Microsoft releasing a Zune phone would not surprise me. Windows Mobile is perilously close to becoming a dead brand walking. While Microsoft states that they are changing the way the work with their hardware vendors, depending on how the agreements are set up with their Windows Mobile device makers they may not be able to change those or change them quickly enough to keep Windows Mobile from going the way of Palm. To stay in the market they may have to create a new platform, with new vendor agreements, and start all over again.
Well I only had a WM phone for 5 years, but did have various flavors of microsoft based PDAs before that, and I made the jump last week also. My technically challenged wife had her 2G iphone since last Christmas and hasn't had to reset in once, and my 6 year old son actually figured out how to dial me specifically with her phone without anyone showing him. Which led me to believe it was stable as hell and easy to use. The iphone might not do everything my Tilt could do, but what it can do is easy and reliable. With push email supported and good GPS software coming I had just had enough of my current WM phone. Plus mobile safari itself is almost reason enough to change.
Microsoft releasing a Zune phone would not surprise me. Windows Mobile is perilously close to becoming a dead brand walking.
This is a very misinformed statement, though. Microsoft has been outselling RIM for a while now and this fiscal year projects 20 million WinMo sales. Last year was 10 million. Far from being a dead brand walking, its thriving in the business world. That's not to let them off the hook. They need to radically shift the user experience on their phones. But the important thing is that they can do that without going the iPhone route. The iPhone has had to become more like the WinMo devices to be more successful in that its now a much more flexible platform. But if MS & its partners do what they need in the end user experience, then the plethora of choices you get with WinMo is a bit more compelling, imo, than the singular iPhone.
But this is about the Zune Phone. I don't believe that a special Zune platform is desirable. However, a consumer oriented WinMo device with Zune support on it would be a great offering. They should really replace WMP on all WinMo phones with Zune support. I mean...why not??
Ah, Excuse me, guys! But I don't think MS needs another Zune phone, or something like that at all... I mean Zune Phone would run Zune OS, wouldn't it?
If I am not mistaken I believe the Zune OS is running no top of Windows CE. If this is the case designing a Windows Mobile phone around the Zune concept wouldn't be that hard (in theory.) We would have the underlining OS with some of the Zune guys though (David? Jason? Adam? )
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Originally Posted by virain
And why would MS bother with creating another phone? You said complete control over hardware, better user experience? Well believe it or not MS has it as of right now! it is called Sidekick! Yes! Good Old T-Mobile Sidekick, Paris Hilton's favorite! And it looks like MS just announced a new one.
I dislike the Sidekick so much. Using your phone shouldn't be like watching a Transformer go to work. Sure maybe it would be cool if I was still in high school (though I doubt it) but having a phone where one of the main features is the screen flipping around without a care in the world is just an accident waiting to happen with me.
...my 6 year old son actually figured out how to dial me specifically with her phone without anyone showing him. Which led me to believe it was stable as hell and easy to use.
Let's not forget your son being smart as well! Give the boy some credit!
And are those 20 million sales actual devices in consumers' hands or licenses Microsoft sold to the device makers? Are they all licenses for smartphones or are stand-alone PDA's and embedded systems mixed in with that? Everything I'm finding puts that number as licenses sold, which when it comes to actual devices on the street is meaningless. And how you can expect your statement about Microsoft outselling RIM to be believable when RIM holds almost half of the US market and is the biggest player globally next to Nokia:
It seems to me that Microsoft is possibily thinking about turning the Zune into a consumer-oriented phone that can better compete with the iPhone rather then as a replacement for WinMo. When the iPhone first hit the market, most of the people buying them were first-time smartphone buyers. These people had already passed on RIM, WinMo, Palm, etc. Apple hit the mark with these buyers and pushed WinMo to third place within one fiscal quarter. That was Microsoft's wake up call, and I hope they heed it. Maybe this is evidence that they are coming around.
Smartphone is a very limited definition. WinMo devices outsold RIM. That's all that matters. If that metric doesn't capture that then its because its ignoring certain classes of WinMo devices.
Edit : I do however mostly agree with what you say there
Last edited by David Tucker; 07-31-2008 at 06:09 PM..
And are those 20 million sales actual devices in consumers' hands or licenses Microsoft sold to the device makers? Are they all licenses for smartphones or are stand-alone PDA's and embedded systems mixed in with that? Everything I'm finding puts that number as licenses sold, which when it comes to actual devices on the street is meaningless. And how you can expect your statement about Microsoft outselling RIM to be believable when RIM holds almost half of the US market and is the biggest player globally next to Nokia:
It seems to me that Microsoft is possibily thinking about turning the Zune into a consumer-oriented phone that can better compete with the iPhone rather then as a replacement for WinMo. When the iPhone first hit the market, most of the people buying them were first-time smartphone buyers. These people had already passed on RIM, WinMo, Palm, etc. Apple hit the mark with these buyers and pushed WinMo to third place within one fiscal quarter. That was Microsoft's wake up call, and I hope they heed it. Maybe this is evidence that they are coming around.
Good Sir,
Your link mean very little in this discussion, you are forgetting one very important thing: MICROSOFT IS NO A PHONE MANUFACTURER, THEY DEVELOP AN OPERATING SYSTEM FOR MOBILE DEVICES. If those "pie charts" were to break it down by OS you would see a very different picture being displayed.
Try no to loose sight of what's going on here.
I was a PPC, PPC Phone and Smartphone user since they first hit the streets. It was great in the early days but as of 2 or 3 years ago the love just wasn't there anymore. I wanted a change and it wasn't happening with Microsoft or the vendors.
So after much thought I purchased an iPhone over a year ago. I'm very satisified. Is it perfect, no, but what it does it does very well.
When the 2.0 software came out I upgraded:
It was free
I didn't have to purchase a new phone to get it.
I didn't have to wonder if my phone was going to be upgraded or not.
I upgraded by syncing my phone with iTunes
It backed up EVERYTHING and after the upgrade it restored EVERYTHING.
I can get applications by syncing with iTunes not having to go to Handango.
My application upgrades are done by syncing and it's been flawless.
All the device settings are in one location not scattered all over the place.
I love the ease of use for listening to music and Podcasts.
The phone works perfectly.
The UI is excellent.
If something does go wrong I can restore to exactly the way it was. I don't have to reinstall everything from scratch and spend hours reconfiguring the device.
I'm not an Apple fanboy.
In fact I've always been very loyal to Microsoft.
Well, I just installed the WM 6.1 Beta on my Pantech Duo, and I had it fully installed and all my information and applications back on the phone within 15 minutes, so I'm not really that impressed with your experience with iPhone/iTunes. The hardware manufacturers are perfectly able to make the upgrade experience a pleasant one. If it's not, well, it's not Microsoft's fault, it's the phone's manufacturer.
BTW, the 6.1 home screen interface is fantastic, and something we've needed badly for years. Yes it seems like it's just a band-aid, but it's a huge step in the right direction. If they keep going in that direction and just step on the accelerator a littler harder, they could in fact make WM a decent competitor to the iPhone.
So really, it doesn't matter whether they try to make WM better or ditch it for a new and better operating system, as long as they keep heading in this direction.
Oh yeah, and fantastic article, Rocco. Ignore what that first poster said.
And hey, watch what you say about Transformers, K?
Last edited by Damion Chaplin; 07-31-2008 at 08:12 PM..
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