D-Day for Nokia and Windows Phone

If you have been following the hype recently, Nokia is set to announce their new Windows Phone 8 (WP8) running phone on September 5th at Nokia World.  This will also be the first time WP8 will be introduced via a fully functional phone.  The previous announcement by Microsoft was just what to expect from WP8.  No one really had a chance to physically play around with it.  So I guess on September 5th the chance will come.

In case you've missed out, I'll just highlight a few interesting things about the new OS.  WP8 is a totally new OS on its own.  Nothing to do with WP7 or WP7.5 for that matter.  You will still get the familiar Metro UI ... I mean Windows Phone UI (in case you are wondering, some company claimed that they have the trademark for the word "Metro UI" so Microsoft can't use that anymore".  OK back to WP8, as I said, you will still have the familiar WP7 layout with live tiles and all but now you will be given the option to resize the tiles. Instead of the usual preset tile size in WP7, you will now be given the option to set the tile size for you app.  Although you can only choose from the given set of tile sizes available, its better than not being able to change anything *cough* IOS *cough*

Left (WP7)      Right(WP8)

Other great upgrades from WP8 is the support for HD 720p and also support for 720 x 1280 or 768 x 1280 screen.  Support for multiple cores processors and support for micro SD cards.  Also the current must have, the support for NFC.  There are also tonnes of new features and upgrades from WP8 but there are most internal technical stuffs so I'll just skip all that.

However, for those with the current WP7 phones, you will have to get a new phone cause there will not be able to upgrade from your current WP7.  Yeah it sucks but it cant be help I guess. WP8 is a completely new OS built in tandem with Windows8, which is due to be released in October.  The plan is to let both OS share the same core software.  This is actually a good thing as developers will just have to basically do the programming once and it will run on both the smartphone and the PC.  This is Microsoft's strategy in trying to pull in developers for WP and also to strengthen their portfolio in the rapidly growing smartphone market.  If you are using WP, you will know that the main reason WP is not a big hit or not even making a dent on IOS or Android id the lack of apps.  The OS itself is good. Everyone agrees on that.  But the lack of apps really is the main issue.  To be fair, developers really do not see the reason to make apps for WP.  Having covered IOS and Android is practically enough for them and having to start from scratch again for WP is just not a good idea.  No Angry Birds for WP is a good enough indication that WP is not popular amongst developers.  This is why Microsoft is trying to inter-grade the two platforms to make it worth the developers effort.

Ok, back to WP8 and Nokia.  Nokia seems to be doing quite well with their first generation of Lumis phones.  At least some sales are up and they seem to be the biggest manufacturer fro WP.  But then again all other manufacturers are making Androids.  Come September 5th, Nokia will begin another assault in an attempt to win some market share with the WP8 phones.   And Nokia seems to be really confident this time around.  Confident enough to challenge Samsung, the current Android phone "King". 

 Samsung take note, next generation Lumia coming soon. #nokiaThu Aug 16 04:00:57 via web Chris Weber
CWeberatNokia


The Galaxy series have been doing great since day one and Samsung is also planning to launch their WP8 running Omnia phones based on the Galaxy series design.  Basically its same body design and screen but different UI.  Unless Nokia is coming out with something that will blow people off their chairs, I really think it would be difficult for any WP fan to overlook a sleek looking Galaxy S3-ish WP as compared to a Nokia Lumia.  I guess we will have to wait until September 5th to see what's the hype is all about then.  Just a couple of weeks away.

Nokia and Windows Phone

   It is undeniable that the smartphone OS market is being dominated by Apple's IOS and Google's Android OS.  And it is also a fact that the smartphone market is growing bigger and faster every year.  Phone manufacturers like Samsung, HTC, Motorola, Sony and etc (except Nokia) have all been releasing their own lines of smartphones and coming up with better design, faster processors and graphics and bigger screens every year.  Of course they all use Android as the OS but they are not identical.  Each manufacturer has their own version of the OS since Android is fully customizable.  Then, we have the iPhone.  Since IOS is exclusive for iPhones, basically Apple has full control of the OS and also they sell their own phones too.  Whilst you cannot customize the OS to your liking, the IOS seems to be doing very well being as it is.  The fact that the iPhone is the #1 smartphone in the world is a good proof of that.
   Now we come to Nokia, the once all mighty mobile phone company that was at the top of everyone’s wish list less than a decade ago.  So what really happened? Honestly nobody really knows.  Before the iPhone, the only “smartphone” we had was from Nokia via their Symbian OS.  Phones like N95, N96, N98 and even the N7 were among the most popular Nokia Symbian smartphones at that time.  Not much of a choice but they really dominated the market and were the #1 phone manufacturer in terms of volume.  Now that crown belongs to Samsung.  Then Apple came along and turned everything upside down which is good, with their iPhone.  The whole world went crazy and having an iPhone is something that you have to do before you die.  Google saw the potential and the smartphone market and created their own smartphone software, Android.  After a few years, the market now is dominated by these two giants.  Notice that I didn’t include RIM because I feel that although it is a smartphone OS but it is too much of a niche and not really on the same page as IOS and Android. Sorry Blackberry fans.  On a personal note I think the boom of social networks also contributed to the expansion of the smartphone market.  But that’s another story.  Coming back to the case, Nokia on the other hand basically did nothing until it was all too late. 

Maybe when you are big and tall you don’t really feel threaten when something like the IOS comes into the market.  That may is actually very true.  IOS is exclusive for iPhones and iPhones are exclusive to Apple.  I do not need to remind you that the iPhone is a high end phone.  Rather expensive to many and thus not your everyday mass market phone.  So in that aspect it Nokia really paid much attention to it.  Since Nokia has phones from the high ends to the low range cheaper phones.  The market is covered.  Some healthy competition may be neglected.  Then came the Android, which is the one that actually did Nokia in. As the Android OS is basically free, any manufacturer can built a smartphone themselves.  Then suddenly the market is flooded with all sorts of Android smartphones, high end and really cheap ones.  Suddenly, everyone can afford a smartphone.  So who would want to buy a phone with a keypad when everyone is into touchscreen.  Again, with basically everyone in the planet having some sort of a social network account, the best way to get connected while on the move is via a smartphone.  With that, Nokia started to lose its market share and perhaps was a lost on what to do next for a couple of years. 

  Initially Nokia tried to develop their own smartphone software, which was actually based on the Symbian OS called Meego.  However, it was not as easy as it seems or perhaps they do not think it was good enough to challenge IOS and Android.  The only phone that ever did released with Meego was the Nokia N9.  Surprisingly it was quite a hit until Nokia decided to dump Meego and instead opt for and available OS the Windows Phone.  So suddenly something with potential was replaced with something out of the box.  I mean out of the box is because like the Android, Windows Phone is an OS available for any manufacturer for a fee.  Just like the PC version, manufacturers can install the OS in their phones for a licensing fee.  Manufacturers like Samsung and HTC have already been releasing Windows Phones and now Nokia is doing the same.  However, the risk can be too big for the company.  Unlike Samsung and HTC who also manufactures smartphones running on Android, Nokia basically only has Windows Phone.  Nokia pulled the plug on Meego (something exclusive to them) and will only produce phones running on Windows Phone.  So much for “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”.  The result of the tie up is the release of the Lumia range of smartphones by Nokia. Heading the bunch are the Lumia800 and Lumia900.    So far, things seems to be positive for the time being.  Nokia has finally been consistently releasing phones in the recent months and they all run on Windows Phone.  Since Nokia need not worry about the OS part of the phone manufacturing, they seem to have focused their resources on the hardware or the phone itself.  The Lumia800 and Lumia900 is design to be very sleek and attractive.  It is made up of a single plastic mould and the glass is slightly curve for a better feel on your face when you are making phone calls. 

Whether or not this Nokia and Microsoft tie up will bear fruit and at least pose some threat to the Apple IOS and the Google Android is still too early to judge.  But I have to agree that it is the best possible combination you can get for both companies.  Nokia is a phone manufacturing company in dire for a good smartphone OS and Microsoft is software company trying to tap into the currently very lucrative and greatly expending smartphone market. 

More colors please

Before the Dawn of smartphones, regular mobile phones used to come is many different colors.  Nokia used to have phone in which you can swap the casings to different colors.  But that was all old school when the iPhone came in and changed everything.  It started out similar to the time when Henry Ford started mass producing the Model T.  You can choose any color you like as long as it is BLACK. Of course later on there was also the choice of a white version.  Having started the ball rolling, phones now all come in the color black or white.  Nokia, however began its return to the smartphone battle arena with its N9 and Lumia800 which come in the optional cyan and magenta, a part from the regular black version.  And honestly it really gives a breath of fresh air to the smartphone design, in terms of color options.  Samsung is also joining the revolution by releasing a pick version of the Galaxy S2.  I'm not really sure how appealing the pink version will appeal to potential users but at least it something.  Honestly, it looks really ... pink.  The target market should be at the ladies.  I don't see any "sane" guy would want to carry a pink phone around.  Having said that, perhaps other makers should consider having more colors in their product lines cause things are really getting very boring with just black and white, especially when the smartphone designs are getting more and more similar.  One way to stand out from the crowd is to have a different color.  2011 is almost over and there will be another onslaught of new smartphones in 2012, so I really do hope that the manufacturers will consider making more colorful phones and spoil us users with more choices.  PS maybe not the color pick though.