Opinion: Nokia + Microsoft: Can 2 Losers Equal 1 Winner?

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Considering the supportive comments it appears that the shills are still being paid so M$ and Nokia haven't given up yet. Maybe they should buy Rim. Throwing money at the problem can work but it's not the most efficient solution.
 
[citation][nom]alikum[/nom]You may have a dual or even a quad and it still lags the sh*t out and crashes very often. What's the point?[/citation]As the owner of a WP7 (HTC 7 Pro / Arrive) AND an Asus Transformer Prime TF201, I can attest to this sentiment.
I love my TF201, but even when overclocked it IS still laggy and needs to be restarted quite often. I was considering switching from WP7 to a high-end Android phone, but based on my experience with the TF201 (BTW, the hardware is great - it's Android that is disappointing), I'm sticking with WP7. I'm also planning on seriously considering replacing my TF201 with a W8 tablet when they come out. I only wish I could install Windows 8 for tablets on my TF201 since, like I said, the hardware is top-notch.
 
What bothers me about this article is stating that the 900 didn't sell well enough to save Nokia's 1 quarter results. Trouble is the phone didn't start shipping until the second quarter. The author lost all credibility after that...
 
[citation][nom]Gary554[/nom]What bothers me about this article is stating that the 900 didn't sell well enough to save Nokia's 1 quarter results. Trouble is the phone didn't start shipping until the second quarter. The author lost all credibility after that...[/citation]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Does the author realize the Lumia 900 is selling out in the US? Also, the carriers being referred to were, I believe, in Europe, where the Lumia 900 hasn't eve launched yet. In fact, there's talk that the UK launch will be delayed because Nokia is trying to keep up with US demand. Granted, we don't know how many they've sold so far, but these signs at least look positive. Also, speaking of carriers, Verizon's CEO just during their latest earnings call that they were working with MS and thought it was important to have a 3rd ecosystem.
 
Author loses credibility when stating that the Lumia 900 didn't sell well enough to help Q1 results.

The Lumia 900 was released in Q2.

In addition, author mentions disappointment that the Lumia 900 was the result of the billions of dollars of R&D that Microsoft gave them. Its not possible to design a completely new phone from scratch and manufacturer it in 1 years time (That's when the Nokia-Microsoft partnership was announced). Typical product development cycle is 2-2.5 years. As a result, Nokia took bits of pieces of its most popular current line and combined them to make the Lumia 900. You should notice that the Lumia 900 looks very similar to the N9.

Wolfgang Gruener is click-baiting I think.
 
Steam on a phone and the ability to play games like Skyrim or ME3 on a phone, now that would be a sale for me. Not sure how they would pull it off, but ....
 
I recently procured a Lumia 900 to give Windows phone a spin.
I've used every iPhone, and nearly every GSM android available in the US, and the culmination of the experience leads me to this thought on the Lumia, Windows Phone, and Microsofts position in the smartphone market:
The Lumia 900 is a very nice phone, built specifically for Windows Phone 7.5 Mango. Any one who has read the spec for Windows Phone Microsoft controls would realize that as far as windows phones go, this is a very nice unit. I find the hardware build solid, voice quality is possibly the best of any smartphone I've used, battery life is good, and the Camera is tapping hard on the door of the iPhone 4S in terms of optical quality.
On to Windows Phone....: The OS is solid IMO. It doesnt have any stuttering issues with the UI, works as advertised, and when compared to the stock experience of many Android devices, it does in fact "smoke" them. The market place has a number of good apps, with some obvious absentees that make it less attractive. I use my phone for business, and I can tell you that if you are using Office 365 (Which includes Exchange, Lync, & Sharepoint) this phone goes quickly to the absolute top of the list. Integration is obviously tight, and well planned. Native versions of Microsoft Office do kill most competitors offerings, and all the things you expect from the Exchange experience are present and accounted for.
Conclusion on WP7.5: Microsoft made a quality tool, that does what it is supposed to and reliably.
My .02 on their position:
Microsoft failed to realize that the Smart Phone market is not driven by business. Its driven by regular consumers. RIM failed to acknowledge that, and given their current failing position you would have thought microsoft would have taken a Que from them. Their "cloud" experience is certainly pale in comparison to Apple or google, and frankly the phone doesnt offer much in the way of wow factor. Home users dont have Office 365, and most people dont even use Skydrive. Apple has taken the consumer market by storm. Microsoft had plenty of real Market observations, and coming in this late in the game they should have been able to create something to capture businesses, and individuals alike. They didnt.
The only advantage Microsoft has is a solidarity in their platform, where as google is woefully missing that. However lack of a decent marketing strategy will waste that advantage, and keep Microsoft competing with RIM for weakest smartphone maker on the market.
 
@Bloob (and others): maybe we miss the main point that makes Apple (and 'Droid) success so far: a well-integrated and complete ECOSYSTEM that goes far beyond just an HW combine with an OS.
Most people (= 100% of users EXCEPT techies like us --> 98% of the world) buy a HW for the look and brand recognition, and the phone for the features it offers.
Apple was the first to offer an integrate AppStore/iTunes experience (already filled-in with plenty of content, surfing on past iPod success and market share).
Android replicated the concept but open it up to multiple HW vendors --> lower entry-price (obviously for lower quality...).
Microsoft failed on the eco-system and many early WinPhone partners tried to catch-up by themselves (with a HW-brand specific "AppStore") --> again failure.
So I think that for MS to succeed (with Nokia and/or others) they absolutely need to focus on the complete & integrate ECOSYSTEM with all the needed content (music, films, web, applications including games + new stuff like wireless micro-payment solutions and more).
Just my 2 cents.
PS: did you noticed that MS Windows Phone Marketing Manager was fired a few days ago...?
 
There are some nice Android phones, and there are some truely awful Android phones.

Bad old android distros, hardware that is cheap and plasticky, specifications that are so flimsy that they would crash if they were upgraded to ICS, etc.

But - because the SGS2 exists the idea is that Android phones are somehow superior - that is bullcrap

The only reason WP is not taking off is because partisan carriers have been refusing to stock phones or even if they do have them they are refusing to market them, someone comes into a store and says "I want a phone to do X,Y & Z" the salesperson reaches for the iPhone and the SGS2 and says "here are your 2 choices".
 
Well, imho there are several problems.

First: the transition to WP 7. Not only they dropped compatibility with 6.5 and earlier software (annoying previous customers), it took way too long to launch and it lacked some critical features like copy and paste and multitasking. These features were added later, but the damage was done.

Second: Apps. It took a long time until WP 7.5 Mango was ready, and people that were loyal users of previous Windows Phone weren't touching WP7 with a foot long pole, plus their old applications didn't worked anymore. So nothing stopped them from swapping platforms. Those people embraced the iPhone and Android, and began purchasing apps. People who have bought apps for Android or iPhone will stick to their respective platforms to keep that invest, so their possibility to jump ship again was close to nil. Plus the app selection for WP7 was and still is far smaller.

Third: Exclusive benefits. iPhone has an huge app selection and a proven reliability. Android has a huge range of available hardware and extensive customization. What exclusive functionality does Windows Phone has...?

...Xbox Live integration?
 
To be honest, I actually wanted the new Lumia..too bad I'm still on a contract for my HTC 7 Trophy.. 🙁
But I agree with what people are saying, Marketplace is lacking in free apps..and apps themselves.
 
[citation][nom]Vorador2[/nom]Well, imho there are several problems.First: the transition to WP 7. Not only they dropped compatibility with 6.5 and earlier software (annoying previous customers), it took way too long to launch and it lacked some critical features like copy and paste and multitasking. These features were added later, but the damage was done.Second: Apps. It took a long time until WP 7.5 Mango was ready, and people that were loyal users of previous Windows Phone weren't touching WP7 with a foot long pole, plus their old applications didn't worked anymore. So nothing stopped them from swapping platforms. Those people embraced the iPhone and Android, and began purchasing apps. People who have bought apps for Android or iPhone will stick to their respective platforms to keep that invest, so their possibility to jump ship again was close to nil. Plus the app selection for WP7 was and still is far smaller.Third: Exclusive benefits. iPhone has an huge app selection and a proven reliability. Android has a huge range of available hardware and extensive customization. What exclusive functionality does Windows Phone has...?...Xbox Live integration?[/citation]
1. I agree.

2. You're half way there. But do remember that there's a market that's still running dumb phones. This market is untapped, hence past purchases is a non-issue. Like I said, you're half way there. It's still slow in picking up apps mostly due to its restriction of giving developers native access to the phone. However, it will change with WP8, which will be interesting.

For 3, I'd say all things Microsoft. Did you check out the latest Skydrive app for both phone and desktop? It's amazing. Also, WP7 has Lync, which is essentially an instant messenger for business. I use that very often. Office mobile? Exchange (although not as good as 6.5)? Built in WLM chat? Built in Facebook chat? All these are exclusive, and very often used.
 
I've been using Sensation Z710e alongside Lumia 800 for months now, and with passage of time I've found myself relying on Lumia more and more. Simply put, WP is lot more 'efficient' and 'easy to use' OS running on a single core SoC when compared dual core SoC running my sensation, which suffers from performance degradation + stutters + hang ups (its running ICS 4.0.3 stock ROM). After spending so much time on various android phones I couldn't get over the fact that Android is a copycat (at least UI wise) of much more smoother + stable + pleasure to use iOS. At this point in time, I don't see myself ever bothering to spend my hard earned $$$ on droid, but if WP won't succeed in the longer run I'd rather go back to iOS than to crap-ware.
 
MS seem out of touch with the rest of the world, they need a young genius asian dude, a liberal white chick and a gangsta black guy to throw them some wacked ideas lol
 
Most of those neat features you list will require multi-core support, so why list them? Come up with a different list that the current OS should support but isn't. It appears that MS and Nokia are building momentum into WP8. The big if is what happens when MS finally says no HW backward compatibility. Most likely, this will come in late summer so as to not slow down growing demand. If by next summer MS, Nokia, HTC, etc are not seeing synergies fron W* integration, then MS should really start to worry. Nokia has to drive down costs and MS has to get VZW and Sprint fully on board with WP.
 
[citation][nom]leakingpaint[/nom]MS seem out of touch with the rest of the world, they need a young genius asian dude, a liberal white chick and a gangsta black guy to throw them some wacked ideas lol[/citation]
Your comment was pretty racist, and needless to say, unecessary and made no logical sense..
 
One big problem is that both Microsoft and Nokia are use to being virtual monopolies, thus moving at their own paces.

These days, they have viable competition, they have their backs to a corner, and yet they still insist on moving at their own pace.

This isn't the 90's. This isn't even the 00's!!! This is the era of the impatient, short-attention-span, ADNotSoD consumer.

Whoever said Microsoft should split up into smaller companies is on to something. It moves too damn slow in its current state.
 
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