Speculating On What a Microsoft Superphone Might Mean 371
smitty777 writes "Forbes is running an intriguing story on a new 'Superphone' under development by the folks at Microsoft. According to this leaked MS roadmap document, the plan is to build the Apollo-based phone in the 4th quarter of 2012. FTA: 'In the end, however, none of this matters. Microsoft's "peek into the future" is barely a glimpse into what the company may or may not have planned for 2012. While the "superphone" bullet is worth noting, it is not the confirmation of a revolutionary new product. At best, it indicates that Microsoft wishes to compete with Apple by offering a product that is, well, super.' It's also interesting that Sony and AT&T also appear to be working on superphones of their own."
Will it a be world 4g / 3g phone with GSM / CDMA (Score:4, Interesting)
one phone for all bands? so you can get the phone and use it on any network with have to buy a ATT or sprint one like the iphone. No having the phone locked to the carrier you choose.
Re:Easily explainable: Nokia (Score:1, Interesting)
Also, development on WP7 phones is ridiculously easy, as you point out. I'm more than happy that Nokia finally dropped Symbian, which was a *major* pain in the ass to even set up development environment for. XNA, Silverlight etc make it ridiculously easy to do apps for WP7.
Only bad thing about WP7 is that you can't run apps outside markets as easily as with old Windows Mobile's. It really sucks. But it's something iPhone and Android mandated, so blame is on them.
Too late. (Score:5, Interesting)
I was a Windows guy for portable stuff for many years because they were usually the first to market with the "killer apps" that I needed. (Apps not necessarily meaning applications but also features.) Honestly, M$-based PDAs had some killer features back in the day. But what they've got on the phone market now is a joke. They're a distant third these days. One or two phones per carrier, some still on 6.5 which is 2 years old now. Verizon doesn't even have a 4G WinMo smartphone. It's pretty pathetic. Apple's nice but they've always been behind the curve in connectivity. Last OS to get tethering, still don't have 4G, etc. Android's been at the cutting edge for a while now and, unless they totally drop the ball, it will be hard to pull existing customers away from the platform.
I made the switch a couple weeks ago and haven't looked back. It doesn't really matter to me what Microsoft puts out in the next few years because I don't think they'll be able to catch up, let alone regain the lead. The only hope they have is to go after business clients with cloud computing, workstation docks, etc. Of course, they'd still be playing catchup to Android. Already got laptop and desktop docks for Android phones along with google docs to work on your documents from any device.
No Monopoly, No Success (Score:5, Interesting)
It's fascinating to watch Microsoft fail in market after market where it didn't start with a monopoly, like in mobile devices generally, phones specifically, tablets specifically, media generally, mobile media players specifically, and everything else.
Except for mouse and keyboard, and in games both console and PC. Why are those different from the rest? Maybe because mouse and keyboard are just extensions of the Windows brand monopoly on the desktop, with no real brand competition whatsoever. And maybe in games the competitors each have their own monopolies, and the competition is the kind Microsoft likes: based on spending a lot of money and running a corrupt supply chain / marketing system rather than on quality.
Re:Easily explainable: Nokia (Score:2, Interesting)
Ducks, "great software" from Microsoft, google sucks, etc.
All just pure bullshit and astroturf.
Please explain why you want to forbid someone from having a positive opinion about microsoft products?
I use their compilers daily and couldn't be more happier. Its my opinion that their developer tools are superior to everything else that I've used.
Re:Easily explainable: Nokia (Score:5, Interesting)
Define "great products".
I'll remind you that each of the products you cite had competition, until Microsoft used their monopolistic advantages to squash that competition.
If, in truth, Microsoft has any "great products", the competitor's products were sometimes greater. It sucks to be deprived of those products, just because Microsoft had the influence to crush them. Look at the close call we had with Java. Imagine a world in which the only surviving JVM was Microsoft's own version.
Those people who define "great products" as those products promoted by the most successful mega corporations would certainly agree with you that Microsoft has a lot of great products. Those of us who define "great products" differently will continue to disagree with you.
That "leaked" roadmap... (Score:4, Interesting)
unifying windows kernel and api (Score:5, Interesting)
Here's my take. I think Microsoft wants to unify their operating systems.
Windows Phone was the first "Metro" experience, but it runs on an old CE kernel and the stack above that is Silverlight (and XNA). Metro is huge. It's the first really new user interface Microsoft's shipped since Windows 95. Metro makes classic Windows and even iPhone and Android feel ancient -- the same old square icons on a desktop we've all been using for the last several decades.
Windows 8 brings Metro to the desktop, laptop, and tablet world. This world, though, is built on the NT kernel, with the WinRT API above that. Sure, you can build Silverlight-like apps in Windows 8 Metro, it might even be trivial to port your WP app to Windows 8 Metro, but you can't easily go the other way.
So, what can Microsoft do about this? Well, it's easy, move Windows Phone onto the NT kernel, and carry over the bulk of the WinRT API. This would make developing your Windows app for any form factor, from desktops to phones, a very easy task. Throw in some nice Visual Studio and Blend templates for re-shaping your app to fit the various form factors, and you've got something really compelling.
The problem with that? Well, today's Windows Phone hardware probably isn't sufficient to drive an NT+WinRT OS. Enter "Superphones."
Superphones, I'm guessing, are the first generation of Windows Phone that run on the NT kernel and support the WinRT (or at least enough of it for most apps.) Note the Apollo release timing is not far from the expected Windows 8 release. Put that together with the recent news that the Windows Phone chief was put in charge of a "a new role working for me on a time-critical opportunity focused on driving maximum impact in 2012 with Windows Phone and Windows 8", and there might be something to this.
So, what do you all think. Am I crazy? Would "same API" across all devices be a worthy Microsoft goal? An achievable one? And what about X-box? Could Microsoft pull off the hat-trick, and unify all of their major platforms under a Metro front end? No doubt that's a tall order, and there are three CPU architectures to deal with. But Microsoft is a big and wealthy company.
Re:4Q 2012? Who will care? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:What a Microsoft Superphone Might Mean (Score:2, Interesting)
I agree. 'Funny' I might buy. But Insightful? Seriously, what are the alternatives to Slashdot? This is getting to be too much.
Re:Easily explainable: Nokia (Score:2, Interesting)
Windows phone 7 is a turd.
"Superphone" Windows means what? Rocket-powered turd?
The metro UI is clueless. Clearly it was designed by people who never really "got" touch. Why is 20% of the high-resolution screen always occupied by useless black sliding bar?
Pointless, ugly and without function or art.
Rocket-powered turd.
Re:Easily explainable: Nokia (Score:4, Interesting)
The previous poster did not point out that development was ridiculously easy. He did however say, "Winphone 7 isn't *that* good."
A great UI means nothing without decent apps for the user to interface with. I am not interested in pissed-off avians or whatever game clones may be available for WP7, I want tools not entertainment. Most of the quality app makers for WM have jumped ship for Android or iOS, and WP7 won't catch up anytime soon.