The Motorola Droid's high-resolution screen.(Credit: Verizon)
Posted on 11/10/2009 5:26:34 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
If the iPhone didn't finish off Windows Mobile in the smartphone market, the Motorola Droid may.
Windows Mobile is losing the last vestiges of its mojo--if it really had any to begin with--as the Droid and other phones based on the Android 2.0 operating system push the buzz meter needle into the red zone. Many in the media--which can play a big role in steering users to one technology platform or another--sense that Windows Mobile has now been relegated resolutely to has-been status.
The Motorola Droid's high-resolution screen.(Credit: Verizon)
Let's do a quick canvas of what some in the press are saying now that we're at the start of the Droid era. A post on SFGate.com (the Web site of the San Francisco Chronicle) is, like other commentary out there, clearly dismissive of Windows Mobile. "Curiously, Microsoft is nowhere to be seen in this battle royal," the author states, referring to the iPhone and Android.
And there's this more damning comment from a blog at SeattlePI.com. "Rarely mentioned, however, is another player in the mobile OS market--Microsoft. Why not? Because not many people in the smartphone world seem to really give a hoot about Windows Mobile anymore."
The litany of like articles is long. This post on PC World asks: "Has Microsoft Placed Its Last Mobile Bet?" The article cites research from Canalys showing Windows Mobile slipping from 13.9 percent of the worldwide smartphone market in 2002 to 9 percent in the second quarter of 2009.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.cnet.com ...
fyi
Microsoft.... the Apple of the mobile market.
I gotta agree with them. While MS has a large OS share in the smart phone market they really haven’t innovated in years and have been losing market share steadily. It also doesn’t help that they keep pushing Windows Mobile 7 off and tried re-branding mobile 6 into “Windows Phone”. Rather lame when all they did was change the GUI. They have a solid OS they could use in the Zune HD gui and can set a hard ware standard using the Zune HD as well, but are intent on keeping the divisions seperate for some reason. Makes you really wonder why they boughtDanger in the first place.
Sometimes the tech press can be as annoying as the MSM. Maybe they can let people decide for themselves instead of trying to hype us into the platform of their choice? And for a platform that no one wants, they seem to be working really hard at constantly telling us this to the point that it sounds more like their wish more than anything else. But what do I know, its not like I use WM to so stuff like post on FR or anything.
Love my iPhone. I wouldn’t use a WinMobile phone if you gave it to me.
My daughter’s phone has Windows Mobile on it. It hurts my brain to use it. When an alarm goes off, rather than figuring out how to silence it, I just remove the battery.
ROFL!
I have T-Mobile so my options seemed to be limited. I ended up getting the Android MyTouch 3G. I turned out to be a great purchase. I rip DVD’s before trips. No matter what city I am in, I can find anything I am looking for. I can Freep from anywhere.
Because of poor customer service bordering on criminal malfeasance I will never again use ATT or Verizon which means no iPhone or Droid for me. However, I am very happy with what I have now.
I have two Win Mobile phones. I’ve NEVER been able to answer them when the phone rings........assuming, of course, that windows allows the phone to actually ring.
Seems CNET has jumped the shark, too, or at least the writer has.
Microsoft has, basically, three problems whereas their phone/pda product is concerned.
1. Price. OEM’s are paying a baseline of $30.00 per. I’m hearing, not factual, it costs a total of $11.00 for Android based distributions. And, that’s after the fee to the Open Handset Alliance.
2. Convergence. A few years ago, MS merged their Smartphone platform with Windows CE, and created Windows Mobile. Now they have a hodgepodge of an OS that is tailored to neither market.
3. Innovation. MS has locked up Windows Mobile, and offered it as a “take it or leave it” product, the market has responded with “we’ll leave it”. Android is open. Telcos are free to customize it to their, and hopefully their customers’, liking. Consumers are, for the most part, able to further customize it, as well.
Now, it may seem, after I said that, that I dislike MS or Windows Mobile. I don’t. I have one. I’ve had one since 2000, in the Pocket PC Phone Edition. And, I’ve moved along the with the market, upgrading as upgraded models became available.
But, I stopped upgrading at the HTC Wizard, also called the T-Mobile MDA/I-mate K-JAM/MDA Vario/O2 XDA/Cingular 8125, etc. LOL It’s a true “world” phone, and I still like it. It has one of the very best slide out keyboards, and that’s important to me. It has a touch screen, I hated having to yank out the stylus every time I wanted to navigate, even one click, and it supports Micro SD up to 1 GB.
I stopped upgrading because there was no value in doing so. Nothing new, in any of the new phones from anyone, including Apple and Android, that would add to my so called “experience”.
What would add to my experience? Uh, screen size makes a difference. I do like that the new Droid has a larger screen. Battery life. Storage. More control.
Oh, and a lower price without a two year prison sentence.
“I stopped upgrading because there was no value in doing so. Nothing new, in any of the new phones from anyone, including Apple and Android, that would add to my so called “experience”.”
As I mentioned in my post, I just wanted to add MP3 and movies to my phone, I didn’t expect anything more. But.....
Google sky map. Hold up the phone and look at the sky. The stars are there with their names. Point the phone down, and see the southern hemisphere sky with the stars named. Doesn’t sound like much but a big cool factor and I and my kids have learned a bit of astronomy.
Carr Matey. Get out of the car and drop anchor. Hours later in a city completely strange to me, a map and directions back to my car.
Any music, any band, I want to hear is just a click away.
Voice mail transcribed and sent to my email.
Point the phones camera at a UPC and get the prices at multiple stores.
In addition to google maps showing me exactly where I am, a real browser and all of the other functions of a modern smart phone, I didn’t know what I was missing.
It’s funny, the only thing T Mobile has done is provide phone service and bill me monthly with no mystery charges thrown in.
It doesn’t sound like much but ATT, two name changes ago and Verizon, one name change ago would throw in a couple of extra charges every month, they would never be more than 5 or 10 dollars but unless you were willing to wait an hour for customer service every billing cycle, you just had to pay it. They were always friendly and would drop the extra charges but could never explain why they would pop up month after month.
Three months after buying a brand new Sprint phones, they “upgraded” their towers making my and my wife’s phones inoperable. No warning before we dropped about $600 on the phones, no deal on new phones, just directions to go to the Sprint store and buy new phones. I told them I would buy new phones but it would not be Sprint.
About 8 years ago, we went to T-Mobile. the phones work and the bills are right. I have no idea what their customer service is like, I’ve never needed it, not once.
Oh, heck. I’ve added phones, and discontinued them. I added a data line to my aircard for faxing, I’ve changed my plans, etc. Never have they tacked on a service agreement, or given me hard time about anything. I really like being able to buy a new phone on the market, sticking my SIM card in and blam, I’m on. T-Mo doesn’t care.
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