Microsoft Reportedly Launching Its Own Windows Phone Smartphone 190
zacharye writes "When Microsoft announced earlier this year that it will launch an own-brand tablet to compete directly with its various vendor partners working on Windows 8-based tablet PCs of their own, there was some backlash. Privately — and sometimes even publicly — long-time Microsoft partners took it as an attack on their businesses and questioned why Microsoft would be so brazen. But with nowhere else to turn thanks to Windows' overwhelming PC dominance, these vendors had no choice but to continue developing Windows 8 devices and compete directly with their software supplier. Though events may play out a bit differently in the smartphone market, where Microsoft has yet to stage the comeback it promised two years ago, BGR has learned that the Redmond, Washington-based company plans to release its own Windows Phone 8 smartphone in the coming months."
If there's one thing I've learned... (Score:4, Interesting)
if there's one thing I've learned, it's that BGR really can't be trusted for its exclusive leaks. SO many of them just don't pan out, it seems like like an accident one one of them actually does.
In this case, we have an unconfirmed source saying that MS is planning its own phone but it doesn't have a release timeline for them. Seems like an easy way to get page hits to me.
Re:Had to see that coming (Score:5, Interesting)
Depends. Is Microsoft designing and having the device manufactured entirely on their own, or are they working with an existing Windows Phone vendor on it?
All of Google's Nexus devices are prominently done by one of their OHA members (HTC, Samsung, ASUS, etc.) and that's probably one reason there's never been a whisper about the Nexus program. By contrast, with Surface Microsoft bypassed all of their OEMs and is going head to head with them.
Didn't hurt for Android! (Score:4, Interesting)
Google did the Google Nexus 7 and it hasn't upset Android makers as far as I can tell. But it does upset carriers who capitalize on their ablity to have devices locked down so that they can take the most advantage of consumers possible.
I think what Microsoft is doing will give the new Windows Tablets/phones the best possible opportunity for success (or failure) by setting the bar at a particular level. OEMs are free to exceed the Microsoft model, but it would upset consumers to not at least meet the standards set out there by Mocrosoft's base model. And when software/firmware updates come out for the Microsoft device, they had damn well come out for the OEM phones and tablets too. In the end, it should upset carriers more than it should upset manufacturers.
The story is thousands of years old... (Score:5, Interesting)
Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger from the frog's back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.
"You fool!" croaked the frog, "Now we shall both die! Why on earth did you do that?"
The scorpion shrugged, and did a little jig on the drowning frog's back.
"I could not help myself. It is my nature."
Re:Who cares? (Score:5, Interesting)
yeah it's funny...
Andy Rubin starts two companies, Danger and Android.
Danger is acquired by Microsoft. Microsoft massively botches the release of Danger's product and it dies a quick, horrific death.
Android is acquired by Google. Google releases Android to massive acclaim and goes on to widely displace the then dominant leader, Apple's iPhone.
Interesting contrast isn't it?
Re:Compete for favor? OPEN? (Score:3, Interesting)
You can do anything you like - as long as Google approves, or else you have to fork as Amazon has done.
What's your point? From the moment you start to do anything different you have effectively "forked". Having long running independent forks is a clear fear for Google. What this means is that any handset manufacturer can threaten a fork and that's all they need to ensure that Google stays onside.
Probably, it will buy one of the more successful ones with a Windows phone (HTC? LG?)
Why not Nokia itself? That has made the most sense all along.
Nokia no longer has the level of smartphone sales to be useful; they have destroyed most of their manufacturing base and closed their most important factories. They also seem to be in an agreement where they have to give their Windows Phone improvements back to Microsoft in any case. Microsoft has nothing to gain from bringing them on board. They have plenty to lose from the cultural clash it would cause. Even the stupidest of Nokia employees is realising that they have been totally taken to the cleaners by Microsoft.
Re:Apple strategies won't work well for MS (Score:4, Interesting)
No... MS is delivering the opposite -- tablet and phone apps will run on PCs.
Seen Windows 8 yet -- most have. The goofy squares-based UI (the UI formerly known as Metro) is coupled to the WinRT API, which is awfully close to a whole new OS. That's what Microsoft supports on tablets and phones. They're also using all managed code with VM, so this stuff runs on Phone, ARM-based tablet, PC-based tablet, and regular ordinary PCs.
That's the key to Microsoft's new walled garden -- apps for WinRT/Metro are only available via the Zune, er, Microsoft Store online. Not on phones, but on ARM tablets, Microsoft force-bundled the mobile version of Office with Windows... OEMs can't buy them separately. This is also where they have a big advantage, since that's $75-$100 paid by the OEM to Microsoft... money neither MS nor Apple is paying on their tablets.
Microsoft's already being less fair than Google. For the moment anyway, Google's kept Motorola at arm's length, no obvious special advantage over the other Android licensees. And when they make a Nexus device, it's not Google contract manufacturing it themselves, but their doing a special project with one of the existing OEMs. And until recently, these have been fairly special projects. Nexus devices have occasionally shown up at teleco stores, but most have been direct from Google -- not a volume market. Except maybe the Nexus 7, which was aggressively priced, and seems to be selling very well (this is probably the tablet that pushes Android over-the-top on US tablet market penetration -- a recent report has Android at 48% vs. iOS at 52%, but that doesn't include recent tablets).
But MS is actually designing their own devices, building them at some CM (could be right next to Apple, figuratively anyway, given that Foxconn makes about 40% of the entire world's supply of consumer electronics products). It's possible they're still doing a "Nexus" like thing, building a product that's meant to serve primarily as an example to the market. They might also be taking the Apple approach, trying to be the high end in the Windows tablet (and now Phone) market. The "Surface Pro" suggests that's possible -- they're building a full PC tablet, based on an i5 Ivy Bridge processor, not the Atom that HP and others will be using in their more ARM-comparable tablets.
But there's good reason to reject both premises. For one, every other company that's taken on Apple directly on tablets, based on price, hasn't done well. Apple's one of the only CE companies established as something of a luxury brand. No one pays Mercedes money for a Ford. Given their price advantage, Microsoft could push out their Surface tablets, and eventually phone, at a very competitive cost. And they have a big reason to do this... they clearly think this is the future, thus the risky compromise of the desktop environment and the complete reboot of what a Windows program really is (the greatest change since Windows was launched). They're likely to try and win themselves a chunk of the mobile market, any way possible. Even if they have to trample the OEMs.