When will WP8/8.1 become competitive?

[Marty Larsson]

Is their going to be a certain year WP is going become a force to be reckoned with? I have been using WP for the pass few years going through 3 different Nokia' i love using WP as i like to be different, but its starting to get annoying that a lot of things aren't compatible with WP, for instance i bought google chromecast to which WP has one shoddy YouTube casting app BBC iPlayer, Netflix etc non existent which of course is because google are asses, so I'm confined to using my laptop because i don't have ios or android devices, this has been the first time I have thought about jumping ship, the WP app situation doesn't bother me much although getting apps a bit quicker would be nice!

Has anyone near switched from WP because of something small and annoying? I think for now i will grind it out and stick with WP but if it doesn't start getting with the game i think I'll have no other choice but to switch to ios or android :-/

 

[Chris_Germany]

Everybody has different needs, right?
Wait for wp8.1

 

[juanitoriv]

Plug your laptop into the tv. I do that. Then you can use your Nokia as a remote, mouse. Take that chromecast thing back.. Yuck

 

[Marty Larsson]

Everybody has different needs, right?
Wait for wp8.1

Wee sure do lol, And i will definitely be sticking around for 8.1 cant wait for that, just wish people/companies would give WP the recognition it deserves.

 

[Marty Larsson]

Plug your laptop into the tv. I do that. Then you can use your Nokia as a remote, mouse. Take that chromecast thing back.. Yuck

I was simply using the chromecast for less wire mess and Netflix for downstairs in my 50inch tv, if i had ios or android devices it would be very much a hassle free process lol.

 

[Chris_Germany]

It needs time WP is new. But I see progress every day so it will be ok one day.
Using WP is like having a baby. You can,watch it growing

 

[Kellzea]

I was simply using the chromecast for less wire mess and Netflix for downstairs in my 50inch tv, if i had ios or android devices it would be very much a hassle free process lol.

while not having chromecast support is bad, (also, entirely googles fault) it doesn't make it uncompetitive, it means that for your example usage scenario it doesn't work.

That's not the same thing.

WP already is a force to be reckoned with, and will become more so with 8.1, the real issue is tech media and general media perception. The app gap is basically a sham, there is no feature gap, just specific usage scenarios that are unfulfilled. This will only change when it gains over 10% in the us market.

Wp has a large and growing section of the European markets, pushing nearly 20% in some countries, and developing markets love it too.

The us doesn't, and that's really its only problem.

 

[theefman]

Should have bought a Miracast adapter instead of googles proprietary crap. Miracast is a standard and doesn't require apps to be made compatible, it sends everything on your device. And if the feature does make it to WP8.1 that makes googles toy redundant.

 

[GoodThings2Life]

So I'm going to respond directly to the OP on this one, but the answer is yes, particularly with WP8.1 bringing TONS of new features to the table.

The bigger issue here is a challenge that Microsoft is facing right now-- relevance. Apple has a huge ecosystem with a strong lock-in. Google has a massive ecosystem that is wide open. Microsoft is trying to squeeze in the middle of them both, AND they're realizing that they still have to be a player in those competing ecosystems. The challenge, obviously, is that they are actually strengthening their competitors while strengthening their services. That's going to weaken their devices strategy. They have the best cross-platform services and the weakest devices, in terms of usage.

Obviously, though, their hope is that by unifying the desktop AND mobile OS platforms they can maintain platform relevance for developers. And this is where Microsoft tends to succeed, because they focus on the long game and not the immediate whines of users. They always give users what they want over time (definitely quicker than Apple), but they're methodical about it, and developers do come first.

Keep in mind, Microsoft is focused on Apple for a reason. Their market is shrinking to Google, and Microsoft doesn't want to fight a multi-front tech war. So what better than to take on Apple first, whittle them down to irrelevance and then go after the juggernaut we call Google. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if someday we see Apple and Microsoft partner up to lead that battle. Just imagine if instead of WP running Android apps if it was able to run iOS apps and vice versa on iOS running WP apps?

Anyway, at the end of the day, yes I think it is competitive, but I think Microsoft is always going to focus on the bigger picture and not count on just one product to save the day.

 

[paulxxwall]

WP is not competitive! Its different but not competitive! Theres nothing you can do on WP that you can't do with the competition. But there is alot you can do with the competition that you can't do with WP. Here in the us it has to start with the carriers! As a floor salesman there are minimum incentives to sell WP and awesome incentives to sell ios and androids so that being said as a person with bill, responsibility's etc will probably sell more ios and androids just to feed family and pay bills that's one side of WP problem here in the us and while shooting down a sale on a WP they seal the deal by letting the customer now "there's not that many apps on WP" so....they either sold a iPhone or an android...and got paid good to do so very bad ! And if you go to either an att or a Verizon store here in SW Florida....it has only gotten worse! Its like ios and android are offering more $ on commission sales so salesman is left with only two choices to sell......and its not going to be a WP unless customer is insisted on a WP but trust me they'll get talked out of if .......my niece got talked out of one ..now she rocks android......such a shame! And this thing about WP being new yeah no windows mobile launched in 2000 with WP launching in 2010.....so no windows isn't new to the cellphone industry.......... just late to the party !

 

[juanitoriv]

That sucks bro!!