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| Spb mobile shell puts Windows Mobile interface to; shame | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 13 2009, 06:36 AM (38 Views) | |
| Warren | Feb 13 2009, 06:36 AM Post #1 |
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Spb mobile shell puts Windows Mobile interface to shame Based on the high popular Spb “Mobile Shell”, Spb Software House has showcased a new “Online Shell” at Australia’s CeBIT tech conference. It brings a range of online multimedia entertainment and information services using the Mobile Shell interface, which itself brought a very iPhone-esque experience to drab Windows Mobile devices. If you’re not using an HTC Touch device, with HTC’s iPhone-esque Touch Flo interface, but are using a different Windows Mobile smartphone, the only professional game and alternative in town has been the very cool Spb Mobile Shell. With version 2.1 launched on April 29, 2008, the user experience is so radically different to that of corporate-boring Windows Mobile, and so reminiscent of the iPhone, that Spb’s claims its software “reignites interest in Windows Mobile and changes the device experience completely” are totally spot on. Of course, when you get past the navigation menu and into actual applications, you’re in the same corporate-boring Windows Mobile applications as ever, but despite their uninspired look, those apps work as advertised, are solid and have resulted in tens of millions of Windows Mobile handsets shipped over the years. It’s just that the Spb could easily help Microsoft sell many more, and it’s a wonder that Microsoft’s Windows Mobile division hasn’t bought these fellows out and put them in charge of the whole operation. So what is the new Spb Online Shell exactly? Using the Spb Mobile Shell as the software and interface engine, the Online Shell is, according to Spb, a convergence of online and media tools, targeted to helping mobile network operators expand their online services portfolios and deliver improved content experiences to subscribers. This means bringing together a whole swag of online services into an easy to navigate on-screen environment, from weather, to video-on-demand and music, TV and radio streams and shopping opportunities – including the ability to deliver a “single entry portal for online services and payments.” In addition, Spb know where their bread is buttered, and will happily customise the software to “strictly adhere to, and enhance, a carrier's unique identity and brand”, while hopefully totally reinvigorating excitement for mobile data and entertainment. If only Microsoft was doing this in the software itself! I mean, it’s certainly wonderful that the ‘open’ nature of Microsoft’s platforms means that anyone can write software for consumers, phone manufacturers and operators to do what Microsoft won’t or can’t. But this kind of user interface and content delivery mechanism is something Microsoft should have nailed long ago, rather than giving us an interface that really hasn’t massively changed all that much since Windows CE 1.0, which I remember using on the Philips Nino and Casio Cassiopeia handheld Pocket PCs of the day. So, what does Spb’s CEO have to say about his new software, and the opportunities it presents to consumers, phone manufacturers and operators? Sebastian-J Schmidt, Spb Software’s CEO, was quick to explain why Spb had come all the way to Australia to showcase his company’s solutions at the local CeBIT expo. Schmidt said that: "The demand for mobile services is strong throughout the world. In Australia, we're now actively seeking partnerships with innovative mobile carriers, and believe that Spb Online Shell will resonate well here, since Australia is an early adopter of 3G and streaming content for mobile devices." Vassili Philippov, Spb Software’s COO also alluded to the extreme data usage generation of iPhone users, an example of just how much people are willing to use the Internet on the go with a device that makes such usage insanely simple and actually affordable. Philippov said that: "Not all services are created equal and success is not just about functionality. It ultimately is about the end user experience. We have seen a few million iPhones generate more web traffic than all the other web-enabled smartphones put together, so Spb understands that in any delivery, the 'how' is just as important as the 'what'.” Spb clearly thinks its opportunities are immense, as it plans to set up a “separate business entity” just to look after the online mobile services division so it can “adequately service its partners”, and while that doesn’t seem terribly necessary to me, hey, I’m just a journalist that isn’t privy to Spb’s internal structure and real reasons for a whole new company. So who does Spb already work with? Are they new on the scene or already well established under the radar? Interestingly, Spb Software House certainly aren’t minnows when it comes to software that revolutionises Microsoft’s mobile Windows experience. Not only do they have a presence in Hong Kong, Russia and Thailand, which are actually not the first countries you’d think they’d have presences in, but they have a pretty diverse and impressive customer base. These customers include ASUSTeK, BenQ Siemens, E-TEN, Fly, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Gigabyte, HTC, O2, Optimus, Palm, SingTel, Swisscom Mobile, Toshiba, T-Mobile, and VimpelCom. No doubt Spb Software House hopes to add a few Australian telcos to that list. Now, the iPhone 2.0 software experience doesn't really seem, based on the preview from Steve Jobs so far, to add terribly much to the existing iPhone experience, but then the iPhone experience is still leaps and bounds ahead of anything else, although Spb's mobile shell is the closest competitor thus far. Windows Mobile devices still have things that the iPhone doesn't, like basic copy and paste, and has had things such as calendar and contact search for years. While iPhone 2.0 software is said to offer calendar and contact search, it'll still be lacking in some of the things Windows Mobile offers, while Microsoft itself is supposedly working on making Windows Mobile 7 a great competitor. The world of mobile device interface design is finally going through some quantum leaps in usability and usefulness, helped enormously by the fact that wireless data is ever more common, and ever cheaper. The fight between all the mobile phone manufacturers is only getting hotter, while operators fight tooth and nail to ensure they get much more just than basic voice and data revenue. The iPhone certainly was - and still is - very, very cool. But compared to what's coming in the future, I can only imagine that we ain't seen nothin' yet! |
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6:23 AM Jul 12