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  #1  
Old 08-03-2009, 09:30 PM
Jon Westfall
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Default Is Android Killing Windows Mobile?

http://gigaom.com/2009/07/30/is-goo...windows-mobile/

"Like upstart HTC, a long-time Windows Mobile loyalist, Motorola is focusing its development resources behind Google's Android OS. Both HTC and Motorola are developing their own user interfaces for Android, which indicates their seriousness about Google's mobile platform. I wonder if this is going to be a trend that's going to spread. From what I've heard, everyone from Lenovo and Huawei to Dell to Samsung are betting on Android. These companies would have been partners of Microsoft in the past."

I have a confession to make: I own two Android devices. Yes, it's true I still own more Windows Mobile devices than Android, but my daily drivers as of late have been a G1 and a MyTouch 3G. While I'd like to say my sole reason for doing this is to think of ways to help Windows Mobile developers, users, and enthusiasts get more from their devices (a.k.a. from snooping on the competition), that's not my sole reason. I also think they generally are more fun to use, and have a pretty interesting user community growing up around them. I'm not jumping ship, but from my perspective, I can see why articles like the one quoted above are published. Android, something I think many of us dismissed as a toy about a year ago, seems to be fast growing as a force in the mobile handset community. How bad is this for Windows Mobile?

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  #2  
Old 08-03-2009, 09:50 PM
Master Loon
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Default Good Question

I lived with WM since the HP on Tmobile. Had the MDA, WIng now G1. I like it. I like it alot, but I am looking now back to getting a WM phone ( touch Pro 2) G1 will remain with me of might give to my son. Again I like it, But there is a lot of catching up to do. I miss some of the business side, like commontime's mnotes for work email. My company has Lotus notes databases. Powerpoint and a few other things.....
WM is not dead yet...They have a lot of work to do in order to stay fresh and relivant. They are indeed playing catch up. And thanks to Samsung and HTC, I think they are just hanging on. Android is stepping it's game up fast, and I think I will be gone from it for a min.....but will come back.
 
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  #3  
Old 08-03-2009, 10:49 PM
j2inet
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I ,make a living off of developing solutions with Microsoft technologies. I'm not jumping ship either, but I am planning on diversifying and have been examning the Android emulator. Despite my preferences and Microsoft specialization I'm not incline to turn a blind eye to wat looks to be a platform of great potential. I'll be happy when Android is avaliabe on hardware other that T-mobile phones though. From past to present Android has only been used by a subset of T-mobile customers.
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  #4  
Old 08-03-2009, 11:21 PM
Stinger
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I'm not a great fan of Android but I can see why it makes sense for manufacturers. Who wants to pay $15 per license when you can pay $0? Google are allegedly giving free support to OEMs too.

What does WinMo provide that Android doesn't? There's certainly a few things at the moment but Microsoft needs to add a lot value to make that $15 license seem worthwhile to the manufacturers.
 
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  #5  
Old 08-04-2009, 02:11 AM
benjimen
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They're not dead, just hibernating. They'll come back to life with WM7 (which will probably be buggy until 7.1, then you'll need to buy a new device to get it).

Microsoft left a mighty big gap in the amount of time since the iPhone came to market and something relevant to compete against it. 2 entirely new phone OS's, 3 if you count Apple, have launched and all we're seeing from Redmond is 'spy-shots' of what may or may not be WM7. They're sure giving everyone of lot of time to get entrenched...

There's enough market share to keep everyone afloat, but Microsoft has lost out on the chance to be any sort of standard.
 
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  #6  
Old 08-04-2009, 02:28 AM
whydidnt
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I think a better question would be "Is Microsoft Killing Windows Mobile?" Microsoft's complacency has opened the market to Android, Palm, Apple, RIM etc.

Microsoft needs to start treating the mobile device division like an actual mobile device division, not just another software division in a monolithic software company. They simply are not evolving the operating system fast enough to keep up with the rest of the mobile world. We've been hearing about WM7 for years. When you consider the size of the OS is less than 128 MB in size, what the heck could they be coding? They don't write the hardware drivers, leaving that to the OEMs...how the heck can 128 MB of code take years and years to write, especially considering they weren't starting from scratch?

Even with stiff competition from Apple and RIM over the last 2 years, Microsoft has continued to plod along at snails pace, announcing and pre-announcing OS upgrades years before we actually see devices running said OS. I almost have to laugh everytime I see another person say "wait until WM7". By the time we can buy a WM7 device, Apple will probably be on the 4th version of their device, Google will most likely have released 2-3 significant upgrades, etc. Lord knows how long we'll have to wait after WM7 to see any significant upgrades, based upon MS previous history, it will probably be about 2018!!
 
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  #7  
Old 08-04-2009, 03:03 AM
RogueSpear
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Indeed, the "Microsoft is killing Windows Mobile" argument may hold more water than initially thought. Someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't Microsoft bringing in a fair amount of revenue from both Apple and Google from ActiveSync licensing? Perhaps if they can get the others to do the same, then this will be their new model.
 
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  #8  
Old 08-04-2009, 03:42 AM
Sven Johannsen
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Never had much business savvy, but also never understood how you ran a business at a loss. Google isn't charging for Android. To me that is operating at a loss, since they must be investing money in its development. MS did that for many years with Windows Mobile (or PocketPC), until they finally started getting a return for their investment. Granted both companies have the wherewithall to operate a section at a loss for a period of time, but neither can do that indefinately. The difference appears to me that MS intended to make the division profitable and continually worked to make that happen. If Google continues to operate on a zero income model, it seems that this is a hobby for them, or they intend to throw this into the 'public' domain and let it self sustain itself like Linux. That is working real well. Sure there are great builds out there, but there are also marginal ones and scads of them. Overall, it is a niche OS. I can see Android ending up that way as well, with Google eventually tiring of it and OEMs maintaining independent 'proprietary' flavors. Or maybe they will start licensing newer releases. Yea verily, MS needs to get off its duff and do something compelling with WinMo, but Android isn't going to kill it, any more than Linux is killing Windows or OSX.
 
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  #9  
Old 08-04-2009, 03:55 AM
whydidnt
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sven View Post
Never had much business savvy, but also never understood how you ran a business at a loss. Google isn't charging for Android. To me that is operating at a loss, since they must be investing money in its development.
Google's has built a billion+ dollar business by NOT charging for their products. They don't care how or why you use their search engine, just that you use their engine so they can earn ad dollars. Google sees that internet usage is evolving from the desktop to the mobile space and they do not want to be dependent on Apple, At&T Verizon, Microsoft, RIM, etc in making sure they are the defacto mobile search standard. The only way they can do that is to provide the whole OS where possible.

There are a lot of internet companies that don't seem to have a business plan (think Twitter, Facebook, etc.), but in this case I think Google has a plan, and it doesn't involve abandoning Android.
 
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  #10  
Old 08-04-2009, 06:12 AM
superrrguy
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It seams Microsoft is feeling out the market to see who to copy. I wish they would stick to d-pads and one handed operation.

As an end user and a WinMo user since the days of the Velo I can say I've given up on WinMo and my next phone may be an iPhone, the 1st Apple product I will ever buy. I've played with my friends G1 and wasn't impressed. I was thinking the whole time my hacked WinMo is better than this.

I currently have an AT&T Tilt with a custom ROM because the default ROM from AT&T is abysmal. Even the dialer is useless. The Tilt is my favorite phone to date. I like the 2 buttons on the side and the jog wheel. I have been eying the Touch Pro 2 but @ $300 + memory I feel like I'm getting a better value with the iPhone. Also, Microsoft is already talking up WinMo 7 and from their track record over the years will abandon all hardware so my new Touch Pro 2 will be obsolete a few months later or won't take advantage of some totally new concept of licking your phone to make calls or something.

Also the apps just suck from an end user point of view. The reason I have stuck around with WinMo so long is because of Sling Player and Remote Desktop but those are available on other platforms now and are designed better. Evernote is a joke on WinMo but glorious on the iPhone.

Between headaches trying to sync music to the phone and weak apps and high pricing, I will be jumping ship for my next phone. Maybe Android will bring something compelling to the table but right now the iPhone is the one to beat.
 
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