Verizon is publicly getting behind Microsoft in the smartphone war. During the company’s earnings conference call Thursday Verizon CFO Fran Shammo suggested that the carrier wants to help Windows Phone become more of a contender in the smartphone market.
“It is important that there is a third ecosystem that is brought into the mix here, and we are fully supportive of that with Microsoft,” Shammo said.
Carriers are currently dependent on Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS to drive most of their product sales. Carriers are traditionally responsible for paying the full retail price for any smartphones they sell. The iphone has a retail price starting at $600, which means the carrier is taking a huge hit when it sells you that phone for a mere $199 – something it then makes up for in hefty data charges.
Adding a third player into the mix would fuel competition amongst the handset makers which could ultimately lead to better devices as well as lower costs for both consumers and carriers.
Shammo noted that Verizon played a key role in growth of Android into the “incredible platform” it is today, and is “looking to do the same thing with a third ecosystem.” While T-Mobile was the first carrier to offer an Android device, it was Verizon who pushed the ecosystem into popularity. The “Droid” name –which was always a Verizon exclusive – has become a household name.
If it really threw it’s weight behind the platform, Verizon could potentially have a similar effect on Windows Phone. The platform has gotten off to a slow start. However, with the release of Windows Phone 8 –codenamed Apollo – later this year, the platform may be able to better keep up with Android and Apple’s high-resolution screens and faster data speeds.
While Android handsets have been running on LTE for some time. The first LTE Windows Phones –the Nokia Lumia 900 and HTC Titan II – were released earlier this month. Apple is also expected to release an LTE iPhone late this year.
What do you think about Windows Phone? Do you think we need a third ecosystem, or is Apple and Android enough? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
HTC Titan II: The Other LTE Windows Phone Is Big, Beautiful, Pricey [REVIEW]
by Emily Price on Mashable
The HTC Titan II is HTC’s first LTE Windows Phone, and one of just two LTE Windows Phones currently on the market.
Debuting alongside the Nokia Lumia 900 on April 8th, the handset is HTC’s followup to the original Titan, a massive Windows Phone the company debuted in late 2011.
Under the hood, the Windows Phone Mango handset comes sporting a 1.5 GHz S2 Snapdragon processor, 512 MB of RAM, and 16GB of built-in storage. The phone has 800×480 Super LCD screen, and comes rocking a 1.3-megapixel froward-facing camera for video chatting as well as a massive 16-megapixel rear-facing cam.
However, it’s also $100 more with a new contract than the Lumia, its only LTE Windows Phone competition. So is the HTC Titan II worth the extra cash?
Design
One of the first things you’ll notice about the Titan II is that it’s huge. The phone measures 5.2 in. tall and 0.39 in. thick. The Titan’s curved design makes it easy to hold (even for medium-sized hands), but if you’re used to toting around something smaller like an iPhone then the Titan will definitely be an adjustment.
But if you have trouble viewing content on smaller screens, the Titan II offers a decent amount of screen real-estate that’s easy to read and interact with.
Display
The phone has a 4.7 in. touchscreen, which is on the smartphone high end. The Nokia Lumia 900 has a 4.3 in. screen. Unfortunately, the resolution on the Titan’s screen is just 800×480 — exactly the same as the Lumia and the original Titan.
The screen resolution is a limitation of Windows Phone, which currently can’t support higher res displays. But it stands out on the Titan II’s gigantic screen a little more than it does on smaller displays like the Lumia.
Zoomed-in text on the screen can often look pixelated and jagged, and video and photos look less sharp than they do on some other handsets running competing operating systems.
Camera
The 16-megapixel rear-facing camera is where the HTC Titan II really shines against the competition. 16 megapixels is larger than many of the point-and shoot cameras out there, and the phone’s dedicated camera shutter button can make you feel like you’ve got a traditional camera in your hand rather than your smartphone.
The Titan II’s built-in camera app comes loaded with a ton of scene modes and the kind of settings you might find on a point-and shoot. There’s a great panorama mode which allows you to shoot a panoramic shot by simply panning your phone across a scene.
Less exciting is the Titan II’s video-capturing abilities. The handset is only capable of recording 720p video, rather than the 1080p available on much of the competition. Sure, 720p video is by no means horrible. But it’s a definite downside if you’re looking to play your videos back later for friends on a television.
Windows Phone
If you haven’t tried out Windows Phone, you should go check out a handset at your favorite mobile retailer –- even if you’re not in the market for a new phone. The OS is clean, easy to use and perfect for smartphone newbies, as well as anyone looking for a simple no-nonsense smartphone solution.
Even though the Titan II has a single-core processor (another limitation of Windows Phone), the OS was able to zip smoothly along. App support for Windows Phone is considerably smaller than that available for iOS and Android, but we were able to find most of the apps we were looking for in the store. Their design meshed well with Windows Phone’s Metro interface.
What’s Missing
Microsoft is very strict about the requirements for Windows Phone devices. They want to make it so you’re looking at many of the same specs from handset to handset.
One important thing Windows Phone currently doesn’t support, besides high-resolution displays, is microSD expansion. The Titan II comes with 16GB of built-in storage. After mandatory installs, however, you’re looking at a little over 13GB of available storage on the device for your apps, photos and videos.
If you’re someone who’s going to be snapping a ton of pictures with the handsets 16-megapixel camera, or recording 720p videos you’re going to eat up all that storage space pretty quickly — forcing you to store your content in the cloud rather than on the device itself.
Worth the Buy?
We really enjoyed the HTC Titan II, and would definitely rank it as one of the best Windows Phone handsets currently available. Unfortunately, its $199 price tag makes the handset twice the price of the LTE Nokia Lumia 900 (also on AT&T) which offers a superior body design and screen for half the cost.
What do you think about the HTC Titan II? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
One of the first Windows Phones
The HTC Titan II is HTC's first LTE Windows Phone, and one of just two LTE Windows Phones currently on the market.
The Titan is a Titan
One of the first things you'll notice about the Titan II is that it's HUGE. The phone measures in at 5.2” tall and 0.39 inches thick.
800x480 screen resolution is not so hot
Low screen resolution is currently a limitation of Windows Phone, which currently can't support higher res displays. That limitation, however, stands out on the Titan II's gigantic screen.
Easy to hold
Even though the Titan II has a single-core processor (another currently limitation of Windows Phone), the OS was able to smoothly zip along.
16-megapixel camera
The 16-megapixel rear-facing camera is where the HTC Titan II really shines spec-wise against the competition.
Dedicated shutter button
The Titan II has a dedicated shutter button on its side for taking photos in snap
Nokia Lumia 900 Hard To Find On Launch Day, Still Selling Well [VIDEO]
by Emily Price on Mashable
Nokia held a huge launch party for the Lumia 900 in NYC’s Times Square on Friday night. But when it came time for the phone’s release on Sunday it was hard to find the handset anywhere near where the celebration was.
According to New York Times writer Brian Chen, nearly all 39 AT&T stores located near Times Square were either closed for Easter Sunday, or did not answer phone calls when he called to inquire about the handset’s availability. The stores that were closed also played an automated message that advertised the availability of the iPhone 4S — but didn’t mention the Nokia Lumia 900′s existence.
The Lumia 900 handset runs on AT&T’s super-fast LTE network. The HTC Titan II is currently the only other Windows Phone smartphone that is capable of doing the same.
The Nokia smartphone sports a unique high-quality design, and has been a hit with reviewers, many who have called the handset the world’s best Windows Phone 7 handset.
The $99 Lumia 900 is Nokia and Microsoft’s best horse in the smartphone race, and both companies have a lot riding on its success. iPhone and Android have a stronghold in the smartphone market in the United States, and both companies need a winner to put both Nokia and Windows Phone on the map stateside.
Prior to its launch, AT&T said that the Lumia 900 would be “one of its biggest launches ever”. Advertising for the handset has likened it to the iPhone, and Nokia even launched a nationwide ad campaign called “smartphonbetatest” — implying that the all other smartphones prior to the launch of the 900 were just beta versions.
The smartphonebetatest site counted down to zero when the phone was supposed to be revealed. But the ultimate effect of it was somewhat dampened. The clock hit zero at least three times Friday evening, then added an arbitrary amount of time.
Launch day woes don’t seem to have affected Nokia’s sales of the Lumia 900, however. The phone was available for pre-order before Sunday, and made its way into the hands of customers over the weekend. The handset is also currently the top selling phone on Amazon (taking both the #1 and #2 slots), a coveted title definitely worth getting excited about.
What do you think about the Lumia 900 launch? Do you think Nokia, Microsoft, or AT&T should have made a bigger deal about it on Sunday, or was offering pre-orders for the phone enough? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.
The Nokia Lumia 900 ($99.99 from AT&T with contract) is the first Windows Phone to have a high-speed LTE network connection.
Polycarbonate Shell
The Lumia 900 has a smooth-yet-grippy polycarbonate shell that comes in blue or black. A white version will be available April 22.
Foursquare Comparison
The Windows Phone version of Foursquare is a great example of how the Metro interface is vastly different from the Android and iPhone experiences
CNN App
A comparison of the CNN apps for Android, iOS and Windows Phone. Note how on the Windows Phone version the "chrome" (network icons, the time, etc.) is absent and headlines pop larger. Also, Nokia created this app, not CNN.
Vs. iPhone in Sunlight
Here's how the Lumia 900 looks next to an iPhone in sunlight. The Lumia uses special optics to reduce reflectivity.
Nokia Drive
The Nokia Drive app is a free turn-by-turn navigator for Windows Phone.
Live Tiles
These two pics, taken seconds apart, show how the live tiles work.
Office for Windows Phone
Office apps come pre-installed on the Lumia 900, letting you view and edit documents on the fly.
New York Times Web Page
Here's how Internet Explorer for Windows Phone renders a typical web page.
Mashable App
Mashable has no official Windows Phone app, but a few third parties have created apps of their own.
Windows Phone Hero?
Will the Nokia Lumia 900 take the Windows Phone platform to new heights? Stay tuned.
Got a Hot App? Microsoft Will Pay Top Dollar for a Windows Phone Version
by Peter Pachal on Mashable
Microsoft has a plan to beef up its Windows Phone catalog of apps. And it involves cash — lots of cold, hard cash.
In the mobile world, Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform is a toddler compared to the mature ecosystems of Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. That means the number of apps on offer in the Windows Marketplace is just a fraction of those available from its counterparts — it’s officially 65,000 to iOS’s 600,000 and Android’s 500,000. Some counts put it higher.
When I reviewed the Nokia Lumia 900 smartphone earlier this week, I was surprised at how many apps are on offer from major brands like Twitter, Facebook and eBay.
What I didn’t realize was that Microsoft is paying some of those companies to develop apps for the Windows Phone, since they normally wouldn’t dedicate the resources to create apps for a platform that has less than 4% market share.
Take Foursquare. The service’s Windows Phone app is a beautiful example of how the platform’s interface, called Metro, can shine. Fonts are large, type pops and the menus have a fluid movement that makes the whole experience come alive.
But Foursquare didn’t create the app. Microsoft paid an outside company to do it, The New York Times reports. Foursquare was involved — and the app is listed in the Marketplace as coming from “Foursquare Labs, Inc.” — but since the growing startup has limited resources, it spends most of its time fishing where the fish are: iOS and Android.
Foursquare is not alone. Microsoft is said to be paying developers anywhere between $60,000 and $600,000 to create apps, presumably for well-known or rising brands, to shore up its app catalog.
With Nokia as a partner, Microsoft has help. The “Nokia Collection” in the Windows Marketplace has even more big names, offering apps from CNN, ESPN and Univision. However, all of the apps are made by Nokia, not the companies themselves.
What Microsoft and Nokia are doing may seem a little desperate, but it’s actually not that surprising. Windows Phone is playing catch-up, after all, and it needs to everything it can to close the “app gap” between its platform and the others, appearances be damned. If an app is in the catalog, and customers like it, does it matter who made it and why?
That’s up to you. Does the fact that Microsoft directly finances some of the apps in the Windows Marketplace matter to you? Would it influence whether or not you’d buy a Windows Phone? Have your say in the comments.
There’s a lot riding on the Nokia Lumia 900. While Windows Phones until now have generally been capable if not outstanding devices, the Lumia 900 brings Microsoft‘s mobile platform to a new level. Not only does it add a super-fast LTE connection from AT&T, but it’ll also serve as a flagship device for Nokia and Microsoft, at least until Windows Phone 8 devices come later in the year.
I’ve been using the Lumia 900 for the past week, and it’s a great smartphone. It’s also an excellent example of just how far the Windows Phone platform has come since its debut a year and a half ago.
Good Windows Phone apps used to be in extremely short supply, but I was pleasantly surprised to see many of the same apps that I use regularly on iOS in the Windows Phone Marketplace.
Foursquare? Check. eBay? Check. Spotify? It’s there. Readability? Yep. Kindle? Got it. Pulse? Totally. There’s even Foodspotting, yo.
Still, there’s no Instagram, Pinterest, Flipboard or Hulu Plus. So the Marketplace — recently clocked at 65,000 apps to the iPhone’s 600,000 — certainly has some catching up to do.
But if you’re not already locked into another platform, it’s reassuring to know Windows Phone has the essentials covered.
Metro Stretches Out
Most of those apps look gorgeous on the Lumia 900′s 4.3-inch OLED screen. Indeed, the increasing sizes on today’s smartphones are perfect for Windows Phone’s Metro interface. Its design favors big fonts and splash layouts that stretch to the screen’s edges and beyond.
Windows Phone works best when it’s got lots of real estate to work with.
For example, Foursquare makes the multiple menus in the app feel like one giant poster. My friends, activity and checkins are all partitioned into pretty columns. The iOS and Android versions look claustrophobic by comparison (see below).
The seamless Metro-inspired design isn’t automatic, however, and your mileage will vary from app to app. Most apps from indie developers are pretty blah.
The design occasionally trips itself up. Metro presents its iconography as if it were as familiar as street signs, showing symbols with no labels. It’s pretty easy to pick the wrong function, especially if it’s your first time launching the app.
When navigating, you should proceed with caution, especially in social apps. Shares and check-ins can happen before you know what you’re doing.
Begging to Be Touched
Pretty design is one thing, but usability is another. Windows Phone begs to be touched, swiped and pinched, even more than iOS or Android. The big layouts practically beg you to see what’s on the next screen.
Here’s where the Lumia 900′s 1.4GHz Qualcomm processor shines. It’s only a single-core design (Microsoft doesn’t yet allow multi-core chips on Windows Phones), but it was more than enough to keep up as I pushed and pulled menus with my fingers. The whole interface feels alive as you touch it.
Besides the great UI, Nokia offers up some special apps to Lumia owners. Probably most useful is Nokia Drive, a free turn-by-turn navigation service that works with Nokia Maps (not Bing Maps, which are also pretty).
Nokia has also created dynamic Metro apps for CNN and ESPN that look fantastic, especially when it comes to video.
The CNN app highlights one of Windows Phone’s differentiators: live tiles. The photo from the most recent top story in the app is highlighted on the app’s icon on your home screen.
That’s great, but there’s no headline or even a slug to help guide the user. What, for example, is this picture of Barack Obama supposed to signify?
Live tiles have a lot of potential — but few apps use them, and those that do need work.
Nuts & Bolts
Back to the hardware. This is a really well-made phone; even though the screen is 0.8 inches larger than an iPhone’s, it doesn’t feel large in your hand.
That’s partly thanks to the polycarbonate casing, which is smooth but provides an excellent grip. Nokia offers bumpers that can better protect it, but it’s pretty durable. I don’t know why you’d want to cover it up. The camera is 8 megapixels, and to my eye the quality is on par with the iPhone 4S, though it records at “only” 720p resolution.
The Lumia 900′s screen shows off AMOLED’s strengths — bright colors and true blacks that make icons and artwork pop. The screen also uses anti-reflection optics to reduce its reflectance.
The upshot: a screen that’s much easier to see in bright sunlight. You can see just how much in the gallery below.
Finally, there’s that LTE connection. I managed to get download speeds up to 28.4 megabits per second here in the Flatiron district of New York City.
That’s pretty amazing, especially when you consider our office Wi-Fi typically got about 9 Mbps. Puttering along at AT&T’s “4G” HSPA+ speeds, my iPhone 4S maxed out at 1.9 Mbps.
Lumia Rises
The Nokia Lumia 900, which will be in stores April 8 for the tidy sum of $99.99 (with contract), is by far the best Windows Phone ever made. Not only does it have a great screen for Metro apps, it has the hardware to really deliver on the experience they promise.
This is the device that Microsoft needs to show off how good Windows Phone can be. Sure, you don’t get Instagram (yet), but the world of possibility it opens is unlike anything else out there.
Nokia Lumia 900, Home Screen
The Nokia Lumia 900 ($99.99 from AT&T with contract) is the first Windows Phone to have a high-speed LTE network connection.
Polycarbonate Shell
The Lumia 900 has a smooth-yet-grippy polycarbonate shell that comes in blue or black. A white version will be available April 22.
Foursquare Comparison
The Windows Phone version of Foursquare is a great example of how the Metro interface is vastly different from the Android and iPhone experiences
CNN App
A comparison of the CNN apps for Android, iOS and Windows Phone. Note how on the Windows Phone version the "chrome" (network icons, the time, etc.) is absent and headlines pop larger. Also, Nokia created this app, not CNN.
Vs. iPhone in Sunlight
Here's how the Lumia 900 looks next to an iPhone in sunlight. The Lumia uses special optics to reduce reflectivity.
Nokia Drive
The Nokia Drive app is a free turn-by-turn navigator for Windows Phone.
Live Tiles
These two pics, taken seconds apart, show how the live tiles work.
Office for Windows Phone
Office apps come pre-installed on the Lumia 900, letting you view and edit documents on the fly.
New York Times Web Page
Here's how Internet Explorer for Windows Phone renders a typical web page.
Mashable App
Mashable has no official Windows Phone app, but a few third parties have created apps of their own.
Windows Phone Hero?
Will the Nokia Lumia 900 take the Windows Phone platform to new heights? Stay tuned.
Verizon is publicly getting behind Microsoft in the smartphone war. During the company’s earnings conference call Thursday Verizon CFO Fran Shammo suggested that the carrier wants to help Windows Phone become more of a contender in the smartphone market.
