If you HAD to choose between Windows or Android Phone which would you choose and why?

[thejadedmonkey]

Europe cant be bothered to market or advertise the Lumia line of handsets?

It's not the responsibility of European carriers to put up the cash needed to do that. Shouldn't you be blaming Nokia and Microsoft for not marketing Windows Phone well enough to entice consumers?



Source

But the carriers are the retailer, not Nokia or Microsoft who only deals with OEM's...

 

[ChazUK]

But the carriers are the retailer, not Nokia or Microsoft who only deals with OEM's...

I'm guessing that the European carriers have heard of all the supposed cash that Microsoft and Nokia have put into the Lumia 900 launch and possibly want a handout too.

I can't imagine many retailers would be overjoyed at the prospect of selling an unproven line of handsets running a (marketshare wise) infant OS without some finiancial backing from either Nokia or Microsoft.

Nokia desperately needs the hardware sales and Microsoft need some market penetration. There was a time when I thought the Nokia brand alone could pump out WP7 sales but the news lately has been bleak and the opposite of what I had assumed.

I do hope that Elop turns the current trend around for Nokia. They're now putting out some of the best handsets I've seen in ages (The N95 was the last real competitive Nokia smartphone for me).

 

[irDigital0l]

Android

 

[*LTD*]

I can read articles too:
http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/17/european-carriers-turn-on-nokia-and-its-lumia-phones/



Shocker. Europe can't sell a product that they haven't bothered to market or advertise. Do you need me to explain what a "saturated market" is to you?

The market's sure saturated. That's what you get for sitting on your behind while the leaner, meaner, more dedicated competition runs away with it.

http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1...nk-status/page__pid__594805105#entry594805105

Ratings agency Moody's has lowered its debt rating for Nokia to near JUNK status, and warned that the company is facing even tougher times ahead.

In a note to investors today Moody's cut the world's largest mobile handset manufacturer's rating from Baa2 to Baa3, its lowest rating for investment grade stock.

While the trigger for the downgrade was last week's less-than-inspiring financial results, Moody's warns that Nokia faces a rough road ahead in its smartphone business and further downgrades are possible.

"Nokia's transition in its Smart Devices from Symbian-based phones to the Windows-based Lumia devices is proving more challenging than expected given that sales of Symbian-based devices are falling off very quickly while Lumia sales are only ramping up slowly," the note reads. "Nokia's current Baa3 rating reflects Moody's expectation that Lumia devices will be accepted in the market in 2012 with the help of price and marketing support and that it will become the third smartphone system next to Google's Android and Apple's iOS."

No doubt Nokia's management, and Microsoft's for that matter, are hoping that Windows Phone will be a massive hit and grow to rival Android and iOS, but there's a huge way to go. In the meantime Nokia's low-end phone business is being rapidly eroded by cheap Chinese competition Moody's notes, while the agency predicts more money will be needed to support joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks next year.

It's not all doom and gloom for the Finns however. Moody's notes that Nokia has reserves of around €10bn, roughly double its debt, and the company now has the Lumia line well in hand, even if it is having to give some away free.
Moody's said it would upgrade Nokia again if it showed evidence of increasing margins or got a lot of support from buyers for the Lumia range. However, a further downgrade is promised if things continue to get worse.

You could argue that Moody's was one of the ratings agencies that consistently passed off sub-prime debt as investment grade material in the noughties and that it may well be wrong – indeed, Nokia's share price rose slightly on Monday. But more than a few analysts are nowseriously concerned about Nokia's future, with the company losing both staff and customers, and in an alliance with Microsoft to push an unpopular mobile operating system. ®

After all, all the Titanic needed was a few wads of gum to plug the holes. Right?

 

[Lightey]

I'd pick Android for the larger app selection, and that it, at this moment, has more functionality than Windows Phone 7.

 

[Zombie Acorn]

I switched from Iphone 4 to the nexus. Enjoying Android thoroughly.

 

[jojoba]

I use Android. The one thing that keeps me from switching to iPhone is that it doesn't allow me to customise the keyboard. The SwiftKey app for Android makes typing about 80% faster than on my iPad. So until there's a SwiftKey style set up for iPhone, I'm not changing. I've never tried a Windows phone so can't speak to that.

 

[*LTD*]

Hope everyone choosing Windows Phone is doing some Long-Term thinking, in terms of spending money on a platform that might not be around for very long.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/19/us-nokia-idUSBRE83H1HQ20120419

Nokia dumps sales chief as Lumia Windows Phones flounder, promises more cost cuts after Q1 loss

“Nokia ditched its sales chief and promised to slash more costs, as the Finnish cellphone maker runs out of time to reinvent itself under pressure from smartphone rivals,” Tarmo Virki reports for Reuters.

“Analysts said Chief Executive Stephen Elop had until the end of the year to improve sales of the new Lumia smartphones – Nokia’s main weapon in its fight against rivals Apple and Samsung Electronics – before investors started to question his strategy,” Virki reports. “Elop, who launched Nokia’s turnaround plan in February 2011, said sales of the new Windows-based Lumia phones on which the company is pinning its hopes have been mixed.”

Virki reports, “Nokia said Colin Giles, head of sales, would leave the firm in June as it restructures the team to help speed up sales. His boss, markets unit chief Niklas Savander will take on Giles’ duties… Nokia reported a loss of 0.08 euro per share for the first quarter on Thursday, one cent wider than a Thomson Reuters StarMine forecast. It warned last week of losses in the first two quarters of the year… Nokia said it would announce details of the extra cost cuts soon.”

 

[0098386]

I like the Windows mobile OS, but I prefer the utilitarian style of Android. Heck, if there was an iPhone 4S-quality Android phone and synched with my whole Mac+iCloud the way my iPhone does... I'd go for an Android.

... or just wait for Apple to improve their OS.

 

[sysiphus]

Well, I've done both (in addition to BB6, iOS, Symbian, etc.). I've currently got a Samsung Focus running WP7.5, and like it quite a bit. That being said, I also liked my Samsung Captivate (Galaxy S), and had Motorola not cut off its support at the knees, I'd still likely be using a Motorola i1 (though that was partly due to the sweetheart rate plan I had).

It varies. If you want something that's easy to use, pick the Windows Phone--they're straightforward, and the user experience is reliably quick and easy. Android is a mixed bag--pick the right device, with high-end hardware and good software support (ideally a Nexus device), and you can be quite happy--though they're almost by nature a bit rough around the edges. On the flip side, if you like to hack/tweak your phone, go Android, 100%...WP7 is locked down pretty tight--if you don't like it out of the box, you won't like WP7, period.

Were I to do it today, I'd get an Android phone--not because I don't like WP7, but because there's considerable uncertainty about its longevity/upgrade path. (Also, I perpetually flip between OSX and Linux (typically a RHEL derivative)...and Android is the only current platform today that plays nice when syncing with Linux.)

 

[jamald]

A year ago I would have said Windows Phone for a variety of reasons, but now it looks like it's not really catching up as planned, and the app market is really weak, plus I've since grown to really dislike Metro UI. That, coupled with ICS making Android alot better, would leave me with Android, probably a Galaxy Nexus to avoid the updates/skins problems.

 

[ixodes]

My Lumia is not bad. But it's Android that I prefer for many reasons.

The one major advantage of Android is the many ways I can customize it, once setup to my liking, it's a very enjoyable & highly useful device.

 

[JoeG4]

Yea, not to reiterate but there's one small feature I love in android you can't really do on any other OS I know of. That would be having direct dial shortcuts on the home screens. Eg, tap the icon and it dials a friend (just like speed dial! yay!)

I know that sounds like crap, but it's one of my favorite android things. That, and with poweramp as my mp3 player it starts music when I plug the phone into headphones and skips songs when I hold the volume button for a second.

 

[jwhite878]

Windows Phone. I absolutely love it. The color schemes are really sweet, and I like how many UI elements are just one solid color as opposed to imitating a substance like leather or using effects like glare. The Metro UI is unique. I've used Android before, and I'm not a huge fan of it. The customization is nice, but not all it's cracked up to be (other than roms, which are awesome). However, the Lumia has some features missing that I need/want in a phone, (dual core, high resolution screen, and most importantly, higher storage capacity or microSD capability). When the new iPhone rolls around, I'll take a look at the Windows Phone lineup before I upgrade.

 

[roadbloc]

Hope everyone choosing Windows Phone is doing some Long-Term thinking, in terms of spending money on a platform that might not be around for very long.

Did you say that to all the 90's Mac users? I mean, seriously, I fail to see how just because a company may be in trouble or might not last so long anymore; it is going to be taken into account when buying one of their products.

If M$ or Nokia were to go bust a day after I bought my Nokia Lumia, I wouldn't bat an eyelid. The Lumia will still work how it was intended to on sale, and for my next phone a few years later I will choose something else that I like. Business as usual, and I'm sure many consumers will be the same. I'm sure if RIM goes bust, all the happy BlackBerry owners won't throw the product they are happy with away just because the company doesn't exist anymore.

What exactly is the point your trying to prove here? Nokia and Microsoft are failures? Well, you've more than made that point now, you can stop repeating yourself and derailing the thread from the original topic, which amazingly, has nothing to do with the WP7 platform or Nokia failing.

 

[*LTD*]

Did you say that to all the 90's Mac users?

Certainly. Though the real problems began to show around the time of the Apple clones. Apple in the early 90s was still a decent player in the industry, especially right after the transition to PowerPC around 1992-93, which was pretty exciting.

But there was always Steve Jobs, and under Jobs, Apple had always been something special. He returned to Apple and turned it around. Apple decided change was in order, so they became *proactive* about their situation, opened their eyes, and made some very enlightened decisions (i.e., hiring Jobs.) Those who doubted Apple *then*, upon Jobs' return, would have been crazy to do so. And Michael Dell isn't looking too smart these days.

But Steve Jobs is dead. Not only has there not been *anyone* like Steve Jobs in the last 30 years, there doesn't seem to be anyone like him now. No one to save MS/Nokia.

Except for Ballmer and Elop. LOL

And two turkeys don't make a right.

 

[DingleButt]

Yea, not to reiterate but there's one small feature I love in android you can't really do on any other OS I know of. That would be having direct dial shortcuts on the home screens. Eg, tap the icon and it dials a friend (just like speed dial! yay!)

I know that sounds like crap, but it's one of my favorite android things. That, and with poweramp as my mp3 player it starts music when I plug the phone into headphones and skips songs when I hold the volume button for a second.

You can pin specific contacts and groups on Windows Phone also
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/howto/wp7/start/pin-things-to-start.aspx

 

[berngain]

No brainer

This is a no brainer for me, I'd go for Android without question. For the simple reason that it's easier for me to download apps from the apps store.

 

[jbouklas]

I've owned both while waiting for the iPhone on Sprint. My Android phone had crappy battery life, would force close apps occasionally, and was slow to receive updates to the latest Android version. My Windows phone was fast, slick, and did what I wanted it to do (except there was a distinct lack of apps).

Both platforms pale in comparison to iOS, but Windows Phone is definitely the more professional and better supported platform.

 

[rrl]

Just pulled the trigger on this:

http://www.google.com/nexus/

I think I'll like it better than my Lumia 800.

 

[roadbloc]

And Michael Dell isn't looking too smart these days.

Don't mean to start an argument about what Michael Dell said, but regarding his famous Apple stock quote, he claims it was misinterpreted.

Dell said that he initially refused to answer the original question in 1997, and after being asked to answer twice he basically responded “What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders,” because he couldn't imagine himself being CEO of any other company.

Full article here.

Just so you know.

 

[*LTD*]

Don't mean to start an argument about what Michael Dell said, but regarding his famous Apple stock quote, he claims it was misinterpreted.

Full article here.

Just so you know.

What did you expect him to say?

He's had, what, over a decade to plan out his explanation so he doesn't look like the fool he is.

 

[firewood]

Android phone. Ugly UI, but you can develop apps for it on a Mac.

 

[zap2]

I actually went for an Android device, largely because the hardware running iOS hasn't stayed up to date. Mostly I'm looking about LTE support. Also I was interested in trying a large screen, and while I like it, the 3.5" on the iPhone is just fine.


Android is a great OS, it allows for a lot more control, and being someone who likes to play around with his devices, I enjoy that ability. I've also had a Windows Phone, and while I liked the hardware(it had a slide out keyboard) the platform hasn't stay up to date(I'm looking at resolution stuff here) Also the inability to use google's search and maps is a big issue for me.

Currently, I'm using a Nokia E6 running Symbian, which I'm loving for the keyboard and battery life, but Android and iOS have the game wrapped up in apps. Even Windows Phone has better apps then Symbian(for my needs at least) But the UI on Symbian is decent now, and the battery life allows for something I just can't get elsewhere.

Over all, I wish Palm was still around, their OS was top notch, and their hardware offered more choice then the iPhone. Android is a great OS, but the hardware is sub-par on devices that have BlackBerry like designs, while Nokia/Palm made great candy bar QWERTY devices.

It's a shame the market is getting rid of all the choice we had a few years ago(when we were switching over from older platforms like Windows Mobile,Symbian and Palm OS to WebOS, Android, Windows Phone and iOS)

Hardware wise, I think Apple and Nokia have the best game in town, but no one seems to be as dedicated to the candy bar QWERTY phone(outside of RIM, so hopefully BB10 raises the bar for their OS)

----------

Just pulled the trigger on this:

http://www.google.com/nexus/

I think I'll like it better than my Lumia 800.

Very nice device, I'm considering one. Although the device is a little dated now(just barely) More so when you see things like the HTC One X, but after owning the Nexus One, that phone was amazing, and while the hardware game for Android has improved, the Nexus line is still top notch.

I also have trouble jumping onto the Samsung wagon, it's a shame Nokia didn't pick up webOS, while I know that's a deadhorse, I just can't jump into Windows Phone ecosystem(and honestly, I tried)

----------

which amazingly, has nothing to do with the WP7 platform or Nokia failing.

Sorry, but I think the ability of a platform to ensure it will be around in a few years could matter to some people. It's not a deal breaker to me(I bought webOS hardware and apps for it) But I can see why the position Windows Phone is in today might effect people's eagerness to buy it.

That said, Nokia is a huge name as is MS, so I can't see the platform ending up anywhere better then 3rd place in the mobile OS market.

 

[boss.king]

What did you expect him to say?

He's had, what, over a decade to plan out his explanation so he doesn't look like the fool he is.

What else would we expect you to say. You've had over half a year to plan that criticism

What make's your word any better than his?