So I was an early adopter of WP7. Ive had my Samsung focus since it was first released. I eventually moved to a Verizon iPhone 4s (I hated AT&T that much) but I unlocked my focus and use it on trips to Europe. Recently: the hombrew community was able to get some roms for the focus so I've been experimenting. I use my iPhone to make calls but I love WP too much to give it up. I want to see it on top.
But here's my question:
Microsoft has crippled hardware manufactures by only allowing specific hardware specs. Not only a minimum spec but also maximum.. So until MS updates their requirements, Nokia, Samsung and the rest won't be able to make quad-core phone with retina like displays and push the hardware envelope.
Also the WP7 OS is so smooth that even the "low end" phones like the focus have the EXACT same experience as the Lumia 900. When you're on Wifi, there's no difference between any of them.
Everyone I've heard use it says the same thing about it. So why would someone using another WP handset want to upgrade to the Lumia? Besides great (and super sexy) hardware: there's really nothing I see that warrants the upgrade...
Any thoughts ?
Discussion about
I've seen the reviews: but why should I upgrade?
There is plenty of room for maneuvering between the specs of windows phones. Take for instance the difference between the Lumia 710 (Gdgt score 78) and 900 (Gdgt score 90). Differences include:
Design, Battery, Camera Quality, Front Facing Camera, Internal Storage, Capability for LTE, OLED vs LCD screen (big difference in my opinion).
Now some of these reasons may be applicable for people wanting to upgrade from windows phone X to the Lumia 900.
However, I think Microsoft's major priority right now is to convert users of other platforms to the windows phone experience. Remember, Apple has had plenty of success providing a unified experience to all of their users, and Microsoft is arguably trying to follow and have the same success. I understand why they are doing it.
Design, Battery, Camera Quality, Front Facing Camera, Internal Storage, Capability for LTE, OLED vs LCD screen (big difference in my opinion).
Now some of these reasons may be applicable for people wanting to upgrade from windows phone X to the Lumia 900.
However, I think Microsoft's major priority right now is to convert users of other platforms to the windows phone experience. Remember, Apple has had plenty of success providing a unified experience to all of their users, and Microsoft is arguably trying to follow and have the same success. I understand why they are doing it.
I see your point. And I know that manufactures are given some wiggle room. My problem with it is the fact that there is a cap on the high end. I get a minimum baseline but why cap the specs? So because of that: strip away the 900s great design and compare it on specs. It's a middle of the road android phone with crappy resolution. Nokia did the best they could within the boundaries but I can imagine they would have taken it much further on the specs sheet if they could. I just think its unfortunate.
When you control the hardware requirements you ensure that your users are getting the best experience from the OS. It may be "middle of the road android phone with crappy resolution" but the reality is the phone performs beautifully with Windows Phone 7 and that's what Microsoft wants.
Look at it this way: Android did nothing to control how their OS got used for tablets and what happened? An insane amount of mediocre to terrible to use tablets running an OS optimized for phones, not 7-10" screens. All this did was hurt the image of Android when it came to tablets.
The other thing is consider the number of Windows Phone 7 (less than 30) devices versus the number of Android devices (I'm pretty sure 30 came out at MWC alone)? Manufactures know that they have to stay in these guidelines so why are they going to go nuts making so many handsets when they're all going to be the same? The major benefit of this is quality control when it comes to OS upgrades as well as making it easier for app developers.
If Microsoft had no hardware guidelines in place we'd be seeing possibly the same thing. Microsoft needs to ensure a good user experience if they want to get back into the mobile game. They're doing this by putting in those minimum and maximum specs.
People don't want to admit it but the walled garden approach to things can sometimes have major benefits.
Look at it this way: Android did nothing to control how their OS got used for tablets and what happened? An insane amount of mediocre to terrible to use tablets running an OS optimized for phones, not 7-10" screens. All this did was hurt the image of Android when it came to tablets.
The other thing is consider the number of Windows Phone 7 (less than 30) devices versus the number of Android devices (I'm pretty sure 30 came out at MWC alone)? Manufactures know that they have to stay in these guidelines so why are they going to go nuts making so many handsets when they're all going to be the same? The major benefit of this is quality control when it comes to OS upgrades as well as making it easier for app developers.
If Microsoft had no hardware guidelines in place we'd be seeing possibly the same thing. Microsoft needs to ensure a good user experience if they want to get back into the mobile game. They're doing this by putting in those minimum and maximum specs.
People don't want to admit it but the walled garden approach to things can sometimes have major benefits.
I wholeheartedly agree. I barely touched on this in my comment and I think you expanded it beautifully. With my limited experiences with WP7, I thought the experience WAS great. I like metro, and the live tile UI quite a bit, and it ran very smooth and seamless.
As an android developer, I can imagine how easy it is to create apps and focus them to work really well at one resolution. (Heck, the galaxy note threw a wrench in my app when it arrived and had the same resolution as the galaxy tab 8.9)
I think Microsoft will have success with this. I was on the fence of getting a Lumia 710 since it is a ridiculously low cost device that works great, yet I went another route that fit my needs better.
But the OS and hardware shows promise and I won't exclude them from the choice for my next phone
As an android developer, I can imagine how easy it is to create apps and focus them to work really well at one resolution. (Heck, the galaxy note threw a wrench in my app when it arrived and had the same resolution as the galaxy tab 8.9)
I think Microsoft will have success with this. I was on the fence of getting a Lumia 710 since it is a ridiculously low cost device that works great, yet I went another route that fit my needs better.
But the OS and hardware shows promise and I won't exclude them from the choice for my next phone
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