User Interface Product Reference Guide
The following table shows improvements to the user interface.
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Extensible Title Bar Icons
(Pocket PC and Smartphone) |
Provides an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) with the capability to provide customized title bar icons as needed by a mobile operator. These are persistent icons that show an end user critical information including new messages, battery level, and signal strength.
For example, a mobile operator requires an icon to represent a network service or device state, so an OEM adds that icon to the system as part of the architecture, and it shows up on the title bar in conjunction with priority logic for that spot in the user interface. This method provides an OEM with the capability to add 3G icons to represent connectivity to 3G networks. |
| Phone/Today Screen Status Bar Icon Improvements
(Pocket PC Only) |
Provides an OEM with more status icons on the Phone and Today screens of Pocket PC. For example, call forwarding, roaming, GPRS attached, and line 1 or 2. |
| Soft Keys
(Pocket PC Only) |
Provides an end user with soft keys device functionality where stylus input is not ideal, for example dialing contacts, receiving incoming phone calls, and using keyboarded devices. Keyboarded devices are designed to be thumb driven, and soft keys provides an end user with the capability to access most device functionality from a normal keyboard posture. |
| State and Notifications Broker
(Pocket PC and Smartphone) |
Provides a unified system for storing device, application, and system-state information. This includes the capability to read system information, read and store the device's own status, and notification of status changes. |
| Smartdial User Experience Improvements
(Smartphone Only) |
Provides an end user with better information on how Smartdial and the Smartdial filtering method works. An end user that does not know how to use Smartdial may try to triple tap a contact's name. For example, an end user searches for Bob by typing 2,2,6,6,6,2,2 instead of 2,6,2. This may result in a confusing error message stating that the contact could not be found. |
| Open Appointment from Reminder
(Pocket PC and Smartphone) |
Provides an end user with the capability to open an appointment directly from a reminder when it goes off. Provides more information, including meeting location, and is hardware navigable. This saves an end user several steps. For example, in previous releases of Windows Mobile, when a reminder went off an end user had to dismiss the reminder, and then look up the meeting on the calendar to find the meeting location. |
| Full Navigation from Keyboard Posture
(Pocket PC Only) |
Provides an end user with the capability to navigate and use more of the Windows Mobile-based Pocket PC user interface from a keyboard posture without having to use a stylus. Keyboard Posture is available in Inbox, Contacts, and Calendar. An end user can navigate to the title bar notifications with soft keys, and the Start menu with a dedicated button on keyboarded devices. |
| Start Menu Grid View
(Smartphone Only) |
Provides an end user with a grid user interface to access programs on the Windows Mobile-based Smartphone. Provides an end user with visual cues to distinguish the icon with focus from the icons that do not have focus. |
| Title Bar and Soft Keys Visual Refresh
(Pocket PC and Smartphone) |
Provides an end user with a familiar user interface consistent with Windows Mobile branding. Provides the capability to personalize the color hue, but not the Windows Mobile hue pattern. |
| Hue Shifting Color Definition
(Pocket PC and Smartphone) |
Provides an OEM with more flexibility in color usage, by changing the underlying architecture that defines color. |
| Segoe System Font
(Smartphone Only) |
Changes the System font for Smartphone to Segoe, which is used in Windows desktop operating systems.
East Asia languages will use Nina as the System font for Smartphone. |
| Startup and Shutdown Animation
(Smartphone Only) |
Displays an animated operator and Microsoft graphic to an end user when turning on or off a Windows Mobile-based Smartphone. |
| Low-Memory Algorithm Improvements
(Pocket PC Only) |
Provides an end user with better performance under low memory conditions when working with newer memory boundaries and persistent store devices. |
| File-based Digital Rights Management for Pocket PC
(Pocket PC Only) |
Provides the capability to use file-based digital rights management (FDRM) content on Pocket PCs, such as FDRM-protected images for the home screen, FDRM-protected sound files for all device sounds, and ring tones for incoming phone calls. |
| Smartphone Setting Optimization
(Smartphone Only) |
Provides an end user with better access to commonly used settings, such as alarm clock, security, and connections settings. Less frequently used settings have been moved to the second screen. |
| Screen Unlock Alternatives
(Smartphone Only) |
Provides an end user with the capability to unlock Smartphone by pressing the left soft key and then the star (*) key, similar to the way other phone platforms unlock. |
| Back Navigation Improvements in Smartphone Start Menu
(Smartphone Only) |
Provides the capability to use the Back key to return up one level when in a folder, rather than back to the first page of Programs. |
| More Option on Left Soft Key in Smartphone Start Menu
(Smartphone Only) |
Provides the More option on the left soft key, when in either list or grid view of the Start Menu. |
| Customizable Start Menu Watermarks
(Smartphone Only) |
Provides an OEM or mobile operator with the capability to customize watermarks in the Windows Mobile-based Smartphone Start menu. Watermarks can be assigned to each subfolder. For example, the Games folder can have a different watermark from other folders, such as Accessories. Watermarks can also be customized as part of Themes. |
| Pinnable Home Screen Plugins
(Pocket PC Only) |
Provides an OEM with the capability to create one or two home screen plugins that will not scroll off the screen and cannot be removed by the user. |
See Also
Product Reference Guide for Windows Mobile Version 5.0
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