Bell, Nokia and the iPhone 5

Greg Leave a comment

[sc:mobile-category ]So, just in case anyone missed it, Apple had a little press conference last week and announced the iPhone 5.  There’s also been a little bit of news around what Windows Phone 8 devices will be on the Bell network.

First off the Bell news, which is kind of disappointing for me, they won’t be carrying the Nokia 920.  However the good news is that they will be carrying two Windows Phone 8 devices.  The linked article speculates that it will be a Samsung and HTC phone, which would make sense as Bell has traditionally carried HTC and no many Nokia devices.  Of course they could be looking at the Nokia 820 instead of the Samsung device.  We’ll have to see if there are announcements when Microsoft makes WP8 official.

Now then, that other little piece of news from last week 😉

How can anyone be excited about the iPhone 5?

New design?  No.

Better camera?  No.

Bigger screen?  Kind of.  It’s longer but that doesn’t seem like a good thing really.  I’ve type on the iPhone a few times and the display is just to narrow.

NFC?  No.

Wireless charging?  No.

Big update to battery life?  No.

Removable storage?  No.

Big software change?  No.  Let’s face it, iOS is looking pretty long in the tooth these days and Apple seems to have no plan to move it forwards.  They’re playing catch up to the other OS’s for integrated features (like Twitter and Facebook) and haven’t brought anything new to the table, well unless you count Siri which doesn’t seem to work really.

How much longer will everyone continue to stick their heads in the ground and simply buy whatever Apple shoves out the door?  I guess time will tell but that seems like a painful wait 😉

 

Windows Phone 8 SDK

Greg Leave a comment

[sc:mobile-category ]So Microsoft has finally decided to launch the Windows Phone 8 SDK, but in an unusual way.

First this is just a “preview” of the SDK.  Which means it’s still in flux, which seems odd at this late of date in the cycle.  Normally if we were going to see an October release, Microsoft would have RTM’d the software months ahead of time (like it did with Windows 8) to give partners and developers time to get ready for the launch.

The preview is only going to be open to existing developers with at least one app in the Marketplace, and even then to a limited number of people.  I will certainly be in line to get a copy, but with only one app in the Marketplace I doubt I’ll be high on the list to get it.

So this means I’ll have to wait, until the release of WP8 to get my hands on it, which seems strange, but I guess MS is running up to the last minute on this one to get everything done.

Hopefully that doesn’t result in a low quality product.

Another very odd thing about the announcement is that it occurred just hours after the Nokia/Microsoft press conference for the new Lumias. Microsoft took the stage twice during the conference, wouldn’t have been great for the to make the announcement live instead of in a blog post?

I wonder if they felt some pressure to release something due to the SDK leak a few weeks ago?

Don’t know for sure but I’ll be interested to see how things unfold over the next several weeks.

The Nokia 920 and 820

Greg Leave a comment

[sc:mobile-category ]So the big pres conference is over but what did we learn?

Not much really.  In fact, while the hardware looks great and has some truly impressive features, we’re still left wondering far too much.

But first things first, what did they get right?

The hardware

The 920 is looking to be a great phone.  The camera tech is truly impressive and if it takes photos half as well as the demo’s it will still be the best camera on a phone yet.  Likewise the wireless charging is a big step forward.  Yes Palm did it first, but it wasn’t standards compliant (because there were no standards at the time) and they didn’t license it out so it was always going to be a niche to them.  The display looks great and the touch screen that works with gloves makes it even better.

The 820 seems to have been the red-headed stepchild of the presentation (quite literally since it was show in red) but has some very desirable features.  The changeable covers, the SD card slot and a slightly smaller display are all good points.

On the hardware front the 920 is missing the SD card slot and I can’t for the life of me understand why.  It’s the high-end phone, its supposed to have all the features of the 820 and more, not less!

One change between the 800/900 and the 820/920 that I don’t like is the move towards a glossy case.  I really liked the matte finish on the 800/900, perhaps Nokia will make a sleeve for the 820 that’s matte.

I’m kind of torn here, the wireless charging is a killer feature for me so it seems likely I’ll be buying a Nokia phone.  However what I really want is a 920 with the styling of the 820 and the SD card slot.  I can only imagine that in a few months we’ll be seeing the 1020 or something that will be the 920 hardware in an 820 shell.

The Software

Nokia showed off quite a few software pieces as well, the maps functionality and the lens are both impressive additions to the phone.  However what I really wanted to see was Windows Phone 8 and there was very little to learn that we didn’t already know.

In fact there wasn’t ANYTHING new about the OS that we hadn’t learned either in June or through the SDK leak a few weeks ago.

This was the most frustrating part of the press conference.  This should have been MS’s big moment to shine and show all the new features of Windows Phone 8.  Instead we just got the oft recited “We’ll have more in the coming weeks” line.

And where’s the SDK for Windows Phone 8?  If the launch is going to be this year, shouldn’t the developers already have the SDK so they can be creating apps for the phones at launch time?

What Was Missing

There was so much missing from this press conference that I’m not sure where to start.

  • A release date
  • Carriers
  • Pricing
  • Regional availability
  • SDK Availability

It wasn’t what I was expecting at all.  I expect MS to get on stage and say “Windows Phone 8 will be available on …”.  Then I expected Nokia to get on stage with AT&T and say “The 920 will be available on launch on the AT&T network for $”.

Instead we got NOTHING.

No release date.

No Carriers.

No Pricing.

Nada.

If you don’t have those things lined up, don’t have the press conference.  It’s clear the market was looking for all these things as Nokia’s share price took a dive after the press conference.

How many times do they have to get it wrong before they wake up and realize we’re looking for hard facts, not future promises.  No other phone manufacturer get’s on stage for an hour and a half talking about their new phone and then doesn’t say when, where and how much it’s going to cost.

Sure Samsung didn’t have these details either, but they spent a sum total of about 10 seconds with their phone, not an hour and a half.

Motorola had a press conference later in the day and released 3 phones, pricing and launch dates included.

Apple will be releasing the iPhone 5 next week and you can bet they have a price, date and network all lined up.

The entire press conference seemed like a stall tactic to get in front of Apple instead of the launch of something great.

So Now What?

That’s the real question, after the press conference, Microsoft went ahead and announced limited availability of the Windows Phone 8 SDK would be coming next week.  So why wasn’t that part of the press conference?

And why limited availability?  Is it ready or isn’t it.  If it is, get it out there.  If it isn’t, don’t.

Microsoft’s next big event is the Build conference at the end of October, which seems kind of late to be showing off Windows Phone 8 if it’s going to launch this year.  So are we going to have yet another press conference at the end of Sept. to launch Windows Phone 8?  Will Microsoft use HTC’s event instead to do something on the 19th?

All this guess work is making my head spin.  Microsoft, just get on with it and give us the details.

Samsung, HTC, Nokia and Windows Phone 8

Greg Leave a comment

[sc:mobile-category ]Ok, so Samsung has stolen a bit of Nokia’s thunder and announced their first Windows Phone 8 device a week before Nokia’s big event on Sept. 5th.  But is that a bad thing?  Heck no.  The more the merrier at the Windows Phone 8 party and the fact that Samsung felt the HAD to announce something before Nokia is a great sign that they want to complete in the Windows Phone 8 arena.

So first things first.  What the heck is with the name?  ATIV S?  I’ve read a dozen stories about it and I still had to go back and look it up because I couldn’t remember it.  Come on Samsung, you name your Android devices with easy to remember words like Galaxy, why no marketing love for Windows Phone 8?

Secondly, it does look like a great phone.  My first thought though was about the Windows button.  In the first few pictures I saw it kind of looked like it was raised up.  But subsequent images seem to have in recessed.  Either way I’m not sure a mix of physical and capacitive buttons on the front make sense.

HTC still hasn’t announced anything official, but a leaked image of an upcoming WP8 device certainly sets a different tone for their hardware than their WP7 devices.  I don’t think I like the colour, but otherwise it would be great to see HTC make a bold design statement like this.

And then there was Nokia.  The amount of leaks about the press conference is epic.  From everything we know it looks like they will be announcing the 820 and 920.  However just today a juicy tidbit was rumored as well, wireless charging!  And standards based none the less!  This has been on my wish list for years now and if the 920 does support it then it will most certainly be my next phone.

The same article mentions that the PureView will not be the 41 megapixel monster, but a more standard 8mp.  Not an issue for me.  Camera phones are fast and convenient, not for professional level photography.

But what else might Nokia have up its sleeve.  I think it’s entirely possible that they will announce a Windows RT tablet as well.  Nokia has said they want in the table game and Windows is the most obvious choice for them.  Could we see the 820/920/tablet all be available on Oct.26, the official launch day of Windows 8?

Here’s looking forward to a great September 5!