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Microsoft introduces Windows Phone 8

engadget.com

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Re: Microsoft introduces Windows Phone 8

#161

Post by shinratdr »

barista wrote: post #111
binarycrusader wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that it's not the same. You'll actually get iOS 6 on a iPhone 3GS, whereas Microsoft is backporting select features to the older Windows Phone 7 OS. That means still no native code, etc.

So would it have helped if Microsoft had been ingenious like Apple and called it Windows phone 8 but delivered fewer features instead to older devices?

No it would have helped if Microsoft had provided the WP8 update instead of just a UI tweak. Spiffing it up to look like WP8 solves only a cosmetic problem, it doesn't allow WP8 apps to run on older devices.

In a major update like WP8 or iOS 6, APIs are depreciated and new ones that are exclusive to the newer OS are introduced. Having everyone on the same version helps developers target much better.

If you think iOS 6 for the 3GS is just iOS 5 with UI tweaks applied, you're dead wrong. It's iOS 6 with features disabled so it will run better, not iOS 5 dressed up to look like iOS 6 which is what MS has chosen to do here.

Re: Microsoft introduces Windows Phone 8

#162

Post by shinratdr »

josteink wrote: post #147
illumin8 wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you get a new UI; who cares? What is truly important is application compatibility, and someone with a 3 year old iPhone 3GS will still be able to run brand new apps made for iOS 6.0. On the other hand, someone in a store buying a Nokia Lumia phone today might not be able to run apps released 3 months from now. Don't you see the problem?

and someone with a 3 year old iPhone 3GS will still be able to run brand new apps made for iOS 6.0. At half the speed or less compared to when the phone was bought, be driven insane and then be forced to buy a new phone. Or at least that is how I experienced iOS updates while I was still in the iPhone camp.

So in other words they give you both the option to retain current performance and the option to upgrade and reduce performance but have better app compatibility, and that's somehow a bad thing?

Software updates don't have the ability to give your device more RAM or a better processor, and the original iPhones were extremely underpowered. I don't know exactly what you would like for them to do.

Re: Microsoft introduces Windows Phone 8

#163

Post by shinratdr »

rome wrote: post #82
zdw wrote: post #77

iPhone 3GS, released June 2009 and iPhone 4, release June 2010, both get iOS 6 (albeit with fewer features than an iPhone 4S). No Windows Phone 7 is getting Windows Phone 8. Supporting older hardware = brand loyalty, and environmental responsibility. Yes an iPhone costs more - it's also going to be updated for longer...

Current Windows 7 phones are getting updates, 7.8. Contrast this with the original iPad which won't get ios 6 and it was released in 2010.

It already got two major updates though. Hardly the same situation, Microsoft has just been neglecting their older phones for quite some time now. I wouldn't exactly cheer them for that.

Re: Microsoft introduces Windows Phone 8

#164

Post by shinratdr »

WrkInProgress wrote: post #29
saturdaysaint wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Application support is a bigger concern than 8.0 features.

Did they mention if Windows Phone 8 apps can run on Windows Phone 7 ? I know they mentioned that the opposite is possible ....

It's extremely unlikely, if it was the case WP7 devices would have just gotten WP8.

The opposite is possible because if Microsoft just immediately trashed all the work their far and few WP7 supporters have been doing to help the platform, literally nobody would be on their side at that point.

You can only throw out the drawing board so many times before people lose any trust that you will ever settle on something for any real length of time.

Re: Microsoft introduces Windows Phone 8

#165

Post by robert_nsu »

rbanffy wrote: post #156
Jare wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't believe you just complained about the Zune software in a comparison with Apple's stuff. iTunes is the most amazing piece of garbage I've ever been forced to use for so long. I bought an iPod in 2005, it was a nice piece of gear for sure, but for some random reason I ended up buying a Zune in 2007, and the iPod never saw the light again until I managed to break the Zune. The main reason for that is I never wan…

> iTunes is the most amazing piece of garbage I've ever been forced to use for so long. I don't have that many complaints about it. It looks weird on Windows, of course, but it blends in nicely on a Mac. From your comment, I assume you haven't used Sharepoint.

I use Sharepoint everyday. I hate it and iTunes equally. I use the Zune software everyday. I have it installed on all of my computers. I can't say that it is perfect, but it is leaps and bounds better than iTunes in my opinion.

Re: Microsoft introduces Windows Phone 8

#166

Post by robert_nsu »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #92
pohl wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a legitimate reason for excluding the original iPad, though: it has to push four times the pixels as the iPhone 3GS, while still being limited by the same 256M of RAM that the 3GS has. Apparently at least one essential application (my guess would be Mobile Safari at least, probably many apps) couldn't provide an acceptable user experience within that constraint. Perhaps there's a legit reason for the current…

I vote that "different kernel" qualifies as a legitimate reason too.

Thank you. I'm glad someone else sees this. If a developer writes a NFC enabled app that finds its way on to previous generation phones, the support alone will be an utter nightmare.

Re: Microsoft introduces Windows Phone 8

#168

Post by HorizonXP »

runjake wrote: post #128
HorizonXP wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Legacy BBOS is for all intents and purposes, dead. BlackBerry 10 hasn't launched yet, but it's not exactly dead. Those of us actively developing for it are seeing lots of progress, and feel that RIM is far from dead.

Look, I'm going to be a bit harsh here. I've read your other BB cheerleading submission and the comments. You can claim BB10 isn't dead, but neither is it alive . It's vaporware at this point -- and it's logical to look at RIM's current performance to get a clue about how BB10 is going to perform and it just doesn't look good at all. > Those of us actively developing for it are seeing lots of progress, and feel that…

I do not disagree with anything you've said. There's a lot about BB10 that makes it better than other platforms.

But it will boil down to marketing and execution, lest RIM become another Palm, HP, or Nokia.

I don't exactly have my blinders on, but I am optimistic for the platform. With all of the naysayers, sometimes, someone has to be a bit of a fanboi.

Re: Microsoft introduces Windows Phone 8

#169

Post by SigmundA »

WrkInProgress wrote: post #153
mrdodge wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Xbox is a failure by almost every financial metric. Microsoft is not anywhere near recouping the initial costs. The entertainment/devices division is rarely profitable and last quarter lost over $200 million.

And the quarter before that ... the entertainment & devices division made $528 million. Here are the last six quarters prior to Q3 2012, all profitable http://betanews.com/2011/10/20/microsoft-q1-2012-by-the-numb... http://betanews.com/2011/07/21/microsoft-q4-2011-by-the-numb... http://betanews.com/2011/04/28/microsoft-q3-2011-by-the-numb... http://betanews.com/2011/01/27/microsoft-q2-2011-by-the-numb... http://betan…

And yet the Xbox still hasn't recouped it's losses total.

A few profitable quarters does not make up for years of losses. Here are some charts for you to make it painfully clear which divisions are profitable and keep MS running:

http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-microsoft-lo...

http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-microsoft-pr...

Re: Microsoft introduces Windows Phone 8

#170

Post by wavephorm »

huggyface wrote: post #107
wavephorm wrote: post #19

I imagine a lot of RIM and Google executives are getting a twitch in their eye right about now. If these new devices live up to their hype I can easily see them supplant Android as the "anything but Apple" option.

I can easily see them supplant Android as the "anything but Apple" option. Do you really imagine that the hundreds of millions of Android users chose "anything but Apple"? This mirrors the iPad discussion. People want a device to fill needs. Anyone who thinks this isn't competition with the iPhone is an imbecile.

  Do you really imagine that the hundreds of millions of Android users chose "anything but Apple"?
Yes I believe this is true.

There are very few redeeming qualities that an Android tablet has over an iPad. Likewise the people I know with Android phones either couldn't afford an iPhone, don't want one due to philosophical issues, or just wanted a simple feature-less cell phone and an Android phone was the same price.

People do not desire Android devices... they tolerate them. That's why Google should be afraid of these new Microsoft tablets and phones -- people already desire them in a way I have never heard anyone talk about any android device ever created in the past 3 years.

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