Windows Phone 7 Wish List

Don’t get me wrong, I love my new Windows Phone 7.   I have had it over two weeks now and I’ve been very happy with the purchase (It is a Samsung Focus, by the way).   It holds its own and exceeds an iPhone and Android phone in many categories.   Still, like anyone else who loves a tech device, you wish it was perfect.   Below is my first “Wish List” of WP7 features that if implemented correctly would make it the perfect device – which does not exist today!.    Feel free to add to it (or send me a suggestion and I’ll add it in the list), comment or just count down the hours with me until the first update in January and see what (besides cut and paste) it will bring.

General Features

• Cut & Paste (I know, next release)
• Better selection ability in a text box (now you can only select all or one word easily)
• Ability to control time out before PIN Lock appears (pursuant to corporate policy of course)
• Power settings – such as the ability to keep the display on when on AC/DC power – for GPS apps, Zune when powered
• Select application background tasks (like Pandora, GPS apps)
• Folders or an alternate way for applications menu to be sorted and not as long
• Put / \ _ – on the URL keyboard
• Fix the alarm bug (alarm ringing over 5 min causes sound to stop – has MS EVER released an OS where alarms worked right?)
• Configurable Snooze Intervals for alarms (when setting the alarm)
• Fix Marketplace hanging up when scrolling
• Actual battery percentage on status screen or at least an advanced screen
• More Landscape friendly apps – like Zune
• Task Manager/App Switcher – sometimes I just want to make sure a program isn’t running – especially behind the lock screen
• Ability to go straight to e-mail, text, VM, missed call etc., from Home Screen
• A compass app?   We know it’s in there…

Bing/Search Features

• Better, more specific search (for example when searching marketplace, let me specific if I want Apps, Music, Videos, etc.)
• Updates to Bing functionality to make it compatible with other platforms (including WinMo 6.5)
• Have search work across folders in mail (optionally)

Phone Features

• Ability to key in numbers and have it do a smart lookup on contacts that correspond with those letter/number combinations
• Ability to record a phone call
• Ability to toggle silent mode easily
• Visual Voice Mail
• Bigger Answer & Hang Up buttons

Media Features

• More Sound options  – like at ability to auto switch to vibrate at “night” or ring then vibrate for the phone
• Ability to use songs as ringtones and manage ringtones
• Better sound control (separate ring volume, music volume)
• HD Codecs so you can play HD videos not recorded on the phone
• Ability to shuffle songs in a playlist (how did this one get missed)
• Sticky camera settings or even better the ability to create "themes" with settings

Programming Features

• No ability to access to the camera, compass etc. via the API (Download the Tag Reader app from MS and you’ll see why this is annoying)
• Ability to use system colors in icons that are not pinned to the main screen
• Better performance of the Panorama and Pivot developer controls in custom apps
• Ability to access Zune library files
• Ability to access common document store

Social Media Features

• Ability to directly integrate Linked In, Twitter etc. into the People Hub (same through contact linking)
• Ability to upload video to Facebook or SkyDrive
• More control of how and which contacts appear from the services
• Ability to have Windows Live contacts selectable like Facebook

Office & Communication Features

• Ability to print office docs (or my boarding pass) via Bluetooth
• Ability to display free/busy information for a meeting request
• Ability to see calendar snapshot in meeting requests
• Integrated Inbox (make it optional – but some folks want it)
• Threaded (Conversation) e-mail
• Ability to auto sync non-inbox folders and have the unread counts combined
• Ability to set “office hours” for mail delivery (on-off peak)
• Ability to sync ALL my Hotmail if I want (setting is ignored over 7 days it seems)
• Ability to configure MMS settings on unlocked phones – I figure there is a way, it’s just not been discovered yet…
• Ability to store unfinished SMS messages as draft when switching away to answer call, look up address, etc.
• Ability to pin Wi-Fi and Bluetooth switches to start screen or have some other way to access communication settings quickly
• Ability to send files or at least contacts over Bluetooth
• Ability to set the default calendar when creating new appointments
• Ability to edit PowerPoint presentations – even if it’s just the text!
• Week view in the calendar – I miss it greatly when planning my week or looking for when to have a meeting
• Ability to snooze calendar items and reminders with different snooze times
• Ability to zoom in on the month in Month View
• Ability to auto DL e-mail attachments (and set the size cutoff)
• Ability to set the range of the calendar items that are downloaded
• Ability to set peak and off-peak sync times (including weekends)
• Ability to add people to meetings that are not in the contact list (manual typing)
• Microsoft Lync (new OCS) integration should include ability to create a Live Meeting or Conference Call from the phone
• Live Messenger Application from Microsoft
• Differentiate the color or shades of color in the SMS/MMS bubbles.

Hardware Features

• A “Zune” like connector for accessories (docks, etc.)
• HD Radio capability         

Browser Features

• Flash and Silverlight in the browser
• Ability to Sync Bookmarks to the cloud

Connectivity Features

• Tethering Capability
• Ability to add a non-visible Wi-Fi hotspot
• Ability to store/sync office documents in the Cloud/Sky Drive and bring them to device
• Integration with other cloud platforms (Dropbox, etc.)
• Live Mesh with RDP capabilities
• Network status and info screen
• Ability to set a fixed IP on the device

Corporate Features

• Corporate Policy Enhancements (including encryption)
• Ability to use SharePoint Mobile with our Corporate MySites without APG (authentication issue)
• Ability to side-load corporate applications