Was Glance the Reason the Icon was "Delayed?"

[mtalinm]

I have suspected that "glance" was the delay and I believe we will get it.

agreed. they spent awhile trying to make it work, finally said "nope, have to ship before GS5 is announced at MWC". hope they are still working onit, but a little less confident than you are

 

[bayanii]

Pooorrr que no glance Nokia! Por que!

 

[psamf24]

i was able to install the BETA glance back ground app on my Icon but it wont open so i guess this future is not available YET.

 

[snowmutt]

Yes, it is pure speculation. The Icon was only delayed if you buy the position that rumor mill knows release dates. As it stands, the phone was released when VZW said it would be released. Suggesting you are putting two and two together also assumes you have an operational knowledge of VZW decision making. Sorry, unless you work for VZW, you don't have that baseline information. People can speculate all they wish but you are speculating on the basis of assumptions tied to unsubstantiated rumors put forth by people who like to see their name in print.

^^Buzzkill.

As to the OP, I agree. It makes sense to make that leap. Obviously, we see "delays", but those who say Big Red never announced it until when they released it are of course correct. But as we use mobile as our hobbie and focus on WP, we have seen the leaks and the stutters and starts that at least appeared to be happening behind the scenes. If they were not really delays, why not release it at the same time or at least close to the same time as the L1520 when GDR3 enabled HI-Def screens and quad-core support? Why not have one of the more well recieved tools, in Glance, on your new Flagship WP?

I smell conspiracy. AT&T paid good money to a "Glance" specialist to prevent the 5" version of their 6" L1520 from working correctly since they know 5" is a much more popular screen size.

 

[savagelizards]

Yes, it is pure speculation. The Icon was only delayed if you buy the position that rumor mill knows release dates. As it stands, the phone was released when VZW said it would be released. Suggesting you are putting two and two together also assumes you have an operational knowledge of VZW decision making. Sorry, unless you work for VZW, you don't have that baseline information. People can speculate all they wish but you are speculating on the basis of assumptions tied to unsubstantiated rumors put forth by people who like to see their name in print.

Some speculation is speculation, of course, but I don't think it is all unfounded, especially after the fact. If you take a look at the timeline, you will realize that some of what seemed like speculation at the time was from credible sources that had some non-public information and expected that what they "knew" was correct.

Let me explain what I mean. You, Stephen_az, may not have been awaiting this phone for as long as I was, but I was off contract last fall - and seriously disappointed that Verizon was shut out of the 1520, which I would have ordered on Day 1. As a result, I was following every available scrap of information (and misinformation) on coming Verizon WPs. For several months, there were rumored release dates that came and went, some of which were by WPCentral's own Daniel Rubino.

Again, Rubino's information could have been unsubstantiated rumors, as far as that went, except that once the phone was officially announced, Rubino's review of the phone (Nokia Lumia Icon Review | Windows Phone Central) indicated that he had "had the device for weeks now," which would certainly indicate mid-late January.

Rubino would be the one to say if he had the phone in his possession when he published some of those "leaks," but based on the timeline he clearly had the phone on Februrary 7th when he made a series of posts in the forums (Who is Still Buying The Icon?) responding to the discussion of the delayed release. Here's a comment Rubino made that as I read it attributes a delay to Verizon:

Nokia didn't want the 929 to come out this late. Microsoft did not either. This is all on Verizon, for whatever reason. Yes, we can list the 10 reasons why this is bad for Windows Phone, but it's moot. We all know that. But it's out of Nokia's hands as they have to go by what Verizon wants.

Daniel Rubino himself could tell us if I am reading too much into this, but I think there's more than idle speculation here. Rubino had the phone in his hands, meaning he had advance access. His belief when he wrote this post? Nokia wanted it out. Microsoft wanted it out. Verizon was holding it up for an unknown reason.

Given the alternatives - that Verizon held up the release of the phone due to a technical issue, or due to a conspiracy of some sort (for example, to delay the release to the S5 announcement, which I have read in these forums), I think technical reasons is more credible. So yes, this part of my post is speculation, but from the day the phone was released the lack of a key, expected feature (sure, you could say that no one ever announced that Glance support was included with this phone, but the threads full of seasoned WP users appalled at the lack of Glance would indicate expectations were otherwise) was explained as a technical issue ("certain hardware limitations") and that future support was not initially ruled out.

So I believe it's not a huge leap to see that either: (i) Verizon was not happy with something about Glance in the testing process, and Nokia was unable to correct it so eventually the phone was released without Glance support; or (ii) Nokia knew they made a technology compromise that ultimately wouldn't support Glance, and they planned to release the phone without it, but Verizon wanted the feature and the delay was to give Nokia more time to make it work.

Either way, the result is the same - no Glance. As a WP newbie (got my Icon on release day), I immediately got frustrated with the lack of notifications, and I can see how Glance could have made a difference. It's a feature gap for a flagship device, and the more I think about it the most likely answer is that we will never see Glance on this phone.

Hopefully WP 8.1 will provide alternatives to Glance, but given that Verizon was the source of the delay and also has the least to lose if the feature isn't on the phone, I believe that they found what they considered to be a big issue (screen damage/burn?) in testing, and despite delaying the release Nokia could not correct it so Verizon ordered the feature removed. The last bit is my opinion, and you can take it for what its worth, but it is the most plausible explanation I have come up with that fits all of the facts.

Daniel Rubino, have you followed this story any further? Should we still hold out hope that we will see Glance on the Icon? Now that the launch is in the rear-view mirror, can you tell us what really happened?

 

[radmanvr]

I think glance will be a windows phone 8.1 feature. With the acquisition of Nokia.

 

[tk-093]

I sure hope it comes. To be honest, Glance in it's current state is pretty "meh" so one can probably live without it. However, it's the potential of what it COULD do that has kept me from replacing my 928.

Watch this video of Active Notifications... yes, it's a gross Android, but to me, it shows the awesome potential of what this type of technology can do. I also have the Moto X and if I'm forced to use Android, this is the only way I would use one....

Active Display on the Moto X - YouTube

 

[Joel S79]

The supposed reason is a memory limitation with the screen... which makes no sense at all.

yeah wtf, new phones are supposed to be better than old phones so this makes no sense

WP has a limitation on how much memory background apps can use, Glance is a background app. It takes more processing power and memory to display an image on screen as the resolution increases, so Glance hitting that limit is a possibility. If this is indeed the issue, I can see MS raising the background limit for phones with 2GB of RAM and higher.

Anyway, this is a flagship form factor for Nokia, I'm fairly certain that we'll see another 5" 1080p AMOLED device sometime soon, so I expect Nokia to figure it out.

 

[primortal]

WP has a limitation on how much memory background apps can use, Glance is a background app. It takes more processing power and memory to display an image on screen as the resolution increases, so Glance hitting that limit is a possibility. If this is indeed the issue, I can see MS raising the background limit for phones with 2GB of RAM and higher.

Anyway, this is a flagship form factor for Nokia, I'm fairly certain that we'll see another 5" 1080p AMOLED device sometime soon, so I expect Nokia to figure it out.

Doesn't the 1520 have Glance and that has a 6" 1080P? The only thing is that the 1520 has an IPS display instead of AMOLED.

 

[MazoMark]

I sure hope it comes. To be honest, Glance in it's current state is pretty "meh" so one can probably live without it. However, it's the potential of what it COULD do that has kept me from replacing my 928.

Watch this video of Active Notifications... yes, it's a gross Android, but to me, it shows the awesome potential of what this type of technology can do. I also have the Moto X and if I'm forced to use Android, this is the only way I would use one....

I have a Moto X, and while it is not a "flagship" level phone, I can tell you the active notification function is one of it's killer functions. If WP got something like this for Icon - I'd be very tempted to jump platforms.

 

[Keith Wallace]

Different sounds for different alerts, not that hard. I have my phone make a different sound for texts than e-mails. That means I have 3 tiles to watch for, unless you're a person who lets everything have alerts.

 

[Joel S79]

Doesn't the 1520 have Glance and that has a 6" 1080P? The only thing is that the 1520 has an IPS display instead of AMOLED.

Yup, but the PPI is different. Memory sounds weird, since you'd think the glance background would eat up memory too, regardless of the device. All I know for sure is Nokia has been mum, but the response they gave to Mary Jo Foley when she asked about the lack of Glance was interesting.

Due to certain hardware restrictions, Lumia Icon doesn’t support Glance screen – however, there are many other unique benefits that this device screen provides from support for HD 1080p, virtually glare-free outdoor readability and nearly 180 degree viewing. Certain features in the Lumia Black software are dependent on device hardware and software functionality.

Odd that they immediately talk up the benefits of the display but make no mention of the camera or 4 microphones.

Still, I'm not sold on Glance causing the delay, Verizon's top priority is the health of their network and glance is a niche feature specific to Nokia. Verizon is really thorough with their testing, and I'm sure there were some issues since this is a unique device for Nokia so testing took a little longer than expected, but I wouldn't be surprised if the delay was around the logistical stuff: having enough units (no VZW store in my area had white ones), training sales and technical staff, prepping marketing materials, sourcing the Pelican boxes for the reviewers, etc.

I just can't see Verizon caring enough about a feature like Glance to hold up the phone. The people calling it a deal breaker are in the minority.

Although, maybe NOKIA asked Verizon for more time to try and get it working before launch.

 

[nx_2000]

Different sounds for different alerts, not that hard. I have my phone make a different sound for texts than e-mails. That means I have 3 tiles to watch for, unless you're a person who lets everything have alerts.

That's one of the things I miss most moving from a jailbroken iPhone. With Mail Enhancer Pro I had a unified inbox with color coding to indicate which account it's from and the ability to customize alert tones and notifications (or lack thereof) for each account.

 

[Kage Maru]

I imagine Verizon waited until recently to release the Icon so it didn't get lost during the launch of the other phones and updates last year? Seeing how now it typically a quiet time in the mobile world, well other than MWC, I can see how it makes sense to wait until February to launch the device.

I certainly don't think Glance is the reason though. They had to have known for a while that the feature wouldn't work.

 

[Joel S79]

Oh, one other thing:

The spokesperson had nothing to say as to when/if the Icon might get Glance support in the future but did add "we're not ruling it out."

 

[Joel S79]

I imagine Verizon waited until recently to release the Icon so it didn't get lost during the launch of the other phones and updates last year?

It actually would've been best for Verizon if it launched side by side with the 1520. I'm sure they lost customers to AT&T because the Icon wasn't ready.

 

[savagelizards]

It actually would've been best for Verizon if it launched side by side with the 1520. I'm sure they lost customers to AT&T because the Icon wasn't ready.

+929

 

[tk-093]

I have a Moto X, and while it is not a "flagship" level phone, I can tell you the active notification function is one of it's killer functions. If WP got something like this for Icon - I'd be very tempted to jump platforms.

It really is a killer feature that I stuggle to live without when I've got my SIM in my 928. I'd be on WP full time, except I'm the mobile guy at work and we use Good Mobile Messaging and are working on deploying some of the advance features which are not available on WP so I feel I have to use Android, but my heart is with WP, though to be honest.. I don't HATE iOS or Android... I'm a device gigolo I guess.

 

[Kage Maru]

It actually would've been best for Verizon if it launched side by side with the 1520. I'm sure they lost customers to AT&T because the Icon wasn't ready.

Not so sure about that or if they did lose customers, the amount would have been trivial. I imagine most of the WP fans willing to switch carriers for one phone would also be aware of the Icon and its impending release. I'm one of those types of customers. I would have loved to have the Icon last year, but knowing that it would release some time soon made it easy to write off switching to AT&T for the 1520.

 

[Joel S79]

Not so sure about that or if they did lose customers, the amount would have been trivial.

They're so close in subscribers now, any customer switching is something they don't want.

The holiday season is the best time to launch a phone or device, competing products be damned.