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Confirmed Windows Phone 7 Devices
Please note that this list is subject to change as more information about the devices is available.
A chart containing rumored and confirmed WP7 devices. Clicking on a phone name provides more detail. There are seven confirmed devices so far.
In The Face Of Android's Success, Perhaps Its Best Phone Dies
Google warned potential customers last week that it was close to discontinuing the Nexus One, and this Android OS smartphone didn't last much longer -- Google has sold its last unit.
Against the backdrop of recent reports about impressive Android sales, perhaps the platform's best phone, the Nexus One, has been discontinued.
Though released a few months ago, the Nexus One's specs are still impressive. A 1GHz processor, 800 x 480 AMOLED screen, 5MP camera, etc. It was certainly not canceled for being out of date. But I'm not interested in phones just for spec geeks—the sum of the parts is what matters—it's the non-geek areas where the phone is more impressive than its flashier peers.
While many Android phones are getting bigger, the Nexus One is a relatively compact, smooth phone that fits well in the hand. The design is low-key, and in my opinion looks better for it.
And then there's the distribution. The phone was sold direct, either unlocked or with a contract for T-Mobile or AT&T, and was unencumbered by any of the carrier or manufacturer add-ons we see creeping into the Android world.
In comparison to many new Android phones, the Nexus One:
- Did not include third-party carrier or manufacturer "crapware"
- Did not include a third-party UI, such that another Android user may not even recognize it
- Represented a "clean" Android install
- Can install the latest Android release (2.2)
That last point is interesting. Android phones released even in the last month (e.g., DroidX, Galaxy) are running Android 2.1. The addition of third-party UIs, software, and carrier requirements make testing an OS release more time-consuming. These phones will likely be certified for 2.2 at some point, but by then that release may be old news. Nexus One's "clean" nature made new release certification a relatively speedy affair.
I don't think the Nexus One cancelation had anything to do with design, hardware or software. Rather, I think it was a victim of its own distribution. Buying online with little chance to touch/feel the phone hurt it. Out of sight, out of mind. It was also a victim of Google being wholly unprepared to deal with client support issues. The decent buzz it had at the beginning was soon crushed by bad buzz about support.
I wish Google had done a Nexus Two, but I understand why they did not. Google's interest in Android is to get it in as many hands as possible and sell ads. In Google's eyes, a Nexus Two would provide no advantages to them or their ad buyers over any other new Android phone. The fragmentation of varying UIs, services, and other add-ons doesn't need to concern them. Sheer volume and ads, that's their business model. I'm not knocking the model (it's very successful), but it's in keeping with it that they not waste resources on another Nexus.
Pity, though. I think Google inadvertently showed everyone the best way to make an Android phone.
Antennagate: The Finale?
Marketing can be a chess game. Steve’s made his move, now his competitors get to make theirs. “Them’s fighting words” for these guys, and they’ve already had some nasty things to say about Apple drawing them into its “self-made debacle.” Careful with this one, boys. You may protesteth too much. More and more stories are beginning to appear confirming that this really is an industry-wide problem, and other phones do suffer from a similar death grip.
Good article that sums it up well. I chose the above quote because the statements from RIM, Nokia, HTC, etc. have all been non-denial denials. Like the author, I agree this should backfire on them, but believe it won't because their phones just aren't that interesting.
Why would a tech site spend their time thoroughly testing other companies' "death grips" and then publish the results when no one will click the link anyway? Apple gets page-hits, others do not. This stopped being about "news," or "concern" for the consumer, and crossed over into the realm of SEO and page hits long ago.
Apple Crushes Everyone In Cell Phone Customer Satisfaction Ratings
Surveys of consumers' future buying habits mean very little. If consumers did what they said in surveys, products made via those surveys would be raging successes, but they're not. Apple, perhaps famously, eschews such surveys, contending a customer doesn't know what they want until they see it. So even though the future looks great for Apple in the article's surveys, it means little to me.
There is, however, one type of survey that's very important. Customer Satisfaction is not about the future, it's about real people who own the device now, and how happy they are with it. I would argue it's the only survey that really matters. Look at that chart. Apple crushes everyone by such a wide margin the other guys should be revamping their support policies, procedures and staff, not their product lines.
Unlike iOS, Android Users Play Upgrade Roulette: Maybe you get it, maybe you don't
Some of the cause for the updates is likely to be HTC, which only said 2010 phones would be updated. As such, the only HTC phones on Sprint to carry Android 2.2 are likely to be the Evo 4G and possibly the Legend. Samsung hasn't explained any of its plans for the Moment, but the company has developed a pattern of declining to upgrade phones beyond one revision.
Only phones from 2010? Only one revision? Wow. That's some harsh upgrade terms right there. And don't think other hardware manufacturers and carriers will think any different.
For all the good press Android 2.2 has received, little has been written about the tiny percentage of phones that are actually going to run it. The vaunted Evo doesn't have it yet. Even unreleased phones like the DroidX will debut with 2.1.
Notice that there isn't just one upgrade villain. Various manufacturers and carriers will have their own rules about what's happening. Too bad for the user who wants to upgrade but realizes the decision is not his.
Still, this is what Google wrought by design. Their goal is to get as many "Androids" out there as possible. Version consistency is not a priority because they all display Google's mobile ads, which is the entire point of Android in the first place.
Though disappointed by this, I'm not surprised. I've compared the Android distribution philosophy to Windows Mobile before, and this is more proof of it.
Sure, Android is better than WinMo, but saying you run "Android"—unless you're a geek—doesn't tell us much because of the many hardware/software iterations. Typical users will be running the original version that came on the phone two years later when they buy a new one because upgrading was too much trouble, or they didn't know they could, or it wasn't an option. The more Android devices sell, the more this will be true. The carriers and manufacturers are too busy with the latest spec sheet-based offering (10 megapixels, anyone?) to worry about the user who bought one three months ago.
Compare this to the iPhone. Much is made of Apple's yearly iOS introductions, with critics claiming it's all hype or they're just catching up. I disagree, but none of that matters. What matters is that every year iPhone owners get an upgrade that significantly improves their existing phone and it costs them nothing. They just plug into iTunes and click Install. Further, only with iOS 4 has Apple finally dropped a device. But that original iPhone is three years old, and was already "made new" twice; we're not talking about an HTC phone bought seven months ago.
The reason iPhone owners watch Apple's new iOS announcements closely is because they know their phone can upgrade to it. Meanwhile, Android users excited by 2.2 a month ago are still waiting, most likely to be disappointed.
Oh Goody, Another iPhone vs. Android Feature List
All the article "proves" is that it's just as easy to devise a feature list favoring the iPhone as it is to favor Android. Big deal.
The inherent worth of a product is the total package, from the hardware to the software to the ecosystem. When measured on that scale I think the iPhone beats up Android and takes its lunch money. But you'll never capture that in a feature list, can't we just leave those to the marketing people?
Michael Arrington: Don’t Buy The HTC EVO, It Is A Seriously Flawed Device
If you want an Android phone right now, get a Nexus One. In January I believed it was by far the best phone on the market. The new iPhone 4, though, is clearly superior. I’d rather see you buy that device and deal with the Apple dictatorship than get a phone you aren’t going to be happy with.
Pretty strong words from Arrington. Especially when you consider that he abhors Apple, and has all but turned TechCrunch into a Google PR machine.
Comparison: iPhone 4 Retina Display vs. iPhone 3GS and HTC EVO 4G
Nice shots of the new iPhone 4 Retina Display compared to the current iPhone and flagship Android device. When you can see the difference this clearly in photographs, I can understand why those who've seen the display in person praise it so highly.
No surprise if Android phones are outselling the iPhone
Something like this was inevitable, given that:
- Two models of the iPhone (the 3GS and 3G) are doing battle with scads of Android handsets in an array of shapes and sizes;
- You can buy an Android phone for a lot less than an iPhone (the original Droid launched in November at the same contract price as an iPhone 3GS–now Amazon has ‘em for twenty bucks;
- Three out of four major U.S. wireless carriers still don’t have the iPhone.
The article nails it. There are too many makes/models of Android phones for this not to happen.
It's not that big a deal from an iPhone perspective. The fragmentation of different models, different Android OS versions, different custom software, on carriers with different update policies, lessens the impact of their sheer number.
Microsoft and HTC: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em
It gets weirder. Microsoft, in turn, would recieve royalties on every Google Android phone sold by HTC. So, for a few bucks per Android device, Microsoft gives HTC the ammunition it needs to fight off Apple in its patent disputes.
Despite public statements to the contrary, HTC must be concerned about the Apple lawsuit. Otherwise there's little reason to give Microsoft "a few bucks" per phone for, essentially, nothing. Windows Mobile is in terrible shape, so if Microsoft had any phone patents (i.e., "ammunition") worth having they'd have gone after the smartphone vendors themselves by now. They haven't.
Instead, I think Microsoft licensed HTC a bill of goods that looks good in a press release. Microsoft gets cash money for HTC phones sold, but doesn't have to dirty their hands with any legal battle that'll cost millions (and they're not confident in winning).
Sure, HTC can go back to Apple and say "See? We have these Microsoft patents, are you scared now?", but I think Apple will be unimpressed. Again, it looks good in a press release, and in tech pundits' columns, but all it'll likely do is stretch the case, and the cloud over HTC, out further, which is not a good thing for HTC.
I would think HTC tried first to cross-license with Apple (after all, they're the ones holding the patents HTC's alleged to be infringing), but Apple said no. Microsoft made overtures, HTC grabbed, and Microsoft laughs all the way to the bank.
