![]() ![]() Still in use today, probably the biggest flaw in Windows Phone was the word Windows. By the time it reached that version, many consumers had moved on. Windows Phone burned all of those bridges before it hit its stride with Windows Phone 8.1. Google might not be able to push as many over-the-air updates as it would like, but the ability to update the Google Play Services every six weeks allows for a modicum of patches to the OS, and of course built-in apps are updated through the Play Store mechanism.Īny platform needs continual innovation and support, it needs clear feedback to users, and people need to be able to trust that there will be compatibility. And when those updates did arrive in the form of Windows Phone 8, backwards compatibility with Windows Phone 7 hardware was not present, alienating those who had moved to the platform with the early devices.īoth iOS and Android are now comfortably in a yearly cycle for the major operating system releases, but Apple continues to push out point releases for iOS throughout the year to increase the feature set and address bugs. While OS updates have never been particularly speedy across any major platform, Windows Phone took an age to deliver even basic updates. These were not quickly forthcoming, with an interim Windows Phone 7.5 release arriving a year later, and Windows Phone 8 taking two years to reach the market. On its first release, Windows Phone (going by the name Windows Phone 7) was missing a number of key features (including multi-tasking of apps cut, copy, and paste and data tethering). Countless web services offer API hooks, open data, and access to real-time information in pitches, but unless the developers follow of their own volition, these ideas add up to nothing but wasted effort.ĭevelopers are the lifeblood of any modern system. Microsoft provided all the tools you could need for Windows Phone developers, and it never raised an army of developers. Numerous boutique outfits have turned to 'Android compatible' and the ability to run Android apps on a handset with an alternative operating system, as if this sticking plaster over the apps question is a long-term answer of getting apps on a system. No matter how cute, useful, or innovative a platform is, unless it can match the library available on the two main platforms from Google and Apple, only a handful of the geekerati will consider looking at a smaller platform. Microsoft Lumia 640 XL (Image: Microsoft PR)Īpplications are everything in the mobile world today. Having a flagship focused on demonstration rather than market share is an issue I discussed last week here on Forbes, and it matches Nadella's statements for a few days ago when he said "In the near-term, we’ll run a more effective and focused phone portfolio while retaining capability for long-term reinvention in mobility." It will show the power and potential of Windows 10 in a smartphone setting, it will likely use high-end components to create the biggest experience possible, and it will likely be available in small numbers. I'm confident that Microsoft will continue to design, manufacture, and retail smartphones, but it will now be more along the lines of a Google Nexus than a Samsung Galaxy S6. As CEO Satya Nadella said alongside the announcement, "We are moving from a strategy to grow a standalone phone business to a strategy to grow and create a vibrant Windows ecosystem including our first-party device family, and bringing users into the Microsoft cloud no matter the platform they are using."
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