WP in the US.

[mikeofthegarden]

I've seen some down in San Antonio. I've only seen 920's though. Been dying to see a 1020 in the wild

I saw a 1020 in the wild at a concert i went to last week. I was envious of the pictures they were taking (928 user here)

 

[AndyCalling]

Could you elaborate on this? My experience has been mostly positive with all of the things you mentioned, so I'd like to hear what it is that you feel is so bad about it. The web browser is simple, but fast and does what I need it to. Podcasts are easy to subscribe to, download automatically, etc. Not that any of that is anything special, but it is enough to make it completely acceptable in my eyes. As for games, well that is an are where there is room to grow, but the actual experience of playing games on Windows Phone is certainly not substantially different from other platforms.

I can elaborate a bit. Games? Great. Web? Marvellous. But music and podcasts? Erm...





My link to Xbox music has to be turned off, otherwise it'll retag all my music and do things like mark half an album with the artist 'Jamie T' and the other half with the artist 'Jamie T.' which is a real pain. So lots of features get lost. Upon searching for podcasts, exactly none are available in the store. None. Now THAT is a poor podcast range. Microsoft are really leading the field there. Of course, I can now finally add a custom podcast rss feed with the PC, but when I set it to do updates on the phone it never finds any. Totally broken.





So, I use a third party podcast app. Great, but none can save to the music library yet (I know it's possible because Audiocloud can do it) which means none can save my audio to the SD card despite my setting WP to redirect all audio to SD.





Music and podcasts are pretty broken. The rest of WP is pretty great post GDR2. Well, except the email functionality needs a good polish (no groups over 25, no pdf attachments...).

 

[Christian Kallevig]

Interesting, I've never encountered anything like that with Xbox Music, and I've been able to find the few podcasts I subscribed to with no issue whatsoever. Not that I doubt what you're saying- Windows Phone is honestly fairly buggy at times and Xbox Music is not a very mature service right now. Still, I don't think yours is a typical case.

Still sucks though

 

[gsquared]

Wow. Really? Different definition of cool in Britain. Exclusivity rules. If you want to be cool, you need to stand out from the crowd. I suppose that's why the eclectic nature of punk is still embedded in British fashion, it's a pastiche of simulacra, a trend of unconformity. At least, that was the idea. Everything gets commercialised in the end. Hence that butter advert (all Brits will get that one, but I'm too embarrassed to explain here).

Well put Sir..

If uniform conformity is the US idea of cool, then I'm completely stunned. Honestly, I never realised. You lie in your films! Tut tut.

 

[AndyCalling]

Interesting, I've never encountered anything like that with Xbox Music, and I've been able to find the few podcasts I subscribed to with no issue whatsoever. Not that I doubt what you're saying- Windows Phone is honestly fairly buggy at times and Xbox Music is not a very mature service right now. Still, I don't think yours is a typical case.

Still sucks though

I hear that in the US there are podcasts in the store. Thing is, as we have been discussing, no-one much uses a Windows phone in the US. Outside the US there are no podcasts in the store at all (perhaps in Canada? I don't know). So, why have podcast access in the one place all your customers aren't and nowhere else? Sorry, but the contents of the Microsoft mind is God's own sweet mystery.

 

[Christian Kallevig]

They are definitely not quick to act. I can certainly understand not having features available globally day and date with the US launch as these things of course require infrastructure, compliance with local laws and regulations, etc... But after a year it starts to become unacceptable. I can only hope that Microsoft starts moving as quickly as they need to to catch up and get ahead.

Also it would certainly be nice to see the market share here in the US looking more like it does over in Europe. I personally feel that the people actually selling the phones may be the biggest factor in this

 

[a5cent]

I don't disagree with anything you said here. All valid points. But the first thing people notice when they switch are the things that they miss from their former platform that WP doesn't currently have.

Yep, I was the first person in this thread to mention exactly that. Anyway, yes, the media will continue to be particularly critical of WP, but as long as that is the type of information the majority is most comfortable consuming, MS can't do anything on that front. MS could match iOS and Android, feature for feature, and it wouldn't change the media's approach one bit.

Some people seem to compile a feature comparison matrix in their head, and worry over every box that iOS and Android tick that WP can't. Certainly more boxes need to be ticked than WP currently does, but overall that isn't the right approach. The only way to push WP forward is to expand the matrix with entries that iOS and Android don't (or preferably can't) tick and to concentrate on them!

Making sure WP does a few things exceptionally well is much more important than ensuring that WP does nothing too poorly. Unfortunately, the later seems to be the more widely spread mind-set. That is what I'm trying to get across.

If you give people a reason to really want something, they will be more willing to excuse a few rough corners.

 

[AndyCalling]

That reason is app unification with Win8/RT. That appears to be coming, let's hope fast enough.

In the mean time, a phone with poor media and email is taking a big risk. I hope they plug those holes, at least.

 

[a5cent]

That reason is app unification with Win8/RT. That appears to be coming, let's hope fast enough.

In the mean time, a phone with poor media and email is taking a big risk. I hope they plug those holes, at least.

Yeah. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that MS doesn't need to fix a few things or add a few features. They do. I'd agree with the media angle for sure. I think the notification centre is another such me-too feature that WP can't do without, although I have no use for one myself. I'm just trying to point out that if WP's product roadmap were driven primarily by feature comparison matrices, then WP is doomed, but that is exactly how many of us here tend to think about it.

 

[Christian Kallevig]

Yeah. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that MS doesn't need to fix a few things or add a few features. They do. I'd agree with the media angle for sure. I think the notification centre is another such me-too feature that WP can't do without, although I have no use for one myself. I'm just trying to point out that if WP's product roadmap were driven primarily by feature comparison matrices, then WP is doomed, but that is exactly how many of us here tend to think about it.

That is a really excellent point. If all Microsoft does is play catch up then Windows Phone is doomed. People will wonder why they should switch platforms when they can get all the features they want on something more familiar.

Windows Phone's greatest strengths have always been the things it does differently. This is where Microsoft needs to double down and improve it till it's amazing. The de-emphasis of individual apps needs to become more prominent, and more needs to be done to make the people, information and media that exist within those apps and the web come front and center. It should be the easiest and smartest platform for accessing these things as part of a coherent whole.

Also if Cortana really is as smart and deeply integrated as we're hearing that could be a big deal too. I know on the surface it sounds like more of Microsoft playing catch-up, but what is known about it really ties in nicely to everything else they are doing with Windows Phone. Let's hope that it realizes its potential and also that more
refinement and cool differentiating features are in the pipeline.

Considering everything we thought was going to appear in Windows Phone 8.1 just six or seven months ago has found its way into interim updates, I think there's a strong possibility we'll see some very noteworthy improvement soon.

 

[N_LaRUE]

Wow. Really? Different definition of cool in Britain. Exclusivity rules. If you want to be cool, you need to stand out from the crowd. I suppose that's why the eclectic nature of punk is still embedded in British fashion, it's a pastiche of simulacra, a trend of unconformity. At least, that was the idea. Everything gets commercialised in the end. Hence that butter advert (all Brits will get that one, but I'm too embarrassed to explain here).

If uniform conformity is the US idea of cool, then I'm completely stunned. Honestly, I never realised. You lie in your films! Tut tut.

I'd love to know what US films you're watching. I haven't been to the US since 2007 and I haven't lived near it (I'm from Canada) since 2003 so my information might be out of date a touch. Before I left the trend in schools was to be like everyone else otherwise you get picked on. Parents were having to buy the 'name brands' so their kids didn't stick out. WP isn't a good name brand so therefore you'll stick out. If it could at least match some aspects of the other OS's it wouldn't be so bad. However this is not the case.

Of course the trends may have changed somewhat due to the financial meltdown but I don't believe that thinking has disappeared too much. Conformity seems the norm in many societies.

 

[N_LaRUE]

We don't get that much marketing here in the UK for WP. Not sure why. The commercials I've seen are all garbage and there's nothing in them to make WP appealing, yet the market share here continues to increase.

I think once WP8.1 comes out we can then see what surprises there are. I think they should do more traditional marketing and get away from bashing other platforms and just tell people why WP is better. It's not the hard.

 

[EchoOne30]

I've only ever seen two windows phones. Once at a Lids store (hat store here in Canada), and once at a Red Wings game. I've been on this platform since early 2011. However just this summer, I've found people went from saying "what on earth kind of phone is that" to "ah cool, is that like those windows tablets?"

So in my sample size of me, it seems the general public isn't really getting the phones, but they are aware of at least the windows 8 tablets, and don't turn their nose down at the notion of it being a phone as well.

Also just keep in mind, Microsoft "doesn't care" how long it takes. When they're in it, they're in it. They lost money on the entire xbox first gen. But they committed and won the next gen. They have roughly infinite money to throw at it until it catches on. They believe it's vital to their future, so it will never go away.

 

[JonnieLasVegas]

It has already gone too mainstream for my liking. I would like more business features instead of all the consumer bull****.

How very hipster of you, lol!

 

[JonnieLasVegas]

Wow. Really? Different definition of cool in Britain. Exclusivity rules. If you want to be cool, you need to stand out from the crowd. I suppose that's why the eclectic nature of punk is still embedded in British fashion, it's a pastiche of simulacra, a trend of unconformity. At least, that was the idea. Everything gets commercialised in the end. Hence that butter advert (all Brits will get that one, but I'm too embarrassed to explain here).



If uniform conformity is the US idea of cool, then I'm completely stunned. Honestly, I never realised. You lie in your films! Tut tut.

Trust me, he doesn't speak for all of America. What he explained is pretty much half the story. It depends on your area too. In Vegas it's definitely not how he says the OC is. Here you better stand out from the crowd and be different to even have a shot at being considered cool.

 

[AndyCalling]

I'd love to know what US films you're watching. I haven't been to the US since 2007 and I haven't lived near it (I'm from Canada) since 2003 so my information might be out of date a touch. Before I left the trend in schools was to be like everyone else otherwise you get picked on. Parents were having to buy the 'name brands' so their kids didn't stick out. WP isn't a good name brand so therefore you'll stick out. If it could at least match some aspects of the other OS's it wouldn't be so bad. However this is not the case.

Of course the trends may have changed somewhat due to the financial meltdown but I don't believe that thinking has disappeared too much. Conformity seems the norm in many societies.

To quote one of my favorites, "This here jacket is a snake skin jacket, and for me it is a symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom". US cinema has fed me the line of freedom, free choice and the cult of the individual since I was a child in the 70s/80s until now. If only they had passed the same message around the US interior as well.

 

[AndyCalling]

Trust me, he doesn't speak for all of America. What he explained is pretty much half the story. It depends on your area too. In Vegas it's definitely not how he says the OC is. Here you better stand out from the crowd and be different to even have a shot at being considered cool.

Thank goodness for that. If the US and China both start pushing those little blue suits, then we'll all have to start wearing them! ~

 

[AndyCalling]

We don't get that much marketing here in the UK for WP. Not sure why. The commercials I've seen are all garbage and there's nothing in them to make WP appealing, yet the market share here continues to increase.

I think once WP8.1 comes out we can then see what surprises there are. I think they should do more traditional marketing and get away from bashing other platforms and just tell people why WP is better. It's not the hard.

Really? Freeview has been full of Win8/RT/WP ads for what seems like forever. They've been pretty good too, well, since the dancing tablet people have been retired anyway. I do think we need to hear more about how Mr Corden is doing with his new Win Phone though. Much more personal, those ads.

 

[tgp]

The commercials I've seen are all garbage and there's nothing in them to make WP appealing,

That's my opinion of the WP & Surface commercials I've seen here in the US. The Surface commercials are halfway deceptive. I agree that Microsoft needs to work on pointing out the strong points of their products rather than bashing the competition. And maybe pointing out a different strong point than editing a PowerPoint. Seriously, how many potential customers see that and say, "I sure wish I could do that on my iPad! Next stop, Microsoft store!"?

yet the market share here continues to increase.

It's rising here too, but not very much. Sheer numbers are going up fast, but so is overall smartphone saturation. Percentage wise the market share increase is rather small.

 

[emagius]

Could you elaborate on this? My experience has been mostly positive with all of the things you mentioned, so I'd like to hear what it is that you feel is so bad about it. The web browser is simple, but fast and does what I need it to. Podcasts are easy to subscribe to, download automatically, etc. Not that any of that is anything special, but it is enough to make it completely acceptable in my eyes.

This has been elaborated on in other posts in other threads, but just as a recap:

1) Podcasting downloading is very spotty; sometimes podcast episodes won't automatically download and sometimes don't even show up in the app catalog, even though they've been published and are available using other apps/OSes. This includes even some of the most high-profile podcasts (e.g., This American Life). Additionally, for podcast sources that keep an archive of all episodes, WP8 will attempt to download old episodes in order to fill its subscription settings, even if the old episodes have been marked as already played.

2) With regard to media playback (including podcasts and audiobooks), WP8 lacks playback speed control. WP8 also inserts audio gaps into albums that are meant to be gapless (live albums, orchestral/classical music, electronica, Dark Side of the Moon, etc.). (For what it's worth, the old Zune music players supported gapless playback, but it never worked very well in practice). Additionally, WP8 loses playback position when switching between media (or a host of other triggers), which kills audiobook playback. Playlist/library management is also effectively non-existent since the loss of the Zune software.

3) IE10/Trident is exceedingly slow at rendering/resizing pages (and the various skins, such as UC Browser, do not rectify this), cannot load pages in background tabs (and often must reload tab contents upon switching tabs), and is unable to maintain visible text boxes/form fields in a wide variety of situations.

This is core functionality for a smartphone/media device in 2013 (or even 2008), but Microsoft has dropped the ball.