WP8 vs. iPhone vs. Android (Not what you think)

[RobbyRob]

OK so as a end user, power user, developer and future employee (high hopes) to one of these technologies, I would like to discuss a couple observations I have made about Windows Phone and how it stacks against the competition. Also, I want to point out some of the items that make Windows Phone a 'not so jump to-able' OS right now. I love intelligent discussion so please discuss!

When you look at current smart phone line-ups you see HUGE differences between iOS/Android and Windows Phone devices. Windows Phone is sporting a new interface once called "metro" using live tiles and iOS/Android use the standard icons. Yes Android has widgets but what normal consumer actually cares? So a customer jumping ship from Android to iOS will either be comfortable OR bored quickly from the repetitiveness of the operating system. Most CS students learn your first day of programming concepts that in the world of consumer electronics UX is key. Now with that being said I will say that iOS and Windows Phone has this area on lock. I see Android as the Linux of the smartphone world. If you know how to use it and tweak it Android can be great! But for the normal users sudden crashes and perplexed developer options could deter them from completely liking the product. Keeping this in mind iOS has dominated with a polished, easy to use interface that has kept users happy since 2007.

Now we come to the age of Windows Phone, yes I said it, Windows Phone. I don't see Android as a viable competitor for much longer. With a mobile operating system using C++ and Silverlight (remember these are the same languages Windows 8 and Xbox... XBox... XBOX use) the game has changed drastically! iOS has dominated the games market with Zynga and Popcap type games but let us think for a second. Android has Playstation mobile (ported games?), iOS has iOS games (proprietary in Xcode like good ole' Apple wants), and Windows Phone will sport... Xbox Live games (in C++). Why is this important for the consumer you ask? While the iOS farmvilles, dragonvilles, and blah with friends might be popular right now, in the future imagine being able to pick up your phone and continue a cloud saved game of Call of Duty! This will be a game changer that I believe iOS and Android can't match on any level.

Current Windows Phone 7 devices and the Windows Phone 8 upgrade scare. We all knew this was coming and if you didn't you were in denial. When Windows 8 looked like the phone they just developed... yep... something is about to change. When a whole code base changes you HAVE to make changes to hardware to support the infrastructure you want to work on. But this is for the better of the customer and power users alike. When most customers are upgraded to Windows Phone 7.8 they wont know the difference from Windows Phone 8 and I am sure they will be happy for the change. Power users and developers alike will rush to the stands and buy the latest and greatest Windows Phone 8 and start tinkering around with it.

Now with most of the users sporting the Nokia line of phones that were released about 5-6 months ago this gives developers and Nokia time to play catch-up and early Windows Phone 8 adopters will be the "beta testers" like we were (yes I sport a Nokia Lumia 900, cyan, looks awesome!) with the Windows Phone 7 devices. If we rewind in history to Apple's first iOS devices there were applications that could not run between iOS versions until they got it polished. I remember having the first iPhone that couldn't even send a picture message and crashed about 10 times out of the day. Fast forward to present day and look at what Apple has accomplished with iOS today. You don't have to be the "now" in the technology world, you just have to pass everyone else in the race.

The point is Windows Phone 7 has already provided users with an easy-to-user Apple alternative. While we have some power users who really didn't think out the whole code change probability when they KNEW it was coming and are now mad about not being able to upgrade to WP8, most users are happy with the devices. While as of right now it lacks a lot of features they are being added slowly and correctly. While Android gets 2,3,4... updates every 6 months and break more things than they fix, WP7 has had some very solid UX experience updates that do not break other things within the OS. Right now Windows Phone 7 doesn't have as many of the games that iOS and Android provide but look into the future of gaming and see that the worlds leading gaming console maker is going balls to the wall on bringing Xbox Live to the smartphone. I don't care what websites paid by Google, Apple, and Microsoft say Windows Phone has a future, I just hope they do it correctly.

 

[speedtouch]

You're right, WP8 represents a valid alternative, for the average user, to iOS. I do hope Microsoft, HTC, Samsung, and Nokia realize this and make a gigantic push. If they don't make WP8 a success, Nokia will collapse, HTC may collapse, and Microsoft will lose a huge market (the mobile market). Only time will tell. I have high hopes.

 

[brmiller1976]

I think the 8X, ATIV S (and Lumia 920, if it ever ships) will sell themselves.

The 8S should also do well in prepaid along with the Huawei phones.

 

[RobbyRob]

I think the 8X, ATIV S (and Lumia 920, if it ever ships) will sell themselves.

The 8S should also do well in prepaid along with the Huawei phones.

Pre-paid Nokia Lumia 820 and HTC WP8S would be a very smart move by both companies imho. Huawei is not going to speak to American customers. American customers KNOW HTC because of Android and Nokia because in the 90s that's all we used in terms of cell phones. Both are huge names over here in the USA. Other countries might be slightly different but if you want to push Windows Phone in the US you need star power. Samsung, Nokia and HTC are huge names that will sell. Just a shame Sprint spent all their money on iPhone support and can't afford to support Windows Phone 8.

 

[RobbyRob]

You're right, WP8 represents a valid alternative, for the average user, to iOS. I do hope Microsoft, HTC, Samsung, and Nokia realize this and make a gigantic push. If they don't make WP8 a success, Nokia will collapse, HTC may collapse, and Microsoft will lose a huge market (the mobile market). Only time will tell. I have high hopes.

Nokia more than HTC has stake in this project with Microsoft. I think once users get past the 'taboo windows' word and see the product their minds will change. Only thing we have to worry about are developers wanting to develop for it. The new code base for WP8 will help with that in a major way. I can't wait to see some of the new projects that will come of this!

 

[speedtouch]

Nokia more than HTC has stake in this project with Microsoft. I think once users get past the 'taboo windows' word and see the product their minds will change. Only thing we have to worry about are developers wanting to develop for it. The new code base for WP8 will help with that in a major way. I can't wait to see some of the new projects that will come of this!

Yup, Nokia's future depends upon WP8. Yes, Nokia pretty much owns the dumbphone market across the world, but those markets will dry up one day as the rest of the world jumps on the smartphone bandwagon as they inevitably will.

 

[blackprince]

What we need is an unbiased chart going through feature by feature to see who comes out on top.

 

[cgk]

Nokia more than HTC has stake in this project with Microsoft. I think once users get past the 'taboo windows' word and see the product their minds will change. Only thing we have to worry about are developers wanting to develop for it. The new code base for WP8 will help with that in a major way. I can't wait to see some of the new projects that will come of this!

Yes, HTC can rely on the android market where they are currently struggling to make money.

 

[aubreyq]

...I want to point out some of the items that make Windows Phone a 'not so jump to-able' OS right now.

Robert, forgive me but I read and re-read your OP and cannot find your points as to what items make Windows Phone a 'not so jump to-able' OS right now. Towards the end of your OP, you casually mentioned WP needing more features, more games, and "star power" but I thought you were going to articulate the items in more detail.

Or maybe I misinterpreted what I've quoted?

 

[RobbyRob]

Robert, forgive me but I read and re-read your OP and cannot find your points as to what items make Windows Phone a 'not so jump to-able' OS right now. Towards the end of your OP, you casually mentioned WP needing more features, more games, and "star power" but I thought you were going to articulate the items in more detail.

Or maybe I misinterpreted what I've quoted?

Sorry about that, I will go into a little more detail about my opinion on that.

Right now Windows Phone 7 serves as a concept for something bigger down the line. This was not originally planned, i don't think, but as Microsoft saw such a huge following in Europe they needed to find a way to appeal to Americans. Most American smartphone users want bigger screens, specs, compatibility and the ability for the latest and greatest. In the European countries studies have shown they don't care as much about specs and upgrade-ability but what the phone can do now. With the lack of popular social game titles in the app store, ability to upgrade to Windows Phone 8 and mediocre specs compared to Android devices I think it is a bad idea to push current hardware on American users. Do you agree?

 

[RobbyRob]

What we need is an unbiased chart going through feature by feature to see who comes out on top.

I don't think "features" and "specs" are what define an experience. I think the overall experience of the user interface is the biggest selling point. Look at Apple, the specs and features are about 2 years dated but the user interface is polished. Just a couple of things to think about. I think once the integration with Windows 8 settles in with Windows Phone 8 people will start to think differently about the platform.

 

[aubreyq]

Sorry about that, I will go into a little more detail about my opinion on that.

Right now Windows Phone 7 serves as a concept for something bigger down the line. This was not originally planned, i don't think, but as Microsoft saw such a huge following in Europe they needed to find a way to appeal to Americans. Most American smartphone users want bigger screens, specs, compatibility and the ability for the latest and greatest. In the European countries studies have shown they don't care as much about specs and upgrade-ability but what the phone can do now.

It's clear to me that WP7 went to market just to get the concept out there but WP8/W8 was the "master plan." I'm not even sure if Microsoft knew what Americans wanted. At that point Microsoft probably just wanted to offer a different user experience and didn't pay much attention to what the OEMs were releasing, as far as design, etc. That's why the early days the marketing focused a lot on the UI and they had those "Really?" commercials (which didn't help sell many phones, btw).

With the lack of popular social game titles in the app store, ability to upgrade to Windows Phone 8 and mediocre specs compared to Android devices I think it is a bad idea to push current hardware on American users. Do you agree?

Some people will get burned and Microsoft knows this, however, in the long term, the WP7 to WP8 transition needs to happen one way or the other. Some people don't know what's going on so as long as their WP7 device works, they probably won't complain. Think about it: only us geeks are up in arms about not being able to upgrade a device to WP8.

I don't think "features" and "specs" are what define an experience. I think the overall experience of the user interface is the biggest selling point. Look at Apple, the specs and features are about 2 years dated but the user interface is polished. Just a couple of things to think about. I think once the integration with Windows 8 settles in with Windows Phone 8 people will start to think differently about the platform.

I agree with you, however the excellent-flowing UI on Windows Phone hasn't been enough to sell many phones. I always said that MS and OEMs needed to start selling, to use your term, "star power" phones and then let the people get used to the WP UI.

The first Android phone was the T-Mobile G1. Only geeks knew about Android but the G1 wasn't what put Android on the map. It was Verizon, a year later, that pushed the Motorola Droid with a huge marketing campaign that sold the PHONE and people later discovered it was using something called "Android." Thanks to Verizon, today you can hear non-geeks say stuff like "does it have Android?"

So, where are we now? Samsung, HTC, LG and Dell all made WP7 devices that didn't catch people's attention like their Android counterparts. Enter Nokia's Lumia series and it immediately demonstrates that cool-looking phones SELL. Microsoft's light bulb goes off and tells HTC: "Hey! Challenge yourselves to design cool looking stuff!" HTC obliges and will now release gorgeous, colorful phones that might get people to WANT them. Nokia continues their offerings and Samsung, well, I honestly don't think Samsung cares that much about WP because their Galaxy line on Android sells so well.

So, to come full circle, the user experience is key to KEEP people on Windows Phone but first you have to get them to BUY one. And that is done making cool phones that people WANT.

 

[mmacleodbrown]

I think were are at stage 2 right now of a three or 4 stage process

Stage 1 - get the product out there, new OS, new interface, new hardware and slowly improve functionality via OTA updates

Stage 2 - Next gen product, improved OS, better customisation, deep integration into W8, better cloud support and good hardware to run it on

Stage 3 - further integration between the mobile and fixed worlds

WP7 was in essence a beta test, getting the idea out there and people used to the new radical interface, for the majority, there was no compelling reason to switch, but at least they knew MS had a mobile offering again

WP8 is a totally different beast, customisable live tiles, common platform between tablets, phone and PC, cloud support at the heart of the OS, shared kernel etc etc
Yes some advertising would help, but Im making the switch not having seen a single advert, I have seen Win8 and office 2013 and realised that WP8 made sense with what is happening going forward. Add in the surface tablets, and I think that MS future products and software will drive sales of WP8, as there is an ecosystem that people can use across devices.
The risk here is the UI - I know a fair few people that have tried W8, hated metro, and gone back to W7, and are unlikely to try WP8 because of that, hopefully as more people catch on, they will give it another go..
A common ecosystem that people understand and can use for their personal data across multiple devices is a massive selling point, and I think that MS finally 'gets it'
At last we have a viable alternative, if MS can price the surface tablet at an attractive enough pricepoint, then I can see good times ahead. I have seen the acer and asus offerings, not interested too expensive, my missus has a nexus 7, great device, capable and cheap, just what everyone wants.
I want a cheap tablet that syncs with my phone, laptop and PC, and I think that the time where I can do this is finally arriving.

I cant wait