Re: WPC 20K Post Challenge - You Ready?!
Between Samsung and HTC, I am curious if anything new from them comes out prior to 8.1 early next year. Nokia really only has kicked out 3 new devices, and that is if the 5" L9XX is real as it has not been officially announced. I can see a couple new HTCs and 1 new Samsung with 8.1, but I do not think we see any new WP's from them over the holidays.
However, I am not worried about the Lumia line being the only hardware. So long as MS gives incentive to keep Nokia engeineers and designers onboard then the aggresive improvements with the WP devices we have seen will continue. That, however, is not a given and I hope MS gives 10% raises to everyone involved with the Lumia line. We need them so bad.....
As cool as Android is, I'm glad MSFT went the Apple route and be restrictive in going to WP. Now, OEMs have to be smarter in how they sell WP. Its not like Android where you're selling both a skin and how it plays with your hardware. Nokia has shown that if you can tweak small parts of the OS, get apps to the ecosystem and focus on key selling points - camera tech, navigation & design - you can make money and more importantly, build a brand.
Samsung knows their strength - mass production. I have no problem with them recycling their Android flagship for WP and keeping their experience vanilla. If i wasn't so hung up on the Pureview camera, I'd be an Ativ S owner today. If they can port a few of their Android features - the useful stuff, not the gimmicks - they'll be ok.
HTC is where the trouble is at. They've been the most recognizable Windows brand since forever. They have got to pick a strength besides design and sell that. I still say audio is their best bet. With Sony staying with Android, only Nokia can challenge HTC in audio department. Even if Nokia stayed separate from MSFT, i don't think they had enough resources to make audio a key selling point.
Love the built in amp in my 8X. Wish i had a true equalizer to take advantage. Would love to see audio apps too and a few audio accessories. Yes, they dropped Beats but i think hardware wise, HTC has something to work with for audio. If they can make cameras like they did with the Radar as the standard for all WP8 devices, and push audio and design, people will buy it...especially those who don't like lumia.