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Nokia Releasing First Android Phone

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Re: Nokia Releasing First Android Phone

#71
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>What is Windows Phone lacking? Apps. What is the current perceived gap in the Windows Phone app store?

When I tried one (and admittedly, this was the WP7 era) the biggest problem wasn't missing brands, it was awful experiences. Spotify were on there - the app didn't play music 50% of the time. Foursquare was on there, but it barely worked. And so on. I haven't checked back since because, well, why would I?

Because things have improved? I own a Nokia Lumia 925 and have barely anything to complain about. The thing is I've never been crazy for searching through a ton of crap apps every day like some of my friends. WP8 delivers what I need in a consistent way. I'm glad I moved away from the Android phones I owned in the past 2-3 years.

Re: Nokia Releasing First Android Phone

#72
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I tried one (and admittedly, this was the WP7 era) the biggest problem wasn't missing brands, it was awful experiences. Spotify were on there - the app didn't play music 50% of the time. Foursquare was on there, but it barely worked. And so on. I haven't checked back since because, well, why would I?

Because things have improved? I own a Nokia Lumia 925 and have barely anything to complain about. The thing is I've never been crazy for searching through a ton of crap apps every day like some of my friends. WP8 delivers what I need in a consistent way. I'm glad I moved away from the Android phones I owned in the past 2-3 years.

Well I guess my point was that I have no reason to move away from Android now. A few years ago the experience was terrible and I saw WP as a clean escape from that. Since then Android has come along leaps and bounds.

Re: Nokia Releasing First Android Phone

#73
post #61
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Microsoft have been submitting kernel patches for years now, you know.

kernel patches that directly benefit their own products, like making it easier to run virtual machines, etc. Not from the goodness and kindness of their wonderful, generous hearts.

So? The criteria wasn't "when Microsoft love Linux" the criteria was "when Microsoft feel compelled to support Linux."

Re: Nokia Releasing First Android Phone

#74
post #64
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Confusing. How is gross margin a shift of goalposts in a thread about profits?

Fair, but this discussion is a continuation of the Android vs iOS debate which has been raging for half a decade. My memory is horrible but I remember it going: 1. Android has no apps 2. Android has no market share 3. Apple's market share is larger 4. iPhone is always the best selling phone 5. iPhone has the only responsive interface 6. No single manufacturer is making big profits 7. Only Samsung is making large prof…

We should be happy Apple is making profits. Because companies like Lenovo and Acer that eke out an existence playing in competitive markets where prices are driven to marginal cost don't have the money to pour into R&D. Look at what Apple is doing with Cyclone: the first mass market CPU to challenge Intel in IPC since Opteron a decade ago. Its a game they can only play because the generate a ton of cash to throw around.

Re: Nokia Releasing First Android Phone

#75
post #17

I'll never understand why Nokia thought that going with WP was a better strategy than forking android like amazon did. Think about it: it would have the openness and stability of Linux with the single hardware configuration and quality of the iPhone, total win-win. Now they are going to android as the cheap option which means only crappy hardware that only "looks" like a lumia. Had Nokia gone the other way it would b…

Not a lot of of this makes sense. First, stability. Are you comparing Linux to a ten year old version of Windows? The modern Windows kernel is just as stable as Linux. Sadly, the same can't be said for third party drivers written by Android manufacturers. As for the full system stack. I'm primarily an Android user but I find Windows Phone seems to be a lot more stable from a user perspective.

Second, opennes. The Linux kernel is open, but most of Android is not (and with each Android release this gets worse). Forking would mean rewriting all the closed parts. A lot of Google Play apps don't even work on the Kindle Fire because of the closed parts being different. The only reason forking worked for Amazon in the first place, was that they were selling based on their already existing Kindle ecosystem, not based on Android, Android was just the enabler.

Shifting gears to Android that late in the game would not have suddenly allowed Nokia to catch up to Samsung. Samsung had been organising themselves for years to reap the advantages that come with Android. They didn't just release an Android phone and become an industry leader overnight.

I still think Windows Phone was the better option for Nokia given how immature Maemo/Meego still was (which was primarily Nokia's fault for not anticipating the market and not prioritising it higher). At the end of the day, even a smart decision won't help you if you make it too late.

Re: Nokia Releasing First Android Phone

#76
post #68
post #17

I'll never understand why Nokia thought that going with WP was a better strategy than forking android like amazon did. Think about it: it would have the openness and stability of Linux with the single hardware configuration and quality of the iPhone, total win-win. Now they are going to android as the cheap option which means only crappy hardware that only "looks" like a lumia. Had Nokia gone the other way it would b…

Being an Android manufacturer isn't exactly a bunch of roses either. At the last count only Samsung were making serious money through it - everyone else seems to be struggling along.

Well, there's Xiaomi. But the truth is pretty much everyone else is making shit phones.

Re: Nokia Releasing First Android Phone

#78
post #5

Linus Torvalds once said: "If Microsoft ever starts developing apps for Linux, it means I won." Is this close enough?

Well then he already won 17 years ago when MSFT released NetShow player for Linux and some flavours of Unix.

http://linuxmafia.com/pub/linux/apps/netshow_linux.html

Re: Nokia Releasing First Android Phone

#79
post #55
post #23

It's pretty odd. I think it's fair to say that the only handset makers profiting off of Android today are...Samsung...and...that's about it really. Meager pickings for the rest of them. I don't see this succeeding at all. And in any case it's dead in the water once the Microsoft deal goes through because it just muddies the waters. A person that buys one of these cheap Nokia/Android phones would reasonably expect tha…

A person buying a "premium" Lumia WP7 handset had a reasonable expectation that Microsoft would upgrade the OS when WP8 came out, but that didn't really work out either.

But your apps still worked.

Huge difference.

Re: Nokia Releasing First Android Phone

#80
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would anybody have cared about Linux except as an academic exercise if not for GNU? If there had been another properly licensed kernel before Linux, we would all be using GNU bolted on top of that. Linux has been great and Linus is a great steward, but Linux without GNU is a base for creating an OS, not an OS.

I really like GNU, but are you sure that it is GNU that has succeeded and not Linux? Linux + GNU = small marketshare Linux + Android = big marketshare So maybe without GNU, Linux would have gotten some other userland quicker and taken off faster? I don't think it's entirely fair to credit Linux's success to GNU at this point.

Apples to oranges. Those markets have different dynamics, gatekeepers, legacy costs, etc.
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