Lets make Microsoft talk about Windows Mobile!

[Nitish_KSharma]

*I apologize for the typo in the headline. I don't know how to update it as well.

So, I know our community has been having rough time lately. There has been no major announcement since, well, nobody remembers since when lets just say, long time. At present, when there are handful of Windows Mobile handsets in market and except Idol 4S and Elite X3 there is nothing much to talk about. We have been living with small hopes that leak from time to time here at windows central. Even Microsoft's own phones are pretty much dead. At this point, honestly, all we want is a closure as series of articles on windows central by both Dan and Jason have shared similar views and even the podcasts. I have tried tagging them on twitter and seems like they are turning a deaf ear to all the voices related to Windows Mobile, at least for the moment.

But, I still believe that for 7 years of support, the least MS can do for us is to give us a closure and tell us frankly what its plans are. So, I would suggest that we as a community start a campaign to do something about it. We can create something on fb or twitter and use some hashtag (anything like #TalkAboutMobile or #WhatsUpWithWP ) to get their attention. There is a device event coming on May 2 and then build from 10 to 12. going by the news so far on it, they are not going to do anything about Windows Mobile in these events and its easier to brush aside Windows Mobile. But this can be a good opportunity for them to talk a little about future if we give it a little push. I am pretty sure people from MS do keep themselves updated on what is happening at least from communities like windows central or reddit for that matetr. What do you guys think about it? If we can get support from Dan or Zac or anyone from windowscentral's team to push it a little, we can at least make them talk about it.

 

[SeeVuPlay]

Good Idea....at this point, I would like for them to say they no longer do WinPhones, and Mobile means "not phones". I don't want to have to keep buying 950xl replacement batteries because of stupid random restarts.

 

[Nitish_KSharma]

Yes and looking at past, I don't think they are in any mood to discuss anything about WM's future with us which is pretty frustrating.

 

[SeeVuPlay]

I just read on Thurrott a story about MS going to Android. I guess, once my 950xl goes, I'm heading to Apple....would have to shower a whole lot more, but I hate giving Google money......damn schmucks!

 

[eshropshire]

Microsoft does not make statements like you are requesting. I have been in the tech industry for almost 30 years. I have competed against Microsoft, developed products for Microsoft and I have partnered with Microsoft. I have many good friends that are senior managers, directors and Vice Presidents at Microsoft. When Microsoft decides to deemphasize an area they just let it slowly fade away. Later they may talk about it, but only after they have fully pulled the products out of the market.

A few years ago, Windows Mobile was all the rage at Tech Ed and Build. For the last several years they have not been mentioned at Build or Ignite. Nadella since he has taken over has tried to distance himself as far as possible from Balmer's mobile strategy. Nadella's strategy has been pretty clear, he has championed ensuring Microsoft's apps and services run great on iOS and Android. To me a clue of the MS emphasizing this strategy is selling Android phones at Microsoft's stores. Anyone who does not understand the message Microsoft is sending is in total denial. Selling Android phones that get great Microsoft app software updates full demonstrates Nadella strategy. Microsoft once in awhile makes mistakes in tech execution, but they are total PR masters. If they are silent it is by plan, if they start selling competitor products in their stores and spread the word far and wide, that is by plan.

 

[nate0]

Microsoft once in awhile makes mistakes in tech execution, but they are total PR masters. If they are silent it is by plan, if they start selling competitor products in their stores and spread the word far and wide, that is by plan.

Well put my friend. The amount of mobile phones that have flooded the market since Android took over is insane. I should open my own business recycling all this stuff. I would make a killing for the next 25 years.

The IT industry is just that. Microsoft started off making software. They are just making sure they go back to their roots. Sure they opened up a can of worms with special hw, and showed they can do it.

I have decided we do not need anything explained to us from Microsoft that we do not already have. I just assume sit back and enjoy what is happening around me.

 

[Ryujingt3]

I read the same Thurott Android article. I am not a fan of either Apple or Google so I guess I am stuck.

 

[BrunoMG]

Exactly! I browse through this forum and mostly what I see is denial!
Lets face it!
WP is dead. People can keep their unsupported phones but bear in mind that this is the end of the line. No matter what Dona or Nadella say. People are not stupid.
MS was even sloppy enough to throw away 6 or 7% market share they had with windows phone 8.1 and end up with 0,7 or 0,8% with w10m !!!! This says A LOT about what w10m is and will be.

I don't like Apple or Google very much but indeed.....they overtook MS big time.

 

[Drael646464]

So you don't have the creators update of home or pro, with its phone app, mobile hotspot, and SMS/MMS settings?

I thought everyone would know what was happening with WM by now - its being replaced with windows on arm. They wouldn't be migrating the mobile networking components just for funsies. So that's the software side.

As for phones, reading between the lines I think MS wants its next device to have phone capabilities, but have more of an emphasis on the computer side. Ie 'mobile pc',. How that takes shape is literally anyones guess.

They probably want a little wow.

They've said that slab phones are a temporary thing occasionally, and on that point I happen to agree.

If your going to unveil a new product, typically timing is important. It'll likely be mentioned at build. I can see this whole convergence being released soonish (late this year, early next), and they'll have to give devs the heads up.

But yeah WM is dead. Mobile windows devices (not tablets or laptops), are not. That's as clear as you'll get until they are good and ready.

In the meantime, WM does serve as a template for smaller screen devices....hence why they are still rolling out updates. And if it does converge, it seems like some devices will be able to come along for the ride.

But when you are doing what MS is attempting to do, build a hybrid OS for the future, and leapfrog your competition, development takes as long as development takes. And every move is chess-like.

Just be glad you aren't a blackberry customer I suppose.

 

[SeeVuPlay]

Everyone keeps saying that the message is clear......it is not clear. Will they, or will they not make a device that can make calls? I don't care what they call it. "windows phone is dead, but windows mobile is alive". Windows on Arm, x86 mobile...... Yeah, real clear.

 

[anon(50597)]

Everyone keeps saying that the message is clear......it is not clear. Will they, or will they not make a device that can make calls? I don't care what they call it. "windows phone is dead, but windows mobile is alive". Windows on Arm, x86 mobile...... Yeah, real clear.

I find it hard to believe that future devices, whatever form they take, would not make calls. It just won't be their main function.
Technology is always changing and what was the norm 10 years ago is not today. That continues. Just because slab phones with apps are the norm today doesn't mean they're here for the next 1000 years. This won't happen overnight though, so I'm not panicked that my WM device will suddenly stop working next month. They continue to update. People are still using BB10 devices and they are no longer updated. Not the best scenario but it works for many.
I'm just enjoying the current experience and waiting to hear/see what's next. I know its trying our patience, but there's not much else we can do. I won't let it stress me out or start making "windows phone is dead" comments which do nothing to help the situation.

Sent from mTalk on my SP4

 

[Zachary Boddy]

I enjoy my Lumia 950 XL. It works and it's still being updated and supported. If, in the future, Windows 10 Mobile is dropped completely and replaced with everything else, well I'll evaluate my options then and decide on my next move. For now, all I can do is continue to use my phone (which I love dearly) and continue to support the Windows Insider Program and Windows 10.

 

[Ma Rio]

Here are a few quick thoughts of mine:

-The devices we currently have that run eather Win10M, or Windows Phone, are straight up dead, RIP, ende, fade to black. A few (as we can see very few) will get the next update (the one after CU), but that's about it. My guess is they'll just stop after that. From what it seems to me, they wanna wipe us clean, so that we are treated like we never existed, nobody mentiones it, and everyone just moves on. They want nothing to do with it for now.

-While MS does seem to support Android as much as it can, I don't think they'll go down that route. They can't be that stupid not to realise how crucial the mobile part is in their strategy. So I think Android will just serve to bridge the gap until they figure something out, which leads me to...

-Mobile devices (not gonna say phones) which are a part of MS's ecosystem (not gonna say running Windows, or Win10M, or anything) will at some point have to be announced. We just have to wait it out. What's going to come - I don't know, but my guess is the current most popular guess - phones running Windows on ARM.

Oh yeah, and by the way, MS doesn't care for your petitions, trending hashtags, or whatever, they do what they want. So just go do something with your life and keep an eye out on Windows Central every once in a while.

 

[andrew-in-woking]

I don't think it's fair to say that any phones not getting the future feature updates are dead. They will continue to get security/maintenance updates (possibly even monthly) and they still work so any server side support that Microsoft provides will continue.

I don't think Microsoft owes us anything (and I'm sure they don't feel like they do). We bought phones and paid our money for them and we have them. Last time I checked that was the essence of a vendor-consumer relationship.

If you wanted to, you could use a smallish Windows 10 tablet device on WiFi or cellular network data to make and receive calls, e.g. with a headset or just on speaker. Skype, or other services will allow for this, so the idea that we need portable devices with a phone in them is actually not the case. It surprises me that we still use voice calling at all rather than all VoIP technology. My phone (950 XL) is set up to make calls and send/receive text messages through my network provider on WiFi, so I can use it underground, etc.

The problem with the mobile market is the business model and the dominance of network suppliers as phone vendors. I think Microsoft want to (and should) overcome this by selling "ultraportable" computers to corporate customers and then use that to change how consumers want to use and buy devices over time.

I would be very happy if my next portable device ran Windows and only used the mobile networks for data and used a service like Skype for inbound and outbound calls. There will be a time when we'll all be using WhatsApp or similar for calls anyway.

 

[Drael646464]

Everyone keeps saying that the message is clear......it is not clear. Will they, or will they not make a device that can make calls? I don't care what they call it. "windows phone is dead, but windows mobile is alive". Windows on Arm, x86 mobile...... Yeah, real clear.

There's a nice article on this, from a few months ago. It mentions a device shown briefly in one of MS promo vids. It's kind of like two credit card sized screens that fit together. It can, yes make calls, but that isn't it's primary function (you can separate them and use one for a call). No idea if that's what they are making, but the plan is to change the FF and design, emphasizing the computer side, making it technically a phone, but not so much a "smart phone".

Windows 10 on arm for example, in itself can't even really be called "a smart phone". Because it can power full PC software, its more of a PC.

 

[EspHack]

1-theres no plan
2-the plan is not completed, still in drawing board + possibly critical elements for the plan still not ready

thats why they are silent, its probably 2 AND that plan isnt high on the list of priorities, remember hololens? oh im sure they are investing like hell on it, and the possibilities with that thing are huge, imagine wp becoming an accessory to a newer hololens that can be worn all day and looks like regular glasses, wp device acting as remote+cpu+connectivity

imagine full multi monitor-like holographic desk on you everywhere you go, that is the ultimate mobile tech solution, apps be dammed, almost any form factor computer would be irrelevant after such a thing gets released, gaming and enthusiasts aside as always

I cant wait for it, and im pretty sure they are working on something at least close to that, time to think big, phones are as dead as big computers today, just waiting to be replaced

 

[Awhispersecho]

I am so sick of people talking about how this new device will be mobile but it's primary use won't be making calls. Noone primarily uses their smartphones to make calls anymore. Making calls is way down on the list of what people use their smartphones for. So now we have MS and everyone else trying to get cute with the naming and description of a device MS might release that does the same thing a smartphone does. The only difference is MS will try to call it something else and act like it falls into a different category. It will be a PC that makes calls. The exact same thing that smartphones are today for most people

 

[Drael646464]

I am so sick of people talking about how this new device will be mobile but it's primary use won't be making calls. Noone primarily uses their smartphones to make calls anymore. Making calls is way down on the list of what people use their smartphones for. So now we have MS and everyone else trying to get cute with the naming and description of a device MS might release that does the same thing a smartphone does. The only difference is MS will try to call it something else and act like it falls into a different category. It will be a PC that makes calls. The exact same thing that smartphones are today for most people

If smartphones are PCs, let every gamer, creative and enterprise user replace their desktop with an android phone. Let every home with a computer, throw it in the garbage because they have an iPhone. A chromebook is more a laptop, than a smartphone is a PC.

 

[matt john2]

If smartphones are PCs, let every gamer, creative and enterprise user replace their desktop with an android phone. Let every home with a computer, throw it in the garbage because they have an iPhone. A chromebook is more a laptop, than a smartphone is a PC.

Not sure about the first sentence but the second sentence is already happening, few of the people I know are already giving away their Windows powered PCs because they don't use it anymore, I even scored 3 PCs lately. And guess what they replaced it with, an iPad pro.

 

[BrunoMG]

Not sure about the first sentence but the second sentence is already happening, few of the people I know are already giving away their Windows powered PCs because they don't use it anymore, I even scored 3 PCs lately. And guess what they replaced it with, an iPad pro.

An iPad Pro is just a big iPhone.
As long as it is carrying iOS instead of OSX.....its a cute nice onion chopping board.