DalyDose of…Windows Phone 7 Wish List

Let me start out by stating that I absolutely love my Samsung Focus running Windows Phone 7 (wp7).  I am a fan, but I am not a cultish type of user.  I am well aware of the shortcomings and I’m confident that they will be addressed.  In fact, an update is due in “early 2011” and the rumor mill says it is massive and will be in January.

I have had my hands on the phone for just under a week and have been a heavy user.  I’ve put it through it’s paces.  I’m not ready for a full-on review as of yet, but I do have my “Top 20 Windows Phone 7 Fixes” that I’d like Microsoft to take care of ASAP.  I’m sure that Mr. Ballmer will not be reading my blog, but hey you gotta put it out there if you want something to happen, right?

OK, here’s the list:

Everyone is talking about multi-tasking and cut/paste so I’ll leave those off my list!  Here’s the rest of what I’m wishing for:

1. A way to synch with Outlook for people who don’t have Exchange. I had a heckuva time getting my calendar/contacts from my PC to my phone.  My old Windows Mobile (WM6) devices did it…heck, even the iPhone can synch with Outlook.  Pssssst….hey Microsoft, you own both  products, maybe have a conference call or a corporate retreat and get the teams to play nice together. And while I’m thinking about it, you own a piece of Facebook too so make that better. I know it’s pretty cool as is, but there’s always better and I like to keep a good rant going once I get started, besides it looks really cool with both the bold and the italics on.

2. A way to synch with my PC version of OneNote.  This is another no-brainer…this is a note taking product and the notes should be available everywhere you work.  I hope they either fix it or “HEY EVERNOTE…make a wp7 app”!

3. I’d like the math symbols like (+, -, =) to show up for use in email and texting. Seriously.

4. Bing needs turn-by-turn voice navigation. (It also needs to have the direction that you’re driving appear on the top of the screen)

5. More volume management. Right now it’s all in one, but I’d like to have a different volume for music than I do for my ring or my typing noises.

6. Zune Player should be able to work in landscape mode…period.

7. Flash for IE please.

8. Custom ringtones would be nice.  I need to show how cool I am by having my favorite song play for my ring.  Hmmm…maybe Zune Pass could handle this.

9. Email all in one spot. Don’t like having separate tiles to toggle between to get to email from different accounts.  I have two tiles taking up valuable glance-and-go space on my start screen.  I could use that other tile for something else.

10. I’d like to see the option to display % of battery life vs. just an icon

11. I want, nay NEED, the camera to remember the settings that I choose. In fact, Anti-shake should be ON, by default.

12. Add videos and audio for MMS.  I really wanted to send a video of me singing “Happy Birthday” to my friend the other day.  Ooops, no video…oh well, I’ll just an audio gift, right? Wrong.  Microsoft, you have denied someone’s inner ear the magical massage of my voice. 

13. More settings for email delivery: in WM6, I set it to show me 1 days’ worth of email and I had it check every 5 minutes. Those settings are not available to me in WP7.  It now shows 3 days and it only checks every 15 minutes.  People call me if I don’t respond in 10 minutes, cuz I’m that important.  Trust me, it’s a curse and a blessing.

14. I’d like to insert (vs. attach) pictures into my email messages.  People want pictures, they don’t want attachments.  People also want my witty banter right next to what I’m talking about.  Don’t believe me???  Really?  You’re still reading this list aren’t ya? 😉

15. I’d like to control my search in Marketplace. If I am looking for an application, I’d like only apps to show up in my search results. The same for music or whatever.  Would I look in a record store for something at the hardware store?  Will if Marketplace had its way, that’s exactly what I’d have to put up with if searching for “Tool”.

16. On the dialer, I’d like it to search while I am dialing. I used this A LOT with my old WM6 device. I could start dialing and it would show me people with those numbers and also the letters on the numbers.  I like stuff simple & easy n stuff.

17. On the calendar, I’d like a week view to go with the day view and the month view.  Most people plan their week.  The ambitious plan their month sure and the day is something we all must make it through, but the week; the week is the foundation that drives life.

18. It would be cool if the Music + Video tile cycled through more than just the last artist played.  I love the pan/zoom effect, I just want to see more artists displayed.  That way people will see how eclectic I am at the same time they realize that I have impeccable taste.

19. Please for the love of all that is holy, fix the SD card issue and make it user-friendly to expand memory.  I don’t even have anything funny here…just please fix it.

20. Please look at the following Zune features from the desktop version.  Is it cheating that I have a-c listed here.  Is it not really a Top 20 now? 

• a. Let me sort albums by date purchased. This is my default view on Zune Desktop and I’d like it to be the same on my phone. That reminds of what I have that is NEW that I should be listening to.
• b. Let me make and edit playlists on the phone
• c. Let me download the whole album using my Zune Pass. Why do I have to do that on the computer?? The phone version lets me download individual songs with my Pass and I can buy them with either my credits or money. I can also buy the album, but not utilize my Zune Pass benefit of downloading it.

OK, you’ve earned it…here’s one of them there witty “Really” commercials.  I think I’m going to review ALL of these commercials in the near future.  Stay tuned.