Lumia 900

[Glaucus]

Nokia Lumia 900 review

MS is desperate to be cool with the kids and is pouring everything it has into the mobile market, even going so far as to refocus their desktop OS's purpose. VisualStudio & SilverLight is out, HTML5 and mobile is in. Their big push into the mobile world is highlighted with their high profile partnering with Nokia. In a way, it's in Nokia's hands now.

So what has Nokia done? Well, they came out with a great mid-range phone that would have been somewhat impressive two years ago. It's current specs/performance are almost exactly the same as my Nexus S which was first released to market in the UK in Dec 2010. This doesn't give me a lot of confidence in either company right now.

I think MS needs to do what Google has done: create a "Nexus" line to take full ownership of the platform. And if I was MS I'd call that line "Zune". MS should have Zune phones that are true flagship phones competing head to head with the latest iPhone and Nexus phones. They seriously need a wow factor to get into this market and the 900 isn't likely to do that.

 

[faethor]

WP7.5 rocks! Microsoft wins the 'Think Different' award for mobile.

As for Zune it's basically the audio, tv, movie store now.

 

[ilwrath]

VisualStudio & SilverLight is out, HTML5 and mobile is in.

Ironically, it's probably VisualStudio and Silverlight that could help their mobile market most, at this stage. As Ballmer likes to jump around saying... It's about developers. And Windows mobile needs them. It's baffling how little they've leveraged their developers and developer tools for mobile. If you're going to go the home user route, you need an application library that can match iPhone and Android.

But, to me, it's even more baffling WHY Microsoft went for the home market. I still don't understand why they made the ill-fated Kin phone line, instead of making a corporate-friendly phone and delivering the swift deathblow to RIM/Blackberry. (In fact, I was on here two years ago saying that's what Microsoft should be doing.) Offering better Exchange integration and mobile office would get them a foothold, right there. They could have dominated the corporate market and then started building the "cool" once they had that foothold and market share. Instead Apple and Android ate all that market. Now they're going to be a lot harder to displace.

They seriously need a wow factor to get into this market and the 900 isn't likely to do that.

Agreed. If you're going to attack the home market you'd have to make a HUGE splash. But what do you do to get that wow factor? I don't think specs are going to help. It's really only us tech heads appreciate that stuff. The average public glazes over when presented with that spec sheet. They pick their next phone based on playing Angry Birds on the display models.

Microsoft is really in a mess. They're betting the farm on something that just doesn't seem to be gaining the traction it needs. I wouldn't be surprised to see people start calling for Ballmer's head soon.

 

[faethor]

It's about developers. And Windows mobile needs them. It's baffling how little they've leveraged their developers and developer tools for mobile. If you're going to go the home user route, you need an application library that can match iPhone and Android.

I haven't programmed for either phone. Though from what I understand the Microsoft model is easier than the Apple model. It'll certainly be interesting as Microsoft makes the switch to more open protocols. If the strong Microsoft compliers and development tools can now do open source as well - people might well be buying software from Microsoft to create software for free. Expanding the Microsoft's play along and do it better will be an interesting change to watch.

But, to me, it's even more baffling WHY Microsoft went for the home market. I still don't understand why they made the ill-fated Kin phone line, instead of making a corporate-friendly phone and delivering the swift deathblow to RIM/Blackberry.

The Kin phone seemed fine to me. The big problem I saw with it was internet to phones isn't free or cheap which make the Kin success much harder. I can understand that low cost smartphones that do what 90% of what people do is where the market is going to move. Lower cost WP7.x will be taking on this role. Less store interactivity but strong with email and webrowsing.

They could have dominated the corporate market and then started building the "cool" once they had that foothold and market share. Instead Apple and Android ate all that market. Now they're going to be a lot harder to displace.

Perhaps.. Apple seems to have hit a wall where they are selling to old users instead of to new users. So they aren't really growing. Android is selling to new users. And actually WP7 is expected to have the largest % growth over their current base. Dec 2011 - Dec 2012 they are expected to more than double their numbers. Time will tell.

I don't think specs are going to help.

We know the Amiga works great on poor specs compared to the Macs and Windows of the era. That being said it didn't help. WP7 works better on the same spec Android phone from what I can tell.

Microsoft is really in a mess. They're betting the farm on something that just doesn't seem to be gaining the traction it needs. I wouldn't be surprised to see people start calling for Ballmer's head soon.

What we've seen is Gates leave Microsoft and Jobs leave Apple. Microsoft was sooner so their fall out is sooner. From what I understand Jobs helped map out the next couple of years of Apple. It'll be interesting to see where the post-Jobs products drive the company, or if they do. Alas if Job's ego didn't get in his way and he went to an actual Doctor instead of believing he could will himself well it'd be interesting.

 

[Glaucus]

You gotta wow them with your screen. The 800x480 resolution on a 4.3" phone has a lower DPI than my Nexus S. High DPI's are what people like to see these days, the iPhone/iPad's "Retina" display is the most famous example of that. Most modern Android phones have a higher DPI as well, along with higher resolutions (the Galaxy Nexus phone has a higher resolution than the iPad2). The 900 should have had a 720P display, or close to it.

AT least it has an AMOLED display that's not pintile. That is a plus, but I think higher res would have been better.

As for the WP7.5 being easier to develop than the iPhone? I doubt it. One advantage the iPhone will likely always have over all platforms is that developers have a very small number of form factors to worry about. If WP takes off, manufacturers will develop phones of all shapes and sizes, but also with different features and capabilities (ie. most phones have GPS but most tablets don't) and developers will need to scale their apps. Not sure how Windows does that. This is even more important for game developers as they can bank on a certain performance level from all devices on the iPhone market. Ever notice that all iOS devices use a multiple of the same screen size? The iPhone and iPad 1 & 2 all had the same resolution and the iPad 3 has 2X the resolution. You can expect the iPhone 5 to match the iPad3's resolution and the app developers will have to only worry about scaling 2X - which is trivial.

One nice thing about Android devices is that they're mostly built by companies that also build TVs, and we're seeing that 16x9 being the standard screen ratio for devices. This makes Android a good choice for displaying stuff on TVs. Apple chose a really odd ball screen size for their phones & tablets and at one point may be forced to conform to standards - which will force developers to actually think about scaling their apps. But you never know with Apple, they seem to like being odd balls and completely incompatible with accepted standards.

 

[faethor]

As for the WP7.5 being easier to develop than the iPhone? I doubt it. One advantage the iPhone will likely always have over all platforms is that developers have a very small number of form factors to worry about.

Windows Phone 7 hardware is tightly controlled and approved. So while we do see various manufacturers making it, Microsoft approves the designs to keep the form factors low. It's a bit different model than Apple there but similar in it's results. As for easier to develop it's my understanding that the tools are easier to jump into an use. And as a plus those tools can also be used to make iPhone content.

I think the questions you have are more Windows 8 based as they integrate a tablet approach into the fold. WP8 is sure to come but appears to not be part of the inital Windows 8 launch.

As for Windows gaming I can see a huge potental in integrating the desktop gaming market, tablet gaming market, phone gaming market and console gaming markets. Microsoft showed some cool stuff with WP7 - play a game on the 360, walk away and be at the same point on the phone or the desktop. I'm sure it'll come more as the power of phones increase. I thought HTC said they'd have a phone equal to the 360 in power by 2014. Perhaps just in time for the Xbox 3's launch?

One nice thing about Android devices is that they're mostly built by companies that also build TVs, and we're seeing that 16x9 being the standard screen ratio for devices.

I think we're seeing the same manufacturers for the WP7 and Tablets - HTC, Samsung, LG along with ASUS, Dell, Nokia. And Sony WP7 prototypes were leaked but I don't think they make any yet.

Now to just get my hands on that HTC Titan II w/ the 16mpixel camera.

The other plus Microsoft brings to the table is Skype. I suspect it'll still exist for other platforms. Though the most and easiest functionality should come from the Microsoft environment.