The Also-Rans: The Future of Blackberry and Windows Phone 7

[Guest]

These two phone OSes are getting hammered in the iPhone/Android world we live in. Are people making a mistake by overlooking them?

The Also-Rans: The Future of Blackberry and Windows Phone 7 : Read more

 

[wildkitten]

Very nice article. I myself recently got the Droid Bionic from Verizon. I gave Windows Mobile a look, but the number of apps available for the Android got me. I would have possibly got an iPhone but I have an iPod touch 4th generation so that would have been redundant, and I like the fact that the Droid has a noticeably bigger screen.

Sounds like Microsoft is at a "chicken and the egg" stage. They have a good product, but they need customers to get people developing apps, but they need more apps to get people to buy the phone. Microsoft, if they are serious about the Windows phone surviving and it sounds as if they are, would be well served to spend some time developing a large number of apps and/or hiring some to do so. Possibly offering these apps for free to get people in the door.

 

[wingartz]

i was starting to like BB products, i own a Curve 9300, basic but working, then the blackout, no service for 3 days and said to myself this sucks, i dont have anything but a dumbphone, with an android or back with an iphone i wouldn't have this issue, then moved along.

Then the discount in the playbooks and said f**k yeah, i liked it, but too bad i can't afford it right now, and now the torch 9860 caught my eyes :O so sweet :drool, but reading that RIM is not moving fast to keep up, so lets say that is my brake to keep me out of selling my kidney and buy the 9860 and the playbook

 

[zybch]

[citation][nom]wildkitten[/nom]Very nice article. I myself recently got the Droid Bionic from Verizon. I gave Windows Mobile a look, but the number of apps available for the Android got me[/citation]


I sure hope not, because Windows Mobile has been dead for some time and was god-awfully bad.
I think what you meant to say was 'Windows Phone' which, while not having the same quantity of apps, certainly has the same breadth and quality of apps that the 2 main platforms do.

As for the article, there are some pretty glaring little mistakes and biases there. Whoever thinks iOS is intuitive could only be a life long apple user. There is no integration and the boring-as-dogpoop grid of icons is utterly tired and boring. Jumping in and out of apps is a pain, and having to jump right back to the home screen every time you just want to go back to the previous app (ala android & WP7's 'back' button) is just a dreadful UI design decision that makes the device harder to use (though having a 'hard' button is certainly nicer than the touch buttons on other devices).
I recently tried a BB for a while and can absolutely agree that stuff seems scattered everywhere, a real chore.

 

[wildkitten]

[citation][nom]zybch[/nom]I sure hope not, because Windows Mobile has been dead for some time and was god-awfully bad.I think what you meant to say was 'Windows Phone' which, while not having the same quantity of apps, certainly has the same breadth and quality of apps that the 2 main platforms do.As for the article, there are some pretty glaring little mistakes and biases there. Whoever thinks iOS is intuitive could only be a life long apple user. There is no integration and the boring-as-dogpoop grid of icons is utterly tired and boring. Jumping in and out of apps is a pain, and having to jump right back to the home screen every time you just want to go back to the previous app (ala android & WP7's 'back' button) is just a dreadful UI design decision that makes the device harder to use (though having a 'hard' button is certainly nicer than the touch buttons on other devices).I recently tried a BB for a while and can absolutely agree that stuff seems scattered everywhere, a real chore.[/citation]
Yes, Windows Phone. But sorry, when I looked about 3 weeks ago, I didn't see nearly as many choices of apps for it among what I was looking for as I could get for an Android device.

 

[Guest]

The # of apps only matters if the apps it lacks are ones you would need. App wise I would have been fine buying a WP7 device over my Android phone, but the problem for me with Windows Phone, was not the apps or the operating system, which looks superior to Android to me. But rather the total lack of high end devices, and the lack of any decent device on Verizon.

A subsidized cell phone is a ~$2000 purchase. To me buying a $50 or $100 device is like buying a year old laptop for $1900 instead of a brand new laptop for $2000. Or if you just get your phone off Amazon's 1 cent sale, they cost the same.

So going WP7 over Android, I'd have ended up with a mid range handset with a 800x480 screen, on ugh ATT, instead of my Rezound with its 1280x720 screen on Verizon LTE. Which made going Android the obvious choice for me.

If WP7 would put out high end phones with cutting edge features like high resolution screens on Verizon, then I'd be definitely interested in switching in 2 years. Or hell since my Rezound has a snapdragon SOC, if they could get HTC to sell a rom of a WP7 release that makes use of Dual Core SOCs and 720p screens id buy it for $50.

 

[cknobman]

I like the Windows Phone 7 OS a lot and when I set out to get my two teenage sons phones for xmas I initially intended on buying them a windows phone.

What turned me to Android though was a couple of things:
1. Lack of phone selection. My carrier (Sprint) only had 1 phone, yes just 1 Windows phone.
2. Windows phone does not support 4g yet. We are on sprint in a WiMax area and Sprints 3g is pathetic so I wanted to get a phone with WiMax support.
3. Apps both cost and selection. Since these are my kids phones I wanted to make sure that they had access to as much free stuff as possible and unfortunately many Windows apps that you have to pay for are free on Android. (you can call me cheap but these phones are for my kids).

So once Windows shores those few things up I am hoping off the Android train. The OS itself is great with a slick easy to use interface. The problem right now is not the software itself but rather marketing, carrier support, and hardware.

 

[alyoshka]

I'm going to be trying out both, the Samsung Android based Note 'cos of it's bigger screen and the apps and the Nokia WP7 for all the other serious work. Now all I need for them to do is get their prices down to half, and I'll get one tomorrow.

 

[killerb255]

Two biggest WP7 problems right now:

1) Lack of apps. Swype, Words With Friends, Skype, Scrabble, to name a few.
2) Hardware. Only AT&T (HTC Titan, Samsung Focus S and Flash) and T-Mobile (HTC Radar) have 4G Windows Phones. The CDMA carriers only have one, yes ONE handset (Verizon has the HTC Trophy, everyone else the HTC 7 Pro (in Sprint's case, the HTC Arrive)).

 

[Guest]

don't worry, RIM. there are still bunch of idiots somewhere in indonesia, malaysia, or some other third-worlds, dying to buy your products. believe me, they think facebook is different from the internet.

 

[rex86]

RIM is dead and only worth for its patents. I hope it will get bought by Google because Google needs good patents. Apple is and always was Crapple and the evil empire in the world of cellphones. Its products are overpriced and not worth the money. Windows Phone is useless for the regular users.

I recently bought ZTE Skate and I'm extremely happy with it. And the thing costs less than 180 euros unsubsidized.

 

[Guest]

I agree with killerb255 regarding the carrier WP7 options in US - The WP7 OS is really amazing - but myself I had to buy an unlocked European version (Samsung Omnia 7) to use with T-Mobile since at that time they only had a HTC WP7 phone on shelves.

The apps on WP7 are starting to look quite good as of today - there are many word games if that you are looking for, and Skype was bought by MS so I guess it's gonna make it to the phone quite soon. Meanwhile the phone has Lync, and few other VoIP apps.