft's 2001 OS. We found games performance unnoticably different in real terms from XP and considerably better than Vista. Gamers have nothing to fear from Windows 7.

Verdict:

So, firstly then - is it any good? Unequivocably yes. Windows 7 is the best OS Microsoft hasever made, and they've learnt all the necessary lessons from Vista. While it doesn't have some of the slickness of OS X, or the speed of Linux, it offers a fantastic compromise between the two with by far the biggest choice of software available.

But if you're happily running XP or Vista, is it worth the upgrade right now? We'd still say yes, but more hesitantly this time. Despite Microsoft's wide-open testing process, once the final version of Windows 7 hits the big, bad, world there's sure to be one or two glitches that show up and need patching.

Lastly, is it worth shelling out for Ultimate over Home Premium or Professional? On this one, we'd probably say that for most users it's not. If you're using software that refuses to work in Vista and Windows 7, but worked fine in XP and you need the virtualization mode, then you could be swayed. If you work with sensitive information regularly, and need Bitlocker's encryption, then you should get it. But most users don't need those things and will be happy with Home Premium or Professional.

Microsoft, probably as a result of being such a big company, can be a little schitzophrenic with the quality of its products. Sometimes you'll get an Xbox 360, other times you'll get Windows Mobile. This time round, Microsoft has learnt from its mistakes in the past and created a stable, speedy, and usable platform for computing. Thumbs up.

Tags: Software Operating Systems Microsoft Windows 7

Windows 7 Ultimate originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:11:23 +0100

While there are plenty of wireless notebook mice around, that hasn't stopped manufacturers attempting to try and innovate. Microsoft's latest attempt is the Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000.

It's a wee little nipper - 61mm by 103mm - but despite its size it's relatively comfortable. Rubber grip pads on either side hold your hand in place, while your fingers rest on the smooth upper surface. In the middle of that surface is a black panel with a Microsoft logo, battery indicator and the mousewheel.

But not just any mousewheel. Imagine coating yourself in vaseline, then getting in a bath of baby oil, then slipping yourself between a set of the smoothest, most silken velvet sheets you can picture. That's what using this mousewheel feels like.

Of course, what that means is that gamers will hate it. There's no definition between clicks - it's one fluid motion. Flicking between weapons will be irritatingly imprecise. Though, to be fair, gamers aren't exactly the target audience for this product.

Along with left and right clicks, the mousewheel click, and the ability to click the wheel left and right to scroll in those directions, there's also a fourth button positioned forward on the left. Unfortunately, it's just out of comfortable thumb-reach, but that's not too big a deal.

The sensor seems accurate and responsive. It was able to track with only a couple of very minor glitches on the surface of a glass desk that we tested it with. On a mousepad, it was very quick so if you find you need a bit more precision, it might be worth dialling that down a little in the settings.

The sensor is miniscule - so small you might lose it - but luckily it slots into the base of the device for when you're travelling. The mouse also has a hard on/off switch so you can save battery if you're not going to be using the device for a little while.

Verdict:

Microsoft's latest iteration of its mobile mouse is great. It's compact, smooth, and full-featured. The only criticisms we could level - like comfort - would require a full-size mouse to rectify.

Available for just ?25 at the time of writing, the Mobile Mouse 4000 is a great investment for a regular traveller that's fed up with their cramped trackpad.

Tags: Hardware Mice And Keyboards Mice Microsoft Microsoft Mobile Mouse 4000

Microsoft Mobile Mouse 4000 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:53:51 +0100

While the first Zune was just another MP3 player to many, the same can't be said about the Zune HD, the follow-up player from Microsoft. Could the Windows maker finally have a device that will give a new impetuous to the MP3 player market? We've been living with one for the last month to work it whether the hype is justified.

Coming in two sizes - 16GB and 32GB - the Zune HD is sleek, solid, and well-made, with plenty of wow factor. It is light years ahead of the original model: it's Schwarzenegger to Danny DeVito in Twins. It really is that different.

Now you get a thin player, dominated by the 3.3-inch OLED screen with a single button underneath. The screen, which is capacitive, multi-touch and gesture-enabled is crisp, bright and clean in its performance. It will make your video and images come alive to an extent that we haven't seen on a PMP before. It's impressive.

The rest of the design is equally minimalist. The single button is rectangular as not to be confused with another more popular MP3 player on the market, while the power button can be found at the top. A 3.5mm headphone jack can be found next to the dock connector at the bottom, which is used for charging and plugging into accessories. Placing it at the bottom means its ready to use when you pull it out of your pocket - a nice touch. For those who like buttons there is a further side button that gives you direct access to the player controls.

The metal casing, which is held down by four mean looking screws is tough and all in all this is one good looking device.

Power it up and you'll quickly find that it's made by Microsoft. Why do we say that? Well because before you go anywhere you have to sync it with your PC. Once synced, you've then got to update it with the latest firmware version and that's after you've downloaded the Zune software to get the thing working in the first place. It's not the end of the world, but you expect gadgets these days to just work, not to have to be updated from day one.

Mac users with the urge to sign up, take heed: the Zune software isn't Mac compatible and therefore you'll either have to find a friend to install the software or invest in virtualisation software to run on your Mac. If you don't it's a charming looking paperweight. Microsoft has teased with the promise of Mac software, but don't hold your breath.

So you've updated the software and you're up and running. The Zune's interface is stunning: graphically luscious and very fast thanks to the Nvidia Tegra chip inside. That means rather than a 2D menu interface that sees you scrolling from left to right, things pop, slide, shizzle and generally pazzam their way around the screen.

The touch interface only helps in the day-to-day control of the player and we found it incredibly responsive to use, Apple responsive to use.

The Zune HD offers two menu systems to get to your music, pictures, videos and apps quickly. The main menu gives you an overview of what is happening now with a "Now Playing" box starting proceedings. Then there is something Microsoft has called "Pins" that allow you to Pin something to the menu.

The idea, and it's one that works, is if you have a favourite album or video you can "pin" it to the menu for quick access. After "Pins" comes "History" so you can see what you've been listening or watching and then "New" which lists the latest tracks you added to the player - handy if you are wanting to go straight to that new funky track you just bought.

While the system works incredibly well it does look complicated if you don't have all the album art in place - you just get placeholders.

A more traditional menu system, and the one you are more likely to use on a day-to-day basis is the list menu that lists the core functions and features of the player. Here you get access to music, video, pictures, radio, Marketplace to buy apps, social aspects of the player, the Internet browser, apps, and settings.

The main focus here is the music, although it's not the only focus. Pressing the music button whizzes you into the your music collection and you can, as you would expect, list songs as Playlists, Songs, Genres, Albums, and Artists.?

If you don't have your own music collection, or are just bored with it, then you can sign up to get a Zune Pass. Think Napster or Spotify for your MP3 player. For $14.99 you can access thousands of songs to download them on to your Zune HD and swap them out when you are bored. It's not a new idea, but it is a great way to get unlimited music with minimum of fuss, if you are happy to pay the price of two new albums a month. Within the deal you also get to keep 10 tracks a month, so when you exit the programme you at least have something to show for it.

With your Zune Pass sorted (you get a 14 day free trial in the box) you can then go about creating Smart DJ lists. Basically they are like Genius lists from Apple, created in the accompanying PC software rather than on the player itself.

When you think you're just about done on the music front, the player then smacks you with what Microsoft call HD radio. In reality it's a standard FM radio, but the reception is excellent (we tested it in New York). If the radio station provides track details then you get that information on the screen, and the player allows you to seamlessly pause the radio so you don't miss the best bit, be it a song or documentary.?

Better still if you really like the song, and it is recognised, you can add it to your "cart" to buy the track from Marketplace. Clever.

Marketplace is where you spend your money. With a music and apps store, the offering isn't massive at the moment from the player itself. It's more of a "glance" rather than a compressive offering on the go, and you get access to top songs, top albums, new releases.

Apps are a combination of games, productivity tools and bits and bobs. So far there are just 10 available, eight of which are games. The other two are a weather app and a calculator app.

Of course this will grow in size and scope as Marketplace gains momentum. At the moment you can only search via New, Update and All. If you had 85,000 apps in there it would get very complicated to find relevant apps.

With a multi-touch gesture-based screen and a Tegra graphics chip, this should, if the Marketplace can get momentum, have huge potential. But for now it is a bit of a damp squib. Why Microsoft didn't allow developers to port games from Windows Mobile is beyond us. Apps is definitely one to watch, but for the moment not something you would base your purchase on.

Something else you shouldn't base your purchase on is the browser. It might say internet browser on the box, but it is very basic experience. Utilising the on-board wireless connectivity you get a very simple browser based on Internet Explorer. On the plus side it's quick and you can zip around the Internet checking out your favourite websites like Pocket-lint.

There is an on-screen keyboard (portrait and landscape) so you can enter the URL, there is a favourite button so you can access your favourite sites, and finally a Bing search button so you can search the web. There isn’t multiple tab browsing, history, and any navigation elements apart from refresh and back. There is no Flash support for watching video, YouTube or not.

As for the software, the interactive interface is easy to use allowing you to manage your syncing options, and follows the same flow based interface found on the device. It owes more to Microsoft's work with the Xbox 360 rather than PowerPoint.

Verdict:

As a music player this is a pretty compelling offer. The player is small, well priced, and sexy enough to impress. The music, HD Radio, video and image playback on that OLED screen is very cool, and the Zune Pass if that's what you want, is great. However that's where it stops. The Internet browser is pretty worthless for anything other than checking the odd web page and the app's offering at the moment is heavily unrepresentative of what it could be.

So where does that leave you? If you are anti-Apple and just want a decent MP3 player that will grow over time then this is a great choice. If Microsoft had released this as the first Zune it's market share would be very different. Compared to the competition, other than Apple, we would put this in second place.

However just as Microsoft catches up with Apple and it's iPod touch, Apple moves the focus towards gaming and being a device that's more than just music. If you are looking for something more than just a music player and more along the lines of a games console, come internet browser, come app device, come music player, then while the Zune tries, it falls drastically short.

It's a shame, because combined with the Zune Pass, the Tegra 3D chip, and OLED screen the Zune HD has the potential to be so much more than it currently is. The good news for Microsoft is that its a lack of software that's the problem, not something lacking with the device itself.

Lots of potential, but at the moment very much a wait and see unless that Zune Pass really is what you are after.

Sadly, it's only available in the US, starting at $219.99 for the 16GB version.

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Tags: Audio MP3 players Microsoft Zune HD Microsoft Zune HD

Microsoft Zune HD MP3 player originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:05:43 +0100

Windows Mobile 6.5 swoops in and ousts the 6.1 variation of the mobile phone operating system. We first got our hands on Windows Mobile 6.5 at Mobile World Congress back in February and today it finally comes to market on a slew of handsets from a number of different manufacturers. If you are after a Windows Phone, then from today you have the choice of all shapes and sizes.

The most surprising thing, perhaps, is that Windows Mobile 6.5 was outlined at the same event that saw the unveiling of the HTC Magic, which has since been supplanted. Such is the rapid pace of evolution in mobile phones, does Windows Mobile 6.5 earn its place in today's line-up of smartphones?

There are improvements across the board, but it's obvious from the name – 6.5 – that this is more of an upgrade than a complete redesign. At Tuesday's launch event for the "new" operating system, Microsoft representatives were careful not to comment on what we already know is incoming: Windows Mobile 7.

So what is Windows Mobile 6.5? It is essentially a stop-gap, plugging the holes apparent in previous editions of the operating system before we see more significant changes in the next iteration. But with such a long lead-time, there's every chance that consumers will find themselves stuck in a contract with 6.5, when 7 emerges. For business users this is perhaps less of an issue, but if you are forking out your hard earned cash, it's certainly a consideration.

Windows Mobile 6.5 is all about shifting from the awkward interface of 6.1 (which bears hallmarks going back to editions much, much, earlier), to a more consumer focus. In this regard it addresses a major hurdle in the fastest changing segment of the mobile phone market: touch control.

One of the biggest changes in recent times has been the adoption of capacitive screens over resistive. In the past, all Windows Mobile devices were resistive, but that's all set to change with this latest iteration. We've had our hands on the HTC HD2 which features a 4.3-inch capacitive display. The response is remarkable, completely changing what you expect from Windows Mobile, and a world away from the experience of Toshiba's TG01, it's closest hardware rival.

With this capacitive display comes multi-touch too, giving you the sort of features that Apple iPhone users have been enjoying for years. But not all Windows Mobile 6.5 users will experience this with their device. In fact, the demonstration by Microsoft to assembled journalists at the official launch saw an awkward dragging around of an internet page, jumping and staggering around. A stark contrast to what is actually possible.

Microsoft's new homepage is one of the first things to be obliterated by customisation from the manufacturer. The Windows Mobile default homepage presents a selection of major heading bars like pictures, music, through to email and text messages. On each bar you can scroll left and right too, so if you have multiple email accounts you'll get easy access to them. Make a selection on the homepage takes you with a tap through to that image. It isn't whizz-bang flashy, but works well enough.

Microsoft has made a point of adding features to the lock screen too, so rather than just giving you a method of unlocking your phone, you can see your next appointment and notification alerts, with easy access to things such as text messages. It's a mindful modification and considers the way that people actually use their phone.

6.5 users are presented with a new honeycomb menu system, arranging icons which can be easily tapped to launch an application. It works well enough, giving you a long list of your applications, including those you pickup from the Marketplace, or sideload. You can rearrange to a certain degree, sending icons to the top, but you don't get a multi-page arrangement to organise these icons. An application search is included, so it's perhaps not a problem.

Many menus have this honeycomb layout, which is fair enough – getting to your applications or settings is pretty easy, but then the stop-gap which is Windows Mobile 6.5 ends. Dive into the Sounds and Notifications menu for example and you are presented with small tick boxes and tiny tabs, regardless of all the screen real estate on offer.

In fact, these menus are almost identical to a 2002 to a Compaq iPAQ we found in the office, running Pocket PC ver 3. And therein lies the problem that blights Windows Mobile: at its core, it is still an antiquated system and as you dig into Windows Mobile 6.5, it becomes abundantly apparent.

Getting back to new features, your new smartphone now features Microsoft MyPhone. This is a feature we like, not only because it apes Apple's MobileMe offering, but because it is free. All you have to do is run a quick set-up on your device, plug in your Windows Live ID and away you go.

MyPhone backs up your handset to the cloud, a quick and easy process that costs you nothing but the data. It will take care of your contacts, calendar, tasks, text messages, favourites, photos, videos, music and documents. You get to select what you want to sync too, so if you don't want a record of banal text messages, you don't have to have them.

You can then share items through the MyPhone website, with connected social networking sites including Facebook, MySpace and Flickr, as well as the obligatory Windows Live network.

Other exciting features include viewing your phone's last known location. Great! If your phone is stolen, you can see where it got to, until the thief disabled the feature in the menus. "Premium" features include ringing the phone, seeing it on a map, locking it and erasing the content. The MyPhone website offers a "limited time offer" on these features, so if you are planning on having your phone pinched, you'd better do it fast.

The Marketplace is another addition to your smartphone. It has been a long time coming and Windows Mobile users will appreciate finding applications in a central location, rather than having to fish around for them. The Marketplace is currently going through plenty of changes and in the last 2 days we've seen content come and go. Launch teething troubles, we hope.

The interface is rather basic and lacks the gloss you'll find on other devices from the Android Market to the BlackBerry App World. But there is a capable search function and you can select to browse only the free stuff if you want. It's a little early to judge at the moment, but first impressions are a little underwhelming.

The final major overhaul comes in the form of Internet Explorer Mobile. Browsing the Internet on the move has seen massive growth over recent years, fuelled by increasingly affordable data packages and enhanced solutions. Microsoft's Mobile browsers have never been very well received and Internet Explorer looks to change all that.

In reality, it's a bit of a clunky experience still. Double tap zooming in and out, dragging the pages around with a finger, it doesn’t really impress. No surprise then that HTC's CEO Peter Chou demoed multi-touch on the HTC HD2 with the Opera browser. It's free and still delivers the better experience.

Verdict:

But the killer criticisms of Windows Mobile still persist. If you want to close an application, you are faced with a tiny X in the top right-hand corner. Come to make a selection and often you are presented with a small Menu or Done button across the bottom, which is just as frustrating as it always has been. This, unfortunately, is the enduring impact that you are left with.

As a mobile phone operating system it is clear that Windows Mobile 6.5 is still a long way behind the pack. This update doesn’t bring it up to the offerings from Apple or Android which are gunning in the same market and walking off with the fat consumer contracts. Yes, Windows Mobile still delivers stalwart business support and when we hooked it up to our Windows 7 PC to sync with Outlook, the sync process swung in and took over. No messing around, no hiccups, and easy to solve conflicts. It may also be the only operating system that your company will support.

The experience that you get from Windows Mobile will differ greatly from device to device. Today we have seen handsets from Samsung, LG, HTC and Toshiba: all are different, but all have 6.5 lurking under the skin. In this battleground for your slightly-too-sensible smartphone, the lines are drawn out between Microsoft and all the manufacturers. Windows Mobile won't sell itself, but the Sense UI or S-Class interface might just.

These third-party skins can change many aspects of your device, not least including the keyboard. Today we've seen four different on-screen keyboards, QWERTY handsets, sliders and touch phones from the compact Samsung Omnia Lite to HTC's massive HD2.

The choices are almost overwhelming, but cut to its core Windows Mobile 6.5 isn't drastically different from its predecessors. Having seen the stark difference between device performance today, it is clear that there will still be "good" and "bad" devices to choose from.

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Windows Phone Windows Mobile HTC Samsung LG Toshiba Microsoft Windows Mobile

Windows Mobile 6.5 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:55:15 +0100