Windows 8 shines on a touch screen laptop. I was in the market for one over the black Friday and not many were available at a decent price. If that picture changes then I am sure the adoption will accelerate.
The best device for Win8 is what Microsoft calls the "convertible". A device that's a laptop one second and a tablet the next. I particularly like the Surface, and those ultrabooks that bend backwards, so you can use the base of the unit to keep it stood up!
Win8's hybrid interface is exactly designed for these hybrid devices that can change use-cases in a second. Surface tablets are just a variation on the tablet/laptop convertible idea. The first convertibles had screens that swiveled 180 degrees, and the back of the screen latched against the keyboard.
Many ideas have been tried out, some having an always-forward screen and a keyboard that "slide-and-rotate" out from underneath. Others have a screen which rotates vertically inside a frame, allowing it to flip over and cover the keyboard.
Surface basically takes the motherboard & battery and fits them behind the screen, instead of under the keyboard. The keyboard itself can become just a detachable accessory. This arrangement isn't new -- it's been used in many mobile devices for more than 10 years.
It's odd that Microsoft's name does not come in the discussion that talks about technology giants. Google, Apple all are competing with Microsoft tooth and nail. Amazon and facebook maybe less so. Not mentioning it makes me question if its the bias or lack of knowledge on the part of the author.
It's a war on multiple fronts, Facebook and Google for the graph, Google vs. Apple and MS for phones, and Amazon vs. Apple on content.
In most of these wars MS is currently not mounting any serious challenges, however, due to cash on hand and it's relationships it could eventually start to make serious inroads. MS is in a much better position in 2012 than Apple was in 97.
Most importantly MS isn't lacking any technology that Google has, despite lower userbase in things like search, etc.
Yes. And I liked it ( I was puzzled by the UI for the 3 first days.)
Besides usability and esthetical considerations, MS has done something very clever : Javascript as a first class citizen for building apps is a game changer.
I can't say I'm a huge fan, it is really undiscoverable with the charms etc... The one normal person I showed it to kept hitting escape to try to get out of where they were.
I don't think it will do overly great based on what I've seen. But we'll see if I'm wrong!
WebOS had HTML/JS apps as well and it didn't do very well. Execution, not ideas, is what wins user's loyalty and dollars. Microsoft was king of execution in the 90s. Today, not so much.
It's better than the GSIII in nearly every way: much cheaper, the latest stock version of Android instead of the janky Samsung skin, IPS display instead of Pentile OLED, better battery life and performance. The downsides are that apparently the GSIII has a slightly better camera and of course it offers LTE. Not sure about the N920.
With price as a consideration, I think the reviewer thinks it is. At half the price, I think it need only be close product-wise to be a net "better".
That says, I think the build looks better than S3 and software potentially better than both. Completely unqualified though, just my impressions from reviews.
Who cares? With most of the phones being sold with contract, this is just a gimmick. What does it have going for it other than a cheap price anyways? Poor camera? no expandable memory? No LTE? Poor speakers? Manufacturer with questionable quality record?
I'm not on contract so I don't get my phones subsidized (for this exact reason - I want more choice). I don't need LTE and in any case the carriers in my area charge more for LTE than HSPA+. The value proposition seems very attractive to consumers like me. And I'm sure there are many more out there who find this phone in the "sweet spot" of price vs. features. Price is no gimmick in the free market.
"Value" is an aggregate of features, service and price among other data points.
And contract subsidies are slowly falling out of fashion as phone tech stabilizes, more people are interested in prepaid, and operators realize that the subsidy game is making them all collectively lose money to manufacturers.
Looks like your opinion is not welcome on HN anymore. Unless we are bashing Apple and praising Android its not going to get anywhere in afraid. I completely agree with you on all those points, for instance if it was an Apple device it would be 'featured' on HN every day for weeks ripe for the trashing. Its an uninspired device with little to offer, built down to a price to undercut to competition.
It was chrome's marketing earlier now it's Microsoft's. I think they are both great browsers on their own. I find IE10 to be even better and so much faster though.
Right is subjective. Care to explain? Maybe there is no single device that gets everything right? But are there separate devices that each got one aspect right? Care to give examples?
My pint is that Windows ecosystem is all about diversity. If there exist separate devices, some manufacturer will bring the together.
Likely. The other way to look at it is that many of the apps that are present in Windows phone app catalog are the ones where Microsoft convinced the app developer to write for the platform specifically. Now if that strategy is used then its obvious that Microsoft would have courted the top quality apps rather than going after poor quality ones.
