Getting frustrated with Windows Phone

[mwdavis84]

Starting to get frustrated at the lack of anything new for Windows Phone. What new flagship devices did we see in 2013? The 1020, which was a rehashed 920 with a better camera, certainly pushed the envelope of mobile photography ? but if you already had a 920 / 8x, unless imaging is your most important feature, why would you update? The 1520 brought some nice improvements on the hardware front, but plenty of people don?t want a phablet. For me, the 920 is already pushing the limits of comfortable use, with the 8x being just about the perfect size.

Where does that leave us WP8 early adopters that want an upgrade? Granted, CES is still going, and MWC is next month, but there hasn?t even been a rumor of a new device worth getting excited about. Six months ago I was excited about the prospect of the HTC Harmony ? the body and guts of the HTC One running WP8 ? but that seems to have faded into oblivion. Maybe it will resurface with the hardware of the M8 instead? I dunno, I?m not getting my hopes up.

It isn?t much better on the software side of things. WP8 added some awesome new stuff, but also broke things that haven?t been fixed yet (Xbox Music is an abomination compared to Zune, for example). The GDDR updates were nice service packs but nothing earth shattering. WP 8.1 sounds good from the rumors, but when is that coming? Doesn?t sound like anytime soon, since GDD3 isn?t even fully released yet.

WP7 ? 7.5 was a huge update with tons of features. 7.5->8 was a little lighter, but that was (rightfully) blamed on the amount of effort required to switch to the NT kernel. So why was 2013 such a middling year? Market share is continuing to grow; this is a critical time where the average consumer is starting to actually be aware of Windows Phone. This seems like a terrible time to take your foot off the gas, but that?s what it feels like happened. As someone that?s owned a Venue Pro, Focus, 8x, Lumia 800, 900, and 920, not to mentioned having developed half a dozen apps for the platform, for the first time, I?m having thoughts about jumping ship, and that makes me sad. The Sony Z1 Compact would look great running Windows Phone?.but if I don?t hear some kind of exciting news between now and MWC, which happens to coincide with said device?s release, I might just have to get it regardless of it?s operating system?.

 

[jmshub]

There were rumors of Microsoft and Sony teaming up for a Windows Phone. Even if that is true, I seriously doubt you will see something til the second half of 2014. I'm sure a lot of phones to be released in '14 will be aimed for the release of WP 8.1, probably sometime later in the year. If having to wait is a dealbreaker, then good luck with Android.

 

[Pete]

It's not really all about flagship devices. Nokia has really carried the torch this year and produced new handsets right across the board of affordability and created some great apps to support them. A lot of the emphasis has been on increasing the user base of the platform, recognizing the fact that not everyone can afford high-end devices.

Aside from supporting the new hardware, WP8 development hasn't progressed as much as it could have done - this is likely due to the huge core reorganisation that Microsoft has gone through, and the burgeoning deal with Nokia.

Now that the market share is seen to be rising steadily, we're seeing more companies creating apps for WP8 - Instagram has been a big win, for example.

I don't think that it's been a bad year for Windows Phone at all...

 

[Nokia Boy]

Yeah agree with some points,nokia's flagship phones are not so my taste,i would never want a 41MP camera phone (i'm not a photographier) nor 6 inches screen(i would need a large pocket for it lol),i want to see if nokia will make a 920 succesor that offers the power of 1520 but the size of 920 too (inb4 they shall make a mini 1520 as succesor of 920 )
Also that rumor about HTC one's body with WP8 sounds great and i think htc will do that-when was the last time they released a windows phone,Since June 2013?
Here is some info about WP8.1 Windows Phone 8.1 includes notification center and Siri-like personal assistant | The Verge

 

[mwdavis84]

It's not really all about flagship devices. Nokia has really carried the torch this year and produced new handsets right across the board of affordability and created some great apps to support them. A lot of the emphasis has been on increasing the user base of the platform, recognizing the fact that not everyone can afford high-end devices.

Aside from supporting the new hardware, WP8 development hasn't progressed as much as it could have done - this is likely due to the huge core reorganisation that Microsoft has gone through, and the burgeoning deal with Nokia.

Now that the market share is seen to be rising steadily, we're seeing more companies creating apps for WP8 - Instagram has been a big win, for example.

I don't think that it's been a bad year for Windows Phone at all...

Sure, Nokia's proliferation of low end devices is good for the platform, and good for adoption, but they still haven't really changed the top end, which is frustrating. As for the apps, they've been slowly adding big name apps over the last three years. This year wasn't really any different in that regard. They added a few big ones they were missing, same as they did last year, and the year before. I actually expected more of an increase in apps/quality this year than we saw - the biggest improvement in WP8 wasn't user facing, it was the SDK.

Low end devices are very good for market share and consumer mindshare, but the money is in high end devices, for both manufacturers and app developers. Is it really ok to go two years between flagships? Something like the 1520 in a body that's more mass-marketable would be very good for the platform - and for me

 

[thecanuckguy]

I would suspect, you will see new flag ship phones, once WP 8.1 (Blue) is announced. I would say in a couple of months you will hear rumors of quad core phones and 1080p displays on phones. Hang in there things are going to get crazy.

 

[Maaz Mansori]

I've had the Focus, Lumia 900, and 920 as well; the 929 should be a nice upgrade if it is a 1520 with a smaller screen, though hopefully it will be on more carriers besides Verizon.
I agree that WP 8.1 should have been out already, software development was too slow in 2013; it appears that it should be released in the next 3 months or so. There are 2 new Nokia phones that are rumored to ship with 8.1, codenamed Goldfinger and Moneypenny but we don't know much about them yet. Hopefully they will be revealed at MWC. I'm thinking if either of those have nice specs, it will be my next phone.

 

[Pete]

Nokia 1520 is a quad core phone, with a 1080p screen.

I recently saw a report of an octa-core phone. Not really sure it's needed...

 

[squire777]

Big time phones are hardly ever announced at CES anymore so it's best to just wait til MWC. I doubt MS would let the release of 8.1 and MWC pass without having any new hardware out there.

 

[Speedygi]

Personally, I felt that the Lumia 1520 is a great phone, so if you are looking for something new, that is what you definitely need to look at. And also go read Dan Rubino's interviews with Nokia at CES, you will see alot of new stuff coming, and that's all good.

Although I still felt that the operating system itself needs some tweaking, like when they needed to scale the keyboard down on bigger screens so we'd have more screen real-estate, but I still feel with such a powerful device like the 1520, things are looking bright.

 

[mwdavis84]

Personally, I felt that the Lumia 1520 is a great phone, so if you are looking for something new, that is what you definitely need to look at. And also go read Dan Rubino's interviews with Nokia at CES, you will see alot of new stuff coming, and that's all good.

Although I still felt that the operating system itself needs some tweaking, like when they needed to scale the keyboard down on bigger screens so we'd have more screen real-estate, but I still feel with such a powerful device like the 1520, things are looking bright.

Internally the 1520 is definitely a great device - but not everyone wants a phablet. I already have a 7" tablet, I have no need for a 6" phone.

 

[Speedygi]

Internally the 1520 is definitely a great device - but not everyone wants a phablet. I already have a 7" tablet, I have no need for a 6" phone.

Well, then I must say they have two good choices at lower screen sizes like the 1020 and the 925...

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[Laura Knotek]

http://forums.windowscentral.com/windows-phone-8/210477-official-what-wp-needs-succeed.html