According to Thurrott on WP 8.1, this is it.

[b23h]

None of the outsiders truly know the reason for Microsoft's purchase of Nokia. It could be for their products and services, their portfolio of patents, or a defensive block to prevent another company from doing so.

When Nokia's devices makes up 90% of the WP market and buying that division will allow for a unification of software and hardware development there's hardly a reason to question the official line.

 

[JamesPTao]

The funny thing about everyone's obsession with hardware and having a quad core processor vs two core is almost no phone apps even take advantage of parelel processing and take advantage of two cores let alone 4. Sounds like a whole lot of measurbating marketing to me. Screw the hardware in and of itself. The real question should be how well and fast does the phone operate. A faster processor on a slower os is not better than a slower processor on am os that is very efficient and runs great.

 

[A895]

Maybe but unlike android it still runs smooth on minimal hardware. And their latest version, wp8.1, doesn't require the newest quad core to ru. Decent. Works great on my two core wp920

Those are old Android misconceptions.

Sent from my XT907 using Mobile Nations mobile app

 

[A895]

The funny thing about everyone's obsession with hardware and having a quad core processor vs two core is almost no phone apps even take advantage of parelel processing and take advantage of two cores let alone 4. Sounds like a whole lot of measurbating marketing to me. Screw the hardware in and of itself. The real question should be how well and fast does the phone operate. A faster processor on a slower os is not better than a slower processor on am os that is very efficient and runs great.

No it's not all marketing. Better processors translate to better real world performance no matter the OS. But most importantly the GPU should be a very good one. But so far, only the Windows Phones with the Snapdragon 800 have the best GPUs.

At that, I never hear ads talk about quad core this or that even though that's the first thing people criticize quad core phones for.

Sent from my XT907 using Mobile Nations mobile app

 

[TaichiSurface]

he's referring to windows phone 8.1 but GDR 1 GDR 2 might bring new features

 

[jaimeastin]

exactly! I wanted a new phone... just to get one, but my 920 is so solid... Shoot, I have though more to buy a battery and different housing rather than get a new phone. I need a real new phone and os update for me to give this guy up!

WP8.1 is really nice and windows phone in general. I am not missing a thing and I am a proud owner. Microsoft has me 100% in their ecosystem

 

[DavidinCT]

So what happened to the cool lock screen unlock animations?

Same thing I have been wondering for a while. When 8.1 was showed off, when you opened it, it spread the words...I want that....sure they could show it off at the show but, when the preview was released....No sign of it...

I just hope they update the Xbox Hub.....Sick of games everywhere and loading games in the Hub sometimes does not happen, never mind my biggest on that I EXPECTED with 8.1 is to show Xbox One games, achievements and the game your friends are playing on the Xbox one..

I love WP 8.1, no question but, the Game Hub (that I use a lot of) is a MAJOR disappointment... This BETTER be updated before final.

 

[neo158]

So what happened to the cool lock screen unlock animations?

I believe it was mentioned at BUILD that it was an app that should be released around the time WP8.1 hits GA.

 

[neo158]

Same thing I have been wondering for a while. When 8.1 was showed off, when you opened it, it spread the words...I want that....sure they could show it off at the show but, when the preview was released....No sign of it...

I just hope they update the Xbox Hub.....Sick of games everywhere and loading games in the Hub sometimes does not happen, never mind my biggest on that I EXPECTED with 8.1 is to show Xbox One games, achievements and the game your friends are playing on the Xbox one..

I love WP 8.1, no question but, the Game Hub (that I use a lot of) is a MAJOR disappointment... This BETTER be updated before final.

That can be updated AFTER it hits GA as it's not a core part of the OS any more.

 

[norir82]

I imagine the next update will be Fall of this year but I don't expect any groundbreaking releases until Windows Phone 9 in Spring of 2015.

 

[neo158]

None of the outsiders truly know the reason for Microsoft's purchase of Nokia. It could be for their products and services, their portfolio of patents, or a defensive block to prevent another company from doing so.



Microsoft has a long track record of re-re-re-rebooting their mobile operating systems. I've been using and developing for their mobile OSes since 2000. I'm painfully aware of how suddenly they drop and restart their mobile OS. Seems to be on a 4 year cycle. I see nothing in Microsoft's corporate culture to indicate that things will be different this time around. Especially since there is the inertia of project development... many times in a F500 company, projects must be carried out to completion (for financial, contractual, and legal reasons) even if the decision has been made to kill the project. The Kin was such a project.


Just to refresh everyone's memory:
Windows Mobile 2003 : June 23, 2003 (1st Windows-based smartphone OS)
Windows Mobile 5 : May 9, 2005
Windows Mobile 6: February 12, 2007
Windows Mobile 6.1 : April 1, 2008
Windows Mobile 6.5: May 11, 2009
Windows Phone 7: November 8, 2010
Windows Phone 8: October 29, 2012
Windows Phone 8.1 : April 2, 2014

That's not including PocketPC 2000 released in 2000 that was the foundation for everything that came afterwards.

Actually their mobile operating systems have only been "re-booted" twice, WP7 which was a major overhaul and WP8 when then switched to the NT core.

 

[Jas00555]

None of the outsiders truly know the reason for Microsoft's purchase of Nokia. It could be for their products and services, their portfolio of patents, or a defensive block to prevent another company from doing so.



Microsoft has a long track record of re-re-re-rebooting their mobile operating systems. I've been using and developing for their mobile OSes since 2000. I'm painfully aware of how suddenly they drop and restart their mobile OS. Seems to be on a 4 year cycle. I see nothing in Microsoft's corporate culture to indicate that things will be different this time around. Especially since there is the inertia of project development... many times in a F500 company, projects must be carried out to completion (for financial, contractual, and legal reasons) even if the decision has been made to kill the project. The Kin was such a project.


Just to refresh everyone's memory:
Windows Mobile 2003 : June 23, 2003 (1st Windows-based smartphone OS)
Windows Mobile 5 : May 9, 2005
Windows Mobile 6: February 12, 2007
Windows Mobile 6.1 : April 1, 2008
Windows Mobile 6.5: May 11, 2009
Windows Phone 7: November 8, 2010
Windows Phone 8: October 29, 2012
Windows Phone 8.1 : April 2, 2014

That's not including PocketPC 2000 released in 2000 that was the foundation for everything that came afterwards.

Were all of those Windows Mobile versions completely incompatible with each other? If not, then that would only be once every 7 years. I mean, unless you're getting mad at Apple because they go from iOS 1 to 2 to 3 etc...

 

[snowmutt]

I think some users are pushing the panic button before they need to, here. There is nothing to suggest MS is backing away from WP. Actually, every statement tells me they realize how important mobile is to the future of this company and their products. All I keep hearing as far as gossip from Mary Jo Foley and Mr. Thurrott is that WP 9.0 will be the long sought unification of mobile apps and mobile OS from WinRT and WP.

Besides, let's not forget what company we are talking about here. Microsoft is not a mobile only, or even mobile dependant, company. It is a vast, enterprise driven company with fingers in all sorts of profit producing pies. This is about the future, and MS fights for that. They do not need to be #1 in mobile phone OS's for this to be worth them to keep it up. They will release things on Apple and Android, and will continue to have desktop (which is declining but nowhere near dead, most likely not even really dying) software income, they have Bing turning a profit finally, they have XBOX entertainment services either established or launching producing profit, and maybe half a dozen other money making products I am either forgetting about or have no idea they are involved in. If WP continues to grow at .5%-1.0% a year, the money keeps getting better, they have their own OS to sell and improve on. That will be enough to keep them in the game, nibbling at Android and Apple. As more and more people use live tile based OS, more and more they will see WP as something common.

No crystal ball here, but I say through 2015, or even 2016 is assured. Any other worries are just a tad premature.

 

[thatotherdude24]

Yeah I don't understand what Microsoft was thinking with RT because it is useless when there are full Windows 8 tablets as low as $100. I don't think any manufacturer besides Microsoft and Nokia have a RT tablet at that. It shows OEMs don't have confidence in it.

Sent from my XT907 using Mobile Nations mobile app

I don't think OEMs do have confidence either. Especially HP with all the chromebooks they are pushing out as well as 2 Android powered laptops in the past year. Yes other OEMs are doing the same but HP seems to be doing it at a faster rate.


Sent from my iPad Air using Tapatalk

 

[A895]

I don't think OEMs do have confidence either. Especially HP with all the chromebooks they are pushing out as well as 2 Android powered laptops in the past year. Yes other OEMs are doing the same but HP seems to be doing it at a faster rate.


Sent from my iPad Air using Tapatalk

I am still waiting for HP to do a Android phone. Between the Chromebooks, Android Laptops and Tablets it's the only logical step left.

Sent from my XT907 using Mobile Nations mobile app

 

[Jazmac]

I didn't get a sense for Paul being mournful or something like that in that particular post, so I am a little confused by that. ...

You are entitled to be confused since I never implied Paul was mournful.

 

[LeopardSurd]

I just been looking at the list of Lumia phones available and i see no reason to upgrade either, there is no killer must have feature on high end phones, the bigger camera is nice but a killer feature no, i think my phone is the sweet spot of Lumias, perfect size 4.3", great battery life, no issues with 8.1, upgradeable memory with SD space and with thanks to the Os its snappy and never lags ...

I agree. For me a must-have feature is a huge battery in a easy pocketable body (720, 820, 920, 925, 8X phones).
Like my last Android phone: Moto Razr Maxx. But in that case, Android made it garbage..

 

[TechAbstract]

I agree. For me a must-have feature is a huge battery in a easy pocketable body (720, 820, 920, 925, 8X phones).
Like my last Android phone: Moto Razr Maxx. But in that case, Android made it garbage..

It would be nice if I can put Windows Phone on my Android phones. Still have couple of them laying around.

 

[b23h]

You are entitled to be confused since I never implied Paul was mournful.

Bingo, sorry. I'm still a little confused why you were lugubrious about 8.1 being more or less final and why you were thinking MS might want to pull the plug. However you responded to another poster who apparently had not upgraded to 8.1 and suggested that they talk to you when they had. So I assume you're not too terribly happy with 8.1 and would have preferred that it not be final and potentially fixed to some degree by "final" code. Is that too much of an assumption?

Now I've seen your posts before but I have to admit there's few people that I track or remember and it's usually because they have some sort of out there idea or are working my nerve. You're not in those categories. If you feel like summing up how you feel about 8.1 I'd like to hear it.

Personally I like it quite a bit. However there's definitely work that needs to be done on multiple issues. None of the problems are show stoppers for me and I am impressed by the steps forward more than I am depressed by the steps backwards or problems. I expect some of the issues I have concerns about will be addressed by either app updates or GDRs. Heck, some of the problem might be pushed to WP9. However overall I am happy with 8.1 and my 920 is working quite well.

So if you have time, what is your experience?

 

[WillysJeepMan]

So Microsoft has been in the mobile space for thirteen years and what they are going to walk away from it? They've moved WP's kernel from WinCE to WinNT and are moving to unify the stores and simplify the app development process across multiple platforms and you think WHAT?

Yes, we are going to see tweaks and further development. Yes, no doubt we will see a WP9. However we have a baseline product that MS is committed to and will continue to develop and support.

walk away, no... Restart? Quite likely... Especially given their track record.

is it so difficult for you to see their track record and their 2% market share and wonder why people are skeptical of their future in the mobile space?