Windows Phone Market Share Sinks Below 1 Percent (theverge.com)

You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by hey! · 2016-05-23 07:16 · Score: 5, Funny

OK, now I want one.

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Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.

Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by Opportunist · 2016-05-23 07:26 · Score: 4, Funny

Watch. And then decide if you really want one.

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We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by WarJolt · 2016-05-23 07:40 · Score: 1

I never thought the day would come where hipsters would buy Microsoft products.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by NotDrWho · 2016-05-23 07:47 · Score: 2, Interesting

Real cutting-edge hipsters are beginning to consider traditional Apple hipsters as poseurs. Retro Windows products and old mimeograph machines are so hot right now.

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SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by Opportunist · 2016-05-23 07:54 · Score: 2

In other words, hold on to that Zune, it's gonna be worth something in a bit.

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We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by peragrin · 2016-05-23 07:58 · Score: 2

Give me a sec I am squirting out another brown zune as I type.
Interesting autocorrect changed zune to sine, and then to zone before allowing zune.

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i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by amiga3D · 2016-05-23 07:59 · Score: 1

No....no, it's not. Never.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by NotDrWho · 2016-05-23 07:59 · Score: 2, Funny

Let's just say that Clippy is hot shit right now in all the hidden coffee/hookah clubs in north Tacoma.

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SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by hey! · 2016-05-23 08:04 · Score: 2

Mimeograph? Pfft. Lamestream. Real hipsters use Gestetner machines. Cutting a stencil is so much more tactile, plus you can get high from the correcting fluid.

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Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by hey! · 2016-05-23 08:06 · Score: 1

Now if you could only get an old version of Ubuntu to run on it.

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Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by JustAnotherOldGuy · 2016-05-23 09:24 · Score: 1

Hipsters will fight each other to the death for the honor of carrying one.
"This? It's a Windows phone...you probably never heard of it."

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Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by JustAnotherOldGuy · 2016-05-23 09:25 · Score: 4, Informative

Watch.

What the fuck did I just watch??

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Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by UnknownSoldier · 2016-05-23 09:29 · Score: 0

More random crap on the internet. It is so bad it might actually become a meme.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by chr1st1anSoldier · 2016-05-23 10:44 · Score: 4, Informative

As a current Windows Phone user, no you don't. I started on Windows Phone 7 and I'm still here in WP10, the experience has pretty much gone down hill. With the Exception of WP8.1, that was halfway decent. Everything else has just..... sucked. Microsoft hid the date applications were last updated in their app store because many of their apps have turned into abandon ware. Android and iOS are so far a head in features and functionality, I really do get envious when I pick up an iPhone or a mid to highend Android device.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by labnet · 2016-05-23 10:50 · Score: 1

Yeh.. we need /. counseling support group.
I'm going to have 'Unicorn Unicorns Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Death' running though my head all day

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46137
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by rahvin112 · 2016-05-23 11:00 · Score: 1

Mimeograph's use ammonia. Very little will get you as wasted as a nice bit of ammonia being aired out as it dries.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 11:38 · Score: 0

"This? It's a Windows phone...you probably never heard of it."
And for good reason.
Re: You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 11:45 · Score: 0

OK, Opportunist wins the internet today.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by KiloByte · 2016-05-23 11:53 · Score: 1

I guess this will come handy then. (Spot a cat in the picture.)

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The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by duke_cheetah2003 · 2016-05-23 12:05 · Score: 1

Watch.
What the fuck did I just watch??
I think it's the 2016 version of getting Rick Rolled.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by Ol+Olsoc · 2016-05-23 12:10 · Score: 1

Watch. And then decide if you really want one.
You Bastard! Unicorns from Hell will be the next Rickroll!
It was bizarre, like a slow motion train wreck first on Ecstasy, then on Meth.

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The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by Ol+Olsoc · 2016-05-23 12:13 · Score: 1

Mimeograph's use ammonia. Very little will get you as wasted as a nice bit of ammonia being aired out as it dries.
They must use something else though. I remember in early grade school, when the mimeographs were handed out, every single kid would stick 'em in front of their nose and smell 'em. And it definitely wasnt ammonia. Probably Benzene or something awful.

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The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by justthinkit · 2016-05-23 12:56 · Score: 1

The ink originally had a lanolin base, and later became an oil in water emulsion. This emulsion commonly used Turkey-Red Oil (Sulfated Castor Oil) which gives it a distinctive and heavy scent.

- Wiki's 'mimeograph process' entry

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I come here for the love
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by rdelsambuco · 2016-05-23 13:18 · Score: 1

I think that's planned for 18.04 or maybe 20.04. I also think I saw that in 28.04 there will be snappy packages available for most Windows productivity software.

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I comment occasionally so that I can mod others -1 overrated or -1 offtopic.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by rtb61 · 2016-05-23 14:34 · Score: 0

Problem is Windows watching you masturbate 10, has put off a lot of people, the message buried in the back of you mind and then carrying it around in your pocket, ugh. There is no way hipsters in general or anyone else it seems willing to accept that. Really stupid timing by M$, huge mistake not to release the Secure Edition that you pay for at the same time as the anal probe version ie 'in' people can afford to pay and the nobodies get the ugh free version (at least prostitutes get paid when they get probed and they are not getting probed 24/7/365, they at least get some time off and some privacy).

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Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by Trongy · 2016-05-23 14:39 · Score: 2

Spirit duplicators used alcohol based solvents and smelled good, much better than mimeograph prints. Spirit duplicators typically used purple ink.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by Ol+Olsoc · 2016-05-23 15:18 · Score: 1

Spirit duplicators used alcohol based solvents and smelled good, much better than mimeograph prints. Spirit duplicators typically used purple ink.
You are correct.. The mimeograph was one of those names that became so common that they lost the trademark. But spirit duplicators are not mimeographs. Thanks for the correction!

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The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 16:34 · Score: 0

If 2.4 Million unicorns are born every three months, then yes.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 16:50 · Score: 0

The problem is that Microsoft does what Microsoft always does and makes stupid changes to a product that was working.
Windows Phone, Windows Mobile, Windows CE, constant rebrands, but only with Mobile did they decide to start screwing with the UI (to move from resistive touch with a "start button" to "cell phone OK/Cancel buttons" and then had to go backwards in the UI with Windows Phone 7 and then royally mess up.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by arglebargle_xiv · 2016-05-23 19:55 · Score: 1

Spirit duplicators used alcohol based solvents and smelled good, much better than mimeograph prints.
Ahh, memories of meths and aniline purple, mmmm...
Re: You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 20:05 · Score: 0

Original hipsters had iphones. The healous, late to the party wannabe hipsters had android. And wondows phone waw and always jas been for people thwt dont give a sh*t and thats hat they get - utter shit
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by Opportunist · 2016-05-23 21:33 · Score: 1

Hush! Or you get a video of an ice cream shitting unicorn ... why do I say "or", it's on topic. Yay!
You asked for it!

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We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-24 01:13 · Score: 0

I have a Lumia 550 that I bought recently. This was my second Lumia - the first was a Lumia 520 that I bought some years back. I much prefer W10M to WP8.1. In WP8.1, we had some duplication, like both Bing Maps vs HERE Maps from Nokia, and a whole lot of those Lumia #COLOR quasi-apps. Here, W10M does a good job packing much of the basic functionality into the settings itself.
As far as the apps story goes, in the US, it's true that it's clearly wanting. There is no Lyft, no Vonage, no 8x8, no Uber Partner, no RetailMeNot and a lot of apps are missing. But in other countries, where people are not hugely into apps, it's not a major deal. Here in India, I have on this phone all the major shopping sites (FlipCart, Snapdeal, Amazon), my local bank is fully supported, transactional apps like FreeCharge & Oxigen, Olacabs and enough more to make it worth the while. Oh, and one more major thing - if one is someone who needs to send messages to people in languages other than English or the European languages, the same language keyboards that are available on W10 are there on W10M. One can download keyboards for Hindi, Thai, Nepali, Marathi, Sinhala, Bengali, et al and switch keyboards on the fly while messaging people. With Android, similar capabilities are there with the international keyboards, but the typing in any language is less fluent. With Apple, maybe that capability is there, but I've not noticed it as yet.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by Gr8Apes · 2016-05-24 02:13 · Score: 1

If that had started with the chorus, maybe. You need to start about 1.5 minutes in or so, get closer to the chorus so people know they've been Rickrolled... err, unicorned....

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The cesspool just got a check and balance.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-24 02:26 · Score: 0

Why did you write mimeograph's with an apostrophe, but not dries?
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by WallyL · 2016-05-24 04:29 · Score: 1

How the **** can you write a comment that is both on topic and trolling at the same time?!
...
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Unicorns, that's how!
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by thegarbz · 2016-05-24 07:11 · Score: 1

Watch. And then decide if you really want one.
/internet
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by chr1st1anSoldier · 2016-05-24 16:46 · Score: 1

... like both Bing Maps vs HERE Maps from Nokia...
BRING BACK HERE MAPS!!! That was one of the best maps before MS bought Nokia and when they made it part of WP it was still really good. Now they are phasing HERE maps/drive out with the Microsoft Maps or Bing maps or whatever it is. Really, really bad. I tried using the MS Maps the other day and it was like when Apple dropped Google maps with their own in house maps, that crap took me everywhere but where I actually wanted to go. I actually had to find where I was going by using the good ol fashioned method it was so bad. 0/10 will print directions from Google Maps on the PC before using MS maps again.

As far as the apps story goes, in the US, it's true that it's clearly wanting. There is no Lyft, no Vonage, no 8x8, no Uber Partner, no RetailMeNot and a lot of apps are missing. But in other countries, where people are not hugely into apps, it's not a major deal. Here in India, I have on this phone all the major shopping sites (FlipCart, Snapdeal, Amazon), my local bank is fully supported, transactional apps like FreeCharge & Oxigen, Olacabs and enough more to make it worth the while.
Good for you because the only service we use at my work that I can use on my WP is Office365. I have inquired from all other services about when I can expect a WP app and I am told, "Never." Same with my bank and for virtually any other nonwork service I pay for and use except Netflix and Paypal. I don't watch netflix on the phone and there is only one store I occasionally visit that will let me pay with paypal from my phone. So my WP is pretty much worthless except for checking emails, which there is an awesome bug where I click on the email in the notification center it takes me to a random email in a random synced account. Good times when checking emails in the office with coworkers looking at your screen, I call it email russian roulette.
Re:You mean Windows phones are rare as unicorns? by Ulric · 2016-05-24 21:49 · Score: 1

Soon they will even be as rare as Blackberries.

no surprises here by goose-incarnated · 2016-05-23 07:17 · Score: 3, Interesting

Nokia would have done better without them.

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I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.

Re: no surprises here by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:38 · Score: 2, Insightful

EVERYONE, including Nokia, knew this.
Re:no surprises here by Dantoo · 2016-05-23 11:45 · Score: 1

They make a phone that runs an interface that looks like shit and it doesn't sell? How can it be so?
I wonder how much they spent on spin doctors trying to convince everybody that "Live Tiles" were so much better than widgets?
An interface that looks like its made for Sesame Street watchers.
Win8 was hated (and deservedly so). Make something that looks like Win8 and don't understand that it will also be hated? Just dumb.
Can't wait for Nokia to actually resurrect their phone business sans Windows. I will ditch this Samsung into the nearest toilet.
Re:no surprises here by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 17:41 · Score: 0

Nokia would have gone bust without them. No doubt MS didn't do much better but Nokia would not have survived on their own, they were well into the downward spiral when they threw the hail mary to jump to windows.
Re:no surprises here by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 20:30 · Score: 0

I don't think so. At worst, they would have simply stopped making mobile phones. However, I think it is more likely that they would have hopped on the Android bandwaggon at some point.
Re:no surprises here by TheRaven64 · 2016-05-23 23:40 · Score: 1

They make a phone that runs an interface that looks like shit
Odd observation. My partner has a Windows phone and the UI is the only thing about it that I actually like. It's clean and easy to use (I use Android on my phone and iOS on my tablet, so I have a solid basis for comparison here) and so far the only mobile UI that hasn't managed to piss me off. On the other hand, the fact that she needs to test her alarm before going to sleep because sometimes the phone needs a reboot to allow alarms to make a noise and that there's practically nothing in the App Store that you'd want are real problems for adoption.

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I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Re: no surprises here by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-24 01:09 · Score: 0

Well, NOKIA did sell the phone section of to microsoft. So they made the great choice of geting the hell out before the ship sinks completely. Somehow I still kinda wish MS gets their act together and starts selling, I simply don't like the vision of google vs apple. Not htat it would look much better with MS thrown in, but 3 way competition sure beats duopoly.
Re:no surprises here by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-24 02:13 · Score: 0

That's odd. I use that alarm daily, and regardless of whether the phone updates and reboots or not, I've not had that issue. I just have a few alarms set in succession at 6, 7 & 8 (since I have the habit of hitting the snooze button) and one of them always wakes me up
Re:no surprises here by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-24 02:16 · Score: 0

Let me remind you that their hardware was top notch and valued around the globe, the Symbian line was still strong and a debian-based replacement was in the making. If for whatever reason the replacement failed, they could always hop on the Android bandwagon. At this point Microsoft entered the stage. Being the masters of underhanded tactics they talked to the right people, promised them good retirement money and gobbled up the company. This was practically an acquisition with Microsoft not putting down a cent. Sucked them dry and ditched the carcass. This is what Microsoft do.
Re:no surprises here by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-24 08:16 · Score: 0

Seems like they did about the same to me. Nokia wasn't exactly successful in the end.

2+ million does not seem like dead... by SuperKendall · 2016-05-23 07:18 · Score: 4, Informative

I don't have a Windows phone, and don't know anyone that has one...

But even though percentage wise the share is small, 2+ million phones in a quarter sure seems a fairly long way from dead, especially given Microsoft's motivation to maintain at least a foothold in mobile.

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"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley

Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by fortfive · 2016-05-23 07:29 · Score: 1

Highly niche, maybe, but not dead.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by jitterman · 2016-05-23 07:45 · Score: 5, Interesting

I had a Nokia 920, then a 1520, both running Win Phone 8. For the state of things at the time, they were promising and, honestly, great. More stable than Android at the time (that's anecdotal, but my wife had an Android phone and it seemed to have more issues than my phone did), and was far more customizable than an unrooted iPhone (LiveTiles really is a great idea, IMO). Sadly, the combined hardware-software improvement that came in the move from Phone 7 to Phone 8 was a one-time event, apparently.

As I waited in anticipation for what I hoped would be some ground-breaking software innovations in 10 and fun/useful hardware features to give them life, I was at first in denial, then dismayed, next angry, and finally in acceptance (the ecosystem is diseased, after all) that MS entirely dropped the ball and screwed it all up. I'm no fanboy, but I really did hope for a strong third alternative. Once it was clear that my 1520 wasn't going to physically survive the last time I dropped it, I moved to a Nexus 6P, and I've been very pleased with the experience six months in.

So long, MS - it's your fault that you lost someone who was willing to be a loyal customer if you had shown some competence in the mobile area. I work in IT for a hospital, and can report there were four other people in the department who owned one a year ago, and don't today, so I'm willing to lay odds that you've lost not one, but five. I suspect that 2 million and change will continue to slip downward.

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For conscience is the wound, and there's naught to staunch it
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by NotDrWho · 2016-05-23 07:53 · Score: 3, Interesting

The few people I have known who have actually used a Windows phone actually really liked them. I seriously considered one on my last upgrade. The only thing that kept me with Android was the uncertain future of Windows phone support and MS's tendency in the past to abandon its products. I buy a phone for the longer-term (I usually only upgrade every 5+ years or so). So I didn't want to buy a phone and have MS bail on me a year or two in.

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SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:55 · Score: 1

Windows fanboy logic:
- Linux has 1% marketshare: OMG ITS DEAD LOL
- Windows Phone has 1% marketshare: WOO 2 MILLION PHONES!!!!11
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by amiga3D · 2016-05-23 08:01 · Score: 1

They make a lot more from the sale of Android phones than windows phones. They should just give up and start making apps for Androids. They're a fucking software company after all. A shitty one but a software company. Maybe they should stick with what they know.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by SuperKendall · 2016-05-23 08:02 · Score: 3, Informative

I don't even know if niche is quite the right word - if you figure people replacing a phone every two years, selling two million a quarter means a base of something like a 16 million user base! That's a lot of people with a wide range of uses (you would think).
Would we call any website with 16 million users a niche? Or even any other kind of computer hardware?
Just because there are a LOT more people using other devices does not have to mean that sixteen million people stop mattering in what they do.
Now that number may go down over time, but I would have thought the number was a tenth that already - at this point it sure seems like anyone inclined to move away from Windows Mobile would have already.

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"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by amiga3D · 2016-05-23 08:06 · Score: 1, Offtopic

My wife and I both had Samsung Note 3 phones. Hers was constantly fucked up. I was forever having to straighten it out. Eventually she bitched so much I swapped phones with her. Now her phone is fucked up all the time. Want to guess why? It's simple really, some people are not technologically adept. My wife is smart as shit at some things but give her a piece of electronics and it'll fuck up. This includes direcTV remotes and the CD player in the car and....everything.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by The-Ixian · 2016-05-23 08:07 · Score: 3, Insightful

I currently have a Nokia 920 running Windows Phone 10 insider.
It has been working like a champ for a long time. I think the Windows mobile UI is very elegant and not prone to clutter.
I have thought about going to Google or Apple but neither choice appeals to me very much. As long as the phone continues to work I will keep it. However, my next phone... I don't know... perhaps Ubuntu...

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My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 08:08 · Score: 0

>>>...does not have to mean that sixteen million people stop mattering in what they do.
Ha. I live in Canada, more than 30 million people. Tell me again how American companies care about us... Netflix.. Barnes and Noble... Amazon... And more.
Canada is a niche market compared to the 10X neighbor to the south.
The desires of 16M people is very much niche and unimportant to a global company.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by amiga3D · 2016-05-23 08:09 · Score: 1

I looked at some windows phones out of curiosity and I have to admit they seemed okay. I didn't care much for the layout but I'm sure some of that is the fact I've been using Android. That said though, I hate microsoft so I'd never buy one even if it was like "the shit." I like iPhones better than Android and wanted to buy one but no SD card and no battery access is a deal killer so I've always used Android in spite of having Mac computers.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 08:14 · Score: 1

"MS's tendency in the past to abandon its products"
Wait, so you're worried about MS abandoning a product (a company for all it's faults has one of the best long term support systems of any main stream tech company) so rather than going with them you went with Google (a company who's blood bath of abandoned projects is immense)? I question your reasoning. Now if it were less concern that Google would cancel one of it's flagships then MS canceling one of it's niche product, that would make sense. But as an owner of the Zune HD, a very good device btw, that MS still has built in software support for and only about a year ago started to shut down support for its networks despite it being canceled years ago, I assert MS is quite good at supporting things.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by DaHat · 2016-05-23 08:19 · Score: 1

especially given Microsoft's motivation to maintain at least a foothold in mobile.
What motivation?
For the last year or so it's been pretty clear that all they've been trying to do is keep the lights on in the phone side of things while biding their time.
The fact is that Windows 10 Mobile is a disaster. The devices which shipped with 8/8.1 and have been upgraded via the insider program are buggy as hell, and the few devices shipped with it built in have been even worse.
There seems to be a hope that a future 'Surface Phone' will save them, and if they completely shut down phone manufacturing/development, it would be a lot harder to re-spin up should they decide they've got something meaningful to sell.

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Help Brendan pay off his student loans
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by StormReaver · 2016-05-23 08:32 · Score: 5, Funny

Maybe this will be the year of Windows on mobile.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 08:33 · Score: 0

2 million sounds like a lot of users...
Until you realize it takes nearly 3 Windows phones to do the work one Android does.
It isn't one phone per user... More like 4 phones per user... (three have been turned into bricks by bad updates).
So that makes about 500,000 actual users... :-)
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 08:33 · Score: 0

I have one and prefer it over my other Android, but it requires a SIM card and my primary cell service doesn't use one. I use the Win phone the few times I travel internationally. I prefer how its scrolls and how all the apps are easily scrolled through alphabetically as a list rather than haphazardly organized as icons on Android*. Swipe to scroll the screen Price Is Right style, wait a few moments, then tap the app I want as it's scrolling by where as on Android I have to swipe sideways to the next screen, swipe sideways to the next screen, swipe sideways to the next screen and then tab on the app. The Windows phone requires fewer interactions and its UI feels nicer. That said I don't trust Microsoft to control my phone (nor do I trust Google for that matter), my next primary one will be one I can install security apps that lock everything down or it'll be a dumb phone. The primary apps I use are navigation, translation, camera, tower defense, and raw sensor data related. I don't browse the mobile web and I still use a dedicated mp3 player, so my experience with the two phones isn't comprehensive.
*I'm no expect smart phone user, I haven't looked into changing the defaults or installing a new home screen.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by DogDude · 2016-05-23 08:38 · Score: 3, Insightful

You bought a GOOGLE product because of MICROSOFT's history of abandoning projects?? Are you from an alternate, bizarro universe, by any chance? In this plane of existence, MS is known for supporting it's products for very long times, and Google is known for dumping projects with alarming frequency and rapidity.

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I don't respond to AC's.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Tom · 2016-05-23 08:39 · Score: 1

especially given Microsoft's motivation to maintain at least a foothold in mobile.
Which they've been doing for the past what, 20 years? Look what came from it!

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Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by LWATCDR · 2016-05-23 08:40 · Score: 4, Interesting

I had a windows phone for a while and it really was not bad.
I had a super cheap Lumia and it was still a good device. The OS was also really good.and was very responsive.
The problem that WindowsPhone had for me is the same problem that Linux on the desktop and OS/X has.
I could not get the applications I wanted to use on the platform.
People are not going to write apps until you have enough users. You will not have a lot of users until you have the apps.
The lack of Google apps for Windows phone was a real issue for me.
If you look at how it breaks down it is really interesting IMHO.
1. IOS has all the Apple, Google, and Microsoft apps.
2. Android has all the Google and Microsoft apps.
3. WindowsPhone has the Microsoft apps.
Frankly I think it is a real shame because Windows Phone is a good OS and the Lumia phones are good hardware. If Microsoft can help Intel get x86 mobile SOCs on the market or get developers to compile Windows Desktop Apps for ARM, or Microsoft can create a really good X86 to ARM JIT then the unified OS project might really pay off.

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See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 08:40 · Score: 0

Really?
Did you forget how long the zune lasted?
How about the Kin?
or the Danger service?
How about the WP7 users that were supposed to get WP8? Granted, they did get a 7.5, but not the promised 8.
Or the reduced support of Windows 7...
How about the much trumpeted Silverlight?
And privacy? (no privacy there).
Did you forget the "nlimited" storage fiasco?
And most famous of all, the "most secure operating system"... with the most failures ever.
No, Microsoft is NOT "quite good at supporting things".
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by DogDude · 2016-05-23 08:40 · Score: 2

You're upset over a Windows Phone version that hasn't been released yet...? I'm confused. Windows Phone 10 hasn't been pushed out to any Windows Phones at all, from what I understand. It's just comes with one model of a new Nokia phone.

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I don't respond to AC's.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by DarkOx · 2016-05-23 08:41 · Score: 4, Insightful

Right but where ecosystems are concerned its really all about the size of the pie slice.
If the ecosystem is highly fractured and you are a developer you will want to write the most cross platform-least-common-denominator thing you can so that you have a broad enough customer base to make it worth the time.
When the ecosystem gets a down to a few players you start doing a version for each. When one of the "big three" is only a percentage or so, well you have enough revenue for the next big two that your probably just ignore that part of the market. Its a death spiral situation, from there on out. Application developers stop supplying for the also ran people quite buying them, the market segment gets smaller still, more devs end support/supply....

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Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 09:04 · Score: 0

You suck at this. What is she even doing?
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 09:09 · Score: 1

I have one. Got a prepaid nokia-something-or-other windows phone.
Why? It takes and SD card and I needed an mp3 player.
That plus a cheap bluetooth speaker and I had a portable music setup with 64 gigs of storage for less than 40 bucks. Not bad.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by MightyMartian · 2016-05-23 09:18 · Score: 2

It seems like a lot, but is it really? Considering the costs of developing these devices, and the amount of work Microsoft has put into developing yet another iteration of its seemingly endless family of mobile operating systems, it strikes me that shipping just a fraction of the number of phones your competitors can manage, to the point that it's likely Microsoft's "Android tax" probably generates more revenue, is not sustainable.
Blackberry is literally going down the tubes, and for of that time in its collapse in market share, it was selling somewhere in the same range Microsoft is (BB has now dropped down to something like 600,000 units per quarter, which is basically extinction level sales).
Since the trend for Windows phones is downward, even if they're making money right now, even the medium term outlook looks poor. Considering the amount of marketing that was done, if they couldn't even make a dent in the Android-iOS hegemony, then it raises the question as to why continue supporting the mobile platform at all. Surely at 2 million units per quarter the penetration is too low to make Microsoft's own software ecosystem viable, and really, that's the whole point of any mobile device nowadays.
Even MS seems to realize this, and is targeting more of its development at the major mobile platforms. I suspect within a year or two it will arrive at the same place Blackberry is, conceding that its hardware platform is finished, and likely move to push more of its software on to the dominant mobile platforms.

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Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by MightyMartian · 2016-05-23 09:22 · Score: 1

Exactly. It's what killed Blackberry, and it will take down MS. I know Redmond is trying to push its cross-platform solutions, but I doubt anyone is going to care. Android and iOS so thoroughly dominate the market that the most MS might see from it is extra development tool sales. Why bother even compiling your app for Windows when the likelihood of a sale is so low that it probably won't justify the testing that needs to be done when porting.
I saw a similar phenomenon in the mid-90s as IBM desperately tried to keep OS/2 afloat as Windows 95 and the 32 bit Windows API gained ground. They developed a series of tools to ease porting of 32 bit Windows apps to OS/2, and despite the fact that there were still considerable similarities between the two APIs, few ever actually took advantage, and OS/2 ended its days on some embedded hardware.

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The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by MightyMartian · 2016-05-23 09:23 · Score: 1

The big question at this point, given that Microsoft has yet to make a mobile platform that sufficient numbers of people are interested in to justify its existence, is will anyone give a crap when Windows 10 mobile is released?

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The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by MightyMartian · 2016-05-23 09:24 · Score: 1

Are you even vaguely aware of the history of Microsoft's mobile platforms. It's been one abandoned platform after another.

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The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Grishnakh · 2016-05-23 09:27 · Score: 2

It depends on how much your company is spending going after that market, on development costs, on ongoing costs to maintain your products in that market and service those customers, etc.
If you have a niche product with 16M users, and you're some smallish company and this userbase is giving you a handsome profit, then great.
When you're a behemoth company like MS trying to compete in a huge market against entrenched players, and you're spending billions of dollars trying to stay in this market, then no, 16M users is not enough unless you've figured out a way of getting every user to somehow generate ~$1000 per year in profit for you. There's no way that MS is getting that kind of profit from WinPhone users.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Grishnakh · 2016-05-23 09:32 · Score: 1

Don't forget "PlaysForSure" which they abandoned when they came out with Zune.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 09:46 · Score: 0

With these low sales, no way in hell it can be profitable for MS.
A small company could sustain it.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by SuperKendall · 2016-05-23 09:58 · Score: 1

16M is absolutely enough for MS if they figure they will eventually expand, which they seem to still believe wholeheartedly. 16M is enough to provide for some decent funds to pay for further R&D to at least keep apace, though not enough to jump ahead of anyone...
MS is in it for the long haul. If it were a Kin kind of thing they would have been gone long ago.

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"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 10:09 · Score: 0

>Would we call any website with 16 million users a niche? Or even any other kind of computer hardware?
No, but it probably takes more resources to maintain a mobile OS than a website. Plus, 3rd parties are a LOT less likely to create apps for a 1% mobile OS, whereas this isn't an issue with a website.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · 2016-05-23 10:12 · Score: 1

The difference is, because of Android and iOS, there is already a need to maintain cross-platform tools. And MS bought popular ones as opposed to developing a competitor inhouse.

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Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by whoever57 · 2016-05-23 10:31 · Score: 1

It has been working like a champ for a long time.
Apart from all those apps that have been removed from the Windows app store. You probably don't use your phone for such things as on-line banking, do you? OK, you might, but not many banks actually support Windows phone today.
There are lots of reviews that show that apps for Windows phone either don't exist or don't work as well as their Android and IOS equivalents, so let me suggest that you haven't seriously researched the competition.

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The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by lgw · 2016-05-23 10:52 · Score: 1

They have - they bought Xamarin. You can build Android apps from Visual Studio now. Office is there now too (and free, I think). They are at least trying.

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Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by oakgrove · 2016-05-23 10:59 · Score: 1

But even though percentage wise the share is small, 2+ million phones in a quarter sure seems a fairly long way from dead
There are many reasons why you are wrong but I'll just pick on one. Where is the trend line going?

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Re: 2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 11:04 · Score: 0

They do make Android apps. Many/most of their apps are available on both Android and iOS.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 11:08 · Score: 0

I'll just quote somebody who responded two minutes after you since in your myopic MS fanboy fog, you probably missed it.

Did you forget how long the zune lasted?
How about the Kin?
or the Danger service?
How about the WP7 users that were supposed to get WP8? Granted, they did get a 7.5, but not the promised 8.
Or the reduced support of Windows 7...
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by cheesybagel · 2016-05-23 11:16 · Score: 1

Not anymore. This used to be true at one point. Even Joel has figured that out a couple of years back.
Want to run old MS-DOS games? You are better off using DOSBox than Windows. Heck even old Windows games often require loading Windows XP in a virtual machine so they can be playable. Same thing for several applications. Microsoft hasn't cared much for backwards compatibility ever since Vista came out.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by rahvin112 · 2016-05-23 11:31 · Score: 1

It wasn't that hard to predict. Microsoft is NOT agile. The phone market is, Android and iOS both have substantial changes every single year. Just look at the changes from early android version up to marshmellow and the number of years for those changes. I seriously doubt Microsoft could have done that even if they had prioritized phones (which they didn't).
Phones have always been an afterthought for Microsoft. They controlled the early smartphone market pre-android/iphone because there weren't any other real competitors. Once they experienced real competition they prioritized it for one generation then abandoned it, just like they'd done previously, that and the normal strategy of exploiting their existing monopoly. In the meantime Google and Apple didn't sit on their hand and as a result Microsoft's market-share isn't even a rounding error. They'll continue to try to rope up their desktop monopoly into the phone market to try to dominate but there's been a paradigm shift they still haven't acknowledged. That is people in their 20's and younger aren't locked to Microsoft like previous generations. They've grown up using iOS and Android and other systems and they are not afraid to use non-microsoft.
The new CEO seems to recognize that they've lost smartphones and are losing the desktop by positioning MS on the cloud and services front rather than focusing everything on the desktop. Honestly MS would do well to just abandon the smartphone and focus on offering services and software on the existing platforms. Android is going to dominate for a long time because underneath it's all FOSS licensed and the hardware manufacturers can focus on what they are good at and not worry about the OS.
At some point I suspect Google will combine Android and ChromeOS and basically takeover a significant chunk of the non-specialized computing market. You already see it in the schools and "light" computing venues where computers are primarily used to write memos and letters. It won't take much to flip most of the office work onto the equivalent of a chromebook. Probably all it will take is one big virus/ransomware outbreak and a bunch of the fortune 500 will shift all their "office" computers to web based zero administration platforms (chromebook). If MS was smart they'd be targeting this market heavily so they are on the front edge when it happens and can still sell Office365 subscriptions. Time will tell if Nadella is smart enough to pull this off.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 11:43 · Score: 0

Funny because my Android phone uses a launcher that lets me organise stuff into separate tabs. Its much better than having everything dumped into a single huge list like on Windows phone.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 11:56 · Score: 0

My wife is smart as shit at some things but give her a piece of electronics and it'll fuck up. This includes direcTV remotes and the CD player in the car and....everything.
Let's hope she doesn't read /., or someone's not getting his handjob tonight.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 11:57 · Score: 0

It's the battery I replace every 2 years, not the phone. Email isn't any more exiciting now than it was in 2014.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 12:11 · Score: 0

A bit of people is into pain
specially in the corporate world
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by bobf0648 · 2016-05-23 13:01 · Score: 2

I have several Window phones, as well as Apple and Android, and I like the Window phones the best. BUT ..... if you need a whole bunch of aps....not so good.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by geoskd · 2016-05-23 13:11 · Score: 1

But even though percentage wise the share is small, 2+ million phones in a quarter sure seems a fairly long way from dead, especially given Microsoft's motivation to maintain at least a foothold in mobile.
It can cost upwards of a couple hundred million to design a cell phone that doesn't suck. Once you add in a reasonable amount of marketing, you double that. Divide that upfront cost among 2 million phones, and Microsoft is stuck with a profit margin that is hundreds of dollars less than their competitors. With the poor a showing, the manufacturer has two options. Take a loss on it and hope the next generation of phone fares better, or call it quits. The only way a 1% market share is viable is if your product is so good you can charge $200 more than the competition to make up for the lack of volume. This is what Apple started out doing. If you recall, everyone said apple was crazy and would never get $500+ for a cell phone when the competing phones cost only $200 for the highest of the high. Apple had the last laugh because their product was a *generation* better than the competing products. Windows phones not only aren't an evolutionary leap, they are a step backwards. Microsoft has *never* produced an innovative product of their own. The most successful they have ever been is to take somebody else's idea and get it to market first. Failing that they have barely succeeded at anything except the XBOX, in which they simply had enough cash to out-survive the competition. Any other company trying to break into the video game market would have given up or gone belly up with the business plan Microsoft used.

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Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by geoskd · 2016-05-23 13:18 · Score: 1

Would we call any website with 16 million users a niche? Or even any other kind of computer hardware?
A website doesn't cost $400M+ to create (even the dot-comers couldn't blow away that much money, and they tried). Most computer hardware doesn't cost that much to create either. The only close comparison would be CPUs and GPUs, and a huge amount of money is saved on that development by reusing huge pieces of the design. In spite of that, any processor that doesn't sell at least 10M units is considered a dismal failure.
A good way to estimate success vs failure is to divide the development cost by the number of units sold and add the per unit cost to manufacture. If this number is greater than 1/3 of the retail price of your product, you're gonna be in deep crap because that other two thirds pays for your overhead, including marketing, HR costs, building and grounds cost, and lastly your profit.

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I wish I had a good sig, but all the good ones are copyrighted
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by geoskd · 2016-05-23 13:29 · Score: 1

You bought a GOOGLE product
No, he bought a Samsung, or HTC, or Motorola phone. Google couldn't stop android even if they actively started trying to kill it. Most of Android is open source, and enough of it is open such that a cell phone manufacturer could use it without relying on Google for anything. Most manufacturers use some of Googles overlays onto Android because they provide many higher end features that it is easier for the manufacturers to buy than produce in house.
At the end of the day, if Google abandoned Android today, most of the Cell phone world wouldn't even skip a beat.

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Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 13:32 · Score: 0

True, but I lucked out that my credit union did actually have a WP app.
I was so hoping that the Lumia 950 would be great. In terms of hardware, it's actually a nice phone. But it's obvious that Microsoft isn't going to do much more in this area. Bummer, because when I compare it to my wife's iPhone and some of the high-end Android phones, it easily out matches the iPhone. The Android phones are comparable, and I guess next time around I'll have to go with that.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by amiga3D · 2016-05-23 14:33 · Score: 1

She'd rather watch the Kardashians than read /.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 15:32 · Score: 0

And like most things that Microsoft buys, it will quickly be abandoned in favor of another shiny as management flails around trying to find the next cash cow.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Barlo_Mung_42 · 2016-05-23 16:38 · Score: 1

Right there with you. I like the interface so much more than Android but the battery on my 1020 started not lasting very long. Picked up a 640 for now but it kind of sucks. At least now I understand how Mac people feel.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by sd4f · 2016-05-23 17:08 · Score: 1

I think the simple fact that it has released, and no one really cares, proves your point.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Dog-Cow · 2016-05-23 17:54 · Score: 1

That's not really fair. Outside of the mainframe world, no one expects infinite backwards compatibility. Especially as the hardware architecture changes, you have to expect the oldest support to be dropped. 16-bit, real mode x86 just doesn't play well in 64-bit land.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by AmiMoJo · 2016-05-23 19:56 · Score: 1

There are a few live tile launchers for Android, if that's what you are missing.

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SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by AmiMoJo · 2016-05-23 20:45 · Score: 1

Google dumps web products far too often, but continues to support quite old versions of Android with updates and security fixes via Play.

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const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 21:47 · Score: 0

But the article shows that they are losing market share. So in the long haul, unless they dramatically change something, they are history.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 22:31 · Score: 0

Want to run old MS-DOS games? You are better off using DOSBox than Windows.
Yeah, that's true. But you can't really blame Microsoft for this. DOS is well past its prime.

Heck even old Windows games often require loading Windows XP in a virtual machine so they can be playable. Same thing for several applications.
I call bullshit on this one. I still have lots of old software since I migrated to the PC back in 1997. I was a former Amiga user. Even programs like the old MIDI Orchestra Plus that came bundled with my Sound Blaster AWE 64 Gold still work fine in Windows 8 without fussing with any compatibility settings. There are a few odd games that I couldn't get working, SouthPark comes to mind, but nearly all of my old games that were not DOS based still work. And believe me, I have a LOT of games.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Big+Hairy+Ian · 2016-05-23 23:50 · Score: 1

Yep they really screwed the pooch on this one given that you could get Decent MS Smart phones over 5 years before apple came up with the smartphone. But then so did Psion!

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Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Tough+Love · 2016-05-24 03:54 · Score: 1

...not dead.
Life support. Next step is, pull out the tubes.

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When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by thegarbz · 2016-05-24 07:16 · Score: 1

and Google is known for dumping projects with alarming frequency and rapidity.
Google is known for dumping alternate mini projects / companies they buy / anything that doesn't fit with their core business model.
Android is as much to Google as gmail and searching. It is their core treasure drove, the goose that shits out golden eggs (in terms of customer data), a cow that won't ever stop giving milk. If I had to ask who would drop what first, Microsoft drop Windows on mobile or Google dropping Android, the smart money, dumb money, and ever nickle that people toss on the sidewalk in New York would most definitely be on Google.
Now, the Nest on the other hand....
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-24 13:19 · Score: 0

You have a distorted view of existence. Any developer will tell you Microsoft abandons entire languages and frameworks every couple years. Google is a shining role model for stewardship in comparison, going above and beyond to find new homes for projects they no longer want to support.
With consumer products they both are as bad as each other, abandoning anything that is not popular. But Microsoft has this compulsive need to try to break into every category that comes along, so they've got a lot more skeletons in that particular closet here too.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by samwichse · 2016-05-25 00:50 · Score: 1

It PlaysForSure!!!
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-25 10:04 · Score: 0

I had a Lumia 1020, I loved that phone. Of course the camera was slow and battery life was not great, but Windows Phone 8.1 was the greatest mobile OS ever. So simple to use, fast, stable and elegant. Then instead of improving and adding the missing features, Microsoft completely butchered the UX in a poor attempt to imitate Android and stability went to hell. So thanks MS! Now I have an Android and I'll never go back.
Re:2+ million does not seem like dead... by toddestan · 2016-05-25 14:41 · Score: 1

Microsoft seems to come up with new languages and frameworks constantly, but they support them a long time. You can still create an application using MFC like it's 1993 for Windows 10 and it'll work just fine.

Get rid of iPhones, too by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:19 · Score: 1

Everything will be better if we get rid of iPhones, too. They're obsolete and are awful technology. We'll be better off if everyone uses Android.

Re:Get rid of iPhones, too by blackomegax · 2016-05-23 07:29 · Score: 1, Insightful

Most android phones are outdated, can't be patched, are security nightmares, and overall suck. Short of buying a nexus (which nobody does)....not so much. Even my old iPhone 5 is still kicking ass and taking names on the buttfuckingly latest firmware.
Re:Get rid of iPhones, too by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · 2016-05-23 07:42 · Score: 2

If all that's left is Android then I'm going back to a dumb flip-phone.
Re:Get rid of iPhones, too by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:45 · Score: 0

You know nothing about the actual technology in either iOS or Android. You also must just LOVE Windows since monopolies seem to be your thing.
I'm not saying you're an idiot, but you're walking, talking, and acting like an idiot.
Re:Get rid of iPhones, too by drinkypoo · 2016-05-23 07:50 · Score: 1

Most android phones are outdated, can't be patched, are security nightmares, and overall suck.
But this is Slashdot, where we're smart enough not to buy those phones, right? Right? *taptaptap* Is this thing on?

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"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Re:Get rid of iPhones, too by amiga3D · 2016-05-23 08:13 · Score: 4, Insightful

I had a flip phone for a long time. A simple tracphone that was indestructable. I still have it in a drawer but sadly I was seduced by a quadcore arm processor with a 1080p screen and 4g LTE data. I stuck a 64gb card in it and I have endless entertainment everywhere I go. I can sit for hours now in a hospital emergency waiting room and never be bored. Fuck, I hardly ever call anyone, it's a portable computer that makes calls occasionally.
Re:Get rid of iPhones, too by amiga3D · 2016-05-23 08:14 · Score: 1

I hate microsoft but really, if all you want to do is talk, text, browse a little and do a little email it really don't make a shit what you use.
Re:Get rid of iPhones, too by nukenerd · 2016-05-23 09:37 · Score: 1

I can sit for hours now in a hospital emergency waiting room and never be bored.
Hours in emergency waiting rooms?! Who TF are you, Evel Knievel ?
Re:Get rid of iPhones, too by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 09:56 · Score: 0

>> Even my old iPhone 5 is still kicking ass and taking names on the buttfuckingly latest firmware.
'as long as you ignore the third broken screen :)
Re:Get rid of iPhones, too by amiga3D · 2016-05-23 11:27 · Score: 1

I've got a wife who's got some serious health issues that sometimes leads to middle of the night visits to the ER.
Re:Get rid of iPhones, too by LesFerg · 2016-05-23 14:26 · Score: 1

I hate microsoft but really, if all you want to do is talk, text, browse a little and do a little email it really don't make a shit what you use.
erm... have you SEEN the horrid crap they provided for a mail app on windows phone?

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If I had a DeLorean... I would probably only drive it from time to time.
Re:Get rid of iPhones, too by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 18:01 · Score: 0

Wish you the best.
Would have been better if you were Evel Knievel. :)

Ass-rape by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:19 · Score: 1, Informative

I'd rather be ass-raped with a dildo covered in fish hooks than use Windows on my phone.

Re:Ass-rape by The+Grim+Reefer · 2016-05-23 07:33 · Score: 5, Funny

I'd rather be ass-raped with a dildo covered in fish hooks than use Windows on my phone.
I admire your resolve. But given a choice between the two, Windows phone sounds pretty good to me.
Re:Ass-rape by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:40 · Score: 1

I'd rather be ass-raped with a dildo covered in fish hooks than use Windows on my phone.
I admire your resolve. But given a choice between the two, Windows phone sounds pretty good to me.
the dildo won't send your credit card info to hackers
Re:Ass-rape by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · 2016-05-23 07:43 · Score: 1

Hell yeah, between those two options, even ass-raped with the Windows phone is the better choice.
Re:Ass-rape by drinkypoo · 2016-05-23 07:52 · Score: 4, Funny

I'd rather be ass-raped with a dildo covered in fish hooks than use Windows on my phone.
I admire your resolve. But given a choice between the two, Windows phone sounds pretty good to me.
the dildo won't send your credit card info to hackers
you can cancel your credit card. if you cancel your asshole you have to shit in a bag

--
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Re:Ass-rape by amiga3D · 2016-05-23 08:20 · Score: 1

I thought I hated microsoft. Apparently I just hold them in mild dislike.
Re:Ass-rape by The+Grim+Reefer · 2016-05-23 08:34 · Score: 1

the dildo won't send your credit card info to hackers
I can't say I've ever been ass raped by a "dildo covered in fish hooks", but something tells me that in such a situation "at least hackers aren't getting my credit card information" will be very high on the list of things that will be going through my head. Perhaps you're different from me.
Re:Ass-rape by The+Grim+Reefer · 2016-05-23 08:52 · Score: 1

Correction: will not be very high on the list...
Re:Ass-rape by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 09:08 · Score: 0

Hell yeah, between those two options, even ass-raped with the Windows phone is the better choice.
Ah, so you think it is slick, after all!
Re:Ass-rape by ranton · 2016-05-23 09:09 · Score: 1

I'd rather be ass-raped with a dildo covered in fish hooks than use Windows on my phone.
I admire your resolve. But given a choice between the two, Windows phone sounds pretty good to me.
the dildo won't send your credit card info to hackers
I would give those hackers a signed power of attorney to prevent being ass raped by a dildo covered in fish hooks.

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-- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
Re:Ass-rape by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 09:17 · Score: 0

That's ok, it's probably all that refeering you're doing! captcha==construe - what does that mean?
Re:Ass-rape by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 10:11 · Score: 0

>> the dildo won't send your credit card info to hackers
Not so sure. That tech evolved a lot lately.
Re:Ass-rape by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 11:45 · Score: 0

if you consent to being ass-raped, it's not really rape. Is it? And if you are walking around with a windows phone, you are just asking for it.
The real question for windows phone users is - What bathroom do you use? Do they have an app for that?
Re:Ass-rape by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 12:54 · Score: 0

Well, that beats what some VC had done to them. I've read and heard from reliable sources that during the Vietnam War, our allies did some rough stuff to the VC captives. Kinda like black on black crime, but Asian on Asian.
- Tied to a chair and had detination cord tied around their legs and burned a few inches at a time
- A glass thermometer shoved up their penis and smashed with a hammer
Re:Ass-rape by WaffleMonster · 2016-05-23 13:23 · Score: 1

I'd rather be ass-raped with a dildo covered in fish hooks than use Windows on my phone.
This happens anyway when you use windows phone. It is one of the most locked down oppressive spyware laden operating systems ever designed.

Yet another buger joint. by PsychoSlashDot · 2016-05-23 07:20 · Score: 0

It doesn't matter how good your burgers are, competing against McDonald's and Burger King is a massively uphill battle.

You'd have to create a cola that cures cancer to unseat Pepsi and Coke these days, and Windows Phone is basically just the third cola nobody cares enough about to buy. Blackberry has the same problem; if you talk to most people about "why should I buy a Windows Phone" (or Blackberry) instead of an iPhone or Android device, after you're done talking, Joe Average will respond "oh, so I should just go Apple/Samsung. Got it, thanks."

--
"Oh no... he found the .sig setting."

Re:Yet another buger joint. by unique_parrot · 2016-05-23 07:39 · Score: 0

For me it's more like: "If I get a burger from McDonald's or Burger King I'm quite sure I don't throw up."
Re:Yet another buger joint. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:39 · Score: 0

Your first analogy isn't great. Lots of other burger chains are making healthy profits.
You don't have to be in the top two spots to stay in business.
Re:Yet another buger joint. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 08:19 · Score: 0

Windows Phone is basically just the third cola nobody cares enough about to buy.
That may very well be true for the average person. But I find both iOS and Android frustrating in many ways. The fact that the vast majority of Android phones don't get security updates is bad enough and I don't even need to mention anything else. And iOS comes with its own set of limitations.
I don't think WP is overall better than either of them right now, but there's a real chance for competition. Or at least there was, it might be too late at this point... the good news for MS is that people change phones more often than PCs.
Re:Yet another buger joint. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 09:37 · Score: 0

That third cola would be Royal Crown. Interestingly, in blind taste tests, Royal Crown consistently wins vs both Coca Cola and Pepsi.
No idea what the results would be if one could but I can't conceive of a way to conduct a blind use test for the three smart phone OSs.
Re:Yet another buger joint. by Grishnakh · 2016-05-23 09:39 · Score: 1

Yeah, that is a lousy analogy. You can eat a burger from anywhere, and it doesn't lock you in or out of anything. Buy a Windows Phone locks you out of most of the apps that people want to use, and has the added danger that it won't be supported for long if MS abandons it prematurely. With a smartphone, continued support is important, and for most people apps are too. Buying a smartphone that has no apps is like buying an PC OS that has no apps (remember BeOS?).
Re:Yet another buger joint. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 11:46 · Score: 0

It doesn't matter how good your burgers are, competing against McDonald's and Burger King is a massively uphill battle.

Not really. Five Guys and other fast casual places with better food and higher prices are eating McDonalds and Burger King for Lunch. In-N-Out Burger seems to be doing fine too. McDonalds revenue and profits are down the last couple years.
Still, with the network effects in mobile, you seem to be right about that part.
Re:Yet another buger joint. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 13:21 · Score: 0

Am I the only one that misses BeOS and the BeBox? Those were great. Yes, yes, I realize Haiku exists, but it's not the same. By a long shot. Be was so far ahead of their time no one was ready for them. You're right there was a dearth of software, but this could have been remedied. I immediately went to Mandrake Linux after Be fell and then onto Debian.
I still think Be had the best icons and overall look of any OS before or since.

Put a fork in it by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:20 · Score: 0

Microsoft needs to work on its brand before trying the smartphone business again. It should do it just to save its OS business...people now associate Microsoft with spying and forced updates. No one is going to buy a MS phone thinking its going to spy on them.

Re:Put a fork in it by Dracos · 2016-05-23 07:49 · Score: 1

Windows phones long predated Win10's anti-features, and were never that popular.
MS has never figured out how to connect with consumers (except for the XBox business unit). They seem to think consumers buy like businesses do, using the same cold, cost-driven rationale, which just isn't true. Consumers make purchase decisions based partly on emotion and excitement, something that all MS product lines (again, excepting XBox) completely lack.
Part of this is that Microsoft's bread and butter is still business sales, and part of it is that they suck at marketing and actually competing, having enjoyed tremendous shares of every market they touch. Another factor is their continued colossal hubris which among other things makes them think consumers buy like businesses do.
Re:Put a fork in it by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 08:45 · Score: 0

Even with xbox - It took Microsoft 8 years before breaking even; at roughly a billion dollars a year in marketing.... with no profit. I doubt they have recovered the losses even now.
Re:Put a fork in it by MightyMartian · 2016-05-23 09:28 · Score: 1

The general consensus seems to be that Microsoft has not actually broken even on the Xbox division, and is unlikely to anytime soon. There are still people out there who actually wonder why MS even went into the business of game consoles at all, the general theory being that they could use it as another route to prop up that other great long-term failure; the Microsoft online portal. That's probably even eaten more money than Xbox, and they've ended up with Bing.

--
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Re:Put a fork in it by LesFerg · 2016-05-23 14:33 · Score: 1

... and they've ended up with Bing.
Ouch. That was harsh. : )

--
If I had a DeLorean... I would probably only drive it from time to time.
Re:Put a fork in it by drinkypoo · 2016-05-23 15:10 · Score: 1

There are still people out there who actually wonder why MS even went into the business of game consoles at all, the general theory being that they could use it as another route to prop up that other great long-term failure; the Microsoft online portal.
Well, speaking of propping up, game sales have long kept Windows' reputation propped up amongst users. Microsoft saw the writing on the wall for the PC and said hey, how can we get a piece of whatever is coming next? We have no idea what it will look like, but we'd sure like some of that money. So they decided to build a set-top box around their core competence. It sure wasn't realtime video, so a PVR was out of the question. A games console was the obvious answer.
The Xbox division is at least running in the black now, even if it hasn't made back its investment. I think building a game console was actually one of Microsoft's more savvy moves, as opposed to going into mobile phones at which they are clearly still failing miserably. They have only lost money making them. They never made that much on licensing Windows Mobile, either. But PC sales have stalled, so clearly Microsoft cannot go on being a PC OS and app company.

--
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"

How is that millions of phones you're selling... by X86BSD · 2016-05-23 07:23 · Score: 1

working out for you ballmer? https://www.youtube.com/watch?... No talent, tasteless, useless corporation.

YO by blackomegax · 2016-05-23 07:26 · Score: 3, Funny

2016 is the year of Windows Mobile! Let's make this thing happen!

Re:YO by Austerity+Empowers · 2016-05-23 07:50 · Score: 4, Funny

No problem, I just threw it across the room. It was very mobile for a few seconds, then it crashed. Windows Mobile died as it lived.
Re:YO by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 12:15 · Score: 0

your phone has performed an illegal operation and will shut down

3rd Party Developers by blueshift_1 · 2016-05-23 07:27 · Score: 1

The biggest problem is getting 3rd Party Developers to create excellent content for such a small part of the market. While they would be one of the only content providers on the platform, developing for iOS and Android just exposes to a much larger upside.

Re:3rd Party Developers by T.E.D. · 2016-05-23 07:51 · Score: 4, Insightful

No, that's the biggest symptom. But Android was new once too. It got past that because it was the most open platform available. Open is better for developers because the barriers to entry are lower. Open is better for buyers because all the competition keeps their prices lower.
The biggest problem with Windows Phone is that they are trying to fight an established competitor with no new genre-busting capabilities and a less Open product.
Re:3rd Party Developers by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:53 · Score: 1

MS failed when they tried to force developers to use beta OS on their development machines. Did they really believe, that corporate IT support would allow installing the Win 8 and/or 10 especially at their beta days? Or that developers would want to waste their time dealing with Metro UI and built in spyware? It did not help when they re-invented the API's for each OS release and tried to force people to re-implement the applications and libraries on C# just to develop for a 1% market share. Of course, the customers were also let down when MS obsoleted each phone generation when a newer device entered into market.
Re:3rd Party Developers by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 13:39 · Score: 0

Which is too bad, because developing for Windows phone is shockingly easy to do. You can get all the tools for free, and C# is so similar to Java that it's super-easy to make the jump. The layouts are markup, and I was able to make a running, working RPN calculator based on an old HP calculator in about a week.
In comparison to iOS, it's much more straightforward. I'd much rather make Android or WP apps any day.
Re:3rd Party Developers by CaseCrash · 2016-05-23 13:46 · Score: 1

and a less Open product.
nobody gives a shit if their phone is "open". Can I facebook and play candy crush? yes? I'm good.

--
No, that link you posted to a web comic we've all seen a hundred times is not "obligatory."
Re:3rd Party Developers by T.E.D. · 2016-05-24 02:19 · Score: 1

nobody gives a shit if their phone is "open".
Directly, you are quite right. However, they do give a huge steaming smelly shit if its cheap or not. Over the long haul, the open platform is going to be cheaper because it has more competition. They don't prefer the cheap platform because it is open, they prefer the open platform because it is cheaper.

Windows is now cool by tombak · 2016-05-23 07:27 · Score: 1

Back in the day having linux on your desktop made you cool and counterculture, now its having windows on your phone. You sell-out enjoy your functioning android/iphones, I'm ordering me a windows phone to stand up to The Man.
Long live the revolution!
H

Gartner is confused by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:27 · Score: 0

"Windows Phone" has been succeeded by "Windows 10 Mobile", so obviously very few new smartphones will be running Windows Phone.

Re:Gartner is confused by jfdavis668 · 2016-05-23 07:45 · Score: 2

Very few people refer to it as Windows 10 Mobile. Even users of Windows 10 Mobile call it Windows Phone.
Re:Gartner is confused by sd4f · 2016-05-23 17:33 · Score: 1

The name change is one of the dumbest things I've seen. Just seems like they can't make up their minds with anything.
Re:Gartner is confused by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-25 06:26 · Score: 0

Very true. It's not like this OS is used on ARM tablets, or that there is a Windows 10 equivalent of Windows 8 RT. This OS is only there on phones, so they could have simply kept it as Windows Phone 10.

Good by Opportunist · 2016-05-23 07:27 · Score: 1

Can we now drop the idea that your DESKTOP OS, you know, the one that you're famous for and that used to be your cash cow, has to run on a fucking phone? And turn it back into a DESKTOP OS?

--
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.

Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:30 · Score: 0

Windows has run on mobile devices for a long time. Windows CE was generally considered to be a good OS.
Re: Good by Opportunist · 2016-05-23 07:56 · Score: 1

Mostly because you didn't have to run it on a DESKTOP.

--
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 08:50 · Score: 1

Windows CE was not Windows...
I understand it was a totally separate code base.
Remember the old UF joke:
The best of Microsoft Windows CE,+Windows Me,+Windows NT, and you get....
Windows CEMeNT.
http://images.uncyclomedia.co/uncyclopedia/en/8/8e/Windows-cement98.png

Life support non existent by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:29 · Score: 0

Plug has been pulled. What lingers is not life. It is in fact death. Blame was squarely put on

http://9to5mac.com/2016/01/26/...

who really is a used car salesman in kid's clothing.

Windows is dying by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:31 · Score: 1

It is now official. Gartner has confirmed: Windows is dying

One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered Windows community when Slashdot confirmed that Windows market share has dropped yet again, now down to less than a fraction of 1 percent of all phones. Coming on the heels of a recent Gartner survey which plainly states that Windows has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. Windows is collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by failing dead last in the recent Which Does Your Phone Have? comprehensive survey.

You don't need to be the Amazing Kreskin to predict Windows' future. The hand writing is on the wall: Windowsfaces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for Windows because Windows is dying. Things are looking very bad for Windows. As many of us are already aware, Windows continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of chairs.

Windows Phone is the most endangered of them all, having outsourced 93% of its core developers. The sudden and unpleasant departures of long time Windows Phone developers only serve to underscore the point more clearly. There can no longer be any doubt: Windows Phone is dying.

Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.

Gartner states that there were 2.4 million Windows Phones sold in the last quarter. How many users of Windows are there? Let's see. The number of Windows Phone versus Windows Tablet posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 2.4 million/5 = 480,000 Windows Tablet users. Windows RT posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of Windows Tablet posts. Therefore there are about 240,000 users of Windows RT. A recent article put Windows desktop at about 80 percent of the Windows market. Therefore there are (2,400,000+480,000+240,000)*4 = 12.48 million Windows desktop users. This is consistent with the number of Windows desktop Usenet posts.

Due to the troubles of Microsoft, abysmal sales and so on, Steve Ballmer was thrown off the board and was taken over by some Indian guy who sell another troubled cloud. Now the cloud is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.

All major surveys show that Windows has steadily declined in market share. Windows is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If Windows is to survive at all it will be among OS dilettante dabblers. Windows continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, Windows is dead.

Re:Windows is dying by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:41 · Score: 0

haha good one. You said Usenet.

Color me surprised. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:31 · Score: 0

The only way I saw Windows phones as making it is if let you play both ios and android apps on it, and people who made windows apps would be portable to android/ios/and possibly web automatically. Not even Microsoft can compete if they have nothing to offer in an entrenched market that keeps growing in number of apps.

Sounds familiar... by slapout · 2016-05-23 07:31 · Score: 1

Didn't someone predict that Windows phone would lead the market in a few years?

--
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad

Re:Sounds familiar... by Threni · 2016-05-23 07:40 · Score: 1

"Itâ(TM)s sort of a funny question. Would I trade 96% of the market for 4% of the market?... Thereâ(TM)s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance."
Re:Sounds familiar... by Tablizer · 2016-05-23 12:34 · Score: 1

Didn't someone predict that Windows phone would lead the market in a few years?
I haven't checked, but I betcha MS's good buddy Gartner did.

--
Table-ized A.I.

too bad really by art123 · 2016-05-23 07:34 · Score: 1, Insightful

In my work, I use iOS, Android, and Windows Mobile 10 (and before that Windows Phone 8.x). Windows felt like it made the best use of the hardware. Even a sub-$50 Windows phone ran smoother and had better battery life than a $400 Android. The Visual Studio development environment is light years ahead of Xcode, Eclipse, and Android Studio (imo of course).

But the first-mover advantage of iOS and Android was too much to overcome (yes I am ignoring Windows Mobile 6.x and earlier because that was an totally different era and was not any competition).

I guess Android won the handheld battle just like Windows won the desktop battle.
And iOS plays second fiddle to Android just like Mac OS does to Windows -- in market share at least, not necessarily profits.

Re:too bad really by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:43 · Score: 1

Not "necessarily" profits... Yeh, iOS makes 94% of all smartphone profits. Samsung makes 10% (and the 4% spillover is accounted for by the fact that everyone else makes a loss).
Re:too bad really by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 09:50 · Score: 0

Microsoft shit the bed when they constantly reinvented WinCE, making it almost 100% incompatible with the previous release every 2-3 years. Then there was the era around 5.1(?) where a WinCE app for one device wouldn't run on the same O/S from a different hardware vendor. So you couldn't even guarantee that an app you bought on one phone could be transferred to an equivalent phone (or you bought the wrong model and were SOL).
Apple and Google waltzed in and built ecosystems that were long-term compatible.
Re: too bad really by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 10:21 · Score: 0

But it wasn't even just about the apps. iPhone sold great even before the App Store existed. The ui on the iPhone was way better than Win Mobile (even without copy/paste in v 1).
Re:too bad really by tgv · 2016-05-23 20:01 · Score: 1

Android Studio ... now there's a joke.

Turned Win7 into Win 8 for 1% by TheMadTopher · 2016-05-23 07:34 · Score: 5, Interesting

You turned your flagship OS into the worst interface so you'd have UI compatibility for that 1% of the phone market. Good job MS.

Hipsters will buy them.. by toonces33 · 2016-05-23 07:35 · Score: 1

Now all of the hipsters will want one. Or are they using Moto StarTAC? I have a hard time keeping up with what they want..

Re:Hipsters will buy them.. by Virtucon · 2016-05-23 07:53 · Score: 1

Oh StarTAC? Is it on that nifty PrimeCo network I've been hearing so much about too?

--
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"

I'd rather run PLAN 9 on a dead horse than Win10. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:36 · Score: 0

NT

Catch 22 by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:38 · Score: 0

1) CE had the market, then lost due to Balmer's incompetence
2) Android give everybody (including Apple) a huge wedgie in the mobile space
3) Cross-platform frameworks fail to deliver, crapify the bottom common denominator, use more power (I have a research paper proving it) and uses the worst language in the world, JavaScript.
4) Walled gardens, you are trapped, like it or not.
5) Goal posts are always moving, and moving FAST, look at Android API and the Support library, it is constantly changing, and there is effectively multiple framework API's. Support library versions and non-support library. Now we have material design, UI guidelines keep changing.

You can either have a SHITTY experience and half assed failed to deliver (QT mobile is a fucking joke as is Mobiforms), or you keep pace with Android Java/Native/Support API and guidelines.

I don't have time or resources to target multiple walled-gardens so I choose Android, for market share and API and FREE tools and plenty of community support if I run into problems.

If I go Apple, I have yet another language to use and framework and walled garden. And Windows Phone/Mobile/whatever they call it now?? No thanks.

Catch-22. Android won. plain and simple.

Re: Catch 22 by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 08:01 · Score: 0

Lol. iOS pulls in 90% of smartphone profits but sure, Android "won."
Re: Catch 22 by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 08:33 · Score: 0

Yes, Android won.
https://www.idc.com/prodserv/smartphone-os-market-share.jsp
https://www.google.de/search?q=android+market+share&client=firefox-b-ab&gbv=1&prmd=ivns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiO9PTAhfHMAhWM3SwKHQeYA6cQsAQIIA
http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-v-android-market-share-2014-5?r=US&IR=T&IR=T

It wasn't a bad OS by the end by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:41 · Score: 0

As a Windows Phone was a fine OS for handsets. It just sucked for apps. It really sucked.

Re:How is that millions of phones you're selling.. by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · 2016-05-23 07:45 · Score: 1

I guess Steve Jobs was wrong about Microsoft "being McDonald's" after all.

People still go to McDonald's.

I Like me Phone by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:46 · Score: 0

I have a windows phone --- 27.99$ --- it kicks ass . I put in a 64Gb storage card and have a fast phone with Tons of storage
great camera as well.
Plug it into a windows computer and it acts like any other windows device EG. copy paste works a charm.
NO APPS, I use my phone for work, local computer guy and some networking.
Talmer bank won't write an app for it, that sucks
PayPal and its pay here card reader work ---- wouldn't with IPhone 4s
I have owned 3 IPhones and all three died from updates slowing them to a point they were unusable, i have had to reset too many android devices to give them any trust, as bad as XP --- always broken

Re:I Like me Phone by bev_tech_rob · 2016-05-23 09:51 · Score: 1

I got mine in the hope of using it for synchronizing a bunch of data between my phone and my Win10 PC. Now that I have the phone, the only thing I sync between the two devices is OneNote (both are logged into the same MS account).
At least that is handy. Type a grocery list into OneNote on the PC, moments later, ta-da! It appears on my phone!
Other than that....no other redeemable quality other than speed and battery life (mentioned below). App availability sux.

--
You're messin' with my Zen Thing, man.....

I like it 3 by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:46 · Score: 0

I use android, but the more I use android the more I realize how much I don't need android, Windows phone has a nice clean interface, not cluttered with apps I don't need. I would not hesitate to suggest for anyone who isn't a teenager. I could see windows phone becoming more popular if it integrated more with windows 10 and did so in an easy way.

Harder still for people who can't even login by SuperKendall · 2016-05-23 07:46 · Score: 1

It's you that apparently have trouble with math; do you know what two times four is? Obviously not; the answer is eight, and in absolute terms if you are selling eight million of something per year you can probably keep doing that indefinitely if you wish.

--
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley

Re:Harder still for people who can't even login by amiga3D · 2016-05-23 08:02 · Score: 1

Not if you're not making money on them. Of course microsoft can afford to lose money just about forever so I guess in a way you are right.

Comment removed by account_deleted · 2016-05-23 07:47 · Score: 1

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Turned Win7 into Win 8 for 1% by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:51 · Score: 0

Right. They failed HARD at mobile, and they completely destroyed the Windows UI for it. Now Windows is a complete disaster that has to be forced onto people's computers by abusing Windows Update and being deceptive with their incessant nag screens. Making it free was not gonna work. It's just too damn awful for that.

*Everybody* wants out now. It's just too bad we're locked in into this pile of shit because most of the software we need doesn't run on anything else...

What's the cause? by Dan+East · 2016-05-23 07:52 · Score: 1

According to the stats (direct link: http://www.gartner.com/newsroo...), Windows share fell by 1.8% across a single quarter. However, iOS's share fell by an even greater amount: 3.1%. Android's share increased by 5.3%. This could be because of a new market coming online, or China or India's growth in smartphone purchases (which would consist mostly of low-end Android phones).

The important statistic is the percentage in North America, which is responsible for the vast, vast percentage of app purchases. iOS share continues to grow in the USA, with Android and Windows staying fairly flat. iOS seemed to gobble up nearly every bit of Blackberry market as that platform diminished, which is how it grew while the others stayed flat. (source: http://www.statista.com/statis...)

--
Better known as 318230.

Blah Blah Windows Phone Blah Blah by Virtucon · 2016-05-23 07:52 · Score: 1

Blah Windows Phone Blah Dead Product Walking. Get an Android yeah it's Google but it's the biggest on the planet in terms of smartphone OS. Why? eventually the EU and the US will say "monopoly" and they'll make Android break away from Google. Win! Win!

--
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"

Microsoft, do this: by emil · 2016-05-23 07:53 · Score: 5, Interesting

We know that the NT kernel developed by Dave Cutler has a POSIX emulation layer. This kernel runs the Windows app store, and it's perfectly capable of running Dalivk/ART in a variety of configurations - it does so already with Bluestacks and Google's emulators.

Take the NT kernel, and use it to replace Linux, leaving the Android userland as intact as possible.

To this "windroid," add the required javascript execution layers to allow the Windows app store to run on the same platform.

(Re)implement all of the extensions for Dalvik that are provided by Google services.

Reissue Windows phone as a unified Dalvik/Javascript mobile app platform, allowing Play apps to seamlessly move to the Windows store. Maintain enough control over the platform to provide security patches, and "windroid" could fix many update problems that Google seems incapable of addressing.

The NT kernel exists because it was able to mimic ms-dos. It could do so again with Linux.

Re:Microsoft, do this: by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 08:02 · Score: 0

THREE DIGIT UID, he must be correct.
Re:Microsoft, do this: by JustNiz · 2016-05-23 08:32 · Score: 1

Why would anyone want to replace a perfectly good free/opensource kernel with a Microsoft one? All you're doing is adding lock-in to Microsoft, along with the prerequisite closedness, weak security, built-in data mining and unecessary extra complication.
To me that is going in exactly the wrong direction, and furthermore I would never buy a monstrosity like that.
Re:Microsoft, do this: by emil · 2016-05-23 08:49 · Score: 2

The NT Kernel has far fewer security advisories than does Linux. It was more carefully planned, it is far more successful on the desktop, and the complete code has already leaked for those who really cannot resist seeing the source.
Microsoft's normal pattern is embrace-extend-extinguish. Android's BSD userland is uniquely vulnerable to this, and any action that Microsoft takes will likely improve general OS security, even if the data mining ramps up.
Re:Microsoft, do this: by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 08:52 · Score: 0

Problem with his logic isn't that it adds lock-in. The real problem is that something like that doesn't add any measurable value to Windows Phone over Android for end-users or retailers. Kernel change isn't a selling point and windows market share has proven it isn't enough to enter the mobile market. Microsoft has lost at its own game.
Re:Microsoft, do this: by JustNiz · 2016-05-23 09:09 · Score: 2

>> The NT Kernel has far fewer security advisories than does Linux.
Sure because Microsoft doesn't make them public very often, whereas all of Linux's dirty laundry is open for all to see.
>> It was more carefully planned,
Thats just ridiculous. Consider how much effort, (even just in broad brush terms of numbers of engineers, different companies and universities are working on it) hav gone into developing Unix, and are continuously happening on the Linux kernel, compared to NT kernel.
>> it is far more successful on the desktop. ... and hardly even on the radar for servers... I would also argue its only popular on the desktop as a result of monopolistic practices and marketing rather than actual merit.
>> the complete code has already leaked
illegally leaked at one point in time is not even close to the same as "current information" and "freely available"
>> any action that Microsoft takes will likely improve general OS security, even if the data mining ramps up.
History does not back up either of your points.
Re: Microsoft, do this: by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 09:11 · Score: 0

The embrace, extend, extinguish strategy works only if backed by a significant market share. They tried it with Java, backed by their desktop monopoly. They tried it with browsers, backed by their desktop monopoly and later a good market share for IE. They simply don't have a suitable market position to do something similar with mobile. We're they to try, using their desktop share, then they'd likely hit antitrust issues.
Re:Microsoft, do this: by JustAnotherOldGuy · 2016-05-23 09:34 · Score: 1

Why would anyone want to replace a perfectly good free/opensource kernel with a Microsoft one?

My guess is because of a head injury.

--
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Re:Microsoft, do this: by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 09:55 · Score: 0

Take the NT kernel, and use it to replace Linux, leaving the Android userland as intact as possible.
IIRC, they tried. Couldn't make it work.
Re:Microsoft, do this: by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 10:57 · Score: 0

The NT Kernel has far fewer security advisories than does Linux. It was more carefully planned, it is far more successful on the desktop, and the complete code has already leaked for those who really cannot resist seeing the source.
Microsoft's normal pattern is embrace-extend-extinguish. Android's BSD userland is uniquely vulnerable to this, and any action that Microsoft takes will likely improve general OS security, even if the data mining ramps up.
Wow, pure unadulterated trolling from a 3 digit ID. And people wonder what the hell happened to Slashdot. I hope you bought that UID off eBay because you are embarrassing yourself.
Re:Microsoft, do this: by emil · 2016-05-23 11:06 · Score: 1

>> It was more carefully planned
Thats just ridiculous. Consider how much effort, (even just in broad brush terms of numbers of engineers, different companies and universities are working on it) hav gone into developing Unix, and are continuously happening on the Linux kernel, compared to NT kernel.
Dave Cutler had previously headed the coding teams for RSX-11 (PDP), and VMS (VAX), before departing DEC with his last team and the PRISM source to build what became NT. Cutler had FAR more experience than any of the architects of free (non-AT&T) UNIX. He easily rivals Ritchie and Thompson in his stature as a father of operating systems.
For a better understanding of DEC, the genesis of NT, and the roles these various people played, I recommend that you read ShowStopper. The planning behind the NT kernel certainly dwarfed the care behind the accretion of Linux.
And yes, the NT kernel appears safer and more secure than Linux, especially as Linus does not focus on security. (I do realize that 119/38 is not 24/26 - but the second figure likely involves userspace, which is not apples-to-apples.
Re:Microsoft, do this: by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 11:11 · Score: 0

I DLed the sources to NT and nothing I saw there would ever make me believe that it was "better planned". Heck, it was already crustified with MSDOS and OS/2 code. Who knows what it has mutated into by now!
Re:Microsoft, do this: by Britz · 2016-05-23 11:19 · Score: 1

Making Android apps run on Windows Mobile was tossed around surely a couple times in Redmond and would have technically been feasible.
One reason they didn't do it (as I was told), was that they wanted to help the app developers that committed to their ecosystem. Allowing Android apps on Windows would have immediately crushed any native apps that Windows Mobile had and dry up the market for them instantly. They would have thrown their developers under the bus.
And for what? What can Microsoft gain by allowing the Google Play store on their phone, essentially earning money on Microsoft devices? Why should customers choose Windows to run Android apps instead of directly using Android for Android apps?
Re:Microsoft, do this: by epine · 2016-05-23 11:35 · Score: 1

The planning behind the NT kernel certainly dwarfed the care behind the accretion of Linux.
So too did the planning behind Nupedia dwarf the planning behind Wikipedia. One perseverated while the other iterated. Here's an entire EconTalk devoted to the common mental mistakes people make when talking about the best ways to plan and make decisions.
Phil Rosenzweig on Leadership, Decisions, and Behavioral Economics
I liked the following passage, in which I learned that even the best surgeons iterate.

Atul Gawande talks a lot about how a surgeon needs a coach because surgery, as important as it is, it's a discrete event that takes a certain amount of time but at the end of which you usually have a fairly clear feedback of how well you did. You can then take that feedback onboard and try again.
Linus is forthright that his strategy has always been to prefer taking feedback on board over out-front planning. In feedback-rich environments, this can often be an optimal strategy.
Re:Microsoft, do this: by ChunderDownunder · 2016-05-23 11:39 · Score: 1

They were building 'bridges' for both iOS and Android.
The Android one has been abandoned but evolved into the bash/ubuntu subsystem.
But the iOS bridge might still be in development.
Re:Microsoft, do this: by JanneM · 2016-05-23 11:40 · Score: 1

And the end result is another Android phone, except with small compatibility issues and without the actual app store. You'd be left with the worst of two words: Users would rather get a proper Android device with all the apps; and developers would rather develop for the billions of people using the Android ecosystem and would not bother rewriting and submitting their stuff to MS own app store variant.

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Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
Re:Microsoft, do this: by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 12:08 · Score: 0

Is any of your reasoning current? According to Wikipedia, Cutler hasn't worked on a consumer-version of Windows since XP Pro 64-bit. and even if Cutler's ball-size "rivals Ritchie and Thompson", there's been plenty opportunity for Microsoft to fuck up anything he may have designed on paper.
Re:Microsoft, do this: by drinkypoo · 2016-05-23 14:37 · Score: 1

And yes, the NT kernel appears safer and more secure than Linux,

and then you fail by going on to count publicly announced vulns again.

--
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Re:Microsoft, do this: by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 14:48 · Score: 0

We know that the NT kernel developed by Dave Cutler has a POSIX emulation layer. This kernel runs the Windows app store, and it's perfectly capable of running Dalivk/ART in a variety of configurations - it does so already with Bluestacks and Google's emulators.
What would you call a Windows Store Emulator? WINEStore? [Winestore Is Not Emulating App Store.] If some dope does make a Windows Store emulator, hopefully he, she, he-turned-she, or she-turned-he will incorporate it with systemd so I can avoid it along with systemd.
Re:Microsoft, do this: by Maow · 2016-05-23 17:11 · Score: 1

We know that the NT kernel developed by Dave Cutler has a POSIX emulation layer.
Take the NT kernel, and use it to replace Linux, leaving the Android userland as intact as possible.
(Re)implement all of the extensions for Dalvik that are provided by Google services.
An interesting post, but as we've found with Oracle vs Google, APIs are copyrighted and (re-)implementing Android could cause a lot of legal pain.
I don't like it, but that's the world we live in right now. And Microsoft made submissions in favour of Oracle in the case referenced above, so any pain they get would be well deserved.
Re:Microsoft, do this: by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 21:40 · Score: 0

Yes VMS is very secure but NT is not the same, particularly after user space code was moved into the kernel space to improve performance and never moved out.
Re:Microsoft, do this: by sd4f · 2016-05-24 01:54 · Score: 1

I can't really understand your comment because, while MS didn't exactly throw the developers under a bus, the change from WP7 to WP8 meant that WP7 apps were abandoned, due to changes to WP8 making them different. Now with the UWP, they've basically done it again. The WP8/8.1 apps are being abandoned now because abysmal market share of W10M means there's no point developing a new app, and for the old app, there's no point supporting it when it's on a dead platform.
Re:Microsoft, do this: by thegarbz · 2016-05-24 07:32 · Score: 1

The NT Kernel has far fewer security advisories than does Linux
The thing about advisories is that someone needs to publish them.

It was more carefully planned
If a complete re-write several times over is "carefully planned" then ... yeah sure let's go with that.

it is far more successful on the desktop
Which has absolutely zero to do with the kernel itself.
Re:Microsoft, do this: by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-24 13:43 · Score: 0

Of course Linus focuses on security. He just doesn't place security above all other concerns. In this he is of the same mind as security experts such as Bruce Schneier. I'm sure Dave Cutler understood the same thing too, as there are many of these compromises in the NT kernel.
You just can't build anything much sophisticated than an early Casio watch if you have an unrealistic focus on security.

Fancy shmancy by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:53 · Score: 0

This was all I ever needed for a mobile phone:

https://cnet1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2010/08/03/048f127a-bb7c-11e2-8a8e-0291187978f3/thumbnail/770x433/29cd679643ce2193551c1e68dc782c21/30919849-2-440-overview-1.gif

Hasn't failed me yet in all the years I've had it.

Me too! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 07:57 · Score: 0

OK, now I want one.

Because I'm a unique rebel. And with a Windows phone, I can look down my nose through my Polaroid camera at all those lemmings who use Apple and Android phones.

Re:Me too! by hey! · 2016-05-23 09:09 · Score: 2

We're all unique rebels here.

--
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Re:Me too! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 09:16 · Score: 2, Funny

I'm not.
Re:Me too! by hey! · 2016-05-23 09:23 · Score: 1

Shh!

--
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Re: Me too! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 09:32 · Score: 0

Of course you're special. Just like everyone else.
Re:Me too! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 12:20 · Score: 0

Pfffft! Philistine. I use Morse Code Monday-Friday and smoke signals on the weekends. My girlfriends digs the smell of hickory smoke. Because she lives in a 3 floor walkup, I get looks sometimes if I'm attired in my loincloth.

good by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 08:06 · Score: 0

M$ going down the drain... glhf

Billion is bigger than million by raymorris · 2016-05-23 08:09 · Score: 3, Insightful

> if you are selling eight million of something per year you can probably keep doing that indefinitely if you wish.

Not when you're spending BILLIONS and selling MILLIONS. Just Nokia alone cost Microsoft $7.9 billion. They officially asmitted that 95% of that was wasted money when they took a $7.6 billion charge against their assets. The total cost of their mobile efforts is of course a lot higher. When you spend $30 million to make a few million back, you're in trouble.

Still the cheapest capable phone by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 08:10 · Score: 0

I bought a windows phone, specifically the nokia 630, because it was the cheapest phone with a half decent camera and the ability to access the internet.
It lasts over a week on a single charge (no calls made but wifi enabled), can make and receive calls and texts, can access the internet and has a half decent camera for the odd time when having a camera will be invaluable (eg at the scene of a crash, an assult etc).
If i want a high powered arm based gaming/browsing/work machine i'd buy a tablet with a sim card slot for half the price of a similarly specced phone.

But i'll bet my right testicle the vast vast majority of these people with a $500+ phone use it for facebook, the odd game of candycrush and texting when a $75 phone will do just as well for those tasks.

$30 Billion, damn it by raymorris · 2016-05-23 08:11 · Score: 1

When you spend $30 BILLION make a few million back, you're in trouble.

I know why its only 1% by FudRucker · 2016-05-23 08:20 · Score: 0

because when Windows Phone BSODs you cant do the three finger salute on a phone

--
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing

i have and old windows phone by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 08:30 · Score: 0

i have an old win 7 phone, the original one from the presentation by that dude from microsoft that went to give aids to nokia, it works great, but every single time i have to use the zune SHIT to copy some music to the phone i feel like ramming my fist up someones ass, if i change windows version from 7 to something newer maybe i wont be able to even get music and shit on the phone. Its fucking retarded, the phone works great but some of the decissions this motherfuckers take are mindblowing, not the engineers, the cunts that make the desing decissions. I would never buy one, ever, this shit android has where you connect it to the usb and the pc sees it as a pendrive, and you can put your SHIT inside a fucking folder like you do on a fucking computer makes fucking sense, i understand butt pirates and other deviants need itunes like software and retarded shit like that, but thats not a reason this shit cant work for non cock sucking individuals, regular folk you know. Makes no sense

im going to be using this shit until it breaks because the phone is a great phone designed by mongoloids and i dont neen anything else, and if that happens after win7 is obsolete, i see a windows 7 virtual fucking machine in my future just to be able to sync this turd, that is all sorts of lame, just like microsoft.

I didn't know it was above 1 percent... by QuietLagoon · 2016-05-23 08:46 · Score: 1

I guess it was more successful than I had thought.

Betamax by DogDude · 2016-05-23 08:49 · Score: 1

It's another Betamax: The best product is lagging due to inertia, alone. I think that this is still happening because phones are still status symbols for so many people, and Windows Phone's "brand" isn't trendy right now.. Once people get used to having smartphones, my guess is that Windows Phone will become more popular. I certainly like mine, and when the Mrs needs a new phone, she's ditching her iPhone for a Windows Phone, too.

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I don't respond to AC's.

Microsoft can thank the Windows 10 marketing by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 08:53 · Score: 1

I was finally ready to embrace Microsoft, until they started with the new tactics to get people to take advantage of the free Windows 10 upgrade. The frequent pop ups on my toolbar convinced me Microsoft would soon expand ads directly on the desktop, so there is no way I will upgrade unless and until I have to. Now, far from moving to Windows 10 and buying a Windows phone, which had been my plan, I will be looking for long-term alternatives to Microsoft for my desktop. Good job, whoever conceived and supported the pop up ads scheme.

Shoot give me a cell phone on Desktop by Billly+Gates · 2016-05-23 09:00 · Score: 1

If only those of us who are afraid of change had to run cell phones on machines that were not cell phones would have me and the rest of slashdot just dying to run to get a Windows Phone! Boy, that is the ticket

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http://saveie6.com/

In the same way Blackberry is not dead. by edxwelch · 2016-05-23 09:05 · Score: 2

Windows phone now has the same market share as Blackberry.

How rare again... by SuperKendall · 2016-05-23 09:11 · Score: 1

If there were 2+ million new unicorns trotting around the U.S. every quarter, we'd be issuing hunting licenses for them.

--
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley

Re:How rare again... by Gr8Apes · 2016-05-24 02:15 · Score: 1

Since they fart rainbows and poop gold, more likely you'd have the cleanest country ever.

--
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
Re:How rare again... by silentcoder · 2016-05-24 03:00 · Score: 1

Like there's 2-million female virgins in America...

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Unicode killed the ASCII-art *

you can't put 10 pounds in a 5 pound bag by swschrad · 2016-05-23 09:12 · Score: 1

and Windows is too fat, too full of legacy code, and too slow to put in a pocket.

--
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?

Re:you can't put 10 pounds in a 5 pound bag by tgv · 2016-05-23 20:00 · Score: 1

Now that ain't true. I went from a Moto G to a Lumia 640, and I'm quite happy with it. I'm not a heavy user, and it fits my needs well.

No sense of urgency started with Ballmer by ITRambo · 2016-05-23 09:14 · Score: 1

Years ago, Steve Ballmer said that it was still "early in the mobile space" when it was already getting to be too late. Windows phone 7 withered and became 7.5, than 8, than 8.1,and now 10. Each iteration seemed to have more problems than the previous one, from what I remember reading. The strong push to Windows 10 on the desktop may have been a major influence on people leading them to choose any phone OS but Windows. Too many stupid decisions at Microsoft in the past 4 years to comprehend what they hell they were, and currently are still, thinking.

Good company by wjcofkc · 2016-05-23 09:17 · Score: 1

It's nice to know that my Blackberry Classic has a friend in the business.

--
Brought to you by Carl's Junior.

Well, damn by grimfate · 2016-05-23 09:17 · Score: 1

I don't want to have to change to iOS or Android :( I like my Windows Phone UI

Size of the pie not as important as it would seem by SuperKendall · 2016-05-23 09:22 · Score: 1

The revelation that there may be a stable base of some 16 million Windows Phone users makes it MORE likely I'd develop for Windows Phone, not less.

That; because everyone else has the same pie theory you do, whereas everyone is ignoring the "tiny" slice of Windows pie. But after a few hundred thousand of your developer friends have slashed that "large" slice into ribbons, how much of that can you realistically get? Meanwhile there are many fewer people building apps for Windows Mobile. You could charge 10x the price you would for an Android app and get enough people to pay for it to make things worthwhile...

--
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley

Factor out M$ employees... by globaljustin · 2016-05-23 09:34 · Score: 1

I'm wondering about users who are *not* employed by Microsoft and obliged to use it for some reason.

Factor those out, then factor out any work-only phones running Windows because they were part of an 'enterprise' purchase and cannot change without messing up the whole 'enterprise solution'....

I doubt you'd have even .01%

--
Thank you Dave Raggett

Linux by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 09:42 · Score: 0

Does it run Linux ?

Windows Phone is not dead... by bev_tech_rob · 2016-05-23 09:46 · Score: 1

My Windows phone works just fine (HTC One M8). Just wish I could get Win10 for it now. It is a bit frustrating with the lack of apps, but as far as the phone itself I couldn't be happier.

Battery life is awesome. Can go two days without a recharge. Phone is very fast and responsive as well.

--
You're messin' with my Zen Thing, man.....

Re:Windows Phone is not dead... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 14:37 · Score: 0

...It is a bit frustrating with the lack of apps, but as far as the phone itself I couldn't be happier.
Battery life is awesome. Can go two days without a recharge.
iPhone and Android can also go two days without a recharge if you don't use any apps.

Re:Size of the pie not as important as it would se by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 09:50 · Score: 0

>> You could charge 10x the price you would for an Android app and get enough people to pay for it to make things worthwhile...
Sure. and you would have proportionally 10 times less customers. Which means: not enough.

I've just bought one by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 10:22 · Score: 1

I've just bought one. I was already pleased with W10 ecosystem, and I was just plain sick of being advertised at on my Nexus 6. Quick reality check on my behalf was that Google's vast majority of profit comes from advertising. Their recent I/O conference shows how they want to push more adverts into the echosystem. Edge browser on the fast ring builds has inbuilt support for extensions and adblock just worked. It'll be supported on the mobile system, so I'm happy now. I can call/text/use outlook/powerpoint/word and browse the web/listen to music..... for me I don't need any more than this.

Big challenge for Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 10:54 · Score: 0

With evil percentage that low, Microsoft may lose its contract with Satan.

Feel the love by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 10:55 · Score: 1

But I love my Windows Phone -- Cries....... I have a L920 and a L640 and run Win 10 and the harmony between desktop and phone is awesome !!!

Re:Feel the love by LesFerg · 2016-05-23 14:48 · Score: 1

My L640 is out of power by mid-morning. Have to charge it more than once a day to keep it running.
Tried to turn off whatever is sucking up the power but I can't stop it draining daily.
And I don't even use the thing... I get a business call on it maybe every 3 weeks, read the email maybe once a week.

--
If I had a DeLorean... I would probably only drive it from time to time.

Re:Turned Win7 into Win 8 for 1% by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 11:01 · Score: 0, Troll

MS was turning around when Steve was running things. Now we have an Indian in charge off affairs. I guess this is what outsourcing has come to. No longer are we content to let USAians run our companies into the ground with foreign workers, Now we are allowing foreigners to head the companies and run them into the ground themselves. They were not content with destroying microsoft, the had to buy a great finnish company and destroy that too.

When the USA is not busy putting our citizens in jail, or cowering away from Putin and China, we spend our time running our great national companies into the ground for the benefit of the stock holders.

Microsoft could turn this around by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 11:22 · Score: 0

If they had a dedicated team to do "applets for hire". You spec out something, Microsoft creates it, then adds it to the store.

Correlation? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 11:34 · Score: 0

Windows 10 reflection?

Or, trying to stay relevant in a sea of change?

As punishment, I owned one by Texmaize · 2016-05-23 11:51 · Score: 0

After a mishap with an iPhone, my wife decided to punish me by making me have a windows phone, until it was time to renew a phone contract.

Unless you have had the "joy" of using one of these phones, you can't imagine how bad it was. Its interface was truly awful. For things that you would want to do often, it was buried under submenus. It was filled with MS advertising or large buttons for services that one may never want. Then, it gets worse from there.

I would use the thing to listen to youtube while walking my dog. Or, at least I wanted to. The thing was, the helpful little guy would always try to find me a wireless network to attach to. ANY wireless network. It would ask me constantly if I wanted to join them. Like a Fratboy from hell, NO was never really an answer. Then, there was those special moments when it tried to attach to wireless network, it would get tangled with itself, then crash youtube. It would say the video you were just watching was in an unplayable format. No way you could see it...unless of course you hard reset the phone.
Another gem occurred when it wanted me to sign up for some windows service, which I think was akin to iTunes. I only think this because i did not succeed. Midway through the process, it crashed. It said I could call them to finish. I never did.
One day, I was so angry at the phone, that my daughter accidentally dropped it from our second story loft. It hit the tile floor and got smashed to pieces. My wife was angry, so I offered to chastise my child. This involved taking her for icecream later, and talking about how much I hated the toaster....

At the end of the day, I was punished again by being regulated to a "dumb" flip phone which only really worked for calls, which I like. I ended up getting a new iPhone 3 months later. And somewhere along the way, our toaster got killed and we got a new one of those too. Life is now placid in a windows free environment and my daughter got a lot of ice-cream.

--
"Liberalism is a very noble idea, currently controlled by some very bad people. Be sure you do not get the two confused.

Collectors Everwhere by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 12:33 · Score: 0

Save one in a box in mint condition ... could be worth money
Microsoft .... What about A PHONE WITH dos?

Re:Size of the pie not as important as it would se by LesFerg · 2016-05-23 14:11 · Score: 1

The revelation that there may be a stable base of some 16 million Windows Phone users makes it MORE likely I'd develop for Windows Phone, not less.

Yes but how many of them were private sales, to people who may be inclined to purchase some fun apps?

I'm guessing a significant number of them were purchased by businesses as an enterprise solution, which was perceived to mesh in well with their existing Windows solutions. In that situation they have probably locked down the phones so that users may only add apps approved by the organisation, or apps developed in-house for specific custom solutions. In fact my employers handed me a windows 8.1 phone, but it is not even allowed onto the corporate network and thus so far has not been a suitable platform to develop in-house solutions for.

--
If I had a DeLorean... I would probably only drive it from time to time.

It's easily the best mobile platform by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 16:09 · Score: 0

OS wise it has the best framework, for the development time it's easily the best OS, it's probably the most scalable overall performance and usability.

Android is just horrible. It really just gives Linux a bad name to see how little having a good code base means after years of destroying it with idiotic Google OS concepts.

A core problem here is Google is really not good a UI. They think they are, They think minimalistic UIs are all the rage. But the truth is that was a factor of low bandwidth, not user needs. It's been a long time since most people didn't have broadband, but Gmail still looks like it's coming out of the 1990s.

Google needs to seriously rethink their entire UI concepts and how to scale that properly. iOS doesn't really matter because it had it's chance at the market and lost it out of the usual bad business practices from Apple. Windows 10 desktop is doing just fine and honestly MS could put out their own Android OS and just slap the Windows 10 mobile UI on it and have a better OS than anything Google has ever released. That's how bad Google is at UI.

If you give a person who's never used a smartphone iOS, Android and Windows 10. They will understand and almost certainly like Windows 10 better. It just makes more sense and looks better to boot. It's sad developers don't get that Android is more of a fad than the future of mobile computing. No OS today is anything special mobile wise and the chances of holding the mobile market in a world moving to universal apps seems slim.

I don't think the strong arm tactics and the purchasing of subscribers is going to last much longer. As the markets average out once again it will have to be productivity and cost of ownership that will likely win. Specialized apps will likely be excluded. Developers needs to stop making apps like sheep and focus on quality and depth.

80-90% of Android apps are a waste of the users and developers time.

Re:Size of the pie not as important as it would se by bingoUV · 2016-05-23 16:09 · Score: 1

"Stable" is the assumption here. If applications are 10 times as expensive as compared to other more popular platforms, why wouldn't users move to those platforms at the next chance?

So your plan kills itself pretty soon.

--
Bingo Dictionary - Pragmatist, n. A myopic idealist.

I bought a cheap W10M phone recently, but ... by Ihlosi · 2016-05-23 18:10 · Score: 1

I bought a cheap W10M phone recently, but I don't think I'll use it.

While price and hardware are appealing, the operating system isn't, especially the fact that everything is tied to having a MS account and any synching runs over MS' cloud, even if I just want to get my address book to my local pc (connected to the phone by USB). I don't want my contacts in the cloud. It's no one's business what doctors I am in contact with, etc.

Prediction is difficult especially of the future. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 19:06 · Score: 0

Most of these 'X is dead' predictions are sensationalist bull.

Re:Surprised! Didn't know they were above 1% by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 20:24 · Score: 0

Well, then you're holding it wrong!

Odd given Windows phones SUPERIOR hardware/price by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 21:18 · Score: 0

I was looking at cheaper phones yesterday and I noticed that phones like Lumia 550 - which is selling for slightly less than $100 locally - has MUCH better hardware compared to the Android phones in the same price-range. 1280x720 screen, AC wifi etc ain't there for that dirt-cheap Android phones. I won't be buying one anyway since it's a Windows-infected device, but I'd like a phone with those specs for that price. It's kind of odd that the general public don't buy these spyware-infected phones?

Microsoft by Mike+Frett · 2016-05-23 21:33 · Score: 1

With the demise of the desktop, with it Windows, and now this; Microsoft is pretty much finished. Their money would need to be made via making their Software (Office etc.) available on other OSes. They also have their Xbox but I think with Mobile Gaming, even that is going away.

So what Linux and Mac couldn't do, the Market did.

Its always been dead by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-23 22:27 · Score: 0

Maybe at less than 1% we can finally all agree Windows mobile is dead. Sadly all that Microsoft has sacrificed doing Windows 8 and now Windows 10 to improve the mobile Windows platform at the expense of desktop Windows users has been for naught.

It's not just spyware-infected. by Ihlosi · 2016-05-23 22:57 · Score: 1

It's kind of odd that the general public don't buy these spyware-infected phones?

Well, you need yet-another-account to do anything, and give MS all your data so you can sync things between your phone and your PC.

My ancient Nokia E6 can transfer contacts over to my PC via USB or bluetooth. My brand new Lumia 550 can't, it needs to go over the cloud. Wth?

Re:Turned Win7 into Win 8 for 1% by Grishnakh · 2016-05-24 03:45 · Score: 1

It *was* a good job. Honestly, I think it's hilarious: people are bitching left and right about how awful the new Windows UI is, but they just won't stop using Windows. The spyware makes it even funnier. I can't wait to see what shenanigans MS comes up with next to screw over their customers, while they continue to whine but refuse to look for alternatives.

Abandoned..... by MercTech · 2016-05-24 06:13 · Score: 1

After they flat out abandoned owners of windows mobile phones a few years ago; why would anyone trust them to maintain their new OS?

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NRRPT/RCT

Windows 10 by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-24 09:46 · Score: 0

What a mess Microsoft got themselves into. They created the 'Metro' interface so they could combine phone and desktop. Now were stuck with a phone interface on the desktop.
Brilliant!

"Dead" is subjective. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-05-24 11:23 · Score: 0

2.4 million phones does not seem that bad - especially when they don't market hard like Apple. Even if it's $250 a phone, that's still a 600 million dollars in phone sales in a quarter. I don't call selling 600 million dollars of anything in a quarter a fail.

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Windows Phone Market Share Sinks Below 1 Percent (theverge.com)

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