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Nokia Hints At Windows 8 Tablets
MrSeb writes "When the Microsoft-Nokia strategic alliance was first announced in February, there was absolutely no mention of money: Nokia, seemingly on its own accord, had decided that Windows Phone 7 was the future of its smartphone efforts. A week later it emerged that Microsoft and Google had been competing for Nokia's affections — a bidding war that concluded with Microsoft agreeing to pay Nokia billions of dollars to help market and develop Windows phones. Fast forward to today and Nokia's CEO, Stephen Elop, is making rather odd comments about the tablet market: 'There’s a new tablet opportunity coming. We see the opportunity,' Elop said to Bloomberg Businessweek yesterday. Furthermore, he had only positive things to say about Windows 8 — that it's a "supercharged" version of WP7, but for tablets. Does that sound like Nokia is planning to bring out a Windows 8-powered tablet? Is it possible that Microsoft's multi-billion-dollar agreement with Nokia also included Windows 8?"
A week later it emerged that Microsoft and Google had been competing for Nokia's affections — a bidding war that concluded with Microsoft agreeing to pay Nokia billions of dollars to help market and develop Windows phones.
This actually gives an interesting new perspective to the whole Google-Motorola thing. So Google wanted Nokia, but was forced to settle for a crappier competitor because Microsoft offered more for Nokia. This means Motorola will always be the "damn I really wanted her instead.. why I had to settle for this bitch?" for Google, while Microsoft got the dream girl.
As an owner of an N900 - the single most open phone one can get - It saddens me to witness the death throes of something that had the potential to be really liberating. My N900 is a joy to use, and the N9 looks like it is too.
Here's to countless years of IOS, Android and Windows drudgery. I'll just open the fully functional terminal app on my N900, play with apt and think about what could've been.
Well, Nokia is still developing low-end Linux phones. And they say Linux is great for low-end phones.
Nokia hasn't been a stranger to tablets before with Maemo and the N770/N800/N810 (and the N900 phone). Throwing that out was not exactly a good idea.
That said, will they find something equally as bad as calling their WP7 phones the Prostitute series?
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
Neither article mentioned anything about whether Nokia's hinted Windows 8 tablets would end up using an x86 CPU such as Intel's Atom or an ARM CPU. Atom tablets can fall back to the classic Win32 desktop, such as when docked to a keyboard, mouse, and monitor. ARM tablets cannot because all they have is the WinRT with the Metro front-end and Windows Store lockdown.
Nokia hasn't been a stranger to tablets before with Maemo and the N770/N800/N810 (and the N900 phone).
If you're willing to stretch the definition of "tablet" down to devices as small as an N800 or N810, then what's the difference among a "tablet", a "PDA", and a "personal media player"?
If they're going to make it, base it either on the Atom or on AMD's Fusion for tablets. Don't have to chase developers in that case, but just leverage the win32 apps already out there.
i'd buy a beer for the person who coined it. if you happen to read this - awesome job :)
Rich
As another owner of the N900 and N770 tablet, I'd agree.
Get familiar with soldering the USB port legs on better when the warranty is out. If that isn't possible, find someone who will. While you can use the alternate ports for charging and data, it is not recommended.
The N900 is probably one of the rarest combinations around for having:
Full control out of the box: add rootsh or enable r&d mode.
Massive storage for its time: 32GB EMMC + 1GB memory + SDHC slot. USB host for more if you use a custom kernel.
Globally available unlocked: Buy the phone, worry about finding a GSM/3G carrier later.
Carrier unfriendly: Customizable down to the level where carriers have trouble telling if you're tethering.
The N9 might be nice, but they missed it on a couple of critical places.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
I would love a modern maemo tablet. I had a 770 when they were new, but the hardware was more than a little lacking (speed/memory wise, the build quality was excellent).
Sent from my PDP-11
Nokia didn't announce shit, RTFA. Elop was asked about tablets, not announcing anything.
Nokia wasn't even purchased, at least try to be factually correct.
Given how Microsoft has handled Nokia, the name is quite fitting. Microsoft hasn't acquired Nokia permanently, they just have bought them a night at a time.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
Hey, if someone gave me billions of dollars, I'd make a Windows 7 phone too. And if they offered billions more, I'd make Windows 8 tablets.
You might look at it this way -- if the hardware is decent, you could always flash Android onto it.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
I did a bit of research and you appear to be right that Microsoft later ended up releasing a correction stating that "no x86 emulation" doesn't mean "no desktop applications".
Not vapor, Nokia will produce Windows 7 phones and I believe they will also do Windows 8 tablets. Let's face it, if your company were sinking, you'd clutch at anything, even if it didn't float.
M$ seems to genuinely believe that they will have some significant presence in the smartphone and tablet markets. Having a strong tie (or ownership depending on what rumors you believe) of a hardware company that makes those gadgets is a reasonable step for them to take. I can even imagine that M$ was having trouble shopping Windows Phone 7 to many of the other manufacturers, so basically has to buy the business to achieve market penetration.
Will any of this work? I don't think so. I don't believe M$ will ever achieve a significant portion of either markets. The advantage is, they still has their core business to keep them going when it's time to throw Nokia overboard.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
If you invest $100 in Nokia today, what will it be worth in 1 and 5 years?
Nobody can tell the future, but I'd guess $99.95 and $314.16
People hate surprises, stock valuations are driven mostly by people's emotional reactions. We can wish MS to fade into oblivion, but it's a little too big for that to happen very quickly, same for Nokia. Will they resurge like Apple did? Probably not, but I think they'll limp along and occasionally surprise the way IBM has for the last 20 years.
I was rooting for Nokia and Qt to take over the world, Apple style, starting the day after Steve Jobs died... guess that didn't happen.
On the other hand, a Windows 8 4G phone, with true (2005 era) desktop power in an always with me form factor with high quality GPS and camera and (LISTEN UP DESIGNERS) several days of battery life, while not exactly sexy and appealing as a open source Finnish superphone, would be a damn practical device - I'd actually like it better than an iPhone or Droid.
70%? Down, fanboy, down!
When will you Android boosters realize that you are not Google's customers? Nor are the phone companies, for that matter. You are the product that Google is selling to its actual customers, the advertisers.
MS buys Nokia
This statement shows that you are ignorant about the topic. I did not read the rest, sorry.
My exception safety is -fno-exceptions.
He never said we're customers. And we (though I don't see myself as an Android 'booster') do realize Google lives off of our information. The difference between Google and some other companies is that Google doesn't hide that fact. :)
(apart from that, 70% is a 'tad' high, indeed :D)
Here's the secret to immortality:
You obviously haven't been following the controversy over MS decision to ramrod the Metro interface down everybody's throat. In other words, one won't get the start menu even if one wanted to - and not only that, it's lost on the desktop as well.
Oh, sorry, they just paid an assload of money to get licenses for every bit of tech Nokia has, and to get Nokia to drop everything but Windows.
You fucking halfwit retread.
After what happened with Xbox, I wouldn't underestimate MS' staying power. They'll keep going until they get it right.
I am trolling
> After what happened with Xbox, I wouldn't underestimate MS' staying power. They'll keep going until they get it right.
It's possible, but I don't think they'll ever get this right. There is a difference on a basic level: Successful businesses in smartphone and tablet markets created an interface appropriate for the device. Microsoft insists on re-using GUI technology from Windows, which isn't appropriate either for a smartphone or a tablet. So the Windows 7 Mobile and Windows 8 devices will always be the clunky devices that people only use because they're forced to (with a few bizarre fanboi exceptions) whereas iOS and Android devices will be the ones people want to own. Historically, Microsoft tries to "fix" that basic condition through market maneuvering, and not through having technology that people actually want to own. And so they'll never get more than the small market share anyone can get by spending billions promoting an inferior product. Balmer can do all the arrogant posturings and throw all the chairs he wants; it won't change this basic fact.
In order to be successful in these markets, Microsoft has to change the way they do business, and I don't see them ever doing that. Oh, there might be a few people who rise to power internally and produce products that you'd actually want, but the company as a whole is structured to suppress such innovation if it doesn't toe the corporate line, which is Windows, and Only Windows, on Everything. The Xbox, I think, was an interesting exception.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Microsoft will continue to be a niche player while android heads towards 70% marketshare by next year. Any marketshare that microsoft happens to garner will be at the expense of apple as their marketshare dwindles.
Are you a bit confused? We are talking about tablets here, not phones. Your number even for phones is way off but that is besides the point.
In the tablet space, Apple's iOS has 70% marketshare if you go by "shipped" numbers for android tablets but sales to end users numbers probably put Apple at 90%+.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
Oh, sorry, they just paid an assload of money to get licenses for every bit of tech Nokia has,
[citation needed]
and to get Nokia to drop everything but Windows.
Nokia did not drop anything that has a potential to make money. Contrast with being a giant R&D sinkhole with not quite enough to show for it. But I sense another rabid FOSS fan who thinks that all Linux-based projects are bound to succeed unless stopped by an evil hand of M$ (spelling mandatory), no matter how these projects were run.
My exception safety is -fno-exceptions.
Yes, I was in the Verizon store the other day, buying a new Android phone for my daughter (bionic) and wife (rhyme), and I did spend a few moments with the one (1) Windows Phone 7 on display. The interface reminded me of Vista Gadgets, and I suspect it's not really an interface but a big Gadget running on top of Windows. If you're only interested in doing what the interface provides, you're in luck.
Windows 8 has some visual cues from Phone 7, but the demos I saw, Metro looks like a souped up Media Center, which would go along with their policy of code repurposing.
The technical blurb (see previous slashdot articles) admitted you'd have to drop out of Metro to do anything complicated. I strongly suspect you'll also have to attach a keyboard and a mouse. The Media Center -- type interface is fine for doing prearranged tasks, but it's not a general purpose touch screen GUI.
This doesn't really affect me at all. I have no interest in owning a Windows 7 phone and I will be skipping Windows 8 as I skipped Vista. Oh, Windows 8 will sell, on desktops and laptops, mostly because it'll be preinstalled on most new personal computers. Most people will drop out of Metro and work in the traditional desktop with a traditional keyboard and mouse. Metro will find use in PCs used in media centers, but even that I think is a shrinking market as TVs and receivers pick up the features for which you used to need a PC.
There will be Windows 8 tablets which will have a tiny percentage of the market. Some will become shelfware, some will actually see use, but those will have a keyboard and mouse attached.
Meanwhile, I need maybe two more applications ported to Android and I can leave my Windows laptop at home.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.