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Go Back   Thoughts Media Forums > WINDOWS PHONE THOUGHTS > Windows Phone Talk

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  #1  
Old 06-27-2010, 12:00 AM
Brad Wasson
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Default Do iPhone 4 Dropped Calls Represent an Opportunity for Microsoft and its Partners?

Apple's legendary design prowess has taken a bit of a hit the last few days as more and more users experience dropped calls from purportedly "holding their phone in the wrong way". We don't know the extent of the issue yet, but it sure seems to be significant.

There's a lot a stake here. Apple, through good design and product production, and excellent marketing, has built a formidable reputation for quality in its products. They have convinced many people that their products are "a notch above" the competition. If you consider, they seldom sell their products on superior functionality, focusing, rather, on the overall users' experience, including the seamless connection of many of their products. Without question, they are the gold standard for design excellence in the electronics industry. They are trend setters and pathway pioneers.

The "big guy" (in this case Apple and its iPhones) always has the chance of making a misstep, and we may have seen one here. So far the Apple defence has been that "we really know better than you - you're going to need to change your personal habits and hold the phone our way". This is rubbing some people the wrong way, hinting of an arrogance that Apple would be advised to avoid. I'm predicting that Apple is going to have to revisit the design and/or at least the assembly process. They sure better soften their stance on how "you" choose to use your phone.

What does this mean all mean for Microsoft? The iPhone 4 represents continued momentum for Apple as it gains market share in the smartphone market. This has been a continuing challenge for Microsoft as it does not even have it's new phone on the market yet. It must be tough to watch those iPhone share percentages climb. Will this impact ongoing sales? Maybe temporarily, but you can be sure the issues will be rectified as quickly as possible.

This development, however, knocks a small chip out of the Apple pedestal, one that will at least give some people reason to consider that other manufacturers may not be as far behind in design and production as Apple and others would have you believe. Will this slow down iPhone 4 sales? Hard to say, but there is a huge backlog of orders to fulfill, so we won't likely see any impact in the short term. Something to watch will be to see if any orders are cancelled and/or how the order rate changes.

I believe what this really represents is a bit of opening for Microsoft to help promote the innovation and quality of its upcoming Windows Phone 7 platform. It's not often Apple makes a misstep, and it's a shame Microsoft is not closer to getting out of the gate, but any opportunity is one Microsoft needs to leverage. We'll see how aggressive Microsoft wants to be, but if I were them I wouldn't let this pass completely.

The iPhone 4 is indeed a remarkable design achievement, and few will deny that it is a formidable competitor in the marketplace. But while Apple has refined the design in a striking way, in the process mixing in some remarkable new technologies, the software developments, in my opinion, have not gone nearly as far. Yes there is some nice new functionality, but it's not nearly as significant as Apple would have you believe. This current misstep, combined with the potential of the innovation that Microsoft is embedding in Windows Phone 7, could encourage people to take another look at where Microsoft is heading and a open some new doors. Soon it will be Microsoft's turn to reveal their new product on the public stage. It will be critical that Microsoft avoid any of its own missteps. Can they do it? Let's watch to seen how they and their partners fare - there is a lot at stake.

 
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Old 06-27-2010, 01:30 AM
mboone
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You may have to hold the iPhone a certain way to get reception, but at least a consumer can actually buy one to hold . Windows Phone 7 is still 4 to 6 months away from consumers..... otherwise, yes, it would have been an opportunity for Microsoft.
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Old 06-27-2010, 02:22 AM
Fritzly
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"I believe what this really represents is a bit of opening for Microsoft to help promote the innovation and quality of its upcoming Windows Phone 7 platform. It's not often Apple makes a misstep, and it's a shame Microsoft is not closer to getting out of the gate, but any opportunity is one Microsoft needs to leverage. We'll see how aggressive Microsoft wants to be, but if I were them I wouldn't let this pass completely."

There is a simple problem here:

There is no opportunity to grab here because there is no WP7 phone on the market therefore "the crowd" cannot play with it.

What happened to Apple with the iPhone is, or to better say should be, an important reminder for everybody out there:

"Innovation", "Progress" etc. etc. are words beloved by any company PRs but the "Judgement of God", used in its Medieval meaning, happen when real users play with a device.

Again Apple issues docet.
 
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Old 06-27-2010, 03:47 AM
heliod
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Apple will soon solve the problem by inventing the.... (tense silence) SILICON CASE !!! (hysteric claps)
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  #5  
Old 06-27-2010, 06:48 AM
benjimen
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I think that's a perception many Windows Mobile fans may have, but in fact won't turn out to be what happens.

For me personally, I was so excited about the new iPhone I couldn't sleep -- got in line at 5:30am for my reserved model and was wow'd by it from the moment I had it in hand.

My heart skipped a beat when I was on the treadmill and it flew from it's perch, hitting metal and plastic with hard impacts on it's way to the floor. Not a mark or scratch -- maybe not indestructible or unscratchable, but it's tough

Then it came to that antenna glitch which mine does, and can be made to do. It's great for when mom calls, but... Yesterday, every call I made/received dropped no matter how carefully I held it. One person had to call back 3 times.

I took it for a jog today and the internet radio kept dropping, then rebuffering, playing 30 seconds or so, more buffering... Never an issue with my 3GS.

The WiFi though is the best on the iPhone-4; my 3GS is not -- no idea why, have seen a lot of forum postings regarding this, but no solution.

Would any of that make me switch back to Microsoft mobility products come October? Nope... I might play with one if someone gave it to me, but I wouldn't buy one, nor extend a contract for one.

What I would do is return the iPhone-4, miss it terribly for the first few days, and just go back to my 3GS until they either fix or redesign whatever is causing it. I've read claims it may be a software fix, which doesn't make sense -- would be great if it were though.

It might be this model turns out to be a dud and I just wait for the iPhone-5. I jumped from device to device since the early days of clamshell HP monochrome WindowsCE devices, always wanting the nextest and bestest of the fragmented market. Microsoft only until the 3GS, then couldn't resist... It was an odd sense of relief; after a couple days I knew I'd always have an iPhone

So... no... it's not going to have any longterm effect. Microsoft snoozed while others leap-frogged ahead; they long ago lost their chance of becoming any sort of standard. Like their Exchange ActiveSync though

Last edited by benjimen; 06-27-2010 at 06:53 AM..
 
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Old 06-27-2010, 01:44 PM
Bob12
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Consider putting some sort of case on the phone - one that covers the antenna bands. I use a Frogz Slider and have had absolutely NO problems with signal strength since installing it.
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Old 06-27-2010, 06:23 PM
Macguy59
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A bit of a reach considering MS isn't maintaining QC over the hardware that will be running WM7. We'll see what the 4.01 update due out this week does to address it but I haven't read anything yet that declares it as a widespread problem.
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  #8  
Old 06-27-2010, 09:44 PM
benjimen
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob12 View Post
Consider putting some sort of case on the phone - one that covers the antenna bands. I use a Frogz Slider and have had absolutely NO problems with signal strength since installing it.
I got the bumper-case thing, and it does fix things. If I >have< to put a case on my phone to get it to make calls, then back it goes. Beautiful device though, hope the rumors of an early software fix are true.
 
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  #9  
Old 06-27-2010, 09:46 PM
benjimen
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mboone View Post
You may have to hold the iPhone a certain way to get reception, but at least a consumer can actually buy one to hold . Windows Phone 7 is still 4 to 6 months away from consumers..... otherwise, yes, it would have been an opportunity for Microsoft.
You might think so, but something like 70% of all day-1 purchasers were upgraders, we'd just go back to our previous iPhone and wait for a fix, or the next model. Windows mobility products aren't even a consideration when it comes to options.
 
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  #10  
Old 06-27-2010, 11:31 PM
virain
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Quote:
Originally Posted by benjimen View Post
I think that's a perception many Windows Mobile fans may have, but in fact won't turn out to be what happens.

For me personally, I was so excited about the new iPhone I couldn't sleep -- got in line at 5:30am for my reserved model and was wow'd by it from the moment I had it in hand.
Get a life, kid! It's a terrible thing to waste!

I just see that commercial on TV: "Cool" Mac dude and geeky PC guy.
Mac dude: Look! New iPhone! It has a front facing camera!
PC guy: Very nice, I have a good old Windows Mobile phone, and I can make calls standing , sitting, lying down and upside down, holding either in my right hand or the left one, I doesn't matter. What about you?
Mac dude: Ghm, people are just stupid. Why would anybody want to hold phone with a left hand? They must learn to hold it correctly with a right hand if they want my iPhone. Otherwise they are not just good enough for my dear iPhone!
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