So, Oct. 6th event over. Best product launches by any company ever?

[Aquila]

One thing that wasn't mentioned in the launch: Microsoft Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL will be exclusive to AT&T in the US - GSMArena.com news

 

[RaRa85]

Re: Really underwhelmed with the event

So basically they displayed working phones and Continuum which was really cool. However they glossed over repeating mostly stuff we already knew about but no camera samples? No details about how much better the software is? It's because it wasn't really ready to begin with it seems. And we ended up waiting for the event to end up having to wait for some other event to show us more about the phones and what they can do. Everything else was so well done and answered the questions when we can get it. Still an awesome event and the phones do look nice after all. Sadly as a T-Mobile customer, this doesn't change a thing for me. I'll still have to go out of my way to actually save up IF I want to get one of these. I'm not saying Microsoft could've done something different as far as carriers go but it would've been nice to officially get at least one of the phones supported through my carrier.

Sent from my D6616 using Tapatalk

 

[a5cent]

^ Likely because it's wrong. Most sites have corrected it since.

Both devices will be available unlocked. Neither is an exclusive. ATT will also have the 950 in stores.

http://m.windowscentral.com/hands-on-lumia-950

 

[libra89]

Yeah but the pundits assume they 'rushed it' because they don't care. Never cease to amaze me, Engadget, with your slurry. I loved the phone presentation and also love that sexy 550.

The Surface Pro and Surface Book... First time in years I've been hugely excited about new laptops. Looks like the Surface Book is my go-to for next Laptop whenever its price drops significantly.

This!

I watched the event hoping to hear about the 550, mainly specs, pricing, etc. Then I found myself blown away by the Surface Book. I just got my laptop this year, and I have entertained the idea of selling it to possibly have my hands on a Surface Book! I was very impressed, and I'm so excited for that 550, along with the Surface Book of course.

And then Microsoft selling all three phones unlocked directly...just added the cherry on top.

 

[James Jordan4]

Re: Really underwhelmed with the event

There could be more information so just wait...

Yup! Just wait and see.

 

[TechFreak1]

Re: Microsoft's event just blew my mind!!

Actually Panos said that he had to breeze through it because of all the leaks!

Oh lol, I had intermittent garbled audio at random points and he probably mentioned it when the audio decided to wreak havoc on me :grincry: lol.

 

[TechFreak1]

Re: Really underwhelmed with the event

I expected Panay to demo the Windows Hello on the new Lumias. Just to give an indication about how quickly it unlocks the phone. Now, there is no way of knowing that because the hands-on devices kept there for the press won't have Windows Hello enabled.

They did have them enabled just not set up for each individual journalist.... have a look at the hands on video of the 950 and 950 XL. Brian Roper did a quick demo and that was it.

 

[Great deal]

Re: Really underwhelmed with the event

Panay is in charge of the phone division, this event was to shine the spotlight on the Surface Book, and rightly so. Its a great product of which I will but several for my staff. The OS for WP is not ready, Continuum is an unknown as quite frankly I cant see anyone taking a dock as well as a phone with them, you may as well take a SP4 and your phone and get a better experience. Windows 10 is still new, Edge hasnt even got 3rd party extentions yet and in time, towards the end of the year all these things including MANY official apps will come to the store. in my opinion Panay will 100% release a Surface branded phone next year (how can he not) and releasing something like the 950 and 950xl now is actually good for the long term, it gives them something to really make is go 'wow' when the Surface phone comes.

 

[Pete]

Re: Really underwhelmed with the event

The phone segment was awesome in my opinion. It made me really really want one of these devices. I don't really need a demonstration of the camera, I have enough faith in the engineering team to truly nail it. If that's what they say they've done, I believe it.

Why the heck do I need my desktop computer anymore - I may as well throw it out and keep the monitor/keyboard/mouse.

The future is awesome. Suck it up.

 

[Great deal]

Re: Really underwhelmed with the event

I agree, im going to have a dock on my desk to connect everything and be productive and in 5 years mobiles will be powerful enough to do everything the Surface Pro can do today, up until that point i will use the Surface Book(s) as I want to run 3 external displays. In the real world Continuum on a mobile device doesnt make sense. Not yet.

 

[Mr. MacPhisto]

Re: Really underwhelmed with the event

Microsoft Windows 10 devices event

Go to the video 41:00 mark

They also applauded for 4K video and USB-C

Fast a few years ago maybe, but it's extremely slow compared to the GS6 or iPhone 6 or 6S. He stopped talking and it took a sec for it to unlock.

Im holding judgement but I'm betting Microsoft will be changing this to fingerprint or something else next year.

Again, he stated openly it was beta. It's a guess on my part, but I think they have only recently begun Windows Hello work on Mobile due to trying to get other stuff nailed down first. It's a cool feature, but any more complex unlocking schemes are not as important as overall functionality.

I've also seen the S6 take a couple seconds to unlock via the finger print reader. I have friends with them and they've complained that it doesn't always work quite right. I've heard of no such issues on the iPhone, but let's not pretend that other devices flawlessly execute this stuff.

 

[Mr. MacPhisto]

Re: Really underwhelmed with the event

An assumption.



An assumption.



You must be new here.


Which is why you started your post with a bunch of assumptions instead of facts?

And you assume the opposite, so where are we? You assume that things are ready and you assume that what you find important is important to everyone else. You assume that everyone wants to hear MS say it has wireless charging even when that info has already been plastered all over the place.

As someone else stated, Panos Panay stated plainly that he wasn't going to go over everything since so many details leaked.

So they chose to do cheesy cheer leading instead of introducing and explaining features? Nice use of time.

And remember that even though they streamed, this was a MEDIA event. They had reps to answer questioned for the media after as they looked at devices. There are plenty of write ups all over the internet on it. If you wanted a detail you should've sent a tweet to Daniel and seen of he could get info on it.

You don't even both to post facts, just complaints. You want to just find a reason to complain.

The majority of Apple's revenue comes from phones. My advice is if you want to play in that market... you may want to get a little more serious about what you are doing.

And a majority of Microsoft's revenue DOES NOT come from phones. Microsoft is in a better position than Apple in one way: diverse revenue streams. Apple has become the iPhone company as the iPad sales have diminished and Mac sales modestly increase, but still are no where near PC sales. The iPhone IS Apple. If it has a rough quarter, Apple has a rough quarter. It has worked brilliantly for them, but if they can't crack what comes next and sales diminish, Apple diminishes too.

Microsoft wants to encourage others to make devices. They are only filling the gap right now. And Surface is a MUCH BIGGER business for them. Xbox is a much bigger business for them. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that MS Band is a bigger business.

I said it earlier, I'll say it again. Mobile is a long term play as the ecosystem matures. The 950s are not game changers. The growth of Windows 10 is the game changer because it will bring Universal App growth WITH IT. If the Universal App ecosystems matures, Mobile will always be there as an option, but it will be a much stronger option in a year or more down the road for mass audience adoption.

Most of the people that wanted to hear about the Lumias already knew everything about them. The leaks have been all over. Why retread that stuff?

 

[Jazmac]

Re: Really underwhelmed with the event

 

[worldspy99]

Re: Microsoft's event just blew my mind!!

Oh lol, I had intermittent garbled audio at random points and he probably mentioned it when the audio decided to wreak havoc on me :grincry: lol.

I watched it last night and the part where he mentioned that bit wasn't garbled out.

 

[donkiluminate]

Re: Really underwhelmed with the event

As someone mentioned earlier on this thread. My expectations didn't align with reality, and I understand that. I understand the Surface is a $4 billion business and Windows Mobile is just a dopleganger to MS. But for me and my situation in life I am more of a phone enthusiast than a computer enthusiast. I rarely touch a computer outside of work. When I do it's to pull the laptop out from under the couch.do something for 10 minutes and back under the couch it goes. So Continuum is of no interest to me. Therefore I would have liked to know about different features. I'm fringe and I know it. I also know that since I'm not part of the $4 billion Surface demographics MS isn't speaking to me. But this thread was soliciting opinions so this is mine.

I also understand WM10 is not complete but what's been my biggest beef lately is that MS hasn't really talked about any feature in the relative past except for Continuum and universal apps. Everything they talked about at first feels like they haven't been mentioned since. Even in the spirit of competition Google and Apple still reveal what a lot more feature sets in their upcoming OS' than MS does.

I can already hear people say "If you don't like it so much then go get an iPhone" but believe it or not I love Windows Phone and maybe that's why I'm disappointed/frustrated right now. Man, if you think I'm being hard on MS it kinda makes you feel bad for my wife and kids

 

[ShaneRay]

Re: Really underwhelmed with the event

I'm off this week on vacation, so I woke up this morning and rewatched the phone portion of the event. After doing that, and "sleeping" on the news, I think my feelings expressed in my other post have changed somewhat.

Yeah, I still have concerns about phone going forward. How could I not? But, the fact is they're finally giving us new hardware-- and an OS-- that should perform well, so why not enjoy it? I'm not saying I'll be purchasing the 950 or the XL, I'm saying I'd like to. In order for me to pull the trigger, these need to happen:

1) I need to get over the price. At $850 in Canada, the XL is not cheap.
2) MS needs to prove that the OS is ready. I'm not convinced it will be in the short-term.
3) I'll need to see some reviews from sources I trust that give the hardware and software, at least, a passing grade.
4) Accessories need to be readily available. They've failed horribly at this in the past. I'm not shopping on Ebay.

I still don't believe that Windows Phone will be around a couple years from now, but that doesn't matter. If Microsoft can give me a good experience NOW, then I guess that's all I can really ask for.

 

[Pierre Blackwell]

Re: Really underwhelmed with the event

So, a couple of things:
I don't see how one can say the entire presentation was underwhelming if you're only being critical of one aspect of it. Now the caveat is I agree that the Lumia element was somewhat expected, and I know for me some of it was due to already knowing almost everything about the phones before hand. It was the first time we had pretty much everything leaked before the event.
Wireless charging...... anyone who has been a WP user and fan knows advertising a phone having Qi wireless charging equates to nothing more than a tease if you're using the phone in the US because most Lumias have had it removed by the super carriers like AT&T and Verizon, so I'm not too concerned because I can get a wireless case.
Windows 10 mobile is believed to be released later in the year so I don't know why they would go hard in the paint on displaying an unfinished OS variant when they have a lot of devices showing the polished desktop variant. I do expect to see a Lumia presentation upon the release of Windows 10 mobile that will expound on the capabilities of the OS and the phones that will be coming with it already loaded.
If you were MSFT what audience would you be looking to target more...the mobile audience which you have a mere 3% or the desktop, laptop and tablet audience, where you have an overwhelming advantage? Does Apple target their OSX audience? Does Google target their Chromebook audience? MSFT knows where their niche is just like the other companies.

 

[tgp]

Re: Really underwhelmed with the event

I don't really need a demonstration of the camera, I have enough faith in the engineering team to truly nail it. If that's what they say they've done, I believe it.

Baaaaaaaaaaa!

 

[worldspy99]

Re: Really underwhelmed with the event

I expected Panay to demo the Windows Hello on the new Lumias. Just to give an indication about how quickly it unlocks the phone. Now, there is no way of knowing that because the hands-on devices kept there for the press won't have Windows Hello enabled.

Bryan Roper demoed the Windows Hello feature and he did mention that it is currently in Beta on the phones.

 

[worldspy99]

Re: Really underwhelmed with the event

I actually think that now that the Surface Pro 4 and the SurfaceBook are out of the way Panos will get time to focus on developing the Surface phone. I do believe that the Lumia 950/XL are temporary and they intend to bring out the Surface phone next year. Keep in mind Panos got charge of the phones only recently and he did allude to that in the Keynote.