Nokia Preparing to Announce 'Arrow' and 'Phi' WP8 Devices
A little more information on what we can expect from Nokia event taking place in less than two weeks' time.
Microsoft and Nokia recently scheduled a joint event for the first week in September. Considering the two have a healthy smartphone partnership and Windows 8 is due out this fall, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what the event is going to be about. Add to that previous rumors that said Nokia would announce its first Windows Phone 8 devices in early September and it's sort of a no-brainer. However, while we know that the event is going to be Windows 8-themed, up until today, we had no idea what to expect in terms of actual devices.
The Verge today cites sources familiar with the two companies' plans that say Nokia is working on two brand new handsets in preparation for the event. These devices, codenamed 'Arrow' and 'Phi,' are said to be a part of Nokia's Lumia range. The Phi is said to be a successor the Lumia 800 and Lumia 900, while the Arrow is a mid-range handset.
According to The Verge's sources, the Phi will be exclusive to AT&T, at least in the beginning, and the Arrow will be available on both AT&T and T-Mobile (an almost identical version is planned for T-Mobile under a different codename). No word on specs just yet but Microsoft gave us a sneak peek at Windows Phone 8, AKA Apollo, back in June. The latest iteration of Windows Phone will share a kernel, file system, media foundation, device drivers, and parts of the security model of Windows 8. Packing support for multi-core processors, displays up to 1280x768, and external SD storage, Windows Phone 8 will bring Internet Explorer 10 to Windows Phone devices as well as in-app purchases, Nokia Maps, and improved enterprise features (including device management for administrators, Office apps, support for BitLocker encryption, and secure boot mode). It won't be compatible with Windows Phone 7 devices.
Tune on September 5 for the full scoop!
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Take your pick.
Also, gone are the days when non-contract service was a sign you were some kind of low-life (if that was ever true); unlocked phones should be provided by all manufacturers.
They need a screaming top-end phone, not just a "very good" one; if you aren't up there with the Galaxy S III, you are shooting for second place, at best.
Protip: Periods aren't just for menstruating women.
On topic, I'm sure the handsets will trickle out to other providers. It's interesting to hear people criticizing Nokia for not rolling the phones out to other providers when an equally probable situation could be that the network doesn't want to take the chance on an unproven platform. It's a gamble, but I have high hopes that WP can be a good competitor in the mobile segment.
Edit: To clarify I mean that if Verizon wanted more WP devices, there are multiple companies that would gladly build them one. Nokia is but one. I am hoping that WP8 will change that, eventually, and we'll finally see a decent modern WP device on Verizon. But make no mistake, the lack of WP devices on Verizon is not Microsoft or Nokia's desire.
why exactly? Most apps will still run on 7.8, the interface from 8 will move to 7.8, and 8 would run like crap, or physically not have the capability to run the new features on the older phones. They were upfront with the fact that there would be no upgrade option very early on (before lumia was released), so people knew what they were getting (or should have known what they were getting). I just don't see how some people find this to be an issue.
@article
Can't wait to hear more news, I have been waiting for a windows phone with SD card support for a few years now... it is the one feature I cannot live without, and I am neither mac or android compatible.
"Phi is said to be a successor the Lumia 800 and Lumia 900" - so, this is their low end?
Most of people on the street know that their phones will never get updates and don't expect them or can live without them. Lack of updates affects only whiny kids who were born after cellphone tech hit the markets back in the 90's. Suck it up, you got what you payed for.
Why? Are you a goldfish? You seem to forget really quick. Microsoft screwed us first by cutting off support to/from Windows Mobile 6.5 with Windows Phone 7 and now they do it AGAIN with Windows Phone 8. MSFT is making a really good track record for themselves. Sure WP7 apps will run on 7,x but NOT the other way around! You can bet that soon devs will only program for WP8 and speed up the demise of WP7 and then MSFT just will shut down marketplace for WP7 (like they did with WM6.5 which was shut down in less than 6 months after WP7 came to market). While they could just kept the present marketplace as it is for the remaining WM-users (since e.g. belardo mentions ppl that most not even know that their device is defunkt).
Also there´s NO technical reason to drop support for the present WP7 devices (in fact prototype WP8 devices where in fact Lumia 800/900 phones so...). Especially since WP8 is supposed to support multiple cpu´s and multiple resolutions. It should be as versatile as their desktop counterpart yet it seems to be less versatile, supporting yet again only a subset of cpu´s etc...
But don't worry I´ll vote with my wallet! And will encourage others to do the same. F U MSFT and Nokia. You screwed me once but never again! Together with the turd that their future desktop OS is. MSFT will be "elopped" as well!
As for not being android and ios compatible. There´s more than Android (read: samsung) and Apple. I'm using Symbian for now which has the most ellaborate featureset but sadly hasn't got the appeal anymore. At an unbeatable price (except the 808) I reckon a Nokia 701 is the best allround device to have if you dislike clouds and enforced data-plans. I also look out for BB OS 10. I think technically QNX should be the most interesting OS to have on a smartphone and I'm curious to see what RIM has cooked up with it.
Plus there are the other small players. Nobody knows what those ex-meego/harmattan-guys are cooking up. And they surely don't need to sell billions of phones to get break-even (unlike the big Nokia, Samsung and Microsoft). I mean, let's be honest. Nokia still sells MORE phones worldwide then ANY other manufacturer, yet it isn´t enough to keep the company afloat??? This means either the shareholders/CEO's?owners are getting a way to big fee or they have a way too big infrastructure cost or taxes are way too high in finland regarding their revenue... but something is very wrong there!
The difference between now and then is Windows 8 is no longer a side-project OS on a subset of the devices that MS supports. It's much more ubiquitious, and hence will get much broader support. MS not supporting upgrades of pre-existing devices running 7.8 and older is no different than how Apple won't allow, say, 1st or 2nd gen ipod touches to update beyond iOS 4.0. No one can support a device indefinitely, it's just a sad timing situation where people got the newest thing and it's at the end of the update cycle. It doesn't mean MS (or developers) won't necessarily support those devices, they're just not upgradeable. And for good reason. MS hopes to fix the broken cycle of fragmentation and put a little bit of QC into devices. Android is a great alternative, but that's its biggest downside.
BB10 will most likely fail... Look, WP7 never hit above 2% market share... and as of now, BB is under 2% because they are selling out-dated devices that are about 2+ years old! BB devices are $30~50 now.
At best, BB10 can grow to 1~2% in a year or so... other than some business, the consumer market is past BB. They should have gone Android, included their OWN custom APPs and skin and be done with it.
Meego and others, those are just hobbyist Operating Systems (Check out Amiga OS and other old tech). The markets only has room for 2~4 standard players. Apple and Android are the two top secure ones. Everyone else is eating scraps.
The Lumia 7~900 are current products. Their technology is a year out-of-date. MS has orphaned them because of how the OSes are completely different.
Most Android apps that runs on 2.x phones will run on 4.x phones. My phone went from 2.1>2.3, but it'll never run 4.x... its too old and doesn't have the required feature sets. Its also wearing out - as cell phones are such heavy use items - they only have a 2~4 year life span. (Dropping, battery wear, run-over, kicked, etc)
And yes, nobody has ANY business releasing any new products today that is sub Android 4.0. Yet, even Samsung has just released a new phone with 2.3?! (WTF?! Its a phone with a TV projector built in [10ft tall max]) since Android is open source, a developer can choose to use what they want. Those going with 2.x are doing so because they are using slower/lower end parts.
Microsoft has screwed WP7 owners, simple as that.
When the developers for the weak WP7 dries up, those who have brand-new WP7 phones on American 2-yr contracts will have devices with nothing new. No new upgrades or whatever. That is getting screwed.
The 3000+ fart apps for WP7 are not going to do much good.
Of course, I would have prefered them to bring WP8 for the older devices as well, but as I don't know why they didn't do it, I can't really comment on the validity of it. It's always a good idea to buy your devices based on what they are, and not on what they might become.