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Surface Phone is rumored, but should be coming soonish...?

kojack

Member
I am in the don't hold your breath camp. WP is DONE. As a lover of the platform it pains me to say it. MS and Nutella is bailing on the platform. Actually satya never wanted it. He is all about apple. So was Joe B. as well. When your CEO and 1 one point man for windows phone development are running apple phones......it tells a lot. That is like the CEO of Mercedes driving an audi or bmw. I am gone to apple very soon so I can have the apps I need to conduct business correctly. I need square payment. an a full blown virtual phone app.
 

jnjroach

Administrator
Staff member
Windows Phone has been dead just prior to the Windows 10 Mobile release, 3G, LTE, 4G is a feature of hardware that is supported on Windows 10 Mobile but at the end of the day Windows 10 is Windows 10 is Windows 10....some devices at 3.8" screens, some are 7-9 inch screens, some are screenless (IoT) and some have 84" screens and make calls.

Smaller Windows 10 devices are targeted a specific markets the same as the IoT and Surface Hubs are....
 

CrippsCorner

Well-Known Member
I wanted one so bad for a while... but now it'd be too little too late. Windows Phone is dead, move on people.
 

Pedrom

Member
I wanted one so bad for a while... but now it'd be too little too late. Windows Phone is dead, move on people.

With a heavy heart, I jumped ship last week. No decent phones out atm without selling a kidney first (what's up with that?). Ended up getting a used S6. I really don't like Android much, but found a half decent WP launcher, so at least it kinda looks like home... ;)

I've still got hopes a decent WP will come out next year - I've not given up completely!
 

Amwaj Karoon

New Member
If the surface phone does eventually surface, would like it or one of its variants to sport a 5.0 or 5.2 inch screen for ease of use & portability as larger than that is likely to appeal to the mainstream phablet users and the elderly.

A removal back like those on some of the latest Lumia phones would be great. Hope MS also comes up with a fix to the overheating issue currently experienced by windows phone users even from a few minutes of use as the much awaited surface phone sees the light of day……
 

GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
Pedrom may have been right... October 4th, 2017. ;).

This thread is nearly a year old... soonish is relative though ... and no time at all on the geological clock. :)
 

Skier7667

New Member
Interesting thread, but indeed, it's circa 2016 and the analysis is not 100% correct. Satya Nadella, not Nutella (I believe that's a yummy spread) never said he was against the Windows phone. What he disapproved of was the M/A of Nokia, as that was not the direction he envisioned and quickly he disbanded Nokia. However, these things for a super large corporation never happen over night, it sadly takes time.

Microsoft currently knows that they can't compete with Apple OR Android variants in the smart phone field, especially when it comes to consumers. They have to find their own "niche" and that will be in the business or enterprise segment. Panos Panay and his engineering team which heads Surface have been working on Surface devices. Surface in itself is not designed to compete or be a #1 leader. What it is designed is to show the OEM's that they can indeed make an excellent device, PC, tablet, Surface Studio, phone, that excels - a reference device to emulate, like Nvidia does with their GPU's that OEM's tweak and enhance. Like Google does with their Pixel phone that others emulate.

Through this engineering design that trickles down to us, we as consumers will hopefully benefit from a consumer oriented phone. Let's face it, Continuum - the concept is hardly viewed by the average consumer as "I got to have". They got to have - "Retina Vision" OR "30 Megapixel camera", Apps (of which the majority are junk, but sounds nice), etc.

I agree it is sad because the Windows Phone hardware and software is definitely excellent. The apps are what badly hurt Windows phone and the carriers who when you would go in to their store, as I experienced time in and time again over several years, would take you to a Samsung or Apple phone cause their pocket book was being personally "enhanced". Even sadder, they would not push out the updates to the phones, blaming Microsoft not having the update approved. Verizon, the most notorious, even today has not pushed out updates to many Windows phones. Users in the know had to perform all sort of gyrations to get the update. Many of the updates were features and other security update. Apple was smart and lucky to have AT&T while it was going through a change from Cingular, accept their terms to allow ONLY Apple to push out the updates. That helped Apple severely in keeping their phone updated - remember the antenna/bar issue? Had updates not been pushed out, that would have hurt them badly at the time.

Microsoft sadly made several mistakes, no doubt about it and it has hurt them. The ability now to easily port over X86 software that will/could help and encourage devs to write more apps for Windows mobile. No matter what, the market is super saturated with phones and even Apple will need to find a new "Phone" to market cause at this point they are all pretty much alike and have reached their pinnacle for the most part.

That is why Microsoft is taking their time to find that best niche to go after and it's Enterprise. If they delay the Surface Phone it might be to ensure they do it right. the 950XL and the HP Elite can hold those on that love the flagship phone.

I doubt I would go Apple and if forced, would go pure Android, but no yet. The Surface Phone when it comes out, just like the Surface devices, will be pricy and consumers are not going to flock to buy it like consumers who flock to Apple at $850 for a phone every year.

Keep the faith, but don't expect bargains from Microsoft. Maybe other OEM's will come out with lower priced phones and rest assured, the carriers won't push them, they will continue to push Samsung and Apple, so the consumers think these are the best phones on the planet.
 

Exhile

Member
I say that Microsoft should try again with the Surface Phone because Smart Watches and Augmented Reality glasses will be common place in the future. Smart watches and A/R glasses need to sync with a phone so that information can be streamlined with these wearable devices. If Microsoft doesn't deploy a smart phone, they are going to miss an upcoming revolution in technology.

I know that Microsoft cannot compete with Apple and Google in the apps department for smart phones but Microsoft has to try. Right now, Samsung & Apple are entering into the mobile pen computing market with the iPad Pro & Galaxy Tab S3. These products may not be as good as the Surface Pro line which has a majority market share but it's an attempt by Samsung/Google and Apple.
 

GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
Maybe if Surface Phone included Alexa it would have a better chance. Alexa kicks Cortana and Siri by miles because Alexa can do stuff.

The Apps thing might not be insurmountable but a different approach would be needed. First though, how many really significant apps are there??? Id guess less than a thousand. There are many thousands of apps that just don't amount to much and aren't going to make a difference.
 

Skier7667

New Member
Maybe if Surface Phone included Alexa it would have a better chance. Alexa kicks Cortana and Siri by miles because Alexa can do stuff.

The Apps thing might not be insurmountable but a different approach would be needed. First though, how many really significant apps are there??? Id guess less than a thousand. There are many thousands of apps that just don't amount to much and aren't going to make a difference.

It won't likely include Alexa, since you have Cortana. Alexa doesn't include Siri or Cortana and Siri doesn't include Alexa. Cortana is highly integrated with Bing and not sure how those other assistants would integrate to Bing or even get into the innards of them since Microsoft might not have access to their source code to make that tight integration.

Getting Cortana to work even better would be a start and as far as how many functional apps available, that is something that they would have to market in some way and over time as the user base using those apps increases, so will the users that want to purchase the phone.

I have a feeling that consumers see that their bank app is available so they get that phone. The app becomes the determining factor. Whether they can text quickly or have a great phone connection, etc., are not the primary things I believe users look to in making a determination whether to purchase a phone brand or not. Once they select one, they continue to repurchase the same brand, as long as that app or apps they have downloaded works the way they expect. The phone from the consumer point of view has become a $800 commodity in the Apple world and slightly less in Android. This market (consumer market) is saturated at this level. That's why Apple is trying to go after the Indian and Chinese market to grow more, because in the US market they have peaked. that's also why Microsoft knows that they need to find another niche cause they will never become even #2 the way the consume market is today. The finalist are in and they are likely not gong to slip in position from what they are now in.
 
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