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[False Witness]

Honestly, I really love my Nokia Lumia 635. $40 or less to replace it, awesome OS, wonderful GPS, great music player, and swipe to text. I just wish it had a flash for the camera as well as a front facing camera. Of course, comparable app selection would be the thing to truly keep it alive.

 

[Esque7]

I'm a current WP user but don't know whether to switch to Android or hold out for another flagship phone. I love the OS but the app selection really is dire.

 

[RunLikeH3LL]

I hope there is a revival. Best mobile OS, deserves way more

I agree, best mobile OS.

Not sure about a revival (It’s not officially dead until Microsoft says so also), but a niche, high end mobile device will certainly appeal to Windows fans.

 

[gamz]

Honestly, I really love my Nokia Lumia 635. $40 or less to replace it, awesome OS, wonderful GPS, great music player, and swipe to text. I just wish it had a flash for the camera as well as a front facing camera. Of course, comparable app selection would be the thing to truly keep it alive.

That's the thing people who have owned it love it. But the slow support of the OS was shit. Now they finally turned the corner with WP 10 buts its probably too late. I still want a Surface Phone dammit! As long as they make it I'll buy it.

 

[RunLikeH3LL]

I'm a current WP user but don't know whether to switch to Android or hold out for another flagship phone. I love the OS but the app selection really is dire.

Use the mobile platform that best meet your needs now. Don’t wait for what may be down the line.

 

[jiggle]

Shame. One of the things I really loved about them was most of the phones had a physical camera button.

They were one of the few (only) ones that did.

Hate the touch screen to take a picture shit.

Don't all/most(?) android/ios phones let u snap with volume button?

 

[Jonbo298]

At this point, Microsoft is going to have to seriously consider switching to Android and keeping the Lumia brand alive as a flagship series. They can be very competitive on the hardware front if they'd just try and also do some meaningful marketing of their products.

 

[Ol No Bones]

I hate that I moved to IPhone but the app situation was an annoyance. I miss windows phone OS. It is really the best IMO. I had to move on though.

 

[RoyalLaFlame]

It's been dead for quite a while. It's a shame though.


Great OS, no apps. Just kill it already and release a Surface Phone running Android with your skin and apps on it.

 

[Novocaine]

I tried out a 640 for a while and I really like the OS a lot. But the 640 was so slow and my phone provider wasn't getting 950's any time soon so I went back to Android. I'm really not all that concerned about the lack of apps, it just needs to run smooth and not be buggy for me to be okay with it. In reality using the 640 felt like fighting a losing battle, things were always going wrong.

 

[Astral/H3X]

I hope it can last until someone else can make a good mobile OS.

Because fuck, WP has spoiled me. So good, yet so barren.

It's been dead for quite a while. It's a shame though.


Great OS, no apps. Just kill it already and release a Surface Phone running Android with your skin and apps on it.

You cannot skin what makes WP great onto Android.

 

[Pepto]

I still think my old Lumia 920 is a better phone than my new iphone 6s.

 

[juliushandle]

Don't all/most(?) android/ios phones let u snap with volume button?

WP camera button was a 2-step button like a real camera and it also opened the camera app without the need for gimmicks. just press to open, then half press to focus, and squeeze further to shoot.

 

[DrFunk]

At this point, Microsoft is going to have to seriously consider switching to Android and keeping the Lumia brand alive as a flagship series. They can be very competitive on the hardware front if they'd just try and also do some meaningful marketing of their products.

...And they get a cut from Android licensing, right? hmmm

 

[chadskin]

WindowsPhoneGAF and VitaGAF have a lot in common.

 

[RunLikeH3LL]

It's been dead for quite a while. It's a shame though.


Great OS, no apps. Just kill it already and release a Surface Phone running Android with your skin and apps on it.

Are people suddenly buying BlackBerry phones now that they run Android?

 

[RoyalLaFlame]

You cannot skin what makes WP great onto Android.

True but I can see it happening.

Are people suddenly buying BlackBerry phones now that they run Android?

Good point if the Surface line is only high end. If they launch some low-mid end phones (Lumia branding) with Android I can honestly see it selling.

 

[Bobs Big Boy]

Picked one up early for its Office uses. Ended up still using my laptop for all of those tasks.

 

[gamz]

I still think my old Lumia 920 is a better phone than my new iphone 6s.

Still have mine too. It's my fav. The hardware is fantastic and still sexy as hell. Not a scratch on the damn thing.

 

[Technosteve]

RIP NOKIA you pop'd my smartphone cherry in 2004

 

[BeforeU]

I hardly doubt they will give up on it. It will always be there but distant third.

I am actually okay with this, as long as their iOS bridge plan work and I get some of the apps.

Lets see if Surface Phone can create its own category.

 

[Jonbo298]

Are people suddenly buying BlackBerry phones now that they run Android?

http://www.informationweek.com/PmiO...t-blackberrys-sagging-fortunes/d/d-id/1323639

It's helping stop the bleeding but too early to declare a failure or success. Their problem is making the Priv at&t exclusive until recently.

 

[Suerte]

As someone who has owned various Windows Phones in the last few years - they just need to end it. As wonderful as the OS is to use, without the apps, it's not going anywhere. As a customer, it's also been fairly insulting that Microsoft's own apps get new features, or generally run better, on iOS and Android.

I think at this point, releasing a Surface branded phone (running WP) will do unnecessary damage to a brand that they've put a huge amount of effort in turning around.

It's so frustrating, WP8 was so full of promise that was gradually (well, quickly) eroded over the years.

EDIT: FYI, I'm on a Nexus 6P now and the experience has been absolutely fantastic.

 

[bigbaldwolf86]

My girlfriend had android for a long time but got a Lumia for her last phone. She hated the OS and so did I after trying it. She didn't liked that half of her apps weren't supported on windows either. Suffice to say she's back on android now.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

You cannot skin what makes WP great onto Android.

Eh, I actually think they could. Pull an Amazon and fork it completely, then customize the hell out of every aspect of the UI. Whether that would be a good idea is debatable, however.

 

[juliushandle]

Surface Phone will be full wintel. My guess is that the screen will be 6" and include a proper pen. A true PC in your pocket. A niche device for sure though.

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

Although this is an iVerge article, I could see this months ago when W10 mobile's launch started choking the big one on all of the popular phones MS promised to bring W10 to.

I'll be happy to see if the Surface Phone ever comes to fruition.

 

[Astral/H3X]

Eh, I actually think they could. Pull an Amazon and fork it completely, then customize the hell out of every aspect of the UI. Whether that would be a good idea is debatable, however.

I'd much rather them continue to find ways to run other's apps to fill the gaps, than try and make anything useful out of Android.

 

[RunLikeH3LL]

http://www.informationweek.com/PmiO...t-blackberrys-sagging-fortunes/d/d-id/1323639

It's helping stop the bleeding but too early to declare a failure or success. Their problem is making the Priv at&t exclusive until recently.

Blackberry sold less units that quarter, they made money thanks to higher margins on each one sold.

 

[TheBryanJZX90]

It's depressing but this has pretty much always been the state of the platform for the three years I've been on it. Hey WP8/8.1/10 is a total reboot now! We're over that hump, pulled the bandaid off, it had to be done to get (support for some random hardware feature or kernel or something). Now just wait for the next big update to fix all of the problems caused by the reboot, and surely this time all the apps will start coming!

I will say that the lack of popularity in the OS itself has made some amazing deals on phones. I picked up a 635 for $50 and then a 640 for $30, both unlocked no contract or anything. Not high end phones by any means but amazing for those prices. It makes it hard to look at an iPhone for $700.

 

[NervousXtian]

It sucks, because it was a pretty slick OS for a phone.. just too late to market to have a viable ecosystem to compete with Android and iOS. In the end, that meant it never had a chance... if you're a dev why port as the userbase is too small, and if the userbase can't have apps they can't get elsewhere it's a pointless purchase.

Wife had one, and she loved it.. but in the end she went Android with her upgrade because the apps were there... not because Android was inherently better.

 

[entremet]

Outlook for IOS/Android is amazing. Probably the best email app for mobile out there.

 

[Jonbo298]

Blackberry sold less units that quarter, they made money thanks to higher margins on each one sold.

Yes, that's correct. It'll be that way for awhile because of their transition off their own OS for the consumer market. They likely will not return to their glory days but try to survive under more minimal conditions.

 

[AstroNut325]

R.R. Martin is the writer of 2016.

 

[jagowar]

Outlook for IOS/Android is amazing. Probably the best email app for mobile out there.

The universal app on windows 10 is even better...

The surface phone could be interesting.... like ms says everything is just a windows 10 device. If they can create something more like a real pc in your pocket they could have something very interesting. Trying to be just another phone w/o apps will fail even if the core os is better.

 

[The Real Abed]

They were super late to the party by over 3 years and kicked it off by smugly claiming that every other phone was good as dead. That's a really terrible start. The Zune was super late too. By the time that came along, everyone had iPods.

I'll admit if I wasn't an Apple user and didn't enjoy the benefits of the integrated ecosystem and used Windows, I'd probably have a Surface Book and Windows Phone right now. Unfortunately for Microsoft, Apple still exists. Ironically, they kind of have themselves to blame partially. Then again, if Apple hadn't existed, Microsoft wouldn't even have a Surface or Windows Phone.

Basically they need to learn how to join the party when it's just getting started, not show up hours late when everyone is already leaving or passed out drunk asleep on the couch, with a pizza and 6-pack of beer.

 

[giga]

The universal app on windows 10 is even better...

The surface phone could be interesting.... like ms says everything is just a windows 10 device. If they can create something more like a real pc in your pocket they could have something very interesting. Trying to be just another phone w/o apps will fail even if the core os is better.

In what way? I haven't used it so I don't know how they compare.

 

[Krakatoa]

I thought it was the number one selling phone OS in the UK?

 

[jblank83]

Windows phone is dead?

Welcome to 2013.

 

[Krakatoa]

In what way? I haven't used it so I don't know how they compare.

I know it works with continuum, Meaning it runs as a full version of outlook when connected to a monitor.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

The cheap windows phones are perfect for my tech illiterate parents. I got the Lumia 530s for like 19 dollarydoos (about 1 cent in US dollars) on fire sale and they've loved them.

I bought the 950xl so I'm doing my part too. I hope they don't bow out of the industry, although ultimately I doubt the app bridges will majorly improve the situation. They have good hardware, the UI is great, but nobody cares to support the platform so a lot of people would not ever be willing to switch.

Panos Jesus phone pls save us

 

[Gaogaogao]

I might still buy one

 

[The Real Abed]

Windows phone is dead?

Welcome to 2010.

FTFY

 

[giga]

I know it works with continuum, Meaning it runs as a full version of outlook when connected to a monitor.

I would never do that, so how is it better just on the phone version?

 

[Gruso]

I love my Windows phone. It has the few social & music apps I need, and otherwise keeps it simple. The tile interface is magic on a mobile.

I was also a Palm Pre owner, and loved WebOS (RIP). Why must I gravitate to underdogs?

 

[mrklaw]

I thought they were going to support either android apps directly, or some super simple way for devs to port iOS/android to WP?

I bought an iPhone 6s+ last year after several years with WP. It's nice, but I miss live tiles and the OS of WP generally. Even the apps weren't too bad - in the UK lumia was popular enough to get things like banking apps etc.

 

[jelly]

I don't want them to give up but I'll never consider one again until the app gap looks like it's sorted and the OS is sublime.

It's baffling why they even bothered releasing new phones at this point. The division should be on lock down and testers only until they exceed or match competitors in the OS that is almost flawless with absolute perfection of in house apps and maybe catching lightning in a bottlle with sonething then from there get as many major apps on board and when ready, show it to the public for an imminent launch and hope the excitement and perfection of what you at least have gives it an upwards curve that can be sustained for a quick rise to iOS and Android levels.

 

[Doffen]

They should stealth release more budget phones. That will help.
And I hope the Surface Phone will have the same marketing team that Xbox One had.

 

[The Real Abed]

I bought an iPhone 6s+ last year after several years with WP. It's nice, but I miss live tiles and the OS of WP generally. Even the apps weren't too bad - in the UK lumia was popular enough to get things like banking apps etc.

Live Tiles is something I wish Apple would work out. Not tiles so much as just more live updating icons. Or at the very least an updating weather icon. But an API to do it would be nice.

There have been many mockups people have made of home screen iOS widgets and live icons and they all look really neat but Apple would never implement them because of the current way they wrap home screen icons. Android keeps icons in the same place but stretches or shrinks the grid when it's rotated. iOS wraps the icon flow so an oversized widget wouldn't work right. So we're stuck with just icons.

 

[Sir Abacus]

I assume Verge had leaked internal MS emails or did I miss MS's announcement?

When you poke a dead body you may hear some gas escaping but it's obviously dead.