(Normally I would put this up as a blog post, but that stuff is still borked. I may or may not repost this once that's all up and running. Though I have a feeling that Falcon's Smartphone Quest 2012 will be "a thing", so there'll probably be more posts similar to this.)
As we get closer to summer, the rumor mill for Windows Phone 8 is spinning up. After the initial big leak a while back, there hasn't really been anything worth talking about outside of message boards. But with the recent launch of the Nokia Lumia 900 and Windows Phone 8 on the horizon, talk of a combination of the two is all over tech sites.
So far the talk has been all doom and gloom. Will and Norm agree the the Lumia 900 is a great piece of hardware. But without any information of a software update they can't recommend something that would essentially be running a two year old OS by the end of the year. As much as I want a Lumia, I can agree with that believe it or not. It would suck for people buying into Windows Phone now, but Will seems to think that since WP7 users are the 1% when it comes to smartphones that it's okay if that small amount of people get burned if current devices don't get the Windows Phone 8 update. But it's potentially far worse than that.
Many technology enthusiasts may be considering a move from iOS or Android to a Windows Phone once WP8 launches. However, they may not want to jump on board if the update process turns out to be just as bad as Android. These sort of people are also influential among their friends, and won't recommend Windows Phone if they won't use it themselves. And of course tech bloggers will be hesitant to recommend a Windows Phone device if the upgrade process is... well, nonexistent.
Microsoft has only just recently started testing the Windows Phone 8 software through emulation, nonetheless on actual hardware. Speaking of hardware, MS_nerd has started the rumor that WP8 is indeed being tested on not only the Lumia 800, but the Lumia 610 as well. If you don't already know, the Lumia 610 is a low end Tango device with an 800MHz CPU and only 256MB of RAM. I think it's clear that we haven't gotten an answer from Microsoft on this matter because they don't have one to give.
However, Paul Thurrott posted the following today,
Will Microsoft, the Handset Makers, or Microsoft Support Upgrades to Windows Phone 8? Duh. No.
There were some dueling stories about whether it would be possible to upgrade any existing Windows Phone handsets—including first-generation Windows Phone 7 devices and newer Windows Phone 7.5 handsets like the Lumia 900—to the forthcoming Windows Phone 8. Allow me to set the record straight. No. It won't happen. Not for the Lumia 900, and not for any other existing phone. It won’t happen partially, through an update that will deliver just some features, and it won't happen for those who wish to pay for such an update. It simply isn't happening. Sorry. But please don’t email me about this; I’m just the messenger. That said, please consider the following logic behind this decision, which doesn’t explain why I can be so emphatic about this topic—sources at Microsoft confirmed this for me anonymously after the company’s infamously hard-to-reach Windows Phone PR team belatedly offered up a “no comment” after repeated queries. First, there’s no economic imperative; Microsoft’s partners have sold very few Windows Phones, and supporting a new platform on legacy hardware would be expensive. Second, the experience would be terrible; Windows Phone 8 is based on Windows 8, not Windows Phone 7.x, and requires headier, higher-end hardware with two or more core processors. Third, handset makers and wireless carriers would never support this upgrade; they want to sell new phones. And finally, wireless carriers would never, ever, ever, ever deliver this update to users. There is just no way this will ever happen. And that’s true even when you factor out that I know for a fact that this isn't happening. Again. Sorry.
First off, this is as hypocritical as one could possibly get. Thurrott (rightly) bashes Android in part because of the fact that most phones never see an update, or if they do a user probably doesn't know when they're going to get it. Now that he's getting information that this will happen to Windows Phone, he simply shrugs his shoulders and says it's time to move on. Jesus fuck, what a dense mother fucker. I appreciate the information he provides, I have enjoyed listening to his thoughts on consumer electronics in the past, but holy shit I've never seen him be this biased before. And this is coming from the most biased Microsoft fan on Tested. /rant
Secondly, if this is true and Thurrot's reasoning is correct, that means that Microsoft would be splitting their phone division in two. Microsoft fully intends to continue selling devices such as the Lumia 610. But since that low of a hardware spec apparently can't run Windows Phone 8, then that means it'll be stuck running the old Windows CE software. Unless of course such devices remain the only phone division and there are bigger things in store for Windows Phone 8 that we don't yet know (ie - it's just straight up considered Windows RT (ugh, I hate that name...)).
So based on what we do know, and where the rumors are pointing, Microsoft's mobile division is still, essentially, a fucking mess.
This means I might have to actually make a decision this fall as to what my next smartphone will be. Before all of this nonsense there was absolutely no question I would be getting a hot piece of Nokia hardware running Windows Phone 8. But now... I'm not so sure. Your phone OS is already behind in terms of functionality and apps, you're going to burn everyone that just bought your flagship device and are stuck with it for TWO YEARS, a phone you're spending TWO HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS to market, and now you want me to buy into your new shit because you "finally got it right"? Sorry, no.
I desperately want to live in that future where all of my devices are connected. I've written on this site countless number of times about how awesome it's going to be once all our devices (from the same company) are using the same OS and it simply scales to screen size and input. (I still believe that future is a matter of when, not if.) I'm not going to stop using Windows PCs any time soon, and the Xbox will always be my gaming console of choice. But to me, Microsoft's mobile efforts seem to be increasingly in disarray. And lets just say they weren't doing any better a mere three years ago.
@Falcon: You getting an iPhone is like me getting an AMD CPU. We're entering into "blizzard in hell" territory.
But, still, I can see where you are coming from. It's reasonable to feel burned if you can't upgrade, especially if you just bought into a new phone. Are there any new features in WP8 that would help you bite the bullet? Seems like there should be some pretty significant functionality upgrade vs 7 if it's to the point that no legacy hardware will support it.
@Falcon: Considering how much you like Microsoft and how often you've cursed me off when I debated with you on this site, let me just say. When YOU buy an iPhone, it's a definite sign that Microsoft has no hope to win the mobile market.
Paul Thurrott is and always has been a colossal tool. This is just another example of his work's now legendary lack of internal consistency. It's almost impossible to consider him biased, he just seems to arbitrarily decide what he thinks on a case by case basis, even if the opinion he chooses contradicts things he's already said - or even, as in this case, is currently saying. He does this both in Microsoft's favour and against Microsoft. Like I said, his work lacks even internal consistency. I've stopped paying attention to him.
@Falcon: You getting an iPhone is like me getting an AMD CPU. We're entering into "blizzard in hell" territory.
But, still, I can see where you are coming from. It's reasonable to feel burned if you can't upgrade, especially if you just bought into a new phone. Are there any new features in WP8 that would help you bite the bullet? Seems like there should be some pretty significant functionality upgrade vs 7 if it's to the point that no legacy hardware will support it.
Probably. It's mostly hardware stuff that has been leaked. All the bells and whistles of course, but all I really care about are better screens. When it comes to software I'm all about the integration, which sounds like it'll be just like Windows 8 (app to app communication). It's not like I'm so pissed I would blindly consider the iPhone 5. For me to even actually consider it, it would have to be bigger, and iOS would have to get a major overhaul in iOS 6.
Microsoft is totally fucking themselves over though. If every single Lumia phone that sells doesn't get any sort of update at all, not even a subset of features, that screws over everyone who took a chance with the platform. Not just in terms of features, but apps as well. I highly doubt WP7.5 users would get more than a dozen or two decent apps next year.
I know we don't know anything officially yet, but it just seems to me like Microsoft still doesn't have their shit together. On the other hand, Apple totally does.
(Normally I would put this up as a blog post, but that stuff is still borked. I may or may not repost this once that's all up and running. Though I have a feeling that Falcon's Smartphone Quest 2012 will be "a thing", so there'll probably be more posts similar to this.)
As we get closer to summer, the rumor mill for Windows Phone 8 is spinning up. After the initial big leak a while back, there hasn't really been anything worth talking about outside of message boards. But with the recent launch of the Nokia Lumia 900 and Windows Phone 8 on the horizon, talk of a combination of the two is all over tech sites.
So far the talk has been all doom and gloom. Will and Norm agree the the Lumia 900 is a great piece of hardware. But without any information of a software update they can't recommend something that would essentially be running a two year old OS by the end of the year. As much as I want a Lumia, I can agree with that believe it or not. It would suck for people buying into Windows Phone now, but Will seems to think that since WP7 users are the 1% when it comes to smartphones that it's okay if that small amount of people get burned if current devices don't get the Windows Phone 8 update. But it's potentially far worse than that.
Many technology enthusiasts may be considering a move from iOS or Android to a Windows Phone once WP8 launches. However, they may not want to jump on board if the update process turns out to be just as bad as Android. These sort of people are also influential among their friends, and won't recommend Windows Phone if they won't use it themselves. And of course tech bloggers will be hesitant to recommend a Windows Phone device if the upgrade process is... well, nonexistent.
Microsoft has only just recently started testing the Windows Phone 8 software through emulation, nonetheless on actual hardware. Speaking of hardware, MS_nerd has started the rumor that WP8 is indeed being tested on not only the Lumia 800, but the Lumia 610 as well. If you don't already know, the Lumia 610 is a low end Tango device with an 800MHz CPU and only 256MB of RAM. I think it's clear that we haven't gotten an answer from Microsoft on this matter because they don't have one to give.
However, Paul Thurrott posted the following today,
First off, this is as hypocritical as one could possibly get. Thurrott (rightly) bashes Android in part because of the fact that most phones never see an update, or if they do a user probably doesn't know when they're going to get it. Now that he's getting information that this will happen to Windows Phone, he simply shrugs his shoulders and says it's time to move on. Jesus fuck, what a dense mother fucker. I appreciate the information he provides, I have enjoyed listening to his thoughts on consumer electronics in the past, but holy shit I've never seen him be this biased before. And this is coming from the most biased Microsoft fan on Tested. /rant
Secondly, if this is true and Thurrot's reasoning is correct, that means that Microsoft would be splitting their phone division in two. Microsoft fully intends to continue selling devices such as the Lumia 610. But since that low of a hardware spec apparently can't run Windows Phone 8, then that means it'll be stuck running the old Windows CE software. Unless of course such devices remain the only phone division and there are bigger things in store for Windows Phone 8 that we don't yet know (ie - it's just straight up considered Windows RT (ugh, I hate that name...)).
So based on what we do know, and where the rumors are pointing, Microsoft's mobile division is still, essentially, a fucking mess.
This means I might have to actually make a decision this fall as to what my next smartphone will be. Before all of this nonsense there was absolutely no question I would be getting a hot piece of Nokia hardware running Windows Phone 8. But now... I'm not so sure. Your phone OS is already behind in terms of functionality and apps, you're going to burn everyone that just bought your flagship device and are stuck with it for TWO YEARS, a phone you're spending TWO HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS to market, and now you want me to buy into your new shit because you "finally got it right"? Sorry, no.
I desperately want to live in that future where all of my devices are connected. I've written on this site countless number of times about how awesome it's going to be once all our devices (from the same company) are using the same OS and it simply scales to screen size and input. (I still believe that future is a matter of when, not if.) I'm not going to stop using Windows PCs any time soon, and the Xbox will always be my gaming console of choice. But to me, Microsoft's mobile efforts seem to be increasingly in disarray. And lets just say they weren't doing any better a mere three years ago.
Um... I've got my eye on you, Apple? I guess?
@Falcon: You getting an iPhone is like me getting an AMD CPU. We're entering into "blizzard in hell" territory.
But, still, I can see where you are coming from. It's reasonable to feel burned if you can't upgrade, especially if you just bought into a new phone. Are there any new features in WP8 that would help you bite the bullet? Seems like there should be some pretty significant functionality upgrade vs 7 if it's to the point that no legacy hardware will support it.
@Falcon: Considering how much you like Microsoft and how often you've cursed me off when I debated with you on this site, let me just say. When YOU buy an iPhone, it's a definite sign that Microsoft has no hope to win the mobile market.
@Mirado said:
Probably. It's mostly hardware stuff that has been leaked. All the bells and whistles of course, but all I really care about are better screens. When it comes to software I'm all about the integration, which sounds like it'll be just like Windows 8 (app to app communication). It's not like I'm so pissed I would blindly consider the iPhone 5. For me to even actually consider it, it would have to be bigger, and iOS would have to get a major overhaul in iOS 6.
Microsoft is totally fucking themselves over though. If every single Lumia phone that sells doesn't get any sort of update at all, not even a subset of features, that screws over everyone who took a chance with the platform. Not just in terms of features, but apps as well. I highly doubt WP7.5 users would get more than a dozen or two decent apps next year.
I know we don't know anything officially yet, but it just seems to me like Microsoft still doesn't have their shit together. On the other hand, Apple totally does.