http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12427680

TBH I think they'd be a lot better off going the Android route, but let's see how this pans out.

I've never seen WP7, but I've mostly heard "good things" about it. I think they're probably right when they say it would be hard to differentiate themselves in the Android market, and describing Symbian as a "burning platform" is probably not far from the mark.

It makes me sad though. I still love my Nokia, even though it's now just my "spare". Easy to use, totally reliable and practically bomb-proof.

It might just work. Microsoft seem to have got Windows 7 to work well. Android while free and open does still have issues. Combining Microsoft and Nokia could be good for both and give them the chance to really compete with Apple and Android.

Not that I'm biased at all, but IMO Android wipes the floor with Windows Phone 7.

I've played with a Windows 7 phone and the 'panes' interface is actually quite nice to use. However it did rather strike me that once you get past the nice swishy boxes, lots of the functionality is.. a bit broken. I suspect Windows Phone 8 will actually be really good but it's not there yet.

I am however thinking of getting a cheap Android device so I can keep up with what's going on in that market a bit better. I don't need another phone and a tablet would cost too much, is there a decent Android equivalent of the iPod Touch?

Jon

As you all may know I am planning on a iPhone. Even so I think Stuff or T3 rated Windows 7 as the best but they are all pretty close. iOS does most of what I want and will work well with my macs. I do want more competition from Windows 7 otherwise we just end up with a iOS/Android duopoly.

You left out RIM

I know I've made my preferences known before but anyone who buys a RIM phone for themselves rather than an iOS or Android phone is a maniac. BB's make a lot of sense when tied to an Enterprise messaging system via BES for use in business, but for Joe Bloggs in the street they're an awful choice compared to the alternatives.

Jon

True but I forgot about them. Yes I still want to see RIm succeed. The more competition the better.

See you say that, but they all seem very happy to surrender the superior OS, browser and apps. for Blackberry Messenger, it's insane!

PS. As out-of-date as it is now, the Storm 2 is actually my favourite handset to date, even for looks.

1,000 workers walk out on Nokia after Microsoft announcement

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and ... ent-928142

I suspect there's a bit more to that, but still...

There is nothing better for emails, or any platform safer that RIM! Feel free to prove me wrong...

You're partly right, with the massive caveat that it has to be set up against a properly configured BES server. If you're Joe Bloggs in the street, it's not. It's linked to an IMAP/POP3 server. That means you're getting exactly the same service someone with an iPhone or Android phone does. Given those are now clever enough to use IMAP IDLE commands and most servers accept them, you're getting your email just as quickly on one of those as you would on a Blackberry via a BES server. The encryption on that transmission may be the same, or you may have none at all. It's simply down to what the service provider has put in place i.e. it's nothing to do with the phone.

If it's not linked to a BES server it also hasn't had a security policy applied to it, which means if you lose it it's actually only as secure as you set it to be. i.e. if you didn't bother setting a PIN unlock and encrypt the onboard memory, you're stuffed. However you can equally set or unset those two things on an iPhone or Android. A consumer (or 'BIS' as they describe it) Blackberry doesn't actually have some of the features RIM claim Blackberries have, because it's not backed up by a BES server.

Is the email client 'better' in terms of day to day use? Well, I think that's rather subjective. I wouldn't state one way or another definitely.

You have to realise two things

a) ALL (and I mean every single piece) of RIM's promotional literature is based around the idea of linking your BB to a BES Server. Because they don't actually make much money selling phones but they make an absolute pile of cash selling, licensing and supporting BES in the enterprise. I know, I get the bill every month.

b) When the whole idea of email on the move was new, they did have features the opposition didn't have. That was years ago. Do you really think in the intervening years the opposition hasn't implemented most of the features they had? At least as far as the user is concerned?

I'm sorry but look, whether RIM say their phones are better at email or not, for the casual user it simply isn't true any more. You may prefer their email client, that's fine. You may like a physical keyboard, in which case the iPhone is out for you but you can get android phones with a hard keyboard but still, that's your choice and I have no right to try to convince you otherwise. The point is, in every other aspect - UI, Apps, available accessories etc.. The iPhone and the Android 'range' leave Blackberry behind.

Put it this way.. I run an Exchange email system with over 10,000 users on it. It's got a BES server linked to it and anyone on the system can request a mobile phone to connect to it. In the six months the system has been on the air, we have had 40 requests to connect BB's to the system. We've had 60 Android phones connected (even though we don't officially support them, since a lot of Android phones can't enforce the activesync security policy we require). We've had 700 iPhones connected. Note with the latter two you don't have to request an admin to connect it for you, you can simply do it yourself.

And the best/worst bit? Those 40 BB users are costing us 20 grand. That's what the BES server hardware, software licensing and mandatory support contract cost us. You can't actually just buy the BES software and install it yourself, you have contact a telco and they send a consultant to install it for you. For which they charge you an hourly rate. To double click 'install.exe'. They will also charge us roughly £250 per user per year in continuing costs. The iPhones/Android phones cost us nothing extra.

You may prefer Blackberry phones, that's your personal choice. I wouldn't begin to tell you don't have a right to make that choice. But 'nothing better for emails'? If you're not connected to a BES server? And for the extra money it costs if you are? 2003 says Hi.

Jon

+1

Having used all 3 platforms (plus older RIM devices), WP7 seems to have learnt from the mistakes Apple and Google have made with their respective platforms. It isn't perfect and needs some minor updates, but it is a very good platform and I prefer using it over my iPhone and the Android devices I've used.

The WP7 is still waiting for its htc Desire or Galaxy S, so Nokia have a chance to make the defactor handset for WP7. With Android, they have to fight against the reputation of htc and Samsung devices which have gone before - and poor user experience, with the users who got conned into buying the budget devices. With WP7, the minimum hardware spec means that, unless Microsoft screw up in the future, there won't be a bad user experience... At least not until WP8 needs a faster platform.

Given some of the... rather odd design choices they've made with version 1 of WP7 = no cut & paste, no user multitasking for example - It seems much more like they're repeating the mistakes of Apple and Google, rather than having learned from them. However as I say it's a very promising system from what I've used of it and, as you say, with a bit of tweaking and a few feature holes filled, could well be a genuine competitor for 'the big two'.

It's going to be very interesting in fact. You've got Apple making their phones - and, bar the odd hiccup, they know how to do hardware and they know how to do software. You've got Google and HTC - between them they know how to do hardware and they know how to do software. And you've now got MS and Nokia - Nokia make great hardware, always have, and MS will get there with the software. So in a year or so I suspect we'll have three very, very strong competitors in the smartphone market. It can only be good for us as a consumer, frankly.

Back to the OP though - interesting article here. The writer seems to have concluded Nokia have not just joined the dark side, they've pretty much been taken over by it piecemeal. It's maybe 1+1=3, but the fact MS executives are getting jobs at a mobile phone giant, when MS executives have next to no detailed knowledge about the mobile market in any real way, is a very interesting move..

Jon