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Topic: Mobility

Did Apple's underwhelming iPhone 5 announcement open the door for Windows Phone 8?

Summary: Leaks revealed everything that Apple announced at the iPhone 5 announcement and unfortunately nothing amazing or magical was revealed yesterday. Can Microsoft capitalize on the underwhelming nature of the iPhone 5 announcement?

Matthew Miller

By for Smartphones and Cell Phones |

Did Apple's underwhelming iPhone 5 announcement open the door for Windows Phone 8?

Apple revealed the iPhone 5 yesterday and I was saddened to see that everything we saw was leaked out prior to the event and there was nothing surprising or magical revealed by Apple. Of course Apple will sell millions of iPhone 5 devices in the first week and it will be a success with current iPhone 4 owners purchasing the device. However, for the first time in my history I will not be buying the new iPhone and think Microsoft, Nokia, and HTC have a real opportunity to gain market share by revealing more details of Windows Phone 8.

A couple weeks ago Samsung simply showed the hardware of the ATIV S without ever showing the device turned on. The next week Nokia showed off the Nokia Lumia 920 and 820 while showing select pieces of Windows Phone 8. HTC has an event in New York on 19 September and sent invites to Windows Phone and Android site editors so the speculation is we will see more about Windows Phone 8. HTC may be able to show a few more details than Nokia, but it sounds like there is more work to be done by Microsoft and we may not see all the details of Windows Phone 8 until the Build event at the end of October. We cannot say Windows Phone 8 is late since they have not yet revealed any firm timeline for release. I admit I was disappointed the Nokia wasn't able to show more about Windows Phone 8 last week, but it may pay off now that Apple played their hand and didn't show much.

Given the incremental and expected updates in the iPhone 5 and iOS 6, the innovations we have seen from Nokia and Microsoft in Windows Phone 8 may be compelling enough to generate the excitement and sales that Microsoft and its OEMs need to gain significant market share in the mobile space. I know I am MUCH more excited about Windows Phone 8 than I am about iOS 6 and the iPhone 5. I will be buying a Nokia Lumia 920 with the advanced display technology, enhanced camera, wireless charging functionality, and more.

The iPhone 5 increases the screen size by making the iPhone longer, but they also made it thinner and lighter. I personally like a phone with some "heft" to it and doubt I would like a lighter iPhone 4 since that weight seems just about right. The use of nanoSIM isn't helpful for enthusiasts like me that swap phones a lot as adapters just cannot be relied upon to work in all devices. Apple had an opportunity to present NFC to the world and make it useful, but now that ball is in Microsoft's court to make their Wallet hub a serious contender in the mobile payment and financial management space. I was going to buy an iPhone 5 if Apple had revealed something "magical and unique" and am disappointed nothing new was revealed yesterday. What are your plans for the fall?

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Topics: Mobility, Apple, iPhone, Microsoft, Nokia

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202 comments
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  • WP8 is now better than the competition

    With WP8 OS going to be released this November, its exiting times for MS, its partners and early adopters of WP7. Now if MS can manage to bring down the app 'gaps', WP8 can grab a huge market share because its a very capable, solid and safe platform.
    owllnet
    Reply 16 Votes

    • WP 7 adopters?

      You mean the very same people that Microsoft said screw you to? "So what if that phone is only 6 weeks old, but a new one so we can get more license fees, and when we release WP 9, you'll have to buy a new phone, again." That is your idea of a "very capable, solid and safe platform". What planet are you on, Bizarro World, when screwing the end user over $20 bucks is great?
      Troll Hunter J
      Reply 5 Votes

      • If you are a Nokia owner, then you are not screwed...

        ...because Nokia have already announced that they will be bringing some more of the WP8 features to existing WP7 phones.
        wp7mango
        Reply 9 Votes

        • wrong

          You are screwed if you want Windows Phone 8 on a Windows Phone 7 device. There's a LOT native to Windows Phone 8 that cannot be replicated by Nokia for Windows Phone 7 users that all app developers can exploit in Windows Phone 8 apps. You won't get the rendering engine of IE10, full device:cloud data synchronization (a deal breaker for power users like myself), etc.
          theNewDanger
          Reply 2 Votes

          • I love my Siri

            Wait, I have an iPhone 4 so I don't have Siri and a bunch of other upgrades. Sure, it says iOS 5, but its like iOS 5 light. Is that any different than WP 7.8 vs WP8?
            A Gray
            Reply 6 Votes

          • Yes it is.

            iOS 6 runs iOS 6 apps on every platform. In fact, programs written for iOS 6 will pretty much work on older versions. Windows Phone 7.8 only runs Windows 7 Phone apps. Not apps written for Windows 8. That's the big issue folks have, not whether some single app like Siri is not available.
            Hazydave
            Reply Vote

          • People don't have issue with Siri?

            Siri was one of the biggest marketing points of iPhone 4S, and one of the only reasons some people upgraded from iPhone 4 to iPhone 4S. And now it is not an issue?

            Who cares if WP8 apps don't run on WP7, if WP7.8 apps are still upgraded? Plus, WP7 apps run on WP8. Surely iOS 5 apps run on iPhone 5, but are letterboxed since there is no responsive design. An awkward user experience and shame for a phone which biggest feature is user experience.
            TP Ranta
            Reply Vote

          • Wrong, again/

            Sorry, I didn't relies Siri worked on the iPhone 3G, and the 3GS... I don't even think it works on the iPhone 4. You don't get all the features in iOS. Why is that making it different from Windows Phone?
            harley22x
            Reply 2 Votes

          • What defines an OS version

            OS version differ in one substantial feature: the API

            Software is written to the API, not the OS. Therefore, iOS 4 has one API, but iOS 5 has another API. Apps written for the iOS 5 API won't run on iOS4.

            Siri is just an application, bundled with the OS. It is not part of the OS API. Apple just chose to make that application hardware-aware and have it not run, if the hardware is not beefy enough to support it. Simple as that.

            It is the same with WP7 and WP8, but even more pronounced. iOS 1 to iOS 6 is the same UNIX kernel. Most of the API is the same. Not so with WP7 and WP8 -- those are two completely different operating systems. WP8 simply includes part of the WP7 APIs, much like years ago, Apple provided some of the MacOS 9 APIs in OS X.

            It's typical for people that grew with Windows and Microsoft to think that differences between OS versions is just a matter of different user interface -- but this is huge delusion created by Microsoft --- and it's Microsoft to suffer from it now.
            danbi
            Reply Vote

        • Except for the one thing that matters.

          Windows 8 app compatibility. None of the Windows 7 Phones are getting that. So developers can keep writing Windows 7 Phone apps for the 6M or so Windows 7 phones out there, or they can jump into Windows 8 development. Given all of the traction likely from desktop and tablet, it's pretty easy to guess which direction they take.

          That's the real abandonment issue.
          Hazydave
          Reply Vote

      • Nothing to do with license fees

        Everything to do with hardware requirements. You know how Windows 7 runs okay on a single core CPU and runs great on dual core or higher? Similar to the way that XP doesn't really benefit from having multiple cores. Apply that logic to the difference between WP7 and WP8. The features from WP8 that are useful to the old hardware are coming across, they just aren't lying to the user and telling them it's WP8 like Apple often does. WP8 has an all new kernel that is optimized for scaling in a way that neither iOS nor Android can currently matched. And it's built on a core that has been vetted on billions of systems over the last 17 years.

        I was very happy with my HTC Trophy. I wasn't with my Droid 2. I was okay with my 3GS but never all that impress, neither am I all that impressed by my wife's iPhone 4S. So I will stick with that platform that, to me, was the best I've used. As long as there is competition we all benefit and WP7/8 is, without a doubt, the best option we have for a third major player in the mobile phone space. Not sure why you would argue that, unless your name is there for irony and you are a troll yourself.
        LiquidLearner
        Reply 11 Votes

        • I like your thinking

          Even though I am an iOS fan, I ultimately support competition. I don't know about blackberry, but it looks like Android, Windows, and iOS are going to be here for a long, long time, which means that wi th this competition, there's great potential for massive improvements (and lowered prices) in all three systems. Thusly, I sincerely hope for the success of WP8 as, unless Apple really decides to go the retard route with all these lawsuits, it will eventually force them to really innovate and pull back if not ahead of the competition, at least alongside it. And I'm totally ok with that.
          Ryuko Shirotori
          Reply Vote

      • Nuts

        So let me get this right you want them to add stuff like multi core support even though the devices only have a single core processor.
        saf312
        Reply 8 Votes

        • hmmm...

          So let me get this straight, you're saying Apple upgrades the number of cores in their phones without users having to replace their devices?

          That's amazing!
          MattPV
          Reply 2 Votes

          • But true

            It's pretty cool technology. But you wouldn't understand because your just a hater
            rockysup55
            Reply Vote

      • Missing something

        What you are missing is that is a change from a Windows CE based kernal to a Windows 8 based on. After that, OS upgrades will be like iOS.
        roteague
        Reply 6 Votes

      • "early"

        Real *early* adopters like myself are now done with their two year contract and ready to buy a new phone with WP8. If someone bought a phone 6 weeks ago I'm not sure I'd call them an early adopter
        burnblue
        Reply 8 Votes

        • Yep I bought my HTZ Mozart in Nov 2010

          I had the confidence in Microsoft WP7 and bought into it within the first month of Release in Europe. So I am happy that I am now getting the opportunity to Upgrade to Windows 8 device, when my 2 year Contract expires. I feel Rewarded for my confidence in the platform.

          For those that bought devices in last year, well they still get WP7.8.
          JulesVerny
          Reply 1 Vote

          • Then theres people like me

            who always buy phones off contract and just use prepaid service :P. It doesn't work for everyone because of affordability, but its nice to be able to just sell a year old smartphone for half price or so online, and then buy a new phone for pretty much half the price, pop the SIM card in, and you have a new upgraded phone, for $300-ish dollars, and your service back in that phone free. :P
            harley22x
            Reply Vote

          • Exactly!

            That's the way it's supposed to be. Call it playing into corporate shenanigans, but it works for me and most people. 2 years is definitely a fair time for me to wait to shell out big bucks for new electronics. Those who feel betrayed at not having the latest and best either need to find a better job (easier said than done) or should just realize that tech is aways changing. At least your 6 week old wp7 phone is based on recent tech.
            Ryuko Shirotori
            Reply 1 Vote
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