New to Windows Mobile -- my thoughts.

[jonesyvoor]

First of all, I’d like to fashion myself as the quintessential consumer that Microsoft has to “win” for this mobile platform to be a success. I’m a late 30s professional male and while not a certified “technofile” I do possess enough savvy to truly appreciate a good mobile experience and I’m “nerdy” enough to find myself frequenting mobile phone discussion forums (no offense intended).

I’ve had smart phones since the early 2000s and became one of the iSheep herd in 2009. Admittedly I fell in love with the iphone. The phone was a marvel – it worked as intended, was very intuitive and you got to be a part of the whole Apple experience. It felt like there was a party going on and I was invited.

However, I’m at the tipping point in which I am bored with the iphone like many others. The incremental launches have failed to inspire and I’ve finally had the light bulb go off that Apple’s phone wasn’t the greatest anymore. There are other exciting options that work well and have greater features.

So that brings me here. I’ve been lurking for the past month and I’m psyched about getting one of the WP8 phone (and possibly tablet). Android is an option and would present a new experience but I’ve always been a guy that likes the underdog and the up-and-coming technology before it’s hit mainstream. To that end, I was a first-day purchaser of the Palm Pre and the WebOs movement but that only lasted two weeks before I ditched that for the iphone.

My only fear with going Windows Phones is that I’ll experience another Palm Pre moment. I doubt that will be the case as Windows is already much more advanced but that leads to my thoughts.

For MS to capture the throng of phone owners suffering from iPhone fatigue they don’t necessarily need to have a phone better than the iphone (yet). However there are a few critical things that would cause me great remorse.

1) The handsets need to be of high quality. From what I’ve seen all three OEMs that are producing phones seem to be bringing some quality options to the table. I personally like the Lumia and Samsung. The Palm Pre was a piece of crap quite frankly and that ruined my initial perception
2) Almost all of the basic functionality must be there. If I’m missing some of my favorite apps I’ll live. However if I can't text a video or if I can’t listen to music while surfing the web then that’s going to be unacceptable.
3) I’d like at least 1 or 2 killer features that I couldn’t do with the iphone.

Other than that, the unique UI of WP8 along with live tiles and wallet will be enough to keep me a satisfied customer and should also be enough to lure away bored iphone and android users as time goes by.

I can’t wait to see what’s coming and more specifically which phones will be available on Verizon.

 

[brmiller1976]

They've hit on all of your criteria. The phones will all be smooth, quality, stunning devices (even the low end). The only downside is that you still don't know it's "Windows Phone" now.

 

[fwaits]

First off, welcome back. Second, before others come in and go psycho on you, it's Windows Phone, not Mobile anymore since 2010. (Touchy thing with WP fans)

That out of the way, I think your concerns while valid, are not likely to come true anytime soon. As you mentioned WP even with it's low marketshare in the US, has been slowly growing and taking hold elsewhere in the world, and I think with WP8 (Microsoft's true goal for their mobile platform, merging code with desktop Windows and such) the real start for them is here. They have a solid app library to grow from, the ecosystem and shared services are now starting to fall in place, and with Windows 8 bringing developers within arms reach of WP8 in terms of app code (not to mention native code), the boost to the platform should accelerate. With quality devices coming from Nokia, HTC, and Samsung, even the US market should start gaining some traction. However i still think it will be a slow climb in the beginning. This is a war of attrition against the 2 mobile powerhouses right now, it's not easy to pull people away from their comfort zone, and what they believe is the best out there right now. MS needs some coolness back in their name to get the ball rolling, but I think if they can get to ~10% in the US, the momentum from there should carry them forward to respectable numbers for the foreseeable future.

As for killer features that depends on you, but there are some notable things like:

- WP8/W8/Xbox/Skydrive/Smart Glass capabilities that we've only seen the basics of.
- Kid's Corner (Parental Controlled area that lets you share apps, files, and such to your kids or other user of the device without giving them access to the entire phone.
- NFC capabilities that the iPhone doesn't have yet
- Wireless Charging (Nokia Lumia's)
- Superior camera/screen (Nokia Lumia's)

That's just a few things I came up with off the top of my head. Anyway, unless you have some very specific must have app needs that aren't currently found on WP, I don't think you will be disappointed at all.

 

[jonesyvoor]

I'll never use the phrase Windows Mobile again. I was having flashbacks to my old PPC 6700 phone (yes I did have that for two years). Let's make a deal and forget that ever happened.

 

[dhledm]

I'm with you on this. I too have been an iPhone fan since getting the iPhone 4 two years ago. Like most Apple fans, I didn't know there was something better out there and just assumed that iOS and the iPhone were the best. How wrong I was. A little bit of research and all of a sudden my eyes are wide open, and I realized what I would be missing by staying with Apple.

I am anxiously waiting for the Lumia 920 to come out for my first introduction to WP8. I am confident that I won't be disappointed. Let's spread the word.

 

[sconrad308]

Welcome to our newest iSheep that have seen the LIGHT!!!!

I've had Blackberries, Androids, Symbian, and an iPhone (for 29 days) before I took it back because I didn't like it.

I was thinking of continuing with Androids or Symbian's but then checked out WP. It is refreshing and I get things done so much faster than my friends on their phones. It is smooth and information is right there at a glance. I love it. Now I'm waiting to upgrade my phone to WP8 and then get whichever hybrid I decide I'm going to go with running W8. I'm solely in on MS except at work which I have to use a mac for .

 

[Coreldan]

I come from a bit different perspective, as my first real smartphone was the N8. I got used to it being doing just about everything (even if at lower general performance than many other phones) and loved it for it. I was cheering a lot for Symbian just cos it's so free and capable. I wouldnt have minded continueing with Symbian had they not killed it or even Meego had they not killed that too, but overall I did realize that I really aint that much of a poweruser after all.

I do value my phone very high and I use it a lot, but in the end I didnt have much use for all the freedom and capability of the Symbian. If I did, I might've gone for Android phone despite never liking the idea of that. But since I realized that I dont necessarily need all the capabilities in the world and as an avid Nokia fan, I decided I'd give the WP8 a shot now, especially since it's a brand new thing and there's support (WP7 wasnt really an option cos my N8 wasnt old enough and then the news about no Apollo, etc..). I also like/indifferent enough to not mind the live tiles thing in comparison to the more standard UI. I also fell in love with the Win 8 customer preview and how nicely everything was integrated, combined with me also falling in love with the Surface RT, I figured a WP8 device would only complete the set soon!