Nokia's Lumia 900, like all other current Windows Phones, will be left stranded with an older operating system.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)commentary Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 operating system looks great. Too bad anyone who actually cared enough to buy a Windows Phone over the past two years will be left out in the cold.
Microsoft today unveiled Windows Phone 8 and confirmed old phones wouldn't be able to upgrade to the new version. Chalk it up to another brilliant move by Microsoft: unveil a sparkling new version of its fledgling operating system, only to deny the very people who would want to use it.Nokia will feel the heat the most. The company has bet its future on Windows Phone, and has touted its lineup of Lumia smartphones as the marquee handsets using Microsoft's mobile platform. But with its current line of Lumia phones stuck at Windows 7.5, what exactly is Nokia going to tell buyers who will soon be stuck on a generation-old operating system? Sorry? Thanks for buying, sucker?
Nokia already had little cachet and even less goodwill with consumers in the U.S. Microsoft's decision to bar older Windows Phone devices from an upgrade kills any credibility Nokia had left in the U.S. Sure, many technically savvy consumers probably held off on buying the recent Lumia phones, and there were hints that this might happen. But there were still a lot of consumers who bought the Lumia 710 or Lumia 900. Nokia's gamble was a particularly risky one in the U.S. After being the maker of the de facto phone here a decade ago, the company lost its standing to rivals such as Motorola and Samsung Electronics and was reduced to a niche brand for phone enthusiasts. As a result, the company had to spend a lot to promote the Lumia 900 and establish a beachhead -- burning cash at a time when its financial performance has been cratering and the company has been announcing layoffs for thousands of workers. The core dilemma for Nokia in the U.S. is its challenge in revitalizing a long-faded brand using a little-known mobile operating system. Nokia could have jumped on the Android bandwagon but opted to further set itself apart with its sole commitment to partner with Microsoft.
The new start screen for Windows Phone 8.
(Credit: Microsoft)The frustrating part is Nokia had a great shot at breaking into the U.S. AT&T backed the Lumia 900 with its biggest campaign, and both Nokia and AT&T called it their flagship phone. But after a strong start, the phone's momentum quickly waned.
Well, it's clear now everyone should have waited for the Windows Phone 8 version of the Lumia. Rather than a flagship phone, it now appears more like a stopgap to something better. Windows Phone 8 is expected to be dramatically better. In addition to a wide number of new features, the key advancement is a tighter integration with the PC and tablet-centric Windows 8 operating system, with common cores between the two. Microsoft said it will release an incremental upgrade to Windows Phone 7 to bring the updated Windows Phone 8 tile interface to existing users. But that's cold comfort for people who went out on a limb with Windows Phone. In comparison, Apple is great at ensuring some of its older phones get access to the newest version of iOS, even if the results aren't always the smoothest. And though Android updates can be frustratingly slow (blame the carriers), they do come. Microsoft has shown in recent days a willingness to irk its partners, so perhaps this shouldn't be a surprise. But Microsoft has a lot of explaining to do, to its key partner, Nokia, and to the customer -- both of whom got shafted.Nokia PureView 808 to Debut in U.S. for $699 - mobilenapps.com
Nokia's PureView 808 is all set to make its debut in U.S. The Symbian-powered device will be available for $699 on Amazon.
Chris Weber, Nokia's US chief confirmed this news in a blog post. The innovative smartphone will be available without any subsidy or lock in Amazon. But most of the unlocked device comes with a heavy price tag and the PureView won't be an exception here. People get to choose their preferred mobile operator. The smartphone can be used with AT&T and T-Mobile. But the problem with T-Mobile is, it will work at 2G speeds only.
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For those who don't know about the Nokia 808 PureView yet, it's a Symbian mobile operating system based phone with a stunning 41 megapixel sensor camera. This camera also features Carl Zeiss optics and a latest pixel oversampling technology by Nokia. Moreover, you can zoom up to 3x without losing any details or creating artificial pixels in your images.
Another attractive feature of this device is full HD 1080p video recording with Nokia's rich audio recording feature that allows users to record audio with CD-like quality. This feature was available using only external microphones earlier. Nokia is planning to add this feature into the upcoming Windows mobile operating system based devices.
Amazon is planning to start the pre-sales from this week. But people interested to try this device should think again as its packed with an almost-dead mobile operating system, Symbian. People interested in trying this device can sign up on Nokia's website to receive notification when this device is available in the market.
Why Microsoft went with Nokia for Windows Phone 8 - Techradar.com
Microsoft and Nokia have become quick friends thanks to Windows Phone, and the partnership is only growing stronger with the move to Windows Phone 8.
In addition to debuting Windows Phone 8 on a prototype Nokia handset, the new mobile OS is dropping Microsoft's own Bing for maps and adopting Nokia's Navteq-based service to provide 3D maps across all Windows Phones.
- Windows Phone 8 - release date and latest details
The partnership makes sense, given that Nokia's Lumia 900 handsets have given the Windows Phone platform new life in the marketplace.
However, the relationship is mutually beneficial, as Nokia needs Windows Phone just as much as the OS needs it.
After Nokia's Symbian OS fell through the company needed a change, and the crowded Android market has proven a tough nut to crack.
The manufacturer has put its focus in Windows Phone development as a result, leading to its close relationship with Microsoft today.
A new day for Nokia, but not its customers
While Nokia itself is riding high with the official unveiling of Windows Phone 8, early adopters of and supporters of Windows Phone are getting left in the cold.
One of the key features for Windows Phone 8 will be support for dual-core chips, with the rest of the OS feature set built around that extra processing power.
Despite the surge of popularity Nokia's Lumia line brought to Windows Phone, those users are now left unable to take advantage of the new OS, including Nokia's integrated 3D maps.
Windows Phone 8 essentially sets the install base back to zero, which gives Microsoft the opportunity to raise up other manufacturers alongside Nokia.
A Microsoft spokesperson told TechRadar:
"The momentum of Windows Phone is picking up in a wide variety of ways. Nokia is a critical partner for us, but we are also deeply committed to a number of other OEMS.
"We know that HTC is more committed than ever, and Huawei is coming on board this year too which opens up a lot of opportunity for us. We're in this for the long run, and we're happy that Windows Phone has become a credible third ecosystem in the eyes of many of our mobile operator and OEM partners."
While Microsoft is quick to name drop HTC and Huawei as new Windows Phone 8 manufacturers, history suggests that their handsets will be conversions of their existing Android hardware.
Nokia, with its close ties to Microsoft and built-in Windows Phone 8 integration could still come out on top when it brings out new hardware later this year.
Assuming that Lumia 900 adopters aren't still sore from being left behind.
Can Nokia's Windows Phone 8 3D mapping compete with new Google Maps and iOS services? - Techradar.com
Microsoft announced this morning at a highly publicized press conference that Windows Phone 8, which will launch this fall, will drop Bing Maps in favor of Nokia's own 3D mapping service on all devices.
The announcement doesn't come as a surprise, as reports have been coming in for over a week that Nokia Maps would replace Bing Maps.
- Windows Phone 8 - release date and latest details
And Nokia's services, including Navteq and Where, were already tightly integrated with Bing Maps.
So while the transition should prove easy for Windows Phone 8 users, the real question is whether Nokia's maps services will be able to compete with the newly expanded Google Maps and the just-revealed Apple iOS 6 maps app.
Google Maps brings 3D and offline offerings
Google revealed an expanded Google Maps suite at their offices earlier this month, timing their conference smartly to preempt Apple's announcement that they're dropping Google's service.
The new Google Maps will feature 3D mapping similar to the technology that Nokia's maps will utilize, though it remains to be seen how the two will stack up.
Google's fleet of aerial capture planes should provide it with some edge over competitors, though.
The other big new feature for Google Maps is offline mode, which allows Android users to view maps without an internet connection.
Microsoft today confirmed that Nokia will also support offline maps, a move that will help it compete with Google Maps.
Apple's iOS 6 maps focus on navigation
Despite the expanded Google Maps bringing some oft-requested features, Apple decided to shun the service for iOS 6 and adopt an internal solution instead.
The iOS 6 maps app focuses on ease of use and proliferation, reportedly providing global maps for all countries and 100 million business listings with Yelp integration and a built-in traffic service.
Its other big new feature is turn-by-turn navigation, which Microsoft today confirmed Nokia Maps will match.
Like Nokia Maps and Google Maps, iOS 6's mapping service provides full 3D images, which appears to be the way of the future.
There are doubtless some features of Nokia Maps that have yet to be revealed, and only persistent practical usage will prove which service does what best.
A Windows Phone spokesperson told TechRadar that the company has nothing to share at this time regarding the future of mapping technology.
Nokia stresses key features
Nokia sent a statement to TechRadar outlining their key Nokia Maps features, including turn-by-turn navigation (in the US, Canada and UK), offline maps, 3D mapping, and "the most business listings".
The statement also stressed that Nokia's mapping service is "an intelligent, learning location platform that makes the real world computable by blending reference data from all the places and objects in the physical world with a digital footprint of user activity data from millions of users (using mobile devices)."
Nokia stressed that their "location platform" will power maps services on all Windows Phone 8 devices, and not just Nokia's own.
TechRadar awaits comment from Google.
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