Isaac Mizrahi designs Windows Mobile 6.5 themes

[flv:wm65issacwallpaper.flv 600 339]

It’s nice to see Microsoft paying more attention to design and specifically the user experience of Windows Mobile, but this is a little disturbing. To be frank, I don’t understand the whole fashion scene so when Microsoft announced at CTIA 09 that Windows Mobile 6.5 will feature some exclusive themes from fashion designer Issac Mizrahi, I was highly skeptical. Needless to say this video from the Microsoft keynote reconfirms my doubts.

Instead, I think it’d be better if Windows Mobile 6.5 shipped with a bunch of high-quality photographs for wallpapers. May I even suggest Hamad Darwish.

53 insightful thoughts

  1. I’m with redapple … this is so borderline hilarious, I don’t know what to think.

    Perhaps that’s the sign of a good joke? I’m not sure.

  2. Errr… this guy designed pink theme… Is he a gay? Common, where is the point of paying for themes for mobile? Isn’t it better to give some tools to the community?

  3. Is this video supposed to make me want to spend my money? Cuz I’m not feelin’ it…

  4. I started to think half way through that it was a joke, he seemed to really camp it up all of a sudden.

  5. Well, most of the commenters here, including Long himself, are men.

    It’s good to see that there are actually smartphone makes focused on a different demographic. BB and WM had long been masculine and nerdy phones, while iPhone is a fashion icon in comparison, appearing with celebrities and fashion magazines. Most other phones are so “ugly” (since they are not advertised as pretty in the other world) and perceived so nerdy that I have a very very hard time convincing any of my female friends not to get an iPhone.

    Microsoft surely can’t ignore half of the world’s population.

  6. Wow. You’ve got to be kidding me, really? Designer screens. I just want a release date of 6.5, nothing more.

  7. Hmmm…why do things in halves, why not just base the entire UI for Windows Mobile 7 on a Hello Kitty theme and be done with it?

  8. Breaking news…”Windows/MSN Whatever The Hell Live Messenger for Windows 6.5 will feature innovative ‘Gaydar’ feature…”

  9. But seriously, from a practical perspective I think a plaid wallpaper is a terrible idea, and it has nothing to do with my attitude towards plaind designs per se, or the colours involved. I don’t care if some pretentious idiot thinks it’s “fun” or “exuberant” – the killer for me is that it functions as an interference pattern that breaks up the layout of the foreground content and makes it harder to process visually.

    So no points for layouts based on somebody’s favourite dress patterns.
    Think harder, Microsoft, you know you can.

  10. Dunno about the designer themes, but after that I kinda want a photo frame style windows phone on my desk, would make life a hell of a lot easier…

  11. I’m running 6.5 builds, and I have to say, the Isaac Mizrahi one is the worst. There are a couple of ones that really stand out. There’s a black one by another designer with a great sculpture image, and a nice jewel red coloring effect for highlights and buttons. And a great orange one. I don’t want to mention the designer’s names in case they haven’t been made public yet.

  12. I wouldn’t call it “exciting”. They are still just themes. — wallpapers and default colors. Depending on your tastes, you can get better stuff on the web.

    The exciting stuff in 6.5 is all in code and feature design. Wherever the 6.5 team has updated the UI, it looks and feels great. I play with my mail all the time, just dragging it around and watching the great physics. The new lock screen looks and feels awesome. I don’t much like the new today screen (it’s very pretty and demos very well, but isn’t as useful in practice as older today screens). It also isn’t great when when you hit UI they haven’t updated in 6.5 (the dialer, for example). I had an HTC Diamond before, and I can’t wait for the combination of the HTC today screen stuff (and replacement dialer) with the new underlying code in 6.5.

    Just based on my experinces with the HTC Diamond on 6.1, and with the 6.5 code (which has no HTC modifications), I think the Diamond2 with the 6.5 upgrade will rock (I may have to buy one :).

    The 6.5 team’s work also makes me feel better about WM7. It shows that when they want to, the WM team *can* produce great yummy UI.

  13. @Bob: Oh that’s a shame they haven’t updated the dialer, was one of the things that no one has showed and I kept thinking to myself “they must have changed it”.

    By the way, you’re not talking about the leaked builds are you, you’re talking about something else 😉

  14. The only nice built in theme currently in WM6.5 is the default with the blue and yellow wallpaper.

    I don’t agree that photographs would make good mobile wallpapers. It’s too small a screen, I believe it is better suited to an abstract scene 🙂

  15. My phone is never going to be something I use an accessory. A *MODEL*, the exterior, what OTHERS see, is what makes the statement. You need for a specific phone to make a statement. The iPhone has a perceived stigma and persona around it. It caters to the “reflective” experience, the desire for uniqueness. Others see the iPhone as a symbol, as such the phone itself is sort of an accessory. Give me a beautiful phone, and maybe that can be a compliment to what I’m wearing.. Not a software theme. Don’t get me wrong, a software theme is great for building a more personal connection with the phone, the purpose of these just aren’t really fully thought out.

  16. After watching this video, i really hope Microsft isn’t paying this guy millions of dollars to create Plaid wallpapers, that even my 6yr nephew can do for free.

    This video also clearly demonstrates why MIcrosoft and Apple are so different in their design philosophy. Microsoft uses some clothing fashion designer while Apple uses proffessional digital artists.

  17. If that video is a joke, it’s a great joke, if it’s for real… it’s a nightmare.
    That guy is a parody of himself 😉

  18. I’ve never seen so many frustrated, short-sighted, pathetic commenters in one post. Different demographics people, it’s not rocket science.

    “this guy designed pink theme… Is he a gay?” Yes, everytime a man makes, handles, or looks at something pink, he becomes ‘a gay’.

  19. See this is where Apple differ from Windows, with apple they are direct and to the point ads, Microsoft just dont see to ‘get it’ we get prested with an ad that looks more like a highstreet store ad and not one about the latest technology grrrrr

  20. I totally agree with you Fred.

    @Cashern9, apple doesn’t use proffesional digital artists, sorry.

    Most of the people online never see the day light, so then again, some comments are imaginable.

  21. @Fred and @Rishi Totally and 100% agree.. Plus, is there a problem with ‘the gays’?

  22. Im wondering, when this is going to be release? Like what phones are going to have this os ? sorry for the noob Q’s

  23. I like it! Why photographs again? Cool wallpapers that are not photographs are nice and harder to find. There are so many photo services available where you can then download your own favorite photo, if you don’t like the designer wallpapers…

  24. how can i get the plaid wallpaper? i have the intrepid and it didnt come pre-programmed in my phone, only the intrepid in the store…..

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