Another Windows Phone 7 video shows “smart multi-tasking”

March 17, 2010 | By Surur

This 10 minute video by Engadget shows what we were all excited about before all of the bad news arrived. The UI is interesting and engaging, and clearly would make for an extremely interesting experience as a day to day main phone.

The Microsoft rep also demonstrated IE loading web pages in the background, which is an example of what he called “smart multi-tasking”, with apps only multi-tasking where users expect them to.

Is any-one’s interest re-ignited? Let us know below.

About Surur

Site Admin and Windows Phone enthusiast, he has been using Windows Mobile devices since before they were called PocketPC’s. He is currently sporting a HTC 7 Trophy.

Tagged ui, video, windows phone 7

http://twitter.com/rohansingh @rohansingh

Yeah… not really. I think a better way to define this "smart multitasking" is multitasking only when Microsoft expects you to.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

Users can request to have multitasking enabled for their app…and it will be granted if it is a must have for the app. some apps really don't need have multitasking. a streaming app = yes, a game = no, a photo viewer = no, IM application = no gps = yes…..the apps that doesn't ened multitasking can all use some of the other ways to get data down or notification to the user without the need to run in the background = smart multitasking…I'm sort of glad that Microsoft is putting a lid on it.

http://www.avianwaves.com Parrotlover77

Users can't, developers can. How about giving the user the option to override the All Mighty Microsoft Judgment Of What Must Be? That'd be nice.

Otherwise, I agree. I do like the proactive approach of "don't multitask if you don't need to." But I would like to make that decision for myself.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

thanks for correcting me, I meant to say developers.
GP007

Wait, hold on. Maybe I have it backwords here, but isn't the whole point that a developer CAN have their app/apps multitask if they need it? Give the user control over what? If most of the apps DON'T NEED to keep running in the background why should you or anyone want them to?

If you install apps that need to run in the background in order to work, they'll work. End users shouldn't even need to worry about the differences.
http://www.iamfoss.com Jason F

Assuming Microsoft catigorically enables multitasking for any/all applications that request it & need it… what decision would you be making for yourself? To let solitair take up processor cycles in the background waiting for you to move cards that you can't move because solitair isn't on screen? What's the value in this?

My hope is that Microsoft won't "grant" multitasking on an app-by-app basis, but that there will be some sort of interface (and I'm using the word interface in an OOP sense) that developers can implement to allow for background processing. IE…

public MyApp implements BackgroundTask …

User

wait.. you don't think IM apps need to multitask?.. I would have said they do. WP7 needs an official multitasking live messenger app.. if they do that, then BBM is dead.

Lennard

I said no to IM apps because they can use Push notifications….which are lite and saves battery power.

GP007

Or actually it's multitasking when things have to? Not every app needs to keep running in the background to do work. If people think that, then damn, I dunno what to say.

If you're app really needs to multitask to get it's job done then I'm sure, as has been said, that MS will let it with some multitask permission/manifest or w/e you wanna call it.

http://www.facebook.com/Djay92 Dudley PureIntelligence Jackson

I think this is getting a bit out of hand…I mean at what extent do people actually "MULTITASK" on a phone? If you do so much work on a device then what is a laptop for? Anyways, M$ is all about the $$$ and "power users" arent buying WM6.5 devices…The iPhone is enjoying great success and it lacks features that WM has always had but it exceeds in terms of customer satisfaction due to the fact that their phone is so interesting with all its thousands of apps…They're gladly still going to support WM6.5.X which is still getting better so if you want a Multitasking OS, there it is…WP7 was aimed at the iPhone and it matches up really nice even though its not finished…I'm not worried about Copy-N-Paste because I feel that it will be included in an OTA (or did we forget about those?)
eric

Ok… And what for the people who don't care about Games and Facebook ??!

You Stupid Microsoft !

daguila

you can always use android:)

HD2

But Android is also allowing games and Facebook, yet support copy and paste….

What people dun understand is, why remove features that even iPhone are already having with such a next gen phone???
http://www.avianwaves.com Parrotlover77

I just might… And I've been a loyal Windows Mobile user since the early iPaq days.

clint

I think people need to get a grip and get over their obsession for multitasking. There has been some much FUD thrown around as to what will work and what won't work. All we have seen so far is a rough developer build. There is alot can happen before the release.

As for multitasking, I am happy with the direction that they are taking. One of the things that drove me nuts with 6.x is that all my apps stayed resident even when I didn't want them. Now they are taking the opposite approach which is for the most part what the majority of consumers want. Out of sight out of mind and out of memory (as in not running )

Microsoft also stated that if someone can make a good enough business case and meet certain quality criteria for battery life and processing resources then they can make a multitasking (ie, background processing) app. For example I am sure people who make Voice Recognition software will get that kind of permissions. I certainly don't want joe developer writing an interesting but crappy app taking all my resources and then killing my battery prematurely.

I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. After all they have till the product ships before anything is concrete.

GP007

Exactly. MS has said that apps that need to multitask to work, if there is no other way to, will get permission it seems. That's a better way to do it than to just let everything run and fight for cpu/gpu and ram all the time.

You don't NEED 95% of apps out there to keep running in the background to work!

Who?

Do you really have to waste the space of a whole tile just to be able to get to the phone dialer? I'd much prefer a hardware call button.
Luciano

I go buy WP7!!!!! =D
GP007

No one said you can't have more than 3 buttons, you do know this right? Those 3 are the min requirement.
HD2

Does anyone ever wonder, what if the user use lots of shortcuts or tiles on the start screen, and ended up has to keep scrolling and scrolling down to look for that piece of information??? Does the start screen allows paging, like max we can have only 8 layers of tiles, then overflow to the next page to continue for the next amount of tiles???
http://www.avianwaves.com Parrotlover77

To all the people who are saying "no multitasking is good!" Go buy an iphone. Android did it right. Background apps are actually second class citizens, but if they need to process crap in the background, they don't have to beg Google for permission. They just do what they need to do and if they drain the battery, users uninstall it. lol.

In addition, Android reserves the right to close an app — even in the background — if memory pressure requires it. When memory is free again, Android spins it right back up.

And best of all, in 2.1 the user can manage what background services they want running. The user has control!

How about a little of that?

clint

You should buy Android. I am sure you are the kind of user that is happy with mashed up operating system. But hey, you have multi-tasking freedom. As for me I don't want an iPhone and I don't want apps diddling with my resources when I am not using them. I think the Windows Phone fits that niche quite nicely.

Craig S

I don't care about their damn multitasking policy, as a matter of fact I'm happy that I'll never have to reach into a task manager to kill running apps again (Remember how everyone bitched that the 'X' only minimizes? This is why they've done this).

I do care that Microsoft is trying to tell me that people don't copy/paste on their phone. That's the biggest load of BS I've ever heard
Jim

The amount of whining here has gotten ridiculous.

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