Microsoft Is No Longer Selling Any Lumia Windows Phones On Its US Store (neowin.net)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Neowin: It seems that Lumia has reached the end of the line, as the Microsoft Store is no longer selling any of the company's Windows Phone 8.1 or Windows 10 Mobile handsets in the U.S. The first signs that the end was approaching for Lumia came back in February, when Microsoft launched the Lumia 650, which was said to be the last in the company's Lumia line. In August, Microsoft removed all mention of Windows handsets from its U.S. store homepage, relegating 'Windows phone' to a dropdown menu instead. This week, just one Lumia handset remained on sale: the ATT-locked Lumia 950, available only in white. Now, that model has sold out too, leaving none of the company's Lumia handsets available to buy on its store. The Windows phones page on the Microsoft Store lists thirteen products, but eight of these are out of stock. When more stock is expected on a temporarily sold-out product, Microsoft typically replaces the 'Add to cart' button with one that says 'Email me when available'. Instead, each of these products now has a grayed-out button, stating "Out of stock."

Comments

Offering

[Kohath]

The fact that they're no longer offering them for sale probably doesn't significantly change the number they are selling.

Re:Offering

[ranton]

Yeah this was probably planned two years ago but it took that long for them to sell their last four units.

Re:Offering

[richardkettle4]

Wish I had mod points, that really made me laugh thanks :-)

Re:Offering

[c]

this was probably planned two years ago but it took that long for them to sell their last four units.

I'm surprised, actually. I'd have thought Ballmer would go through phones a lot faster than that...

Re:Offering

[The Creator]

You were perhaps thinking about chairs.

Re:Offering

[c]

Oh... I had just kinda assumed Ballmer would've changed up to something more modern, being in charge of a tech company and all that. Plus he's getting older and those chairs aren't getting any lighter.

Obligatory anti-MS snark

[Anonymous Coward]

And nothing of value was lost...

Business as usual

[Just Some Guy]

The problem was that they never sold any Lumia phone through their store (or any others). This just makes it official.

Just selling down inventory, that's all

[Anonymous Coward]

Next year will be full of new Windows Phone 10 models from myriad ODMs, so just hang in there. You will be pleasantly surprised, I surmise; there is no demise, you realize, now.

Re:Just selling down inventory, that's all

[MightyMartian]

The Year of the Windows Smartphone, eh?

Re: Just selling down inventory, that's all

[Anonymous Coward]

Microsoft, Gates, Ballmer!

Eat shit and die, mother fuckers!

Never Mind

[Anonymous Coward]

I understand the OS was fine after sorting out notifications etc and it ran well but the people who have tried them just said there weren't the apps. Ah well, as good as the competition isn't really worth much when you're playing catch-up. Tis a pity a 3 way competition in the mobile space is better than two but if they aren't bettering the competition time after time they haven't been contributing.

Re:Never Mind

[unixisc]

It depends on which apps they missed - and there were plenty. However, for those who required a minimal feature set, Windows Phone 8, and now Windows 10 Mobile, are very adequate. If one is using it for work, then things like Office, OneNote, Outlook, the calculator are there, plus a few utility apps like currency converters that can be downloaded. Some common apps are there, like Yelp, Fandango, Facebook & Twitter, but it does miss stuff like RetailMeNot, and more importantly, things like AirBnB and Lyft. Also, until a few weeks ago, there were no popular VOIP or video calling apps: that just got fixed by WhatsApp adding support.

Re:Never Mind

[fredgiblet]

Mostly it was shit like Clash of Clans in my experience doing support for them. But there was a steady trickle of other apps that people would ask about.

Porked on 6.1

[Anonymous Coward]

I got a Samsung with 6.1 while working in an "All M$ shop". It was a POS.
Maybe there are some things M$ should just stay out of.

Re: Porked on 6.1

[leonbev]

Yeah, I had one of those as well. Windows Mobile was a good three years behind iOS UI design at the time. Some could argue that they never caught up.

Re: Porked on 6.1

[DogDude]

Some could argue that they never caught up.

Those who'd try to argue that would be wrong. Apple's clutter of unrelated icons on a grid (aka: my grandmother's desktop in 1998) is dog shit. People just don't care for whatever reason. Window's customizeable, live tile thing is really neat, super useful, oh, and isn't ugly as sin.

Re: Porked on 6.1

[Anonymous Coward]

I and many others would argue with you. I find the "live tiles" (which weren't terribly "live" at all, email notifications in particular lagged by as much as 1 hour!) to be hideously ugly. I far prefer my Android widgets and a home screen I can customize to MY liking!

Re: Porked on 6.1

[ArmoredDragon]

The problem is those tiles are basically windows phone's crowning feature, and yet they are total non-functional crap compared to what Android widgets can do.

Windows tiles just flip at an uncontrollable interval, which means if you aren't looking at relevant information when it's up then who knows how long it will be till you actually see it again, and tapping it just launches the app. Also contrary to their namesake, they aren't actually live, rather they only update about once every 15 minutes. And then of course, they only have one of three possible layouts.

Android widgets are real-time, virtually unlimited dimensions, are interactive (I.e. you can scroll through your emails or calendar events rather than waiting for it to flip) and you can tap individual objects in the widget (for example, tapping an email opens that email, not just the app.)

And in fact, Android is so versatile that you can make it fully imitate the windows phone UI. And indeed, there are launchers on the play store that do exactly that.

Android's flexibility is exactly why it dominates the market, and windows phone's limited feature set "with a shiny UI!" is why it flopped.

Re: Porked on 6.1

[omnichad]

Also contrary to their namesake, they aren't actually live, rather they only update about once every 15 minutes. And then of course, they only have one of three possible layouts.

Push notifications are practically an industry standard now. Why would they be using pull? I realize that email notifications would be based on polling intervals, since only Gmail implements push for email and only with Android.

Re: Porked on 6.1

[drinkypoo]

I realize that email notifications would be based on polling intervals, since only Gmail implements push for email and only with Android.

Wrong again. K-9 mail does IMAP push.

Re: Porked on 6.1

[omnichad]

Not quite what I meant. It doesn't do IMAP push, it does server-side IMAP polling and its own push. Requiring you to abandon your preferred email client (that isn't paired with the email provider). Neither GMail nor K-9 do anything standard that could be supported universally - email just doesn't have a mailbox protocol for that.

Re: Porked on 6.1

[drinkypoo]

Neither GMail nor K-9 do anything standard that could be supported universally - email just doesn't have a mailbox protocol for that.

sigh

Re: Porked on 6.1

[omnichad]

Each program maintaining a separate connection to a separate push server is not as energy efficient as every program sharing one. That's the whole reason why there's a centralized push notification system.

I was talking about this with my brother

[rsilvergun]

and the consensus between us was that Microsoft couldn't make Windows phones cool to teenagers. It's funny, but it seems like the teenage demographic decides what phones are going to succeed, even if they're not the ones making the final buying decision (or even the biggest buying demographic). Me? I'm gonna make a Samsung J7 or LG Stylus Note my next phone since they're cheap, have decent radios and 2 GB of ram. But I'm a nerd, so I'm choosing on specs.

Re:I was talking about this with my brother

[unixisc]

IMO, they targeted the wrong market. They should have gone after the Blackberry's market, they would have had more success. The Lumia is a pretty good business phone: would integrate seamlessly w/ Exchange server, and you get office pre-installed on the phone. And if a company bases its email system on either an exchange server or on outlook.com, then a Windows phone is just perfect. This assuming that employees are not using the phone for Pokemon Go. Only thing it lacks are apps like Lyft or Uber Partner, as well as some VOIP packages like 8x8, but WhatsApp now supports both VOIP and video calling

Re:I was talking about this with my brother

[johanw]

Too late. In some large companies the MS-indoctrinated IT guys would force windows phones on the employees, but when BYOD comes in those windows phones disappear quickly.

Re: I was talking about this with my brother

[Anonymous Coward]

They were forced on us all about two years ago (MS partner company, 100k employees). But we're just about due for another refresh now and they've thrown in the towel. Android this time. Windows phone is certainly dead in my company.

Re:I was talking about this with my brother

[Kjella]

I was talking about this with my brother and the consensus between us was that Microsoft couldn't make Windows phones cool to teenagers. It's funny, but it seems like the teenage demographic decides what phones are going to succeed, even if they're not the ones making the final buying decision (or even the biggest buying demographic).

The main thing Windows Phone was is late, iPhone launched in 2007 and Android in 2008 so by the time the stylus-oriented Windows Mobile was replaced by the touch-oriented Windows Phone in 2010 they were fighting a rather established user base with more polished apps. And there were so many Android manufacturers trying to find niches that they saturated the non-iPhone market, leading to intense competition where they often did not make any money at all. Microsoft didn't want to chase the bargain bin market, but with smartphones spreading to the less affluent parts of the world Android's volume was booming so in terms of market share it all went backwards. And at the top Apple was releasing some pretty killer products.

On the desktop it's businesses and Office that keep Windows in the driver's seat, people use it because they have to know it for work anyway. That's what I thought would be Microsoft's angle, to be a "mainstream Blackberry" that integrated really well with a corporate network so that employers would prefer Windows Phone and employees tolerate it. I never even saw them try, sure it was a decent phone but it could just as easily have come from any other phone company. You didn't really get anything from going with an all-Microsoft solution.

Re:I was talking about this with my brother

[rtb61]

The reason M$ does so bad in the youth market, kids will be kids and they always hate the perve kid that spies and tattles on them, they loathe that kid and M$ spying on all the customers all of the time has put people right off, especially the youth markets and incidentally the power user market (those that made M$ are exactly the ones who M$ is now pissing off). They are pretty much fucked in the consumer market, just hanging on by legacy products they have perverted into undesirability Windows and Office. They struggle to launch new products typically failing and the only one they managed with was the X box, now referred to as the XBone (the tiny limps strike again), you could imagine the degree to which they are spying on children with that to scam them out of their pocket money, no act to low for them.

All that makes them really distasteful as a brand and that makes any product they produce a hard sell without the bind of legacy, so for new products anyone but M$ because as legacy products they suck, so why use them for new products (they are now forced to buy other popular companies to tie customers in with legacy products, those that are willing to stay).

Re:I was talking about this with my brother

[dbIII]

would integrate seamlessly w/ Exchange server, and you get office pre-installed on the phone

The Nokia N900 had that with it's mail client and "docs to go", as did probably a few other non-MS phones. It sold a few but not the numbers that MS seem to be looking for so I don't think it's that much of a "killer feature".

Re:I was talking about this with my brother

[Fencepost]

It's not that they couldn't make them cool to teenagers, they couldn't make them cool to developers. I have one, and I don't feel like I got ripped off because it came with a year of Office 365 for less than the price I'd otherwise have paid. When they killed off their project for attempting to get Android apps working it pretty much marked the beginning of the end.

Seriously, browser support was a joke particularly in the early days of Edge. There are a few other browsers on there, but there's nothing that strikes me as being even as good as the native Android browser back in the 2.2/2.3 days. Decent text editor? No such beast. Decent ebook reader? No, not really.

I never did figure out what the hell they were thinking with file system security - I'm all for it, but it seemed like what they ended up with was something like what Palm used to have where every application had its own data storage and only its own data storage. They also locked a bunch of other stuff down so far and hard that it was literally not possible to have things that you might want. Don't like the messaging app? Tough, get a different phone, apps do not and will not have access to SMS. Want Gmail? Well, you can buy a third-party app, or you can try using IMAP, or you can hope that Edge doesn't crash on the site.

I actually did and do kind of like elements of their tile-based interface, which is a cross between resizable icons and Android widgets, but it just wasn't worth the rest of the limitations. I got the phone as a trial replacement for a Samsung that developed reception problems after a swim, but I found myself using the Windows phone as a hotspot that I could tether the Samsung to (WiFi worked fine) just to have access to usable apps that I'd come to depend on.

Re: I was talking about this with my brother

[cyber-vandal]

That's why they're all going for Android which doesn't spy on you at all *rolls eyes*

Re: I was talking about this with my brother

[cjjjer]

It's not that Android spy's on you it's all the malware that does (not even from the carriers or Google).

Re:I was talking about this with my brother

[fredgiblet]

In addition, even when Windows Phone came out they were lagging far behind for another couple years. They also abandoned two consecutive generations of their phones, the late model Windows Mobile phones, then the Windows Phone 7 devices. Most people expect to get at least one major update to their phones before it's abandoned.

Re:I was talking about this with my brother

[fredgiblet]

I very much doubt that any teenagers are aware of MS's policies in that regard.

It's a shame

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a shame. Windows Phone was a pretty slick OS & ran really smoothly on low-spec hardware - my Lumia 435 ran as well as an Android with twice the specs.

The killer, obviously, was that they failed to get apps and market penetration on the platform. Obviously, that's a chicken/egg problem.

I love Windows Phone

[DogDude]

If not for Windows Phone, I don't think I'd use a smart phone. I won't use Apple for all of the obvious reasons, and Android is a mess of an OS. I use my Windows Phone for work (I don't play games on my phone), and it's super slick. I was going to get a Lumia when my current Windows phone died, but barring that, I'll get whatever the best hardware is that's running Windows Phone. They really do have the best product, and I hope they continue to ride out the waves of fad and fashion that drive phone sales now. Eventually, their turn will come around in terms of fashion, and eventually, people who use their phones for work will discover Windows Phone.

Re:I love Windows Phone

[Just Some Guy]

Eventually, their turn will come around in terms of fashion, and eventually, people who use their phones for work will discover Windows Phone.

That's cute, but in the real world, no. I know it's fun to slag off on others' choices as unserious, but those of us with Androids and iPhones are using them to get real work done. We're not sitting around playing Pokemon Go all the time. I mean, we can because it's available and sometimes we do, but we also use them extensively for mail, Slack, project planning, calendaring, SSH, and all the other work-related stuff you're doing on your beloved phone. I promise you that you're not the only person using their phone to Do Important Things.

You looked at the available options and picked Windows Phone. Cool. We looked at the available options - just like you did - and chose something different. I too bought the phone that I genuinely like.

Re:I love Windows Phone

[unixisc]

I fully second this. My first smartphone was a Lumia 520, when Windows Phone 8 was first out. Previously, I never touched texting, but Windows Phone 8 made it a breeze. That, and some other things - OneNote in particular - made it a work in the park. The GPS was good, particularly in conjunction w/ HERE maps. Only downside was limited customization in terms of colors and backgrounds - something completely fixed in Windows 10.

I currently have a Lumia 550, which I use as a travel phone. (I'd have used it here in the US as well, except that I'm w/ Verizon, which doesn't accept this). This phone is a Windows 10 Mobile phone, and comes at $150 unlocked. It's pretty good, and pretty similar to Windows 10 in terms of look & feel. As I mentioned above, it would make a great workphone, if an office is distributing phones to be used for business uses. It has OneNote, Office, Maps, a multi-function calculator (better than either the iOS or Android calculators), and most business apps, like say currency converters, are available in the store. It does lack some apps like Lyft or Uber partner, which is a tad inconvenient, and it also lacks business VOIP apps like 8x8. OTOH, w/ WhatsApp, it does have at least 1 app that supports video calling and VOIP calling.

I am disappointed to see the Lumia line ended, particularly since the Surface Phone is not promising, given what they've said it will be. First of all, there are NOT more native apps for Windows 10 than there for Windows Phone: as an example, search in the Windows store for Yelp! or Fandango, and see if you find it. It IS there on Windows Phone. Therefore, it's not accurate to state that there are more apps on Windows 10 than there are on Windows 10 Mobile, and people are not gonna run applications like Autocad or Visio on their phone. So it is already a mistake to think that the PC has apps that phones don't have that are actually usable. To make things worse, the new Surface Phone won't have an Atom or anything: it will have a Dragonball that will EMULATE x86. Past great CPUs like the Alpha emulated x86 and went nowhere. On top of other things, that will also increase the power consumption.

If you can get your hands on a Lumia, be it a 640 or a 150, do it, otherwise look at one of the third party vendors like HTC or Blu. But avoid the Surface Phone whenever it's out - it won't be worth it.

Re:I love Windows Phone

[Anonymous Coward]

I won't use Apple for all of the obvious reasons,

Go on ...

Re: I love Windows Phone

[Anonymous Coward]

It costs quite a bit of money.

Shame

[Lije Baley]

All that money, how many billion spent, and they couldn't shell out a few extra 10 million dollar bills to have the apps written? And it's not the first time they failed to properly buy their way into a market. Just makes no sense to me...

Re:Shame

[unixisc]

Actually, they did get quite a few apps written, but they still missed some major segments. Like until recently, when WhatsApp added video calling, there were no popular VOIP or video calling apps for this platform. Similarly, in the US, there is no support for Uber Partner or Lyft, so if one is a driver for those, this phone will not be helpful. It's a pity that Microsoft didn't do a better job in identifying what would be needed and ensuring its support.

One thing I'd note - I travelled to India last year, and found that this phone was pretty well supported there: most apps that were advertized had Apple Store, Play Store AND Windows Store logos beneath them, in sharp contrast to the US, where only the first 2 are usually displayed.

Re:Shame

[fredgiblet]

Most of it isn't really their choice. IIRC they offered a lot of support for app developers, but not enough people bit.

Good riddance

[PhrostyMcByte]

I've had nothing but issues with my Lumia 950. Windows Mobile has some really good design/usability ideas but jesus it is buggy.

I regularly need to reboot the phone to fix GPS issues. A patch came out a few months ago that made Bluetooth not randomly get completely corrupted with my car, but the implementation is still buggy. Using apps while playing music causes stuttering in the music. I've had the phone for over a year now and it still feels like a beta device.

The worst part of it is that the previous versions -- Windows Phone 7, 8, etc. -- were masterpieces. They were stable and exceptionally lag-free. The whole idea to merge the mobile and desktop OSes -- the kernel with 8 and the shell with 10 -- wasn't a bad one but the execution was just so incredibly poor.

If Microsoft is smart they'll gut the department heads working on mobile and get some new talent in. Or maybe bring some of the old talent back. Or maybe just fold the idea.

Death to Metro/modern

[Billly Gates]

Great.

Now MS can remove their cell phones out of the start menu and desktop and bring back aero, menus, skuemirphism, and a consistent UI so we can upgrade past 7.

We all know Windows 8 and 10 bombed because MS crippled them to turn the PC into a cell phone so old people afraid of change would want a Windows phone.

Well sorry for those that said MS had to focus on mobile. It clearly failed.

Modern is out and win32 is back in hopefully very soon

Re:Death to Metro/modern

[DogDude]

Billy boy, sorry, but you're wrong about one thing, at least. The Metro interface is *awesome* on the phone. I don't like it on the desktop, though.

Re:Death to Metro/modern

[sims 2]

One of the problems i've noticed even back on win7 is a lot of websites are deciding in error (like msft did with win8) that everyone has a touch screen and have thus removed the scroll bar to get an extra few pixels of screen space.

How do I get that back without killing script for the whole page?

I can work around it by clicking in the area and then using the arrow keys but I shouldn't have to.

Re:Death to Metro/modern

[omnichad]

that everyone has a touch screen and have thus removed the scroll bar

Or a mouse with a scroll wheel. Though I'm sure if you had a trackball instead you would have loudly said so by now.

Re:Death to Metro/modern

[unixisc]

Why win32? When all current Intel CPUs are x64, Windows 10 is 64-bit and most systems now come w/ >4GB of RAM. Also, Microsoft doesn't seem to be ending the OS - they're replacing the Lumia line w/ Surface Phones, an inferior concept due to emulating an x86 on a CPU w/ average processing power. I'll hold on to my Lumia 150, and keep using it for whenever I travel

Re:Death to Metro/modern

[unixisc]

That is right. When I had my Windows 8 phone, I liked the Metro interface on it. On a laptop, I hated it so much that I got PC-BSD and installed it over it. But Windows 10 Mobile improves on it in terms of customization, and the calculater, which includes unit coverters as well, is better too

Re:Death to Metro/modern

[sims 2]

Yeah scroll wheels while awesome aren't common on laptops.

Re:Death to Metro/modern

[omnichad]

But edge swipe scrolling and multi-finger scrolling both are.

Re:Death to Metro/modern

[sims 2]

Those are features i've had to disable so the mouse doesn't resize the icons on my desktop and jump me around the page when I accidentally brush it. I'm sure it works well on some but not on mine.

Imho the webpage shouldn't even be able to control that aspect of the browser

Re:Death to Metro/modern

[omnichad]

Imho the webpage shouldn't even be able to control that aspect of the browser

You have no disagreement from me on that part. Other than the fact that sometimes in CSS content box overflow should not be obviously scrollable - part of this used to be to enable compatibility with non-standard spacing in IE. Hiding scrollbars on a main content area is not the intended use of that.

Re:Death to Metro/modern

[Billly Gates]

Because winforms in .Net and their MFC counterparts provide a superior desktop experience over mobile phone apps on a desktop.

The whole reason for app stores and universal apps is to make the desktop ecosystem available for Windows Phone so people will buy them. ... But here is the problem? There are now more apps on Android today than desktop applications on Windows :-( They lost.

What MS needs to do is focus on media creation by improving visual studio Android tools and cross platform .Net tools for iOS and Android and let Android have the consumption apps. No one uses a PC anymore for Facebook or even going to slashdot ( typing this on my Nexus 6P)

Re:Death to Metro/modern

[Billly Gates]

I gave up on Windows Phone when my 820 died. I didn't want to spend +$500 on a phone with a dead platform?! Not to mention Windows 10 is buggy and horrible on mobile and even desktop compared to 8.1.

I hate Android but love the ecosystem. Got a bloated Android phone. You know what Android reminds me of?

Android == DOS/Windows. Windows Phone == OS/2. Blackberry/Symbian == Unix. IOS === Mac classic. It's like the 1980s and 1990s again. No one likes Windows! But loved the apps and everyone had one so it became standard. OS/2 was technically superior but limited to hardware and was a Johnny come lately from a company with a bad rep :-)

Re:Death to Metro/modern

[unixisc]

My Icon's battery died, so I traded it in for a Moto X, since I was missing some important apps on the platform. But once Windows 10 Mobile was out, I bought the 150 as a travel phone, and it served me beautifully. I understand the dead platform part and do regret the lack of apps like Uber Partner or Lyft, but WhatApp finally gave it video calling, which removes one reason not to use it.

Re:Death to Metro/modern

[unixisc]

I have all the platforms in question. For Facebook or /., I use this laptop running TrueOS (formerly PC-BSD). Due to all the coverage about Windows 10 Telemetry and other security controversies, I no longer use that for things like banking, shopping, or anything where my data security is important to me. Only thing I use that for is when there is something that I have to have Windows for. So I've kept automatic updates open, and right now, mainly use that for games. Once I have either a SteamOS jail running here, or a different SteamOS computer, I won't need Windows even for games

Re:Death to Metro/modern

[Anonymous Coward]

Those gestures are worthwhile using only on one particular brand of laptop. And suggesting buying that brand of laptop to some people is like asking them to drink bleach.

Here in Finland, even hardcore Lumia users dislike

[blind biker]

Even hardcore Lumia users have grown to dislike their Lumia phones, by now. Almost always it's because the lack of features compared to Android.

Everyones trying to trap us.

[Anonymous Coward]

iphones are for people with more money than sense, fine. But Android is only successful because it was the only option that is customizable. Build an f'ing x86 phone that can run Linux/WindowsXP-8.1(Win10 no way), and your going to find a large customer base.

Everyone is making their own walled gardens looking in envy at Apples profits; THey *somehow* got the gay/trendy customers; and combined with their closed environment can really siphon the cash. So Windows 10, Google Play, all are just trying to mirror that terrible system.

Don't believe the excuses, x86 phones can/have been built and they are every bit as efficient as ARM; I honestly think they are keeping them out of the market because it has the real potential to kill most laptop and desktop sales. It's quite likely most people would only have their PC Phone, go home/work and drop it in a dock for their keyboard/big screen. All the while your same programs would be running and 'live'...

ASUS ZenFone 2
Lenovo K80M

They are android, but intel cpus, 1920x1080 yada yada yada...
Make an x86 phone with legacy bios(ideally, but I guess win8.1 could be used), Intel M-5y70 CPU, hdmi, 2 micro-usb(one for charging), headphone, 1 or even two MicroSD slots, replaceable battery, and a slide-out keyboard(think modern OQO(which sold for thousands, and still a collectors item), or Droid3 form factor. I have $$ burning a hole in pocket to buy such a device. Heck, I'd even buy it if it was wifi only and could fit in my pocket! Smallest tablets are 7", too large... Look how small/efficient they make Intel CompuSticks/hdmi PC's, it can easily be done.

Re:Everyones trying to trap us.

[ChunderDownunder]

The phones you mentioned run Atom, which is something Intel abandoned for mobile. Likewise, they haven't been interested in cramming a tablet Core M processor into a phone.

If you've been following the announcements, Microsoft are partnering with Qualcomm to emulate x86 on Snapdragon.

Re:Everyones trying to trap us.

[Anonymous Coward]

They don't have to do much work if any to 'make them fit'. It's about power efficiency(which has a relation to size). Microsoft partnering to emulate x86 is a step backwards, it will only limit options. Native/intel REAL hardware exists they just need to stick it in the right case.

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/p...

Phones I linked were just as close as they came to developing a working x86 phone, as far as I can tell noone found a way to actually natively install any other OS's on them tho. Like Linux On Android, they could get Win7 running parallel connected through VNC, no sound...

I'd be tempted to try a kickstarter if one could find a chinese manuf. that could throw a 4-5" intel tablet together to spec.

unfathomly stupid decision

[Anonymous Coward]

This is an unfathomly stupid decision by Microsoft. I just purchased a Lumia 650 and have used it hard out for two weeks on the latest insider release, and it has proved to be a beautiful thin fluid device that functions really well and that I really love.

Re:unfathomly stupid decision

[unixisc]

Just keep that phone as long as it lasts. That's what I'm doing w/ my Lumia 150

Re:unfathomly stupid decision

[Anonymous Coward]

Same with my Lumia 635. Several years old and the (replaceable) battery is still fine, which never happened with older LG phones. And by joining the Insider program I got Win10 1511 running on a 512 MB phone which theoretically isn't compatible (with reason - some things occasionally fail, like Cortana voice response, that worked in 8.1, so there's probably an out-of-memory error happening). Metro PCS/T-Mobile don't officially support Windows phones anyway, but they still work with the system. And apps for 8 or 8.1 work fine in 10 so, for instance, Uber.

That is a shame - too late to the game

[filesiteguy]

FWIW, I have both a 950xl and a EliteX3. I replaced my Galaxy and Ios devices with the Windows Mobile devices because they work so much more intuitively for me.

However, it wasn't too long ago, when I was using my Galaxy S2, that I never tired of bashing Windows Phone 6 and the prior iteration - Windows CE. They were terrible in my opinion. With the advent of windows 8, the game changed. The UI finally surpassed both Android and Iphones and I found the devices worked great. Windows 10 is even better.

However, by this time, the proverbial ship had sailed and the world uses Android. (Some folks in the US still cling to Iphones, though I cannot figure out why.)

Re:That is a shame - too late to the game

[unixisc]

I have an iPhone, and the reason I got it in the first place - FaceTime. My son and my sister's family have iPhones, and I wanted to video chat w/ them. Android Duo and WhatsApp's video chats only came recently: FaceTime was the only game in town for a while.

Now, w/ WhatsApp video calling, Windows 10 Mobile users too can have video chats

Re: That is a shame - too late to the game

[cyber-vandal]

Maybe they like getting OS updates which is pretty hit and miss with Android. How many devices are still waiting for Marshmallow never mind Nougat?

Re: That is a shame - too late to the game

[filesiteguy]

The comment was focused more on usability. I find Iphone and Ios the antithesis of logical and user friendliness.

Question:

[Anonymous Coward]

Did a lot of Finnish people buy the high end Lumias with the 50 megapixel cameras (And if you know, were they really 50 megapixel?)

I remember reading about those being Nokia's claim to fame right before/after that M$ guy took over and then the focus on Windows Phone, and then after the first run of high end phones the 50MP cameras all disappeared, despite the fact that Nokia had an exclusive contract to them for 3+ years if I remember correctly.

What happened to that CCD manufacturer and all those ultra high res CCDs when the high end Lumias were discontinued? Or were there still some high end models released after that first edition and they just didn't make them here to the 'States?

Re:Question:

[unixisc]

Actually, that's a good point. One thing that the Lumia line had was a wide range of choices and price points. IMO, too many - something they've corrected in the Windows 10 Mobile lineup, where they offer only the 950, 640 and 150. If someone wanted a barebones smartphone, there was the 520 (or now, the 150), and if they wanted the high end phone, they could get those as well.

So maybe they wouldn't like to spend $600+ on any Lumia, but at least, if they have to spend several hundreds less, they have a choice in the Lumia lineup. There are a plethora of choices in the Galaxy lineup as well. In case of the iPhone, there is just the 7, 6s and 6.

Re:Question:

[Anonymous Coward]

Those cameras appeared on a Symbian model (808?) and were pretty good. The first model of Windows phone that had them didn't have the software chops to actually take advantage of them. Then they sort of just went away.

Oh, while they were a real ~50 megapixel sensor, they usually used some fancy interpolation to bring it down to a really good 12 MP or so image.

Re:Question:

[blind biker]

Those cameras appeared on a Symbian model (808?) and were pretty good. The first model of Windows phone that had them didn't have the software chops to actually take advantage of them. Then they sort of just went away.

Oh, while they were a real ~50 megapixel sensor, they usually used some fancy interpolation to bring it down to a really good 12 MP or so image.

This is all correct, except that the Nokia 808 (AKA Pureview) had a 41 MP sensor, of which only 38 MP were used. Apart from that, everything you wrote is accurate.

Re:Question:

[dbIII]

One thing that the Lumia line had was a wide range of choices and price points

It's because they were descended from Nokia stuff where they had what looked like an insanely huge number of models, until you get that it does scale when you are selling millions of phones per year. Microsoft were not selling in such volumes so that made the cost of supporting multiple models something to be noticed.
They killed Nokia and are wearing it's skin, but they are no Nokia.

Re:Question:

[Anonymous Coward]

Except it wasn't really a 41MP sensor, was it. It's amazing what you can do with a little bit of software

They should sell android phones

[JustNiz]

Since licencing undisclosed tech in android is where all of Microsoft phone division's profits have ever come from.

Re:They should sell android phones

[Anonymous Coward]

If the profits are from licensing to Android handset makers, why would Microsoft want to start making android phones? Their handsets would then be competing with the companies they are getting the licensing fees from, and it's not like Microsoft is going to profit by paying licensing fees to themselves.

Re:Here in Finland, even hardcore Lumia users disl

[Anonymous Coward]

Even hardcore Lumia users have grown to dislike their Lumia phones, by now. Almost always it's because the lack of features compared to Android.

What "features" do you need in a PHONE? To make and receive calls sounds pretty high on the list. If you are suggesting that the ability to install crapplets then it does not matter which phone you buy.

Mobile Windows is dead

[OneHundredAndTen]

And there was much rejoicing. You don't have to consider yourself middle-fingered this time around, Microsoft - you are middle-fingered.

Well, that went well

[quax]

Certainly worthwhile to kill Nokia for.

This is Just Temporary

[nateman1352]

Taking the Lumia off the market is a very intentional maneuver on Microsoft's part. They are hoping that by the time they launch the Surface Phone in Q4 next year with full support for X86 Win32 apps on ARM that we will have largely forgetten about how much the previous Windows Phone underwhelmed us. Also making a short but clean break gives them an excuse not to upgrade all the phones on the market right now to the new OS that supports X86 Win32 apps.

Finally!

[Anonymous Coward]

Now, if you could shut up the 2 people at my office who think Windows Phone is God's gift to mankind, that would be great! One of them actually got upset that our new expense system doesn't have an app for Windows Phone. He griped about it for days. So fucking annoying.