New York City Cops Will Replace Their 36,000 Windows Phones With iPhones (theverge.com)

The New York City Police Department says it will give up its 36,000 Windows phones and transition to iPhones by the end of the year. The Verge reports: The switch is prompted in part by news in July that Microsoft was ending support for Windows Phone 8.1, which a large percentage of all Windows-powered phones are still using. It's a predictable end to the Windows phone, considering that its market share had already slipped below 1 percent at the time the police department adopted its phones last year. The ill-fated decision to go with the Windows phone was made solely by its NYPD deputy commissioner for IT, according to The New York Post, and apparently did not receive further judgment before implementing the program. The Windows models were Nokia Lumia 830 and Lumia 640 XL, equipped with special 911 apps, case management apps, and the ability to receive assignments. They were purchased as part of a $160 million initiative to modernize the NYPD, which has been around since 1845. The new business for Microsoft's phones was clearly not enough to keep Windows Phone alive.

Comments

Re:I know it's New York, but...

[MightyMartian]

Someone who got conned by an MS sales pitch, that's who.

I eagerly await the "Windows Phone is the best phone over, and only iSnobs and Android fruits care about apps!" The Microsoft phone defender is almost as pathetic as the Blackberry defender.

Re:I wondered about that

[MightyMartian]

Didn't have to wait long for the vague "The Windows phone is so superior!"

Windows Phone offered nothing that the other major phone OSs didn't offer. Exchange integration is present on pretty much all major mobile platforms now, and since MS is marketing versions of Office for these other platforms, well, there's even less reason to consider Microsoft's offerings.

Microsoft is walking away, you can stop defending there next iteration of their failed mobile strategy. Unless you're a shareholder, in which case you should be hopping mad at at the sheer stupidity of the amount of cash and resources dedicated to something everyone knew was doomed.