Microsoft needs a nexus 4.

[nube_android]

Microsoft needs a nexus 4. Now, when I say this, some of you are probably about to either close this window, stop reading and hit back or laugh your @$$ off. I don't mean Microsoft needs android. Nor do I mean they need a full glass phone. Or a 4.7 inch phone.
What they need is a high end "Surface phone" sold through the Microsoft Store worldwide (Running WP8 of course, not android), for around $300, no contract. (GSM)
This would be the NO.1 thing that could propel them forward in their upward battle against android. Why? Because in most worldwide markets, contracts are not used, and this gives users an easy way to try WP!Microsoft could go along these specifications-
1.5GHZ Dual Core S4 plus with 2GB of RAM.:grin:
4.3 inch screen - COMPACT!!!
Choice of 16GB or 32Gb of storage
1080P screen
5MP quality camera (MP aren't everything, and this would leave Nokia some space.) :wink:
Surface looking design.- No kickstand, of course, just the silver/gray elite look
Decent battery- Unlike N4 or many android phones for the price:wink:
HSPA+/4G GSM(To make it world compatible)
NFC
Wifi and the rest of the usual stuff
$299 16GB $349 32GB
And no, this won't hurt Nokia, this would further strengthen the WP ecosystem in it's time of need.

 

[peacefulberry]

Most ppl are,looking forward to a surface like phone. You mentioned 4.3" and 4.7" phones. Microsoft currently has at least 4 phones at 4.3" and higher. Lumia 810/820, Lumia 920/928, HTC 8x, and the Samsung Ativ S. 3 of these have a minimum of 16GB internal storage. 2 also offer expandable storage. Sure, there's always room for improvement, however most of these phones already have high end features and wireless charging. Were you aware of these great devices?

 

[Honestabebread]

Screw making it just GSM. Throw in Verizon bands as well. A brand new, $300 high spec phone that lets you keep your unlimited. People would love it. And Verizon would love selling you the SIM card and not paying a subsidy.

 

[nube_android]

Screw making it just GSM. Throw in Verizon bands as well. A brand new, $300 high spec phone that lets you keep your unlimited. People would love it. And Verizon would love selling you the SIM card and not paying a subsidy.

I dunno about Verizon

 

[Dadstar0410]

Microsoft intended on the Windows Phone 8X to be the "stock device", saying that that phone "is what we look for in a WP8 device". They said it was as close to stock as you could get.

 

[omniusovermind]

This is debatable. Speaking for myself as a long time android user I am utterly sick and tired of carrier controlled updates and OEM "skins" both contributing to long delays to OS version updates, let alone simple patch fixes. (I refuse to call them "forks". Forks is a term that got coined on the internet by fragmentation apologists, who in typical head in the sand fashion try to make a bad situation they can't control appear better by putting a BS spin on it. They're skins, and yes they suck. Deal.) I'm done with the custom ROM scene now too. While there is a minority enthusiast group who use smartphones like a tinkering hobby, I personally got tired of it because I'm like the regular crowd. I want my devices to work as they're made. I don't mod my HDTV's, I expect them to be premium already when I buy them without requiring me to mod it just to keep up with software updates.

So this left me with only 2 choices. There's only two phones on the planet that are completely free of OEM and carrier meddling: iPhone and Nexus. I prefer Android to iOS so I bought a Nexus 4. When/if Apple pulls their head out of their behind, and releases a more cutting edge UI and loses all the siloing prevalent throughout their OS I may reconsider.

As far as WP8 is concerned you should take note that unlike you or me, there's a big market for people who aren't even aware of fragmentation at all - as is reflected in Samsung's sales of their Galaxy android phones. For those kinds of people, this is where Nokia would come in. On the other hand, one could also argue that an equally large number of people would prefer Apple's approach: Hardware and OS all from one source. As you can see I'm not taking a stance one way or the other as far as what MS "needs" for WP8 is concerned. But I will say that I'm in agreement with you in that I prefer my devices and the OS to come from the same place, with zero input from the carriers. What MS does need before they consider a Surface Phone is to polish up getting the basics that everyone keeps asking for on the OS itself. That should be top priority right now. Once that happens I would welcome the chance to try out a MS-manufactured WP8 as long as the OS updates come straight from One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA

PS: You should be happy to know that a couple months ago Qualcomm succeeded in making a world LTE chip that works on ALL bands, so there should be no excuse anymore for the next Nexus to not have LTE. This means that should MS choose to make a Surface Phone with LTE without having to make separate phones for different regions, they'll be able to do so.

 

[aniym]

Microsoft needs a nexus 4. Now, when I say this, some of you are probably about to either close this window, stop reading and hit back or laugh your @$$ off. I don't mean Microsoft needs android. Nor do I mean they need a full glass phone. Or a 4.7 inch phone.
What they need is a high end "Surface phone" sold through the Microsoft Store worldwide (Running WP8 of course, not android), for around $300, no contract. (GSM)
This would be the NO.1 thing that could propel them forward in their upward battle against android. Why? Because in most worldwide markets, contracts are not used, and this gives users an easy way to try WP!Microsoft could go along these specifications-
1.5GHZ Dual Core S4 plus with 2GB of RAM.:grin:
4.3 inch screen - COMPACT!!!
Choice of 16GB or 32Gb of storage
1080P screen
5MP quality camera (MP aren't everything, and this would leave Nokia some space.) :wink:
Surface looking design.- No kickstand, of course, just the silver/gray elite look
Decent battery- Unlike N4 or many android phones for the price:wink:
HSPA+/4G GSM(To make it world compatible)
NFC
Wifi and the rest of the usual stuff
$299 16GB $349 32GB
And no, this won't hurt Nokia, this would further strengthen the WP ecosystem in it's time of need.

The nexus 4 is my daily driver and it's great but I don't see how having a Nexus equivalent phone would help WP8. The Nexus 4 is unique because it's a high end Android phone priced at half of what a high end Android phone sells for. WP8 is different because there are already phones like the 620 and 520 that sell for under 250 USD and aside from the camera, feature largely the same level of app performance (excl. Some games) as the L920 or 8X.

With Android, you kinda do need the latest and greatest to ensure first-class performance. Not the case with Windows Phone so far. Specs are not what's holding back app developers, it's the uncertainty surrounding the platform's success. Even if MS could build a Nexus type device, their distribution channels are very weak compared to Nokia and HTC, both of whom can distribute globally.

Sent from my IdeaTabA2109A using Tapatalk HD

 

[montuq]

If they would release Windows Phone 8 OS for the Nexus 4 they would instantly have thousands of potential customers who already own the hardware

 

[gsquared]

With WP OEM vendors still on shakey ground MSFT competing against them would not be a good move. Think of where WP would be right now if it wern't for Nokia. Granted they are taking a different approach by emphasizing the Lumia brand name but if you only had HTC and Sammy to rely on WP would be in bad shape right now.

 

[Microsoftjunkie]

HTC looks to be that. They've always been the go to manufacture for Microsoft when it comes to phones.

Now Microaoft needs to quickly implement those other features like resolution, CPU, etc so that HTC can work their magic.

 

[omniusovermind]

HTC looks to be that. They've always been the go to manufacture for Microsoft when it comes to phones.

Now Microaoft needs to quickly implement those other features like resolution, CPU, etc so that HTC can work their magic.

It's a rough year for HTC. They've severely lost their Android lead to Samsung and their wp8 recognition to Nokia. They're banking everything they have now on the HTC One

sent from the slow as hell connection hanging Tapatalk app

 

[a5cent]

OP, you've described a solution, but not what problem you are trying to solve!

MS could easily do what you suggest by purchasing truckloads of L720s, rebranding them, and selling them at cost. That implements your solution. Does it solve your problem?

I'm with omniusovermind on this... carrier's involvement in updates is my biggest disappointment with WP. That needs to go away, and it needs to go away for every WP device. Not just for one specific WP model.

I want a real solution. Not just a hack that dances around that problem by solving it for only one device. That is also why I don't look forward to a hypothetical surface phone... not that one is coming, either way.

 

[AngryNil]

It will probably sell a (few) million, be called a flop next to 30 million iPhones, and that's that.

The Nexus 4 doesn't solve anything for Google and it won't solve anything for Microsoft either.

 

[Keith Wallace]

If they got something on the same level as the Nexus 4, I'd be totally against it. That thing lacked LTE and microSD support, while also having only 8 GB of storage in the $300 model ($350 for the model with 16 GB). That's just a terrible deal. I'd rather pay the extra $150 for an off-contract Lumia 920 with 32 GB of storage, wireless charging (plus the $50 charger for free), and LTE capability.

If you're talking a low-cost, high-quality device, I completely agree. I just didn't see the Nexus 4 as being one.

 

[iHuGi]

Google Phones flopped, Samsung keeps destroying everyone on the Android business...

Nokia will soon be equal on the WP business.

And Iphone keeps selling and selling.

 

[omniusovermind]

Google Phones flopped, Samsung keeps destroying everyone on the Android business...

Nokia will soon be equal on the WP business.

And Iphone keeps selling and selling.

They reached 2 million sold since end of November just from Google alone with zero advertising and zero carrier promotion until just recently. That's no flop considering that the highest sellers are naturally phones available and sold from carriers.

The Nexus 4, a niche market phone only available from ONE source, no LTE, and limited storage reached 2 million sold in roughly 5 months. Without even making any effort to. Lumia 920, sold from carriers around the world, sold 4.4 million in 4 months, with Nokia trying as hard as they could to promote it. What were you saying about a flop again...?

I find some of the above criticisms of the Nexus 4 coming from owners of phones made by a company that's been struggling for the last 3 years, and running an OS that's hovering usually between 2-4? market share even after a "revamped" OS and relaunch exceedingly ironic.

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