Opinions - Microsoft could be big winner from Apple mobile victory

[HEXUS]

If Apple succeeds in making Android less appealing to OEMs, many will move to WP7.

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[Brewster0101]

Its all become very boring and pathetic now with this patent rubbish. Judges need to get together and tell all these companies to shup up and play along nicely or don't play at all....

[Biscuit]

Unlikely, i image there is a fair about of money flowing through the governments legal system down to this so the worse it gets the more they love it

[cheesemp]

Why does this feel like another FUD (Fear, uncertainty, doubt) war (but more against manufactures than end users), similar to the one used against Linux (Which is ironic as Android *is* a linux distro).

Edit: I dont care personally - I prefer android and i'd pay a $20-£30 premium for it over Win7/iOS.

[miniyazz]

Edit: I dont care personally - I prefer android and i'd pay a $20-£30 premium for it over Win7/iOS.

he's been taken by the exchange rate fiends who turn a $300 [insert electrical item here] into a £350 one here!

[Fraz]

First line: endure not ensure?

[TheAnimus]

Why does this feel like another FUD (Fear, uncertainty, doubt) war (but more against manufactures than end users), similar to the one used against Linux (Which is ironic as Android *is* a linux distro).

Not really in the same way, for a start of the companies who hold these patents probably shouldn't have most of them in the first place, or rather thats my view. Given that Apple and MS have them, well they need to collect royalties to ensure they continue to hold them, use it or lose it.

I doubt Apple are doing this to help MS, and I doubt muchly its FUD (see the ongoing HTC v Apple saga).

Edit: I dont care personally - I prefer android and i'd pay a $20-£30 premium for it over Win7/iOS.

And that puts you in the minority, most people go for the simple shiny, one of the reasons Nokia really lost out was that their handsets felt slow and sluggish, the awful nature of developing on Symbian (ok I only did any serious S60, but it was enough to put me off).

No one really doubts that WP7 looks distinct and runs smoother than Andriod, I think the question will be if that is enough to save it.

And as for paying that kind of premium, that puts your squarely in the tiny minority, the same that won't keep the meego nokia running.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Apple has infringed two S3 patents ITC has also ruled:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Apple...s-209496.shtml

HTC owns S3:

http://www.htc.com/www/press.aspx?id=172438&lang=1033

[dbh]

Actually if Android lose out so does Microsoft. They are currently claiming license and royalty fees off HTC for every Android device sold.

[Hicks12]

I think im in the minority but i love WM6.5.5+ (havent tried WM7 much at all..), so reliable in my experience and did so much without the need to purchase/download random apps from a market place and was low on power usage, Android is just so clunky and a resource hog which i dislike... its alright but i wish i had wm6.5 on my optimus 2x .

I agree with TA, use the patents or lose them.. it seems alot of companies now a days just dont bother asking royalties or anything until they feel threatened

[cheesemp]

I think im in the minority but i love WM6.5.5+ (havent tried WM7 much at all..), so reliable in my experience and did so much without the need to purchase/download random apps from a market place and was low on power usage, Android is just so clunky and a resource hog which i dislike... its alright but i wish i had wm6.5 on my optimus 2x .

I agree with TA, use the patents or lose them.. it seems alot of companies now a days just dont bother asking royalties or anything until they feel threatened

I'm surprised by you finding android clunky. I've found it pretty good on my SE X10 (and thats old 2.1). On mates Samsung Galaxy S/HTC desires I've found the latest versions of android very snappy.

But I stand by my statement that android is worth the premium - I can put in my google account into a new phone and seconds later have all my contacts, calender and email setup. Also with a bit of rooting I can move over my apps with titanium backup. Also I don't believe a $20 premium is noticeable on a $400 phone.

Also I just wish apple would play fair - even microsoft are prepared to license their patents. I do wonder what would happen to Apple/Microsoft if the 'Android' ecosystem got together and used their patents in one big lawsuit!

[TheAnimus]

I'm surprised by you finding android clunky. I've found it pretty good on my SE X10 (and thats old 2.1). On mates Samsung Galaxy S/HTC desires I've found the latest versions of android very snappy.

The Desire I've found gets very slow after a while, the desire HD can't even last a day of my normal usage, you then need 3rd party battery apps to get it to coupe with push email, and a trip on the underground. They seem to have some chronic power issues.

The thing is thou, they are both high end phones, with high end price tags. I feel like I'm the only one here who DOESN'T want to spend $400 on a phone. I want to spend as little as possible and have it do as much as possible. Given these things have no upgrade oppertunities, I think its fair to ask that they fall in price.

But I stand by my statement that android is worth the premium - I can put in my google account into a new phone and seconds later have all my contacts, calender and email setup. Also with a bit of rooting I can move over my apps with titanium backup. Also I don't believe a $20 premium is noticeable on a $400 phone.

Ok, but WM6.5 users have MyPhone which erm does all that. Apple and WP7 users don't need any rooting to move over their apps, its done out of the box. WP7 users have all their contacts aggregated, from Facebook, Exchange, Hotmail etc.... I think you can use GMail too, thou I've not checked that myself. My point is your key features which are worth the $20 to you are standard on all platforms. I'd go as far to say is that in out of the box functionality andriod is far behind the others on this too. Thats why I find it shocking.

[Biscuit]

The Desire I've found gets very slow after a while, the desire HD can't even last a day of my normal usage, you then need 3rd party battery apps to get it to coupe with push email, and a trip on the underground. They seem to have some chronic power issues.

The thing is thou, they are both high end phones, with high end price tags. I feel like I'm the only one here who DOESN'T want to spend $400 on a phone. I want to spend as little as possible and have it do as much as possible. Given these things have no upgrade oppertunities, I think its fair to ask that they fall in price.

I havent often found my desire to slow down much unless im really laying on the multitasking, something which iphone and WP7 cant really in the same true sense! Il give it to you on the battery life but again, its not much better on iphone or wp7, most current smartphone platforms require you to carry a charging cable around with you.
Thing about android which sets it aside from the others is you CAN pick up android phones for under £200, hell i have found quite a few decent options for under £100 if your just using it for basic non-graphical dependent stuff. This option simply doesn't exist for WP7 or iPhone at the moment.

Ok,but WM6.5 users have MyPhone which erm does all that. Apple and WP7 users don't need any rooting to move over their apps, its done out of the box. WP7 users have all their contacts aggregated, from Facebook, Exchange, Hotmail etc.... I think you can use GMail too, thou I've not checked that myself. My point is your key features which are worth the $20 to you are standard on all platforms. I'd go as far to say is that in out of the box functionality andriod is far behind the others on this too. Thats why I find it shocking.

Android isnt supposed to have 'out the box functionality' on the same level as the others, its a blank slate and YOU choose what functionality you want... thats the point. This whole premium thing is a non-issue at the moment as its just conjecture however i will probably pay it (assuming the platform isnt utterly crippled by law suits and patent wars in the coming months) as i would rather decide what UI and software i would like to use on my phone rather than having it almost dictated to me by apple or microsoft.

[cheesemp]

@TheAnimus - I have to change my X10 every day but it makes it through the day 99% of the time and when it hasn't its usually because I've done a lot of GPS/web browsing. One thing I did find that killed the battery though was having tweetdeck set to check every 5 minutes but that was my fault. I do use a task killer but other than that nothing special.

Also when describing the features you mentioned - I'm sure the other phones do have similar (my does have facebook integration as well) however I've now made an investment in android and don't want the effort to switch. Having had s60 devices up until this X10 I remember the effort it use to take to transfer everything every time I changed phone.

[Brewster0101]

- I have to change my X10 every day

I heard the reliability was bad , but changing it every day is terrible. I'd get a refund if I was you.

[cheesemp]

I heard the reliability was bad , but changing it every day is terrible. I'd get a refund if I was you.

Well spotted. Just charge it daily. Phone itself has been rock solid to be honest. I've dropped it several times and rooted as well and it never reboots/crashes unlike my girlfriends iphone.