I'm a fan of Windows Phone. I could also be called an advocate, evangelist, whatever you want to call it of the platform. This is why it's infuriating to me to see how Microsoft seems to be blowing it when they should be gaining more users, and in turn, fans like me.
Going back to a prior post - I've been a Zune guy for the last few years. As a pretty serious audiophile who's always on the hunt for new music it allows me to get all the music I want for $15/month. It's a deal I can't beat and if I was an iPhone/iTunes user I'd be spending MUCH more money on downloads or downloading illegally - neither of which are options for me. I was excited when the original Windows Phone 7 was finally released because Zune was integrated into the phone OS, so I could consolidate my phone and music player into one device. Yes, this had already been done for a LONG time with iPhone, but it just wasn't an option for me.
Windows Phone launched just about a year ago, but only with AT&T and T-Mobile in the U.S. A handset wasn't available to Sprint until last Spring, and to date there's only ONE handset available - a very good performing but bulky HTC Arrive. I bought it for the OS and its features but could definitely do without the slideout physical keyboard which make the phone too big and heavy.
So let's look at carrier count in the U.S. -
AT&T: 4 devices
T-Mobile: 3 devices
Verizon and Sprint: 1 device each
If they want to be a serious player in the market they need to become more ubiquitous - they need to be everywhere so people actually consider it as an option when looking for a new phone.
Microsoft has entered a partnership with Nokia and most new Nokia handsets will now be Windows Phone based. Nokia used to be a major player in the U.S., but has essentially been out of the market for a few years. They're still a major player worldwide and the first Nokia handsets have launched overseas and from what I'm hearing are doing well in the marketplace.
Pretty sharp, right?
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| Nokia Lumia 710 |
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| Nokia Lumia 800 |
This leads me to what I'm seeing as another blown opportunity. I think we're going to see a LOT of promotion soon for the first Nokia handset coming to the U.S. It's the Nokia Lumia 710 with T-Mobile. This is a pared down Windows Phone spec-wise and will be super cheap at $50. They really want their first entry to be a "lite" version of the phone? And with T-Mobile? Nokia people have said they "plan" to be with every carrier - but now is the time to make this happen. I'm hearing Sprint has no plans for a new handset any time soon since they're deeply committed to iPhone and are dumping a TON of resources into this new offering.
The ideal situation would be that we'd see the Nokia Lumia 800 offered on multiple carriers in the U.S. so that M'soft and Nokia could really begin a joint, heavy promotion and inundate the marketplace with handsets and get the product front of mind. Today if you go to Best Buy or other retailers that sell phones you'll see 1 or maybe 2 offerings, and that just won't do. We're coming out of the Christmas shopping season now. I've been in a lot of stores and seen a lot of advertising and very little of it is for Windows Phone. A definite missed opportunity. A lot of people who were looking to refresh just did, and are now committed for 2 years in most cases.
My other gripes about the current offering are these -
More Capacity - Current handsets only have 16GB of internal storage and most don't have room for expansion cards. This is simple. They need 32 and 64GB options to please media hungry users, which is most of us these days. Back to the Lumia 710 - it only has 8GB of internal storage - 8GB!!!!
Common power/docking - If you have an iAnything you can get a wide array of accessories for it and most are compatible from one iProduct to the next. Microsoft was getting this right with Zune for a time, but when Windows Phone launched docking went out window. It's a major flaw to be missing this feature. It would broaden appeal to both customers and to accessory makers, who as of now have to make completely different accessories for each model of handset.
Marketing - I touched on this above - the phones need to be EVERYWHERE. People need to see commercials, print ads, and see actual handsets in stores. It won't be taken seriously until this happens. Also, on the marketing topic - my wife and I went to a Windows Phone launch party in Nashville a few weeks ago. It was at a trendy restaurant and we got free food and drinks and met some nice people. The new phones were on display around the restaurant and some handsets were given away, but there was no real information given about the phones. Frankly, most of the folks attending were already fans of the devices. This was a lost opportunity since these parties were hosted in about 10 large cities nationwide.
Fun stuff - The ability to easily download or customize ringtones still doesn't exist. The game selection is big, but still not enough. My wife recently got her first iPhone and it's been the hot device for the kids in our house due to its superior game catalog available. There's still no ability to take a screenshot and send it to someone. This is a SIMPLE task that should be a no brainer, but is currently only available to developers. Unacceptable.
I'll quit being negative now. Here's why people, should consider Windows Phone when shopping for a new handset:
1. The interface is simple, attractive and fun. It's based on Live Tiles that in many cases, will give the information you're looking for without you having to open an application. I can tell who is updating their social networks, see temperatures, see who is trying to contact me, etc.
2. Facebook and Twitter are integrated into the OS. I no longer have to open both apps to see what's going on. I look in my People Hub and I can see updates from both networks, and can also use it to see my interaction history with each of my contacts along with pull up pictures and information from THEIR Facebook pages.
3. Even if you've been purchasing and downloading from iTunes you're not going to have to leave your music behind. It can all run on a Windows Phone and you can end up saving money by getting a Zune Pass and for $10-15/month having all the music you want loaded up on 3 computers and 3 mobile devices. A complete win. I can also use a Pandora like feature called Smart DJ from the Zune marketplace, and the Bing search can now listen to and identify a song, then take me to the marketplace so I can download it - and NOT have to pay $1 per song.
I like the Spotify app and have been using it some lately on my home PC, but would have to upgrade to a "Premium" subscription to use it on my phone. So I'd essentially be paying for something I already have.
4. Threaded messaging: I can chat with a contact in Facebook Chat and move from there to SMS texting and the Windows Phone OS will keep the conversation in a single thread, as if nothing had changed.
This is simply one of those "try it, and I think you'll like it" situations. I guess I'm just wishing Microsoft and the carriers would do more to entice people to try it. I don't have any stake in this whatsoever. Well - I guess some stake. When more people do move to Windows Phone there will be more developers working on more apps, which WILL create a better experience for me. Right now in my house the iPhone (and frankly, the kids' new iPod Touches) are the hot new devices. No one's asking to play with my phone - and that's where you could be doing better Microsoft - yes, I'm talking to you now!
You've finally got that killer product and you need to make it happen. This isn't a piece of crap. It doesn't suck. Pull out ALL the stops. Get ads in TV and print. Get your phones in with all the retailers with the salespeople actually trained on the devices. YOU know that Windows 8 is going to look like WinPhone's Metro interface. Take advantage of that. You DO have all the money in the world (ok, a lot of it). Don't throw it around on a party where you don't tell me anything. Get in our faces about it. Droid is. iPhone is. You can too. And you might just succeed!
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