NOKIA: Make a 420/320!

[Kevin N Smith]

first of all, cell phones never use HDD (hard disk drive) so it goes to show that you know nothing.
2nd, why would any large, respectable company put end-of-life softwares, such as wp7, on new hardware??
3rd, single-core is ridiculous. so is 256 MB of RAM. (does that even meet the min. req. of wp8???)

besides, you stated that android phones <$100 is crappy. below that point, any smartphone is crappy. i'd rather use a good feature phone rather than a crappy smartphone.

OH my god, I used the term HDD instead of whatever I should use. Terrible!

Anyway, I read an article a long time ago about 7.8 being critical in reviving WP.

 

[Kevin N Smith]

We have Asha already.

Asha needs to be EOL, and will be, just like Symbian was. Nokia could make WP it's one unified OS for Dumb, sub $100 phones, low end smartphones, mid-rangers, to the expensive 1020.

 

[mase123987]

OH my god, I used the term HDD instead of whatever I should use. Terrible!

Anyway, I read an article a long time ago about 7.8 being critical in reviving WP.

7.8 reviving WP? Really? 7.8 is nothing more than a stopgap for people who still have a wp7 device; not a product that is a supplement to 8.

The 520/521 is as low as any smartphone should go. Want something cheaper? Get an old, used wp7 device to get your fill. Better yet, stick with something like Asha. Just because it MAY be possible to create a device that is even cheaper, doesn't mean you should. Making even cheaper phones doesn't help when it cuts into profits and creates a bad user experience.

 

[Kevin N Smith]

7.8 reviving WP? Really? 7.8 is nothing more than a stopgap for people who still have a wp7 device; not a product that is a supplement to 8.

The 520/521 is as low as any smartphone should go. Want something cheaper? Get an old, used wp7 device to get your fill. Better yet, stick with something like Asha. Just because it MAY be possible to create a device that is even cheaper, doesn't mean you should. Making even cheaper phones doesn't help when it cuts into profits and creates a bad user experience.

Remember the 256MB Single Core Mango devices? They ran fine, no user experience worries. Just slap WP8/7.8 on it, market it at a low price. Anyway, obviously that was a faulty article, but I could understand how 7.8 could be used for devices that can't run WP8.

 

[mase123987]

Remember the 256MB Single Core Mango devices? They ran fine, no user experience worries. Just slap WP8/7.8 on it, market it at a low price. Anyway, obviously that was a faulty article, but I could understand how 7.8 could be used for devices that can't run WP8.

Have you thought about the fact that there are already many apps that require wp8 and more will require it in the future? Again, wp7 is dead. 7.8 is a stopgap. They work fine but they are not the future.

BTW, costs to make a phone don't continuously get lower without stopping. There is always a bottom price where, no matter how old the tech is, you can't go lower. Also, as a tech no longer becomes used, the price will go up for the simple fact that it isn't being made in bulk anymore.

 

[iamtim]

Oof, bad idea IMHO.

Android takes a lot of flak for performance and fragmentation, especially on the low-end phones. Why would Nokia or Microsoft want to muddy their name by doing the same thing? They're already facing an uphill battle with WP8, it would only be harder with comments like "ugh, I got a Nokia 420 and it was the slowest crap phone evar".

 

[realwarder]

It's not worth producing a Windows Phone that has a suboptimal experience. It would just be another complaint pushed out.

As mentioned, the Asha phones exist, and the other best way to get the price down is simply push the volume up on the 520. Make millions of them and the price can be less...

 

[ejb222]

I heard Fisher Price makes some pretty cool low end phones for $20 or less. I mean seriously. The 520 can be had for $72 at times. Once the 530 comes out, you will find it for $50 or less. Not too mention too many low end phones would give a bad rep for the brand if they don't run well. They should stick within the limits...they've done well so far at producing low cost phones that run better than low cost Androids. I'd rather have a $99 520 than a $99 android running Android 2.3 from Virgin Mobile...Lets look at the big picture shall we