[socialcarpet]

Between the horrid lack of pricing/release dates/carrier information and these Nokia "exclusivity" announcements, this whole thing is beginning to feel like a slow motion train wreck.

Is it too early to call this a fiasco? New Coke, anyone???

Not really.

The only train wreck I see is this thread.

People get so hyperbolic about the most inconsequential stuff here, it is ridiculous. Relax.

[nokia4life]

hmm you using a iphone 5 and your username is Nokia4life..........weird

Ummm yes because I own both a lumia 900 and iPhone 5 is that against the law


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

[odin09]

In the long run it won't matter! Other than the people on these boards no one really cares at this point. The fact is that Nokia has what looks like it will be the best smartphone on the market. What will matter is how they price it and advertise it. The rollout will be long forgotten.

Sent from my mwp6985 using Board Express

[Villain]

hmm you using a iphone 5 and your username is Nokia4life..........weird

doesn't really mean much honestly... I own an LG Optimus Quantum, Samsung Focus, Bold 9900, Torch 9800, Iphone 4, Iphone 3G, Acer Liquid E, Galaxy SII, Bold 9700 and a bunch of BB Curves... Right now I'm using a bold 9900 and I'm still an pro WP user.

[jmshub]

I'm sure iPhone users felt the same driving itch every time an unconfirmed rumor slid down the road.

MS wants a unified release if all things win8. That makes good sense to me.

Sent from my SGH-i917 using Board Express

[Heron_Kusanagi]

It's good sense to MS and the fact is, if we count Oct 29th as the official date of WP8's launch, we are all good. You get your phones on Nov 4th after all.

The small issue is people are getting worked up by the WP8 dev summit, then a radio silence before the Samsung, Nokia and HTC announcement and then the radio silence again.

[1jaxstate1]

Its not good sense if it fails. Speaking about Wp, not tablets.

[Laura Knotek]

I do not see a failure.

I have a friend who has been an Apple fanboy since the iPhone3GS. He is currently using an iPhone4S but stopped at the AT&T store and tried the Nokia Lumia 900. He is impressed with it and is interested in the Nokia Lumia 920.

If long time Apple fanboys/fangirls are noticing the new Windows Phones and skipping the iPhone5, there is definitely potential for WP8.

[palandri]

I do not see a failure.

I have a friend who has been an Apple fanboy since the iPhone3GS. He is currently using an iPhone4S but stopped at the AT&T store and tried the Nokia Lumia 900. He is impressed with it and is interested in the Nokia Lumia 920.

If long time Apple fanboys/fangirls are noticing the new Windows Phones and skipping the iPhone5, there is definitely potential for WP8.

IOS needs an upgrade. It's starting to get stale.

[Laura Knotek]

IOS needs an upgrade. It's starting to get stale.

That's what my friend said when he played with the iPhone5. It bored him.

He was impressed with the responsiveness of the Nokia Lumia 900 and the build quality, so he is even more interested in the Nokia Lumia 920.

[palandri]

That's what my friend said when he played with the iPhone5. It bored him.

He was impressed with the responsiveness of the Nokia Lumia 900 and the build quality, so he is even more interested in the Nokia Lumia 920.

Yup! It needs a facelift. :D

[Heron_Kusanagi]

The thing is, MS wants to do an Apple and generate the hype over Oct 29th. Something like, 'Windows 8 is great, but here's more!'

But when devices are announced 2 months ago, it will seem like a lifetime in mobile. Note the LG Nexus rumors.

[cckgz4]

No but this is the worst consistency of moaning I've seen. Didn't see this much during the 7.5 launch

[AngryNil]

Two months is the worst? Is your memory span as short as a goldfish's?

An overwhelming number of devices launch much, much later than that. And no, it is not restricted to devices which flopped. Remember how late the GSII was to the US?

[Heron_Kusanagi]

Two months is the worst? Is your memory span as short as a goldfish's?

An overwhelming number of devices launch much, much later than that. And no, it is not restricted to devices which flopped. Remember how late the GSII was to the US?

It isn't that bad, my memory. The L900 was released 3 months after the announcement at CES, Duke Nukem Forever released after a full 15 years of development.

But when other manufacturers can flood the hype of one device out by releasing and announcing multiple devices that are on par with your own device, you aren't doing it totally right.

[AngryNil]

But when other manufacturers can flood the hype of one device out by releasing and announcing multiple devices that are on par with your own device, you aren't doing it totally right.

Wasn't directing it at you, since you didn't claim it to be the worst. I'm sure we all wished there was better timing, but didn't the Lumia get to feature on many comparison articles as the Windows Phone flagship? I think with what Nokia got, they played the timing very well.

[mmacleodbrown]

The start of November is a good time to release (even though I want mine now!)

announce devices in Sept - keep the buzz going and let the blogosphere do its work.
announce availability in Oct - carriers, pricing, pre-orders etc
Get the device first week in Nov

When I look back, I actually think this has been done quite well. No-one was going to compete against the new iphone, so get in there first with device specs, let the iphone launch, and carry on feeding the machine with further product articles to counter the nexus buzz before releasing at the same time as the Nexus launch..

Im not sure about the rest of you, but I knew I needed a new phone in the summer, but there was no way Id even consider buying any phone until Oct/Nov as it would have been crazy to do that before the next nexus devices were known about.
With the iphone launch being such a fail, the 2 alternatives are android or WP8 which will both be available at the same time so I can make a choice and buy.

It is quite a clever strategy, there was a WP8 buzz before the iphone, there is still a buzz now and if the devices are available first week of Novemeber, then people aren't going to be tempted away by google as they will be able to get a WP8 at the same time.

The apple fanbois will just buy apple regardless, so at least MS are focussing their efforts where they can do the most good

[johnmcd348]

The entire WP introduction has chapped my butt for the past few years now. It's really enough to make one walk away from it forever in my opinion. I like the OS and think it has great potential but, the way it's been handled by Microsoft is beyond incompetence. They release the OS and only half heartedly market it. Device developers see this and barely offer anything that runs it. They change it again after only 2-3 years on the market. Even with the newer WP8, I doubt many people other than us realize it's not just another upgrade from WinMo. Just like now, they show a few devices months in advance, generate a little bit of hype and then wait until people have all but forgotten about it before hey release it to market. Then, as with the 920, we find out at nearly the last minute that it will only be offered by 1 retailer. Not good for a platform that wants to regain it's dominance it once had.

If I were a shareholder in Microsoft or any of the particular device makers and was dependent on WP's success, I would be beyond p!$$ed.

[independentvolume]

They need to plaster 8x and Ativ s posters on every street corner. Also, start churning out commercials. ****, make a wp8 cereal with little ativ and 8x bits. GET THE PRODUCT OUT THERE.

[Heron_Kusanagi]

Wasn't directing it at you, since you didn't claim it to be the worst. I'm sure we all wished there was better timing, but didn't the Lumia get to feature on many comparison articles as the Windows Phone flagship? I think with what Nokia got, they played the timing very well.

It may be so, and the L920 came out pretty nice against the iOS and Android flagships, but in order for the WP to get it on with W8, we have to wait.

And this industry is too fast moving, and Nokia needs its products out there to gain mindshare instead of feeding us vaporware. If Google and LG crashes MS, HTC and Nokia's party by doing a Nexus reveal on the 28th (could happen), it's gonna be a heck of a uphill battle against the Android juggernaut.

[mmacleodbrown]

The entire WP introduction has chapped my butt for the past few years now. It's really enough to make one walk away from it forever in my opinion. I like the OS and think it has great potential but, the way it's been handled by Microsoft is beyond incompetence. They release the OS and only half heartedly market it. Device developers see this and barely offer anything that runs it. They change it again after only 2-3 years on the market. Even with the newer WP8, I doubt many people other than us realize it's not just another upgrade from WinMo. Just like now, they show a few devices months in advance, generate a little bit of hype and then wait until people have all but forgotten about it before hey release it to market. Then, as with the 920, we find out at nearly the last minute that it will only be offered by 1 retailer. Not good for a platform that wants to regain it's dominance it once had.

If I were a shareholder in Microsoft or any of the particular device makers and was dependent on WP's success, I would be beyond p!$$ed.

Fair point, but it is different this time around - the launch of WP8 and hardware can't be compared to any other other previous launch, they have nothing in common.

This time

You will be getting a unified integrated experience between multiple devices - laptop/PC/Tablet/Phone - that has never happened before.
Now Microsoft will be pushing WP8 as part of the overall W8 experience, it will take a while for the message to get out there, but the more tablets/laptops/PC's that are sold with W8 on them in turn will strengthen the message for WP8.

We all know that the Lumia 900 was a good phone, the bloggers said so, the tech reviews said so. but it still didn't sell well - because there was no point buying a W7.xx phone, no unique selling point, crippled OS - forget it

Now, there is good hardware, unified OS and we are finally at the beginning of a major technological shift in the way we use computing.
2 months ago I was an Android user with no interest in WP8, now I see the possibilities and Im switching to WP8
Im even going to get a surface tablet as I can see the point of having one now as well as a WP8 device. Computing is catching up on the way I want to use it, so I will buy into that future.
In the meantime we have had the iphone launch, and guess what, people are still talking about WP8 devices - that in itself is a massive achievement - the 2 biggest launches this year will be the Nexus devices and the W8/WP8 - the buzz on the web is for those two, not apple this time around..

people have to stop looking at it as a device/phone launch - it isn't, it is the launch of a whole new ecosystem which is a much bigger event that will have MS pushing alot harder to make sure it succeeds

Rant over, and I promise you Im not a MS salesman :-0

[stephen_az]

Between the horrid lack of pricing/release dates/carrier information and these Nokia "exclusivity" announcements, this whole thing is beginning to feel like a slow motion train wreck.

Is it too early to call this a fiasco? New Coke, anyone???

Actually, I think the Microsoft end of the equation would be fine if you took Nokia PR efforts and the exclusivity garbage out of the picture as well as VZW's absolute silence. It is not a RIM issue where release date actually might mean March of next year, and then get delayed again. The release of most of the phones will be on at least one carrier by early next month. As for pricing, how much lead time did Apple offer between iPhone 5 announcement and release of the product. Microsoft is attempting to generate advance buzz about the phones and there is nothing wrong with that effort. The problem, from my perspective though, is Nokia is not on the same page and is trying to act like they have a prominent position in the US market, when they might as well be a startup company when it comes to real brand visibility. The exclusivity angle and the fun tweets are just really stupid business. BTW, in case anyone has not noticed, HTC now has the 8X and 8S up on their web site, with the 8S having no details and the 8X being an AT&T phone.

[x I'm tc]

Between the horrid lack of pricing/release dates/carrier information and these Nokia "exclusivity" announcements, this whole thing is beginning to feel like a slow motion train wreck.

Is it too early to call this a fiasco? New Coke, anyone???

It was the best phone ever released. No, seriously. And when it came time to upgrade HP announced the Pre 2 and Veer and said, "It'll be ready in six months and not on your carrier."

And then pulled the plug on them.

That takes the cake.

[Reflexx]

Most people aren't heavily into this stuff.

Talk about this being a failed product launch are silly.

Wait until after we see the actual product launch and are able to analyze the actual results.

[aniym]

I would be happy if there was at least some news coverage, or press releases by Microsoft regarding developer interest. I'm talking about brand-name developers with big budget projects and how they think WP8 fits into their app portfolio plans going forward. That is what will drive consumer adoption.

I'm not at all surprised that the OEMs are blowing the launch. This has been happening in the PC market for years. When was the last time you heard of a single Windows laptop that sold in the millions and new iterations that consumers looked forward to? There's no brand visibility because OEMs churn out hundreds of almost identical models for little profit.

HTC at least has carriers lined up, but of course will leave advertising to them, which is always a bad idea). Nokia is acting surprisingly arrogant even after the OIS ad fiasco and the uncertainty around carrier availability. Nokia's pricing is what will kill it in the market. You simply cannot price it higher than the Galaxy S3 and expect it to sell. No amount of camera tech will change that.

Ironically, Samsung is the OEM that cares least about WP8 and is putting out one of the only phones that actually has a microSD AND a removable battery, the former being something WP7 followers have wanted since day 1.