Category: Geeks r Us
Although I neither have the time or budget to travel all the way to Barcelona for a week's time, I have to say that I've been following a lot of the commotion which went around at this year's Mobile World Congress. (or is it World Mobile Congress? no :) )
Perhaps one of the bigger announcements which showed up it's head at the event was, in fact, something expected: Windows Mobile.
Windows Mobile has really fallen to the wayside in the recent years. With iPod touch and Android phones hitting the Markets (yes, I just called the iPhone an iPod touch Phone, because that's what it really is), the technology which ran and operated Windows Mobile really became something of a drag. The user interface which held some of the dialogs, like settings together can easily be traced back to 1996.
Of course, Windows mobile 6.5 and now 6.5.3 really tried solving this problem by adding new functionality into the interface and changing how things functioned. While 6.5 was more of an update for touchscreen phones, 6.5.3 did add a faster web browser even to standard phones.
But You could of seen it coming. While Windows Mobile dropped it's title and was now called "Windows Phone", it really didn't help much. "I have a Windows Phone!" Why not call it a WiPhone?
Early September last year, Microsoft rolled out it's Zune HD device, in an effort to take on the iPod touch. In a way this was successful: Many flocked to the Zune because it gave a better music experience, +HD radio. For those of you who have never heard of the Zune HD or even the Zune, it is not an international product, meaning that only lucky champs in the US are able to buy it.
But the Zune also, in a way, represents something new. I've known (and I think most of us have) that it runs a form of the CE kernel - meaning that the operating system is a wide modification of the Windows Mobile OS. This has been the case since the first Zune generation that appeared in 2006, and one which I actually got and experienced for about a month before returning it for an exchange to an iPod video with Rockbox.
So let's discuss this a bit. Zune=Windows Mobile revamped. You could of seen this one coming, really, even though there is no need to jailbreak a Zune - it can be programmed with XNA without the need to sign and approve apps.
So, as I was saying. You could of seen it coming. Microsoft has a perfectly good and excellent platform under their belt, which really features no accessibility beside large font options. But back to the point. It's their own weapon, and the redmond-based company is not afraid to use it.
The new phone announced at Mobile World Congress was the Windows Phone 7 series. Yep, it's all about the 7 again, folks. It's really a lucky number, and looking at Windows 7 sales this may actually hold true.
The Windows Phone 7 Series drops pretty much all traces of Windows Mobile ever existing - or shall we call it Windows Phone? We currently know very simple facts about the devices at hand, but it's clear that this is planned to be Microsoft's way of letting the cat out of the bag on the iPhone and iPod Touch. (No pun intended on Apple products)
I could focus on what will be new in these new phone series. I will say that all phones which will be released as a Windows Phone will now have to conform to tighter conventions, down to requirements such as each device having to have at least three buttons-Bing, Home, and Back. Of course this is meant to challenge the iPhone which, at the moment, only features a round home button. All phones must also feature a capacitive touchscreen, a technology which has been used in the iPod touch/iPhone ever since their inception. Unlike heat or pressure sensing touchscreens, these allow great sensitivity and you don't have to push down on them at all to activate an item.
And with that I really want to phase into what I intended this article to be about: What does the creation of the Windows Phone 7 Series mean to the Visually Impaired Community?
Normally I don't write reviews which only focus on the blind - I also try to taylor them to the sighted world as well. But this time, it's more about the future of accessibility than anything.
So let's look at the positive sides first.
Windows Phone 7 series really does bring a new OS to the table. There is no more today screen but rather tiles, no more Start menu really, and no more checkboxes and radio buttons-do you really see them on the iPod Touch beside those toggles?
So it really is a chance for all companies which design screen readers for the Visually Impaired to get a "fresh start".
I know I will be frowned upon for saying this by some people, but the current way we can navigate Windows Mobile touchscreen devices is very tedious. You have to remember four quadrants on the screen and know which quadrant combinations do which commands, or otherwise scroll through a command list thanks to Mobile Speak 4. While the Command list partially solves the problem of memorizing each and every command (which could include up to 30-50 things and combinations of quadrants to remember), it really is a bad approach to touchscreen access. And I'm scared to think what the sighted world would think of such an approach to using their touchscreens if they were forced to.
Don't get me wrong, the quadrant approach was great in it's day, before Apple took it one step forward by actually allowing the blind to use a full-fledged touchscreen by double tapping items or even swiping around it. Though Mobile Speak does offer a lot more commands than voiceover which is very very true, Apple could still use a number of swipes and gestures to accomplish voiceover functionality, as they demonstrated with the iPhone 3gs and touch 3g.
For those of you who love the way Mobile Speak accesses the Touchscreen, that's great, and perhaps it could remain as an option which people could turn on and off during installation. I don't have any problems with the people who love this approach to access, I simply don't see it as a viable way of navigation - simply because it forces one to use a "special" way of accessing their device. And then we get the whole "is that a special phone made for blind people?" from our friends.
So the new Windows Phones could really change the game around, as most phones will likely not even come with a keyboard - they will, quite realistically, be iPhone rivals.
Another positive aspect will be that if the new phones become accessible, so will the Zune HD open up to the world.
A little bit about applications on the new phones. Because they use pretty much a shinier and newer kernel and OS than the older Windows Mobile devices, it looks like 99% of applications will have to be dumped out the window, as the entire interface is different. They call this new interface, Metro.
On the negative side we do have several issues.
As I've said, qwerty keyboards are really going out of style. In fact, none of the documentation I've read talks of Windows Phone 7 Series Standard Phones. (doesn't that just sound wonderful?)
Today, Windows Mobile Standard phones are quite scarce. These are the phones that only feature a keyboard, like the Motorola Q and the HTC Ozone. Touchscreens are seriously taking over our world today, and in many ways it's a great thing - they allow navigation around an interface so much easier and smoother, with a more realistic experience.
On the downside though this will require a serious adjustment for many who are visually impaired. The sighted world has had touchscreens since the mid 90s in several public places like cash machines and banks. I don't think that this "transition" will be as difficult for them as for the blind community.
But it has to happen some day. I don't see touchscreens replacing keyboards on Standard computers yet, though tablet PCs like the iPad bring us one step closer to such an era. As long as the keyboard's spacing matches that of a qwerty
keyboard, I think we can say that it won't be as bad as people envision. But to the contrary, I do find typing on my laptop or even Netbook keyboard a lot more comfortable than holding my iPod awkwardly on my table or in my palm and trying to enter a text to my girlfriend. (yes you can text on the touch just fine)
I'm not sure how this will impact our community. The disappearance of touchscreens might sadly lead to several abandoning their smartphones for more simpler, dumber phones, because all they have is your standard 9-key phone keypad. But even those phones are getting touchscreens now - while the ENV isn't a true "dumb" phone, it for sure isn't a smartphone in the sense of being able to install custom built apps.
Another problem with the new Windows Phone 7 Series is, exactly how will we get a screen reader on this thing?
Perhaps if Microsoft built a narrator for Windows Mobile, it wouldn't be so bad, though this would cause a potential collapse of many companies who rely on support from governments and users who purchase their screen readers for phones.
To date, Windows Mobile is the most accessible phone system for the Visually Impaired. Ok, Simbian is also up there, but really it's what truly allows us to run standard and mainstream apps just like anyone else. Prior to the iPhone, it's really one of the only things we had. And many Note-takers are also based off the system and Kernel.
What will really happen?
It's kind of odd that note-takers today are declining, in favor of netbooks and other such devices. Not only are the companies like Humanware and Freedom Scientific slacking off on providing solid support and updates to their note-taking products, but netbooks/and numerous other low cost solutions are more viable to many people, particularly if you don't want to have your government pay for all of your gadgets.
Building in a Narrator into Windows Phones will allow more of a mainstream focus to the market, though I do hope that it won't be as weak as the actual Narrator you see in Windows.
Yet having Code Factory continue innovation will allow for phones with more diverse commands. One of the problems all of us are seeing with voiceover is that only the company can release updates to it. You only get an update when Apple decides to give it an update. You can't modify the system, at least not easily, to add your own enhancements like you can do to the desktop NVDA. (So far, there is no open source screen reader for Cell Phones, accept some Android-based projects I believe)
Code Factory, and for that matter Nuance, clearly have an advantage in their markets because they can implement a layout of commands and gestures which allow a great amount of verbosity customization as well as announcements of certain information. I'm not intending to down Apple here, because they really did an excellent job with Voiceover's first release on the iPhone and it is highly functional for day to day use. But it will always be an advantage to AT companies-the advantage of special customization gearing a product to the Visually Impaired by means of specialization.
Conclusions:
I think I will end my rant and observations here. Feel free to share your perspectives on all this.
Windows Phone 7 Series can truly be an innovation if we want it to be, but than again it could lead to a total disaster. While reports on Engadget and elsewhere are surfacing that Microsoft will keep support for the old Windows Mobile Classic Phones and devices, that'll doomed to become redundant some day. Are we going to stick with an old system for the next five years because it's more comfortable or will we take that leap forward and work ahead of the product's release? I think that there are advantages in both scenarios. If we take the first one, there will be a solid foundation for PDA devices which the Visually Impaired could use, because the Windows Mobile OS has been around for over 10 years now and thus is relatively stable and free of crashes. On the other hand, the second option prompts us with some more ethical questions: If we are going to work ahead of time, will we approach Microsoft with violence and protests or by asking several of their reps for information on accessibility?
The future is in our hands.
-Tamas Geczy
Febuary 17-18, 2010
microsoft's accessibility records has never been exactly spotless. The narrator we see in every windows Operating system since xp is, to say the least, an irritation which is used purely for emergencies, in comparison to apple which ships all of their modern devices with good screen access support. I therefore doubt that microsoft is sudeenly going to adopt an entirely new approach to accessibility, even if we ask them to do so. That, or they will implement a half-baked solution which caters to the needs of exactly no one. Apple has shown itself ready for accessibility, whereas microsoft has not even touched it and has been content to let third parties do all of its work for it, doubling or trippling the cost of the products. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see microsoft leap forward in this area, but speaking based on past performance, I really don't think it's going to happen. I do agree with a few of the criticisms you've raised about apple, don't mistake me on that, but microsoft and accessibility have never exactly been fast friends and now that they are trying to regain the smartphone market, I doubt very much that they will start courting the access advocates, since apple already has them firmly under its wing.
I disagree. I think Microsoft does a great job as far as accessibility, and will continue. I don't know much yet about the new windows 7 mobile system, but I was excited to know if it be possible to load a sdcreen reader such as Jaws, or Window Eyes on it, since I understand it is strongly based on the regular Windows 7 OS for computers? Yes a dream surely, but imagine if you could simply press the arrow keys up down left of right just like you do on your laptop or desktop, or use laptop type keystrokes to control your mobile phone? As far as touch goes I'm old fashioned, and believe most people are even the sighted world, in that some feedback is normal, so touch screens while nice are just not the norm. Smile. Now they are simulating feel instead of just touch in the pure sense, so go figure. Most new phones are offering both a keybord and a touch screen, so go figure again. Microsoft was worked with screen reader developers on programming, so I assume this trend will continue.
hmm, I've been thinking about this issue for a while but one good thing is that there seemes to be an actually wide array of keyboard devices with touch screans and already i've seen prototypes for for windows phone 7 with keyboards on places such as engadget. Android and simbion phones still retain keyboards in many cases as well...even palm devices have them still in many cases. So, we probably won't see a total decline in keyboard phones for a while.
Well said.
I do find the whole issue of touch, or rather gesture, to be fascinating. And for those that don't know, touch is just that, point / poke / slide, while gesture, more like the iPhone or even to some extent the iPod Shuffle, is more a 3D experience where the orientation of the device, the direction of the slide or swipe, rotor actions, and the like make up a whole new experience, with touch being a small portion of it.
But lest some fall into the rut that seems to happen on here, blame the blind, let me say my wife was very adamant about *not wanting* a touch device. She can see, has written a book and keeps a blog. She is a moderately efficient computer user, but much prefers physical objects, the keyboard and the mouse.
This is common, I think, especially for people of working age, whose job it isn't to just play with the newest toys.
Which leads me to my second point: Your question as to whether users will stick with an old device, or switch to a new one?
Well, the expectation is that if one buys a device, it is to be productive, aka use it. So if there is an enormous learning curve you may see less adoption by anything other than hobbyists or kids begging their parents for one.
While I am duly impressed by what I have seen online of Apple's work on the iPad and the iPad Mini (the iPhone), most of what you see is people texting very slowly, using music applications, and not even taking a phone call on the iPhone. In other words, so much talk of how accessible the device is, but not showing off the basic tasks you are going to need to do if you go to the phone store, get your landline number transferred to your cell, activate your new phone and head home. I.e., take your first call.
I understand more than perhaps many of you on here, how toys are the means to trying out new technology on the masses, but if you want to see widespread adoption, especially in the Enterprise market, it has to easily be a productive device.
It has been my experience Windows Mobile and Blackberry (RIM) have been able to hold enterprise markets for that very reason. They understand productivity like none of the other players do.
Also, remember that for most of Apple's history they have not been doing anything for accessibility to blind users. Microsoft being an open platform has allowed manufacturers to come along and create solutions. Until recently, yes, they were expensive because of the high R&D and low market. In other words, it's far more profitable to make a product that sells for $99 and sell it to millions, than to make one that costs quite a bit more but has a decidedly limited market. Now because of grants, there is at least one free open source solution, paid for as I said, by university and other grants.
Because of how Apple handles their frameworks, yes, once they did create a solution, it is universal to its platform.
As to not being able to customize like Windows? Well that is not just their reader, that's the Mac. Aside from graphical skins and dashboard widgets, you can't do much more in customizing the Mac. Even while Windows 95 was network-capable and we could deploy it across untold numbers of machines using any number of network protocols, Mac System 7, or 7.1, at the time, was barely network-aware and was a real connectivity headache in every way imaginable. Primarily, because from the ground up, Apple is not enterprise-oriented. Now of course, with OS X variants using FreeBSD I believe, though correct me if I'm wrong, it is naturally network capable and even includes a modern wireless API. Still, you don't see its deployment across major enterprise networks.
What we may get out of all this, is a further separation between the user and enterprise markets, where Apple, Google, and to some extent Symbian, compete for the user space while Windows Mobile and Blackberry compete in the Enterprise space.
I do think all this will be interesting to observe but I don't know if the blending of user and enterprise technologies is going as at least some of us had thought it might. The more I watch these things, the more it seems the user and enterprise needs are clearly different.
I am very sketpcial about the new rlease of Windows phone seven. First of all, it'll take 2 years or so for mobile speak to totally remake it's screen-access technology to work with this new OS. In turn, we'll be behind, once again. Mobile Speak has just caught up with windows mobile 6.5. I'm more of akeyboard oriented person myself, and therefore I don't think I'll want to feel around the screen to complete common tasks. I like my right and left soft keys just fine, thank you.
Mobile speaks might have a bit of an edge this time on getting the product working faster, but that remains to be done. Your current 6.5 will do for a while and won't just go piff, so not a worry about being behinde. You can now do just about anything you need anyway, so.