Nokia straps Qt into ejector seat and hits the shiny red button Nokia's back-room clear out continues with the Qt platform being sold to Finnish firm Digia Oyj for an undisclosed sum. As part of the deal 125 engineers will swap employers. Digia was a licensee of Qt, distributing commercial and freeware versions of the platform and development tools, but now it owns the whole shebang. Qt …
...and driving Nokia into the ground, only to provide Microsoft a state-of-the-art hardware division and global distribution channel for next to nothing by 2014 (coincidentally also killing off the last chance for a competitive non-US mobile platform - no, BBX will never succeed, unfortunately.)
Ironically the 'ejection' of Qt is actually *great* news: they are not tied to this self-immolating, self-destructing giant anymore - anything is better than certain death....
...stupid, stupid, Nokia board - they will go down in history as one of the most clueless one (right next to HP's lawyer-board, of course.)
"...stupid, stupid, Nokia board - they will go down in history as one of the most clueless one (right next to HP's lawyer-board, of course.)"
The board members are elected by the share holders. The overwhelming majority of them (share holders) are major investors in MS. The board members are in on it too.
Why stupid? They ditched that dead and dying MeGo and Symbian crap and went for the best mobile platform that there is before any one else large got a look in. Great tactical move. And in only a few months WP sales have doubled - largely thanks to Nokia.
Windows Phone already sells 20% of the volume of the iphone and are growing rapidly - not bad for a new OS when everyone is also waiting for WP and the new Nokia handsets to be annouced on the 5th September.....
http://betanews.com/2012/08/03/android-leads-ios-follows-windows-phone-shows-surprising-growth/
> They ditched that dead and dying MeGo and Symbian crap
The only reason those are dying is because they were ditched. In particular the N9 was still outselling Nokia WP7 even when it was not promoted and only available in certain countries.
> the best mobile platform that there is
A platform that is now dead, just like WM6.x was previously. No WP7 phone will get WP8. WP8 is yet another new platform running on different hardware and using different development, just like WM6 was killed by WP7.
> before any one else large got a look in.
HTC, Samsung, LG, etc. In what way are these not 'large'. They were selling WP7 before Elop went to Nokia.
> Windows Phone already sells 20% of the volume of the iphone
I did notice that the announcement it claimed:
"in the second quarter, the company doubled the sales of Lumia smarpthones, from 2 million in first quarter to 4 million".
That looks like weasel words to me. is that 4m in q2 or 4m total of q1 + q2 ? It is also likely that these sales came at the expense of the other WP7 makers.
> not bad for a new OS
WP7 isn't 'new', it has been around 2 years and is now dead.
>A platform that is now dead, just like WM6.x was previously. No WP7 phone will get WP8. WP8 is yet another >new platform running on different hardware and using different development, just like WM6 was killed by WP7.
Dead? it may have a low market share but that doesn't make it dead. Linux has a tiny desktop marketshare but that doesn't make it dead either.
Windows Mobile had huge smartphone marketshare at one point. The only reason Android does so well is the business model. Free unless you need Google's apps.
The original poster is quite right in that it is probably the most original and decent mobile platform. Android is a knock off of iOS (okay, it's been developed a lot more since then) and iOS is a sort of PalmOS for the 2000s.
Most people are highly critical of what they haven't used. You can't judge WP7 purely on screenshots and videos. You have to use it and I bought a 2nd hand Lumia 800 to give it a go. It beats iOS in speed and the way it integrates social media and all your information into one stream. I prefer it's visual style too, iOS looks a bit tired now.
It's not all good of course, having an iPhone lets you buy dock alarm clocks and pipe music wirelessly very easily. But I still have an old iPad for that.
>> A platform that is now dead, just like WM6.x was previously. No WP7 phone will get WP8. WP8 is yet another >new platform running on different hardware and using different development, just like WM6 was killed by WP7.
> Dead? it may have a low market share but that doesn't make it dead.
It is not its market share that makes it dead, but the disjoint between WP7 and the replacement WP8. WM6.x was killed when it was replaced by WP7 with no ability to update devices from one to the other. In that case it wasn't even possible to transfer apps or development.
WP7 devices will not be updated to WP8. While most WP7 apps will be able to be ported to WP8 (apparently a conversion or recompile is required) it seems that development for WP8 will not run on WP7.
THAT is what makes WP7 a dead-end.
> Windows Mobile had huge smartphone marketshare at one point.
And WP7 made WM a dead-end. Some sales continued after WP7 was released but that seemed to be corporates who had WM apps that were stuck on a dead-end system.
> The only reason Android does so well is the business model.
No. The reason it does so well is that users buy it. Whether it is free to the maker or not is almost irrelevant, a few dollars difference in cost.
> I bought a 2nd hand Lumia 800
2nd hand ? already ? Why did the original user want to dump it ? To buy an Android Phone ?
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I still refuse to get a WinPho device. No XBox Live and Zune in Malaysia, and the store is still extremely restricted, meaning that a WinPho device only has basic phone functions- and at it's price, even one of those cheap no brand Chinaphones is much more desirable.
Even the fruity toy maker has launched Music and Movie store support last month, and Sony has launched the PSN store over two years ago, and the chocolate factory has Google Play music and movies since their launch. And MS has still not made a move.
I was told that MS still thinks that Malaysia has lousy broadband connections. 20Mbps not good enough for you then MS? Your funeral.
I remember in its early days it was a bit flacky, but nowadays it is very good. Although I can understand if you are not using the framework yourself anymore, because you went full DotNet that maintaining an open source C++ gui framework with a hunderd developers that will not generate any revenue doesn't make much sense, financially speaking. But strategically it might be a poor choice to sell it off.. Time will tell.
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"Dead and dying MeGo [sic] and Symbian crap"?
Your comment implies that Nokia ditched MeeGo because it was dying, whereas the truth is that they buried two innovative and commercially successful/viable platforms, then killed them. If Harmattan had been given the promotion that Nokia's WP mess has been given, there's no telling what could have been achieved. I think you know how disingenuous your comment is.
Further, your link (http://betanews.com/2012/08/03/android-leads-ios-follows-windows-phone-shows-surprising-growth/) talks about WP shipments, not sales. If I'm willing to waste enough money, I can ship any amount of anything to anyone anywhere; doesn't mean much, though. Shame that consumers aren't really biting, even with the massive discounting on Nokia Lumia.
Your homework: which sold more in the 3 months on the market: the wildly over-promoted Lumia, or the buried-before-during-and-after-release N9, which wasn't even released in many countries?
Note: "sold" here takes its traditional meaning, i.e. "a consumer voluntarily handed over their cash in return for taking the device away and using it", not s"some marketing budget got moved around, some incentives were given, some lies were told and someone blogged about the whole process".
No rush. I think you know the answer, but go ahead and post more fail if you've got nothing better to do.
'Shipments into the channel' means that some vendor agreed to pay for them. Mobile phones are not on Sale or Return... So whilst your pedantry is a nice try, it is also a fail. If this were the first quarter they were on sale it might be a small consideration for vendors to hold stock, but as WP is already in the channel, these are mostly to replace new sales.
Who cares how much of it is subsidised by marketing budget, Microsoft can afford it. It's still nothing like the iPhone which seems to have an advert on the TV every 5 minutes...And Apple iphone carriers have to subsidise the product so much they often make a loss!
WP is a better product than the competition and Microsoft will have to spend more money to advertise that fact. imo they are not advertising it anything like enough. Maybe that will change with the launch of WP8 and the technology lead the competition gets even bigger...After all, almost every day i read about another Apple or Android root exploit or another piece of Android or IOS Malware. Unlike on Windows Phone, which has 1 known non critical issue across all platform versions.
You can run WP7.8 which gives you pretty much everything from WP8 that you have the hardware for!
WP is still better than Android in this respect with many handsets neveer gettign any upgrades - versus Microsoft which ensure that all updates that apply are available for all handsets from all carriers...
And older IOS devices cant be upgrade to the latest OS either!
> You can run WP7.8 which gives you pretty much everything from WP8 that you have the hardware for!
The only thing that is claimed for WP7.8 is some minor update to the home screen, such as different sizes for the tiles and some additional colours.
This will bring the appearance in line with 'the UI previously known as Metro', but is far short of 'pretty much everything'.
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> WP is a better product than the competition
WP7 is dead. 7.8 may add some more prettiness to the home screen, but it is a dead product. Those vendors that have taken shipments prior to MS's announcements will be stuck with them and will not order more, so Q3 sales are likely to take a dive.
WP8 has not yet been seen. It is a new, untried, product on new, untried, hardware.
> WP7 is no more dead than Windows 7. Every one knows a new version is coming but it will still sell.
Your comparison is as flawed as everything else you say.
Windows 7 PCs will be able to be install Windows 8 if anyone would want to do that. In fact many new W7 PCs will get the new version for free.
WP7 devices are a dead end , they will never get WP8. In fact it is because the new version is coming, with no chance of getting an update, that few people wouldl buy a dead end WP7 phone (unless it is remaindered at below cost).
Microsoft won't let Nokia die. Far too big an investment involved. Microsoft want to own the smartphone market again like they used to.
Windows 8 is going to drive a lot of sales. The same interface will be on 60 million Xboxes, ~300 million Windows PCs, and various tablets and phones and consumers will quickly be familiar with it. Especially in the corporate sector - enteprises have been waiting for something secure to be available as alternative to the dying Blackberry...
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The numbers are quoted from the link provided - cant you read?
Your conclusion does not follow. I will still be able to buy Windows 7 PCs for at least a while after Windows 8 has launched - and the same will be true of WP7. Just like it is for the iphone 4 / 4S, and the many Android phones that dont run the latest OS version....
> I will still be able to buy Windows 7 PCs for at least a while after Windows 8 has launched - and the same will be true of WP7.
Of course there will still be Win7 PCs. As I said these will be able to move to Windows 8, and probably 9, and will likely come with a free voucher for Windows 8. There is no disincentive for the PC.
Win a WP7 phone though, it will _NOT_ get updated to WP8. There will be a WP7.8 with minor changes to the appearance. Anyone buying a WP7 phone should be told it is a complete dead end. You should also know that WP7 will not run on hardware designed for WP8, the two sets of specs are entirely incompatible.
It may well be that WP7 phones will be available to buy for many years to come, increasingly in the bargain bins. While it may be true that Nokia 'sold' so many million into the channel in Q2 you can be sure that they won't be taking any more WP7 phones and will at least await WP8 so Q3 sales will almost none and Q4 may show some as production ramps up.
> Just like it is for the iphone 4 / 4S,
Actually Apple are usually good with iOS updates.
> and the many Android phones that dont run the latest OS version....
Even old versions of Android run most of the latest apps.
http://www.bgr.com/2011/12/13/apple-and-google-dominate-smartphone-space-while-other-vendors-scramble/
Microsoft had 42% Marketshare in 2007, and 37% in 2006.
"Microsoft’s former smartphone operating system, Windows Mobile, peaked at 50 percent of smartphone sales in Q2 2007"
RICHTO: "Microsoft won't let Nokia die. Far too big an investment involved"
Au contraire, press reports suggest MS bunged Nokia a billion dollars. Let's assume that there's three times that amount in ongoing and implict support, total four billion. If they had to write the lot off that''s still fifty percent less than the write off when the Clowns of Redmond (tm) "invested" in Aquantive, which they bought for $6.3bn, and four scant years later they wrote off $6.2bn. Good strategic vision, deal making, and execution there, wouldn't you say?
So abandoning Nokia would be small change for MS. But I don't thnk MS will, simply because they believe there's too much at stake in mobile, and they'll play it until the end. My expectation is that WP8 will continue as a third "ecosystem", but as with hardware, only the top two in the market will make a profit. MS persevered with the Xbox, which in net terms hasn't been very profitable, and I think WP8 will be a repeat of that scenario.
If it starts to look like (a) phones remain essentially phones with a few extras, rather than (b) phones as the centrepiece of a digital life, then WP will get canned - but MS are currently betting big on the latter. I wouldn't be at all surprised for MS to buy ARM as a defensive stake in the REAL hardware design, although given the dismal incompetence of US companies taking over UK ones, that'd be another failure in the making....
I wouldn't be at all surprised for MS to buy ARM as a defensive stake in the REAL hardware design, although given the dismal incompetence of US companies taking over UK ones, that'd be another failure in the making....
Please <diety of choice>, no, not that, ever, please pray that ARM remain the successful independant company they are now.
Everything that is OUT of Nokia has a better chance of survival. And the people at Jolla are also very positive about this. Did I mention lately how utterly awesome the N9 is? It is scary awesome, despite its "outdated" hardware. I cannot wait what Jolla will pull off with MeeGo on fresh silicone. Probably will be able to levitate the device and cure cancer while idle.
>> Pure View is Symbian based.
> Wrong: http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/03/nokia-confirms-pureview-windows-phone/
Perhaps you are unaware that in English the word 'is' indicates present tense. Pure View _IS_ Symbian based.
From the article:
"""While the phone is capable of taking nice photographs, it’s running on Symbian Belle (now known as Nokia Bell)"""
It may well be that at some point in the _future_ Pure View may be WP8 based.
Pure View is a camera technology consisting of a 41MP sensor and a Carl Zeiss lens. It IS not tied to Symbian. If you said Pure View is current only available on Symbina handsets you would have been correct. Stating it is 'based' on Symbian is wrong - it is an OS independant hardware technology.
> Stating it is 'based' on Symbian is wrong - it is an OS independant hardware technology.
The hardware is just a sensor and a lens, it is indifferent to the brand of lens or size of sensor. 'Pure view' is the _software_ that turns the sensor output into pictures (with some chippery). The software was developed for Symbian over 3 years and thus is 'Symbian based'. It is not entirely "OS independant [sic]" for example WP7 is entirely incapable of supporting it (partly due to limitations imposed by Microsoft).
For WP8 (or Android) the software has to be completely rewritten.
> PureView itself is ENTIRELY hardware:
While the current PureView 808 uses a particular lens and a specific sensor and other chippery, it would not do anything useful without the _software_. It is the firmware/software which drives the focussing and the image processor, sampling and scaling, converts the sensor output into an image and applies all the other factors.
No need to preach to the fanboys, man ;) No wonder people think you're a puppet.
Nokia has always had the best hardware, nobody doubts it. Your audience here is simply adept enough to feel limited by a consumer-oriented OS like WP. It just doesn't do – yet – for Symbian or MeeGo Power Users.
No, no, not the bad stuff that makes him believe that WP is a commercial success, and that MS and Nokia are anything other than mobile no-hopers squared.
I'm after the stuff he's taking that gives him Olympian levels of self belief, in the face of a tsunami of evidence that contradicts his opinions and undermines his claims.
New features, new devices, more manufacturers, more carriers are known and are happening with ther release of WP 8. That can only build on a sales profile that is seemingly following an exponential curve...
Yes it could still fail, but recent indications are that is rapidly becoming a success. And Microsoft still have plenty of leeway to throw money at it if they need to...
OK, I'll bite.
> New features
New features such as... what? Live Tiles (which everyone else has been calling widgets for a number of years)? Or what?
> That can only build on a sales profile that is seemingly following an exponential curve...
My local Bell Canada store (a flagship, by the way) has a large WP display in the window. As I have previously posted in these forums, the staff in there know next to nothing about WP. I went in there posing as an interested consumer, and at the time I asked the staff I spoke to weren't even sure if they had actually sold any WP7 devices at that store. They then asked me if I was interested in - you guessed it - iPhone or Android.
> more carriers are known and are happening with ther release of WP 8
I'm not really sure what you're trying to say here. It's generally accepted that carriers like locked-down operating systems. Other than that, I'm not clear what WP offers. For instance, you stated earlier that all PureView needed was to be combined with a "unique" OS; well, WP is unique for sure, but so is Symbian. So what?
> recent indications are that [WP] is rapidly becoming a success
Why yes, I think I read something on El Reg forums recently where someone was saying something along those lines!
> Microsoft still have plenty of leeway to throw money at it if they need to...
If? Hah!
Microsoft's terror of being left out of the mobile space has been in plain sight for many years. Many victims... err, partners have been drained of their lifeblood by Microsoft's helping hand. This latest episode with Nokia is no different, except in terms of sheer scale. Microsoft will spend any amount and play any number of dirty tricks to stay at this table. Of course, as a [wannabe/fake/trollolol?] Microsoft Munchkin, you already know this.
As for MeeGo power users (2 E's, by the way - no need to thank me), we're still out here. MeeGo Harmattan received a major update last month, the community effort for the N9 is ongoing, and there are plenty of interesting things out there beyond Nokia; e.g. @jollamobile and the article this comments thread is for.
I know it's unethical to feed the trolls, but sometimes it's just irresistible.
Im sure you are quite capable of using Google, but known features include:
IE10 (IE9 was fastest browser when launched and has had fewer vulnerabilities than any major rival - liely IE10 will be similar)
NFC inc tap and send
Bluetooth file transfer
Windows 8 kernel
Multicore support
Hardware graphics acceleration (inc in IE10)
removable memory card support (not really required in a handset designed for cloud, but i guess a few want it)
In app purchases
Fully integrated Skype
Fully integrated RCS-e
Fully integrated Datasmart
OTA updates
Visual Voicemail
Extended voice commands and search
Cloud sync of all content
Native code support.
Hi res screen support
Ultra high res camera support
screenshots
MS Wallet
Resizable tiles
Universal search
One problem. I have an Android ICS device. My son has a Lumia 610.
The WP7 UI on the Lumia is slicker. A lot slicker and so much more intuitive that it isn't funny. It also handles transitions a sight more smoothly, despite being considerably less gifted in the horsepower department than my beastie.
I can't help thinking that those who spout kneejerk hatred at WP7 just haven't ever used it in anger. I also reckon that Nokia may well have their money on the right horse, long term.
I'm still sticking with the 'droid though. I want something I can play around with.
I'm no great supporter of Android; I don't currently use Android on a day-to-day basis. I'm not "hating" on WP7 - just asking what makes it unique & special.
RICHTO: nice list. I asked what was new. Most of the items you cite may be new to WP8, but arguably that's because WP7 is lacking a number of features which most people have been using for months or even many years on other platforms.
IE10 (IE9 was fastest browser when launched and has had fewer vulnerabilities than any major rival - liely IE10 will be similar) - fastest how? The JavaScript engine? HTML render test? Or what? Mac OSX has had fewer known vulnerabilities than Windows XP/Vista/7 - does that make it a better OS? I'd suggest that it does not; perhaps you disagree...
NFC inc tap and send - already in Nokia N9
Bluetooth file transfer - already in everything ever (except iPhone)
Windows 8 kernel - well yes, only Windows 8 will have a Windows 8 kernel! We have a winner!
Multicore support - various mobile OS already in this space for quite some time
Hardware graphics acceleration (inc in IE10) - various mobile OS already in this space for quite some time (except the IE10 bit)
removable memory card support (not really required in a handset designed for cloud, but i guess a few want it) - great, but not unique to WP8
In app purchases - are not unique to WP8
Fully integrated Skype - is not unique to WP8 (had it on my N900 years ago)
Fully integrated RCS-e - could be interesting, but is anyone using this yet? Also, didn't Nokia spec this out pre-Microsoft? Is this unique to WP8? If so, it will reduce usefulness; if not, it's not unique to WP8
Fully integrated Datasmart - is not unique to WP8
OTA updates - are not unique to WP8; again, welcome to 2008
Visual Voicemail - is not unique to WP8 (seeing a pattern here?)
Extended voice commands and search - etc. etc.
Cloud sync of all content - I think Apple have some initi
Native code support.
Hi res screen support
Ultra high res camera support
screenshots
MS Wallet
Resizable tiles
Universal search
None of these are unique, except for one or two MS initiatives.
I think you missed my point.
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IE9 was fastest in Javascript and graphics at launch: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/girishp/archive/2011/03/15/internet-explorer-9-the-fastest-browser-in-the-market-released-to-the-world-go-get-it-and-enjoy-your-life.aspx
I certainly disagree. In fact Mac OS-X has nearly EIGHT TIMES the vulnerabilities of Windows 7:
http://secunia.com/advisories/product/27467/
http://secunia.com/advisories/product/96/
In fact about the only thing worse than OS-X for security is Linux:
http://secunia.com/advisories/product/12192/
> In fact about the only thing worse than OS-X for security is Linux:
You show how clueless and shallow you are:
The Windows link is for Windows 7 OS _only_.
The Linux link is for a complete Distro, SUSE 10, which has several thousand packages, most of which have no equivalent in 'Windows 7'. In fact you only need to look at a listing of the advisories to see that they aren't for 'Linux' (which is the OS Kernel).
If you actual want a valid comparison then go to the Microsoft page and add up the items from each of the software items.
https://secunia.com/advisories/vendor/1/
Haters gonna hate, you know that. :)
I have a WP7 phone, as does my wife, and I can tell you this -- it isn't all that this guy RICHTO tries to make it out to be. I'm not a power user as far as mobile phones go, nor do I ever plan to be, so the WP7 phone is enough for me. However, I don't think that there are anywhere near the quality of apps out there for WP7 as there are for iOS or Android. I have coworkers and friends that have both of the latter two, and from what I have seen with my own two eyes, the Apple and Android apps beat those for WP7 hands down. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place for WP7 apps, maybe they just don't exist.
MS has a long way to go yet ... maybe WP8 will kick it up a notch and truly compete well; that remains to be seen. All I know is, if they can't figure out how to make an OS that does not require regular reboots, they'll never be as good as the other options out there. And yes, I am talking about the mobile OS -- if I don't reboot my phone regularly, audio for phone calls stops working, the screen doesn't always respond, calls aren't received but show up later as being missed, etc. I thought it was my phone at first, but my wife's does the same thing, and we have two different brands of phones. Seems like their mobile OS is released the same way as their desktop OS: fire, ready, aim.
Although I'm of the opinion that you are in fact a masochistic troll, here's some free advice just in case you are sincere: you should probably take the time & trouble to actually read these articles you post, because that last one contradicts your claims.
"A few brave souls actually [using] Linux-like Internet facing servers"? Like, oh, let me pick one at random: Google? I know you know what Google is, because you've been referring us to it so we can check your 'facts'.
Zone-H is probably not a reliable source of statistics for the purposes you are using them for: http://www.gamelinux.org/?cat=4&paged=3
Finally: you're clearly a fan of Zone-H. They're serving their webpages from nginx. Have a guess what OS they're probably running behind that?
Credit where credit is due, Windows is fine for what it's good at. I have personally bought two Windows 7 licenses; it's a fairly decent "let's just get things done" client OS. However, as everyone here except you is already aware, your claims that it is somehow inherently more secure than Linux, especially as a server OS, are laughable and without merit.
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