Nothing exciting, no new features, no flagship...?

dlalonde

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I've been reading a lot of posts on here as well as some articles that complain about the same things. Today I read a phrase that hit a nerve on a PocketNow article explaining why the author is still on Android.

"But Windows Phone has been in nap mode for some time now. Ever since the launch of the Developer Preview of Windows Phone 8.1 and Cortana , there hasn’t really been anything to get excited about."

This is the kind of thing I've been reading a lot. My question is: so what?

I mean, first and foremost, isn't a phone meant to be functionnal? So what if there hasn't been anything exciting since Cortana? So what if the next flagship is "only" next year. If you have a fully functionning phone right now, no matter the OS, isn't that what counts?

Don't get me wrong, I'm into new stuff as much as the next guy. But I get the impression that nowadays for a phone to be successful or interesting, new features have to be released within months after the previous new features were announced.

I don't know it seems kind of lame of depending on a platform to offer new rocks upon news rocks for a user to jump on for it to be considered a good platform.

I'm really really happy about my 635 right now and I don't even have Cortana yet (not available in my native tongue and region). I am looking forward to having both Cortana and Windows 10 next year. Until then, my phone fits my needs perfectly. I'm not saying I don't have moments where I'm disapointed that an app isn't available for it. But that passes.

Being a musician and meloman, the only comparison I can see is with the music business. Back in 1972, no one knew Pink Floyd were making Dark Side of the Moon. There were no forums, websites, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube. There was no way for someone to expect the album, know when it was coming out or even to have heard excerpts of it or leaks of demos and early recordings. When a fan knew the album was released, it was a complete guess. They went and bought it and had to wait until they got home and put the needle on the disc to hear its first notes. Yet Pink Floyd was no less exciting.

In this day and age, have we lost all sense of patience?

All things come to he who waits!
 

Jazmac

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I think you've said it all. Personally, I think some of the bloggers left on Pocketnow are straight up childish. Pocketnow used to be MY favorite blog but since some of the better bloggers have moved on, what they are left with are some of the most shallow of personalities. Its like reading about kids in a kindergarten class coloring and a crayon breaks. The world has ended. I don't read them much anymore.

Even though they have become android fans, the information they describe about android is either less than professional or something they copied from someone else. When there is a Windows Phone flagship, we will know about it. I am sure Microsoft is building several. And when they are ready for prime time, we'll all know.
 

muneshyne21

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Having a Lumia 928, it dawned on me how awesome Microsoft really is in terms of their commitment and support. True, the phone started way behind with a fairly limited WP 8 OS and slightly unstable build but with Denim and WP 8.1, its a whole new ball game. I can't think of another company that keeps up major support for their devices for 18 months. The phone is still fresh to me. Its more stable, just as smooth and has twice the amount of features as it started out with. I still don't really have the urge to get a new phone because the phone never stagnates to a point that I'm tired of it. The possibility of getting Windows 10 means I can potentially hold on to this phone for over two years and not be sick of it. I was ready to throw every previous phone I had in a blender after 18 months of ownership. To date we have gotten 3 minor OS updates, 1 major OS update and 4 firmware updates. Im not even counting PFD update 2. Even the minor GDR updates added something. They didn't just "improve stability". Every firmware update added something as well. Give me one Android example that did that. Keep in mind I'm also using the most locked down carrier, Verizon, who sleeps with Google and has a tight update policy. My mom has an iPhone 6 and still rather use my phone with a xenon flash to take pictures.

The app market is also something that keeps me excited. 18 months ago the store had 30,000 apps! To me, the app market is more than adequate to suite all my needs now. How about the fact that we are finally seeing many of the Android/iOS hold outs finally bring their flagship apps over to the market.

It doesn't take a ****** to see that Microsoft has done in 3 years what took...4-5 years for Android and iPhone to do. Just because it isn't popular doesn't mean that they aren't developing their mobile devices at a breakneck speed.
 

dsimages

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Good post.



I'll be honest, I just recently switched to WP from Android. I'm have been super impressed with the fact that this 1520 has out performed all of my android devices I've ever used. I have had three different android flagships in the last 1.5 years. The 1520 is far above and beyond in build quality and OS fluidity.



Your absolutely right in fact that most people are impatient.

Some folks just don't know what a good thing is..
 

gordonfink

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The KitKat update on Android was a pretty good one.

That said, I left the Samsung Galaxy line to try out the Windows platforms, and like it a lot.

I had a Galaxy S3 phone, the wife has an S4, the kids all have iPhone 5's, and the old man has a dinosaur 920. The kids, though, have noticed how nice my LCD is, and how clean the OS is.

I also left a Galaxy Note to get a Surface Pro. It was after that that I got the 920, and ditched the S3. I was going to upgrade to an S5, but thought I'd go all in on WP.

BTW - I wouldn't bash Android necessarily. There is a lot of good about it. In my case, you might I felt like I'd grown up, so it didn't really work for me any more.

Now the wife has a surface as well (though she's getting a full size touchscreen W8 laptop in 2 days), and have a 930 on the way.

I think Apple and Samsung have conditioned people to expect a new flagship every 10-12 months. They generate a lot of excitement around it two months before launch, and get folks all worked up. This then becomes the norm.

The carriers play along as well, by offering trade-ins now after a year. You in effect "lease" your phone for a year, then trade it in for the latest craze. That same hype machine hasn't, that I've seen, made its way over to WP.
 

Kevin Hill2

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You hit the nail right on the head. I Want, I want, it is like a bunch of children in a toy store before Christmas, feet stomping and all. I love new things just like the next person and I love updates to the old stuff, but I bought my phone because I like it and it works for me , just the way it is, if you did not research your purchase before you bought it who's fault is that? I love my HTC M8 Windows phone I loved my 920, I didn't buy either one expecting updates later on, the 920 updates were great and I loved them but I liked the phone before they came along, same goes for the M8, if I get updates great if not, thats fine to. If you like your brand of phone and your OS good for you I am happy that you found what you like, I am not going to try and convince you mine is better and yours is junk and I hope you do the same.
 

negative1ne

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i am still using windows phone 7.8

so far i have yet to see a single feature in wp 8 or 8.1 that makes it worth upgrading to.
i think its amusing to see people constantly asking for new features, faster ones, with
bigger better cameras too, when current ones are fine.

i doubt windows 10 will change anything for me either.

as long as my phone keeps working (2 years so far),
i'll keep it. if it breaks i'll just buy another used one off amazon or ebay for $70 or so.

it does what i need it to do, and until they make a phone with a hardware keyboard again,
i have no reason to switch.

later
-1
 

negative1ne

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Being a musician and meloman, the only comparison I can see is with the music business. Back in 1972, no one knew Pink Floyd were making Dark Side of the Moon. There were no forums, websites, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube. There was no way for someone to expect the album, know when it was coming out or even to have heard excerpts of it or leaks of demos and early recordings. When a fan knew the album was released, it was a complete guess. They went and bought it and had to wait until they got home and put the needle on the disc to hear its first notes. Yet Pink Floyd was no less exciting.

sorry, but i dont agree with your example.
there was tons of news about dark side of the moon.

from wikipedia:
Dark Side of the Moon: A Piece for Assorted Lunatics, as it was then known,was performed in the presence of an assembled press on 17 February 1972—more than a year before its release—at the Rainbow Theatre, and was critically acclaimed. Michael Wale of The Times described the piece as "... bringing tears to the eyes. It was so completely understanding and musically questioning."Derek Jewell of The Sunday Times wrote "The ambition of the Floyd's artistic intention is now vast." Melody Maker was, however, less enthusiastic: "Musically, there were some great ideas, but the sound effects often left me wondering if I was in a bird-cage at London zoo."The following tour was praised by the public. The new material was performed live, in the same order in which it would eventually be recorded, but obvious differences between the live version, and the recorded version released a year later, included the lack of synthesizers in tracks such as "On the Run", and Bible readings that were later replaced by Clare Torry's non-lexical vocables on "The Great Gig in the Sky".

The band's lengthy tour through Europe and North America gave them the opportunity to make continual improvements to the scale and quality of their performances.Work on the album was interrupted in late February when the band travelled to France and recorded music for French director Barbet Schroeder's film, La Vall?e.They then performed in Japan and returned to France in March to complete work on the film. After a series of dates in North America, the band flew to London to begin recording the album, from 24 May to 25 June. More concerts in Europe and North America followed before the band returned on 9 January 1973 to complete work on the album.
=================================================

fans knew all about way before it was ever released.
only non fans didnt know that the album was coming out,
or didnt know what was on it.

there was a lot of publicity and hype for it.



i do agree with everything you said about windows phone.
though i do feel they are going backward in all the new features.

later
-1
 

colinkiama

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I've been reading a lot of posts on here as well as some articles that complain about the same things. Today I read a phrase that hit a nerve on a PocketNow article explaining why the author is still on Android.

"But Windows Phone has been in nap mode for some time now. Ever since the launch of the Developer Preview of Windows Phone 8.1 and Cortana , there hasn’t really been anything to get excited about."

This is the kind of thing I've been reading a lot. My question is: so what?

I mean, first and foremost, isn't a phone meant to be functionnal? So what if there hasn't been anything exciting since Cortana? So what if the next flagship is "only" next year. If you have a fully functionning phone right now, no matter the OS, isn't that what counts?

Don't get me wrong, I'm into new stuff as much as the next guy. But I get the impression that nowadays for a phone to be successful or interesting, new features have to be released within months after the previous new features were announced.

I don't know it seems kind of lame of depending on a platform to offer new rocks upon news rocks for a user to jump on for it to be considered a good platform.

I'm really really happy about my 635 right now and I don't even have Cortana yet (not available in my native tongue and region). I am looking forward to having both Cortana and Windows 10 next year. Until then, my phone fits my needs perfectly. I'm not saying I don't have moments where I'm disapointed that an app isn't available for it. But that passes.

Being a musician and meloman, the only comparison I can see is with the music business. Back in 1972, no one knew Pink Floyd were making Dark Side of the Moon. There were no forums, websites, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube. There was no way for someone to expect the album, know when it was coming out or even to have heard excerpts of it or leaks of demos and early recordings. When a fan knew the album was released, it was a complete guess. They went and bought it and had to wait until they got home and put the needle on the disc to hear its first notes. Yet Pink Floyd was no less exciting.

In this day and age, have we lost all sense of patience?

All things come to he who waits!
Live folders and Xbox music live tile. Those are literally all you are getting with the new update. Doesn't seem like much but that's what we said about the action centre, notification slide and shape writing. ;)
 

Cryio

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You forgot about Live tile for Store app. Also options in the Action Center for Data toggle and Battery Saver.
 

raycpl

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Maybe MSFT will release the next flagship ala Band... completely out of the blue, but hopefully globally and in large quantities. One aspect I found amusing here was the users actually knew more about what the Msft Band can or cannot do better that so many half witted bloggers and reviewers.
 

ajb1965

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It's a 'what have you done for me lately' world. I remember when the biggest breakthrough in telephony was touch tone lol!
 

colinkiama

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A flagship would be a terrible idea, it would mean that the team cannot 100% be focused on windows 10. The 930 and 1520 are smooth. I don't understand what the problem is. However I do believe that the U.S. should have the 930 released on all carriers, that is what I personally believe is killing growth in the US. There is no phone for most 920 users to upgrade to easily.
 

Indistinguishable

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A flagship would be a terrible idea, it would mean that the team cannot 100% be focused on windows 10. The 930 and 1520 are smooth. I don't understand what the problem is. However I do believe that the U.S. should have the 930 released on all carriers, that is what I personally believe is killing growth in the US. There is no phone for most 920 users to upgrade to easily.

The people working on development of Windows 10 for Windows Phone, and the people working hardware development, are not the same people. It's different teams that work together and collaborate. Microsoft bought nokia's hardware division partially for that purpose.

They wouldn't be splitting focus, just fulfilling their respective purposes.
 

colinkiama

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The people working on development of Windows 10 for Windows Phone, and the people working hardware development, are not the same people. It's different teams that work together and collaborate. Microsoft bought nokia's hardware division partially for that purpose.

They wouldn't be splitting focus, just fulfilling their respective purposes.
A flagship WP usually brings along new features with it so people from the software team would have to help too. However what if the 1030 was an upper mid range phone, basically a 1020 with a new chipset and a possibility better screen?
 

Geodude074

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Sorry but I totally disagree with OP. WP8 is WAY BEHIND in comparison to Apple and Android when it comes to features and flagships.

If there's nothing new with WP8, how is it ever going to catch up?

Why would anyone spend their hard-earned money on a WP8 phone that has LESS FEATURES than a similar priced Apple/Android phone?
 

scolab

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My wife recently went from the clunky Lumia 928 to a sleak new iPhone 6. What huge difference in hardware. We took numerous side x side pictures with both cameras over the holidays and the iPhone's pictures were far superior in every situation.

I love the WP OS much better than anything else on the market, but we definitely need some new hardware to remain competitive, and I'm not talking about a camera that can take poster sized pictures, or has 3 microphones for surround sound videos. (seriously?) I'm talking about something that's light in the hand, responsive, HD graphics with expandable storage.
 

th34monk3ys

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There was an article 1520 vs 6plus, photos were in 1520 favour, depends on the phone not o/s

I don't like the lag on android! Note 4 is only consideration as a phone, the phone is smooth!

Windows phones get firmware changes that add content for free ie 4k and Cortana with out slowing phone down! Like other phones!
 

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