The slow death of Windows Phone: how Microsoft lost the battle for smartphones. The slow death of Windows Phone: how Microsoft lost the battle for smartphones Connecting to a PC

Microsoft has officially announced Windows Phone 8 in San Francisco. The new Windows Phone 8 system will offer resizable tiles, customizable colors, and updates, and even more. This Windows Phone release will have a Windows core. It will be based on a solid core operating system Windows 8.

This will mean that Windows Phone 8 will have common networking capabilities, security issues, media and web browser technologies, a common file system, translation into higher performance, more opportunities and new Opportunities for app developers and hardware manufacturers to innovate quickly.

Windows Phone 8 will support encryption, secure boot, control devices, and as well as application deployment. This will be of particular interest to business users. Windows Phone 8 will also support NFC and offer the most comprehensive features on any smartphone.

The new Launch Screen offers a new palette of theme colors and three Tiles sizes, all of which can be customized.

Other Features:

1. Support multi-core processors
2. Larger, sharper screen. It will support two new screen resolutions – 1280?768 and 1280 x 720?.
3. Also supports replaceable MicroSD memory cards
4. NFC wireless sharing.These are new technologies cordless phones allow you to separate things over short distances.
5. Support Internet Explorer 10
6. Windows Phone 8 has a new Digital Wallet.It can store debit and credit cards, coupons, boarding passes and other important information right in your hands. And combined with safe SIM card from your operator, you can also pay to have one touch of your phone take you to a compatible cash register.
7. Better maps and directions with built-in Nokia mapping.
8. Windows Phone Marketplace already has 100,000 applications and games.

Take a look at the screenshots below of Windows Phone 8.

Windows Phone 8 is expected in 2012 Q4 - probably only after the Windows 8 operating system is officially released.

Will Windows Phone 7 users receive Windows update Phone 8, and if they do, how to update? Answer – No. ButWindows Phone 7 looks too neat! If you liked this post, you can leave a comment in the form below.

P.P.S. If you have any problems or need additional help, don't hesitate to ask. We have a special, dedicated thread installed on our site to combat any questions you may have.

Windows Phones are gaining market share, so let's take a look at what models are available and whether they're worth buying.

Windows Phones are gaining popularity among buyers. Currently one of five WP8 phones sold. For this reason, we decided to see what it is and how it differs from old Windows Phone 7.8.

Why Windows Phone 8?

The Windows Phone 8 phone is an interesting proposition for several reasons. First of all, it's a system that works great with the Xbox 360, Skydrive cloud, and Windows 8, which comes with new tablets and PCs. Although so far Windows 8 is not very popular, but within a year or two, it should become the most popular system on the market and will displace the beloved Windows 7. Moreover, WP8 is secure because it has a closed architecture, every application created passes Microsoft control. Telephones are fixed specifications What Microsoft requires from manufacturers means ensuring good consistency with the hardware, and it all works smoothly and almost without problems, which cannot be said for Android smartphones, especially the cheapest ones.

A big plus is also the built-in Microsoft package Office, which is the only software available on mobile devices fully compatible with full version, the most popular office suite in the world.

Or maybe not?

The Windows Phone 8 system is not without its shortcomings. First of all, it has a minimalist tiled interface that is characterized by very little customization options. Allows you to change only the size and color of the tiles; there is not even the classic wallpaper. In addition to Windows Phone, there are far fewer applications than for mobile applications with Android and IOS. Although this difference is decreasing and will decrease from year to year, it can still be considered noticeable. It's also worth noting that Windows Phone has many limitations, such as no USB keyboard and mouse support, and you can't install another web browser. The only available program is Internet Explorer, or based on it, such as Nokia Xpress.

What do Windows Phones have in common?

As we already mentioned, smartphones running the Windows Phone operating system have a specification installed by Microsoft. All Windows Phone 8 phones must have processors Qualcomm Snapdragon S4. Devices with the Windows Phone 7 operating system were also equipped with Qualcomm processors, but of the previous generation. Microsoft has also established that cheap phones with Windows Phone 8 should have 512 MB of RAM, and 1 GB on more efficient ones. The top models with Windows Phone 7 had 512 MB, while the less powerful ones had only 256 MB of RAM.

Because of this, many applications such as Angry Birds or Skype did not want to be released on cheap phones. WITH starting Windows Phone 8, Microsoft immediately stated that the phones will be available in two versions, so the developers are ready for this, and this situation will not happen again, and all applications will run on WP8.

With the launch of Windows Phone 8 smartphones, Microsoft decided to update the old software and Windows Phone 7.8 became available. The main change in the system is the addition of the ability to change the tile size so that the system becomes similar to Windows 8. However, the updates did not affect Wi-Fi, NFC connectivity (with the exception of Nokia Lumia 610 NFC), support for memory cards and full multi-threading. It is also important that while Windows Phone 8 can run applications designed for previous version operating system, it is not possible in the opposite direction. Besides, latest version Internet Explorer Mobile, numbered 10, is not available for Windows Phone 7. The older version of mobile windows also does not support multi-core processors or screens with resolutions other than 800 x 480.

Is it worth buying a phone with Windows Phone 7?

Obviously, smartphones with Windows Phone 8 are better than those equipped old version software, but not everyone can afford to buy a phone for 8 thousand rubles. This is exactly how much the most expensive one costs on the market. cheap smartphone on Windows Phone 8, i.e. Nokia Lumia 520. If the amount you can spend on a phone is significantly less, it is definitely worth paying attention to smartphones with Windows Phone 7.8.

This means that you have to compromise and choose whether you want a very smooth phone experience, with not very many programs, without the ability to fine-tune the interface. Any solution will find its followers, however, I believe that it is better to have a little less functional, but nimble. Although the characteristics mobile phones with Windows Phone will be worse than on Android.

How to choose a Windows Phone?

This can be done very easily, namely, by analyzing only the technical characteristics of the phone. This is possible because all smartphones have very close, almost identical software. For smartphones with Android operating system software varies significantly from manufacturer to manufacturer. It's because it's poorly written and overloaded with unnecessary extra software that your smartphone, which has the best specs on paper, may be less efficient and slower in reality. Also important is the quality of the case and its appearance. After all, no one wants to have an ugly device that will fall apart after a few months. And here there is a point, all phones based on WP8 are very similar in design.

Conclusion

I hope it has become clear what advantages and disadvantages smartphones running Windows Phone 8 have. They are not perfect equipment, better or worse than Android or iOS. They're just different. Any equipment is designed for different types of users. In comparison, Android software is more suitable for advanced users who expect a lot of features and tools. But iOS users are similar to Windows Phone holders, but with different equipment. It should be noted that iPhones are expensive phones, but Android and Windows are available in all price options. After all, the cost of the device is a very important criterion when purchasing.

Android is the undisputed leader in the mobile operating systems market. At the end of last year, the share of devices controlled by a green robot exceeded 80 percent. Despite such significant results, Android still has room to grow. Moreover, some features to improve usability and develop the system as a whole can be borrowed from competitors. For example, Windows Phone. What parts of the Microsoft system might appeal to fans of our favorite operating system? Let's find out.

Our foreign colleague from phonearena Adam Doud. Adam is a big fan of the system that is well known for “living” slabs.

Before moving on to listing the interesting features of Windows Phone, it should be noted that Android L is still in the developer testing stage. Accordingly, it is possible that some of the features listed below will appear before the final release of the new product, which will take place in the fall of this year.

Hey, where's my update?

The vast majority of owners of Android devices asked one single question upon completion: “Will there be an update for my smartphone?” Unfortunately, in the world of green robots, situations are still not uncommon when one of the leaders of last year’s line does not receive an update.

In an ideal situation, the question should sound slightly different. When exactly can I install the update? As many owners of devices with Windows Phone inside do.

Naturally, there are significantly fewer manufacturers with this system, but what prevents Google from obliging smartphone creators to release guaranteed updates within a certain period of time? For example, if you make Android devices with the latest generation processor inside, be so kind as to support it for at least two years.

GUI or something useful?

How do Android devices from different manufacturers differ from each other? Of course, appearance menus, desktops and icons, which collectively are called graphical interface. It is curious that despite the huge differences between the latter, stock Android remains the ideal for most users.

Why not shift the emphasis of differentiation to all sorts of useful services, as Nokia did with its cards?

Order in everything

This drawback can hardly be called significant, but sometimes it still makes itself felt. We are talking about organizing applications in a menu, in which it is sometimes incredibly difficult to find what you need.

In some proprietary shells, you still cannot arrange applications at your discretion. To compensate, Windows Phone provides a separate list of programs, organized alphabetically.

...and in widgets too

We all love Android for its personalization, which is based on widgets. Adam believes that it is time for Google to introduce mandatory standards for their developers. According to him, widgets should have three varieties, namely small, medium and large.

Today, this situation resembles a jungle and is determined only by the mood of the developers.

Less variety

How are the owners different? HTC smartphones and Samsung? No, it’s not a matter of preference for one or another body material. The difference lies in the navigation details. HTC owners need to press the left key to take a step back, and the right key to call up the context menu. Samsung fans have to do exactly the opposite. Is this convenient?

What do you think the new version of the operating system is missing? Android systems? Share your opinion in the comments.

Desktop

Windows Phone 8.1 makes it easier to use your smartphone. By swiping to the right, you immediately get to the list of applications. Swiping left takes you back to the desktop.

The desktop itself allows you to pin anything to the screen. These can be applications, websites, individual letters from mail, contacts, which makes the desktop very visual and easy to use.

Navigation is carried out using three touch buttons located at the bottom of the screen.

The horizontal arrow allows you to return or cancel an action. If you hold your finger on the button, a list of all open applications will appear.

The windows button is a button that returns to the desktop screen.

Search button – opens the browser. If you hold your finger on the search button for a while, the Cortana voice assistant opens.

This is virtual voice assistant, designed to replace the standard search engine. In fact, it combines many functions. Cortana plays music, creates notes, displays reminders, even sends SMS messages.

App StoreWindows Phone

If basic functions and there will be few applications existing on the smartphone, you can visit the store Windows applications Phone and download what you need.

KeyboardWorld Flow

The keyboard allows you to type without lifting your finger from the keyboard, with an auto-correct feature.

Notification Center

Standard for all mobile operating systems, “curtain” that unifies notifications from various applications, calls, SMS, and so on.

Split volume slider

A separate volume slider allows you to differentiate the sounds of calls and notifications from multimedia and applications.

Branded applications fromMicrosoft.

Branded applications from Microsoft make the OS even more relevant. Windows Phone 8.1 will offer many useful programs already pre-installed:

Office - a set of office programs.

Health and fitness is a unique application for those who lead a healthy lifestyle. The application contains a list of workouts, with detailed description exercises; allows you to create a diet; contains a database of medical symptoms for self-diagnosis.

Travel is an application that allows you to plan trips in advance. The application contains information about different cities of the world, with photographs of attractions, and information about hotels, restaurants, flights, and more.

Games is an application that syncs with Xbox Games. The application shows the results as well as a list of achievements.

Sports - the application accumulates a news base of events from various sports, with a selection of photographs.

OneNote is the creator of notes that you can easily pin to your desktop.

Internet Explorer

Data monitoring - allows you to monitor Internet traffic.

Outlook is an email client.

Basic settingsWindows Phone 8.1

Here we describe the most interesting, from the user's point of view, smartphone settings.

Desktop customization

If you go to the settings section, you will notice how it is not rich in customization options. This, in turn, is connected with the “tiled” style of desktop design in WP 8.1: after all, there’s really nothing to customize. However, enough of the lyrics.

By and large, setting up a desktop consists of 4 points:

There are two options here: either white or light background. Depending on the selected background, the font color naturally changes. The dark background of the smartphone screen will correspond to a white font, and the light background will correspond to black.

2. Color of elements (“tiles”).

Here you can choose any color.

3. Desktop background.

Here it is possible to set your own desktop background, which was absent in Windows Phone 8. In this case, the tiles will look transparent - the background of a previously installed picture or photograph will be visible through them. In this case, the choice of photo is carried out not only from photographs and pictures located in the device, but also from the network cloud storage OneDrive data. However, the downside is that, unfortunately, not all tiles become transparent, which makes the desktop background not very harmonious.

4. Adding a third strip of tiles.

This is done so that it is possible to pin as many more application tiles.

Accounts

This menu configures account Microsoft records, mail, social networks.

Lock screen

The lock screen allows you to customize the background, notification apps, short notification apps, and turn off the lock screen and password.

Notifications

The notifications menu allows you to customize notifications for individual apps and settings.

Children's

The smartphone has the ability to set up a “children’s room”. By activating the nursery, parents can select a list of applications, music, games and videos that will be available in the nursery. After this, a password is placed on the standard lock screen so that the child cannot access the smartphone. The next time the child gets his hands on a phone, he will only have access to those applications that were chosen by his parents.

Battery Saving

The smartphone also has a function that allows you to save battery. As soon as the charge level drops to a critical level, usually 10-20% of the remaining charge, the charge saving function is activated. The “Battery Saver” menu also shows the remaining charge time and the time the device was last charged. By swiping to the right, you can get information about battery usage by individual applications.

Pscreen projector

A function that allows you to display the contents of your smartphone on a TV screen, monitor or projector.

Backups

The function allows you to create backups applications, settings, SMS, as well as photos and videos saved on the smartphone.

Synchronization

This feature allows you to synchronize theme settings, applications, Internet Explorer and passwords in the cloud.

In car

In the car mode allows you to configure your smartphone so that notifications, calls, SMS do not distract the driver from the road.

Device information

Shows information about the phone: name, smartphone model, OS version, etc.

Spam filter

Allows you to block calls and SMS from unwanted contacts.

Additionally

Shows the version of the software product.

Conclusion:

Microsoft has released an excellent software product that is suitable for different categories of people, such as students, businessmen or children. Of course, compared to competitors, the share of devices under Windows control Phone 8.1 is small, but it is growing steadily. Very simple and clear design, as well as quality pre-installed applications, make interaction with a smartphone even more convenient and enjoyable.

When choosing a smartphone, we look at different factors, and one of the main ones is the operating system, which we will have to deal with. Google Android, Apple iPhone or Microsoft Windows Phone? Many buyers believe that the main competition is between the first two, and Windows Phone is not serious. But we will try to debunk this myth.

10 Windows benefits Phone

Plus one: this is not an iPhone

From the point of view of Yabloko, this looks like a definite drawback, but non-fans of Cupertino products will clearly look at this fact with interest.

In fact, in many ways the ideology of the iOS and WP8 operating systems is similar: both are closed from “external influences,” a strict selection of applications, and a rather narrow selection of gadgets. But if Apple only needs to deal with gadgets from Apple itself, then Microsoft is doing much better in this regard: Windows Phone smartphones are produced by many respected manufacturers, from Microsoft itself to HTC and Samsung (the latter - even despite the promotion of its competitor WP - OC Tizen).

If we summarize and discard technical details, then Windows Phone can be called “iOS without Apple.” The latter, as you know, likes to set completely ridiculous prices for its components, while there is no such problem with gadgets on Windows Phone; the components here are the most “ordinary” ones. In general, if you like the ideology of Apple devices, but don’t like the pricing (or any other) policy of the Apple company, take a closer look at WP smartphones and Windows tablets.

Plus the second: yes, it's Windows

In view of the upcoming unification of operating rooms Microsoft systems for all mobile and desktop devices this advantage looks especially attractive. Now a smartphone running Windows Phone 8.1 also synchronizes with Windows 8.1 without problems, but when Windows 10 comes out, it will be Windows 10 for everyone, without the Phone prefix. By the way, a release for developers has already been released, which seems to be a hint.

Such unification means, at a minimum, the absence of problems with synchronizing gadgets (and now they are small, but they do occur), and the ease of use on all devices should, in theory, be similar.

In principle, approximately the same can be said about different versions Apple iOS, but not Google Android. Yes, there are Chromebooks, but this is where the variety of types of Android devices ends.

Plus three: there is no problem of lack of RAM

This is the scourge of Android devices: once 512 MB of RAM was enough, but now 2 GB is considered the minimum acceptable for comfortable work. While the Lumia 720 on Windows Phone 8 easily copes with the same 512 megabytes of RAM, and even allows you to comfortably work with the navigation system (which the author personally tested a couple of years ago), not to mention HTC Mozart 2010 release with its 576 megabytes of memory: despite the obsolescence of Windows Phone 7.8 OS and the actual cessation of support for this Microsoft versions, on this device you can still work comfortably (unless, of course, you play “heavy” games). Moreover, you don’t have to disable various “beauties” such as menu transition animations. Of course, there are already top-end WP devices with 2 gigabytes of RAM.

But a three-year-old Android smartphone with one gigabyte of memory on the fourth version of the operating system today is ungodly slow, and devices with three gigabytes of RAM actually cause more sadness than joy, since the trends of “more, more, more!” This is quite appropriate.

By the way, the Apple iPhone also does not have a similar problem, which is proven by the presence of “old” iPhones of the third dash of the fifth generation in advertisements and at well-attended auctions, where they sell like hot cakes. And this is not only because iOS is a smart and simple operating system in itself, but also because iOS also has no problems with RAM, just like Windows Phone.

Unlike Android. Increasing RAM in Android phones only proves this.

Plus four: default applications

Since only the lazy don’t buy Android smartphones in the basement (just look in any Chinese online store at their number, amounting to tens of thousands), they usually do not have a rich set of equipment by default. Of course, various major vendors like Samsung or HTC will cram a lot of do’s and don’ts into their version of Android, but the vast majority of Android smartphones on the market have nothing but stock firmware. Someone generous might, perhaps, drop off a free shell and a couple of free applications. But the common denominator we have is that a small number (4% of the market, give or take, according to analysts) smartphones on Windows Phone give their users quite a lot of useful branded applications, and the mega-diversity of Android leads to the fact that you have to finish everything on your own. Even with excellent HTC shell Sense.

By the way, a pleasant bonus is the swipe keyboard in bundled Windows Phone 8.1: while in Google Android such an innovation appeared regularly only some time ago (somewhere around versions 4.2-4.3), and before that you had to use the paid Swype application or analogues, free versions which were far from being as good, having, among other things, extremely poor default dictionaries.

True, not for Windows Phone Google Chrome(and also Hangouts), but then there is everything else. And even synchronization Google account works on par with a default Hotmail account. There is also a Microsoft OneDrive cloud application - similar functionality in Android is called Google Drive; it provides the same space in both clouds: 15 GB each.

Plus the fifth: there is little that can be configured (and broken accordingly)

Probably, many will at first decide to put this plus as a minus, but if you look from the point of view of the average user, what does he want? Only one thing: that everything you need is there, and that it all works as it should. Without “finishing”, “rooting”, “customization” and other scary words. Buy it and use it.

With Windows Phone, everything is exactly like this: I took it out of the box and everything works. You can change the color of the “tiles”, make a ringtone, organize the desktop at your discretion, but you don’t need to unlock your smartphone to get superuser rights, install tricky applications to clean and reorganize memory, both RAM and ROM... Because everything works great without it .

By the way, this plus can also be attributed to Apple - once again.

Plus six: simplicity

But since we already mentioned the iPhone, Microsoft’s operating system can give the user the same simplicity. Yes, there are not very many applications (yet), but their number is increasing. Yes, customization is very limited (see above) - but you don’t need to shamanize with a tambourine for something to work.

Simplicity is the guiding principle not only of the iPhone, but also of smartphones based on Windows Phone. They simply won’t let you mess up anything in the system (including applications), the ways to get something you need are also easy, and even a child can figure everything out (especially since there is a very simple and effective child mode called "Kid's Corner". Usability, in general, is excellent.

Plus seventh: OS update regardless of manufacturer and device class

Everyone is familiar with the Android distribution model: it comes out a new version The OS appears on the newest Nexuses, then smartphone manufacturers begin to slowly shake things up and very slowly integrate the new OS into their firmware. Sometimes months pass, and in some cases until seemingly up-to-date devices new Android and it doesn’t reach at all.

With Windows Phone 8, everything is simpler: updates appear for all devices at approximately the same time, and for both the weak Lumia 520 and the powerful HTC 8x, all functions are available equally, except that games on weak WP smartphones will slow down. There is no “finishing” of your own shells: the firmware of different manufacturers differs, perhaps, in the amount of proprietary software, which is also not very much.

Plus eight: safety

In fact, the roots of this grow not from the fact that in principle there are no viruses in Microsoft’s mobile OS (as in the joke about Elusive Joe), unlike its desktop relative, but from the fact that, due to their low prevalence, they simply have not yet begun to be written.

The second reason is secrecy source code, which makes the OS virtually unhackable, at least for now. And antivirus for Android today is almost a must-have application for all “droid drivers”.

Plus Nine: Xbox Live

This is more of a plus for gamers, but it's still worth mentioning: the Xbox Live system is integrated into Windows Phone, so you can use your profile on this system for all games, collecting points and “pumping up” your character, and there are common features for everything rating tables where you can compete with other players not in just one game separately, but in all of them at once.

Plus tenth: standard navigation system

While there is still debate on the “Internet” about which is better, Microsoft quietly integrates a full-fledged offline navigation system HERE into its Lumia smartphones for free and has no problems with it. The system is really very powerful, there are updated maps of all countries of the world, there is a really full driving mode (offline!) in the HERE Drive application with voice prompts, there is also an application indicating the nearest places (from cafes to shopping centers) in the mode of overlaying on a three-dimensional map with positioning in space.

HERE cards have, perhaps, one downside: the cards are downloaded only into the built-in memory and categorically do not want to live on a flash drive. Well, no one is perfect.

As for offline navigators on Android, here we can allow a small lyrical digression into the topic. A few days ago, the author of this article watched a video of one popular autoblogger, in which he proved to us that a separate navigator where better than a smartphone. At the same time, the rather ancient Samsung acted as a smartphone, and the much-cursed Navitel acted as a navigation system. That is, it turns out like this: if you have old smartphone Samsung, and you bought Navitel at an expensive price, then it’s better to buy a separate navigator.

The main thing is that you can’t argue with anything here. Everything is just like that. And many owners of old Android devices think the same way.

Conclusion

Of course, at the operating room Windows systems Phone has its downsides (remember, no one is perfect), but we hope we have clearly demonstrated to you that this OS is quite competitive. In terms of simplicity and convenience, it is not inferior to iOS, and smartphones on it are several times cheaper. Like, for example, or, which we recently talked about.