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Live From Nokia’s Windows Phone 8 Press Conference
- vyrotek 14y agoPersonally, I'm really interested in WP8 and I've held off renewing my contract for a year just to see what will come out. We've had many Android phones in our home and I'm kind of done with them. I would like to avoid the updates nightmare between the carriers and google.
- untog 14y agoIf the experience of WP7 is anything to go by, you're going to be exchanging a nightmare between the carriers and Google with a nightmare between the carriers and Microsoft. AT&T flat out refused to release an update for my phone, I had to do the WP equivalent of rooting it and manually patching myself.
- freehunter 14y agoMicrosoft has said they will allow you to download updates OTA even if your carrier hasn't approved the updates yet. This is similar to how major upgrades to WP7 (NoDo and Mango) worked.
- vyrotek 14y agoAh, that's rough. I was pretty upset that Sprint didn't release more WP7 phones but now I see why they held off. Unfortunately, it seems WP7 was a transition/beta device. But, I think it will be different this time with the huge bet they're making with Windows 8 across lots of different devices now.
- EwanToo 14y agoWP7 was the beta/transition, then it was WP7.5 that was the transition, now it'll be WP8. I don't see a lot changing - I've used a couple of WP7.5 devices, they nice, but they're not significantly better, or cheaper than an iPhone, Galaxy S3, HTC One, etc, so they're going to struggle. Microsoft's best chance of marketshare seems to be the implosion of RIM, but that's limited to what, 10% of the market?
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- untog 14y agoNokia's new phones look fantastic. But their last ones looked fantastic, too. PureView camera? Awesome. But all my friends share photos through Instagram. No Instagram on WP8 = me not being able to share photos with my friends. So right now, this former WP7 user is sticking with Android. I really, really want to like Windows Phone- the UI is better than anything else out there. But it needs more support from third parties, and fast.
- Metrop0218 14y agoIt'll come, I wouldn't worry too much about that
- reddiric 14y agoWindows Phone 8 has a native 3rd party API and DirectX, in addition to the C#/SL/XNA stack on WP7, which will make porting applications from and sharing code with iOS and Android easier.
- untog 14y agoOh, I know. And I really do hope it makes a difference. But given Microsoft's connection to Facebook, and Facebook's ownership of Instagram... I was hoping they twist some arms today and announce Instagram as a WP8 'lens' app. That would be awesome.
- mtgx 14y agoIt seems Nokia's misleading "PureView" marketing has succeed as even tech savvy people can get confused into thinking this camera is the basically the same as the one in the PureView 808 smartphone. It's absolutely 100% not. It doesn't have a high resolution for pixel binning to make those images ultra clear, and it doesn't have pixel binning at all. Also it doesn't have that super large sensor to capture much more light. It has a regular smartphone sensor. This is what made Pureview be Pureview. The new camera is nothing like it. It just adds some stabilization technology, but that's no reason to still call it PureView, other than to mislead people into thinking it's the same as the original. I also think WP7 looked better than WP8. The small tiles make it look more cluttered.
- lawdawg 14y agoI am the only one that finds Metro to be ugly (hate the color choices and block-y design) and cluttered? This does not strike me as something I want to see on my home screen: http://d35lb3dl296zwu.cloudfront.net/uploads/photo/image/7691/axv1309.jpg http://d35lb3dl296zwu.cloudfront.net/uploads/photo/image/769... Regardless, I'm wondering if the average consumer feels the same way as well. WP7 is not selling well, and WP8 (and the new Lumias) don't really differentiate themselves that much from the previous iteration in terms of what a consumer will see in the first few minutes of using the phone. Also, this is DOA in the US if they are AT&T exclusive.
- untog 14y agoI was surprised to see a view like that being promoted. I love Metro, but I hate app makers that don't keep to the Metro aesthetic. When it's done right: http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/nokia-920-820-lumia-leak-640x353.jpg http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/nokia-... I think it looks fantastic, and communicates more than the iPhone home screen without the mess of the Android one.
- lawdawg 14y agoEven in those two screens, everything just blends together (especially with the white text on yellow tiles). Just seems like a usability nightmare imo. Regardless, I don't find Android home screens messy at all (although there are a few widgets that are poorly made), and with the customization ability that's provided with custom ROMs, it can be as beautiful as you want it to be.
- sixothree 14y agoNo, you are not the only one. Their choice of color is abysmal. Have you seen Server Manager in Server 2012? Awful, just awful. At least the icons fit the home screen properly this time.
- eckyptang 14y agoYou do realise that you can change the colour? Server Manager 2012 - agree. That's just horrible.
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- markmm 14y agoLet's see how it sells compared to the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S3. Everything else is moot.
- madoublet 14y agoSales are important. But, lets give them some credit. This is a really well designed phone. And if the (less than impressive) iPhone 5 leaks hold, than this could be the first phone that is arguably designed better than the iPhone. That is pretty impressive.
- patd 14y agoApparently, it's not living up to the expectations of the stock market. The stock is down 13%. Not sure what people were hoping for. http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3ANOK http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3ANOK
- ghshephard 14y agoThey've announced a product, but no pricing or availability. People will immediately stop buying the current generation, but don't have the next generation to purchase - and there is no idea when they will be able to. Nokia just put the brakes on sales, and haven't indicated when they'll let up on them.
- MartinCron 14y agoBut the brakes have been on sales for a while, as we have known that the latest windows phone software won't work on the existing Lumia phones.
- ghshephard 14y agoWell, let's just say then that they pushed a bit harder. The difference now, is previously I could have purchased a phone, and then in some indeterminate period of time in the future, upgraded to a new phone, and brought all my applications (and, much, much more importantly for most people - my familiarity with the platform) along with me. WP8 is pretty similar to WP7 in terms of GUI. But now - I know what that new phone is going to look like - so buying todays phone is like buying the previous generation. Also - it was _demoed_ - so it feels like it's going to be released any day now...
- lawdawg 14y agoWow, no prices or dates? Fail. (Guess they just wanted to announce/show off the devices before the iPhone5 announcement ... but without prices or dates, the hype is going to fade into non-existence).
- Toshio 14y agoI am now convinced that they organized this event hastily once they knew the date for the iPhone 5 event... kind of like what they did with surface to front-run the Nexus 7 announcement. Smacks of desperation if you ask me.
- markmm 14y agoIt will fail, this is the last chance for Nokia, I expect them to go out of the smart phone business very quickly.
- rbanffy 14y agoThis is really scary. If Nokia goes out of business and its patent portfolio ends up in the hands of a patent troll, there will be an effective entry barrier in the smartphone market (because every current smartphone maker probably has a cross-licensing agreement in place, only new players will be affected). My bet is Microsoft will acquire what's left of Nokia and use patents offensively against competitors where the CLA's don't cover them, but, even if they decide not to do so, life will get a lot more dangerous in this space. If that's the case, I hope Google acquires them. The peace of mind not to have that IP in Microsoft's hands is worth a lot of money.
- cooldeal 14y agoI came to HN expecting to read such a comment thread and I was not disappointed at all.
- vesky 14y agoThat's what I used to think too... until I actually owned a Lumia by chance. Now I'm rooting for them because I know I won't get that quality from other manufacturers without buying and Apple product. PS: I'd rather chop off one of my testicles than do that.
- Spearchucker 14y agoReading a lot of anti WP sentiment, and much of it directed at WP8 (surprising, because Microsft hasn't really revealed anything about it yet). That said, the Lumia 920 is without a doubt my next phone. Granted, I'm in a position where price means nothing to me, so the deciding factors are wireless charging, NFC, offline maps (not the pseudo-variety Google offers), PureView (even if it's only a 5Mp camera I'm betting it'll still outdo anything else in a smart phone). I accept that no two people share the same view.
- vesky 14y agoThe 920 has an 8Mp camera. I got the same feeling from all the blogs covering the event. They all talked about it through a "doubtful" lens. I kept seeing expression like "I gotta admit it's actually nice" and "this might actually be worth owning" that clearly states their Apple/Android affiliation. I used to be an Android fan but after using the Lumia 820 for a month (unlocking it for a friend), going back to a Galaxy left me a bit sad. After WP, Android seem childish and overly hard to keep uncluttered over time. I just hope the 920 won't be too expensive otherwise I'm gonna have to deal with samsung for another 2 years :(
- mtgx 14y agoAs a side note, Nokia's stock seems to have dropped 11% today. I guess stockholders aren't too excited about the new devices and WP8.