There’s no denying that Windows Phone fans are dedicated, but there’s also no denying that Microsoft needs to update the OS desperately, to bring it in line with other ecosystems.
One such way it could do this has been revealed in a concept video created by Christian Del Rosario.
The video shows some cool new ways to interact with the operating system, and given that it borrows heavily from Windows 8, it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility.
Whilst Microsoft has a bit stagnant on updates recently, Windows Phone chief Joe Belfiore did take to the company’s UserVoice forum to address that criticism.
The post that Belfiore responded to was called “We need Microsoft to listen to our ideas and DO something” and it said:
Ok, we’re here after a year of WP8. We’re about to get the GDR2 update and we’re still not getting anything from the TOP ideas of this forum.
Sometimes I’m wondering Microsoft is listening or not. Or they just simply try to convince us to buy the phone and then leave us here.
GDR2 is just a small update, I see no actual features with high demand from customer on this update.
Things need to changed, OR, we’ll leave this OS. Do something, Microsoft, before it’s too late.
Who’s with me, please vote!
Belfiore seemingly understands the frustration but promised people that Microsoft is listening:
“We’re definitely here and paying attention to what you folks are asking for… keep in mind the trick for us is balancing things that make EXISTING devices better for you, our enthusiast users, versus things that create new devices to sell to a broader audience. A lot of the work in GDR2 was around enabling new devices– like the Lumia 1020, devices on Sprint, etc. so that we could keep growing the size of the WP ecosystem. We need to grow the number of people using WP so we get ISVs writing the apps, we get better/more accessories built, etc.
Of course this takes time and energy, but we still do intend to improve the user experience for you via new features. There’s some in GDR 2 (eg. DataSense broadly available, FM Radio) there’s more coming later this year, and still more after that.
Don’t worry – we are listening to you folks!”
Whether or not this will please Windows Phone users remain to be seen, but the new concept video does give us a glimpse on what Microsoft may be considering in the future.
Hopefully it will take some of the advice on-board, especially given the really cool gesture support, something that we love about Windows 8, but miss in Windows Phone.
A notifications hub is already said to be coming, but this is not likely to arrive until either later this year or early next year, depending on which rumour you believe for Windows Phone Blue.
