Microsoft shopping around 'low-cost version' of Windows Phone 7 for emerging markets
By Chris Ziegler 
posted April 19th 2010 9:44PM
posted April 19th 2010 9:44PM
posted April 19th 2010 9:44PM
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looks like Microsoft is doing something Apple couldn't.
Looking for inexpensive hardware that doesn't require expensive contract.
If Microsoft can secure the lower market, it will be Window vs Mac all over again.
@kingofwale What I wonder is how different the two OS's would be.
@kingofwale
It would be nice to see a battle like that again.
Competition drives innovation!
@kingofwale Targetting lower market is good and all, but I was under the impression that KIN was supposed to be that cheap platform... So where the hell does KIN fit in?
Is it like 2 years ago, when MS would like WinMo Pro, WinMo Standard, and Zune? They really need to connect their platforms!!
@ai4281 Kin might have more expensive hardware than the phones in question. Also, it might not give the freedom to add development as their target market might be interested in, IDK.
@ai4281
hey no-brain, kin has nothing to do with filling a gap for windows phone 7. It is COMPLETELY seperate. its a social networking phone for teens, has nothing to do with being a "value" phone for emerging markets.
@kingofwale
Umm ..okay .. another thing they couldn't do that Apple will be doing was support have a front facing camera and live video sharing.
@kingofwale
Why should Apple care? Apple doesn't even care about those 3rd world countries and their markets.
Not to mention their profit margins are ridiculously good.
MS is more than welcome to go after that market. They'll just be fighting Nokia..and maybe Android.
Either way though Apple couldn't care less.
@googkiller Hey! Thanks for that clarification, ass!
Seriously! Was the name-calling necessary?
@kingofwale
Except that's where Nokia shines, lower end Blacberries and cheap android phones already have that market and thay will probably continue to do so. There will be no such battle.
@ai4281 Kin is the social networking platform. It's still pretty high end with Tegra and all.
@ai4281
KIN is for a different market all-together. We do not know the pricing for it, so we cannot make accusations like that yet.
@VanillaSperm But you are refering to the starter edition, the US will get the ultimate turbo extra win7 series. it's not like MS to divide one OS and cripple them. *having nightmares all over again*
@kingofwale
No, it won't be. This is actually further indication why Microsoft becomes less relevant every day in the mobile space; their complete lack of focus. How many "low end" craptacular phones is this now? Three? Four? And is anyone harbouring the delusion that a product line with no less than four competing OS'es that are supposed to be from the same company is a stupid idea?
@kingofwale
Unfortunately for M$, last week Nokia bottomed out the smartphone prices by introducing the Nuron in India for $65.- without contract. I dont see how M$ can beat that especially with farming out manufacturing to other ODMs.
@Goc
Yea because thats a given right and things never change?
@kingofwale If the price isn't
@Coober
One has to be pretty stupid to have "nightmares" over which version of Windows to get. Considering that 90%+ of licenses are pre-bundled on OEM machines. For those that build, if you can't read a simply matrix to understand what you want from Windows you shouldn't be building a machine.
So far, I've only seen Engadget and Apple users complain about the different version of Windows.
Android already grabbed this market by the balls. Microsoft: Move on.
PS - An HVGA option? Seriously? Releasing a brand new mobile OS already fragmented from the get-go?
Some people never learn.
@TareG Haha don't even talk about fragmentation if you're an Android fanboy
@TareG
Lol, he got you there.
@honestgabe Actually Android had only HVGA phones out for more than an entire year, to build a decent app base. Same for Apple (only they did it for 3 years).
But releasing a brand new OS fragmented is another thing.
@TareG "Android already grabbed this market by the balls."
Gee, sure you don't mean Symbian?
@Quikboy Symbian grabbed the dumbphone market by the balls.
@TareG
Stupid comment is stupid
@TareG
It's not fragmentation, it's the availability of different choices, which I sincerely support. I want WP7 to move out of the iPhonesque closed pathway it got itself into and offer more variety.
@bureX I'm all for different hardware styles, but different OS requirements means fragmentation.
@bureX going from closed to narrow wont cut it in my book.
@TareG
OS software requirements are the same across the board, regardless of the hardware that its implemented on. (No more than 5 buttons, High Res screen, etc) Android on the other hand has multiple hardware platforms and multiple OS versions floating around. This isn't fragmentation.
@PBB
/agreed.
They keep emphasizing the fact that the devices, whilst still unique, need to be uniform and consistent.
@TareG
android = 3% marketshare
more like grabbing itself by the balls
@TareG
Symbian is a smarthphone OS, Nokia's phones use Symbian ergo they're smartphones. Nokia's smartphones have ~40% of the market and most of those are lower end smartphones.
And don't even try the "Symbian isn't a smartphone OS" argument because it's simply stupid.
@googkiller Android has about double the figure you quote, don't rely on Engadget for the numbers and the numbers that get published that are more current than Engadgets are now lagging by about 2 months.
@googkiller that was last Nov before Droid, it jumped to 9% as of Feb 2010 (WM dropped 4%, RIM 2%, Appl < 1%)
@Quikboy
Having used all three, Symbian Series 60 is by far the best mobile OS ever made. It may not be flashy but it does much much more than anything else. Especially when it comes to system software tools.
I don't understand this. Would it not have access to the apps? Would they have a dedicated store? Would this not lead to the problem they are trying to avoid with developers going for the least common denominator? I'm a bit lost on this one as "the developing world" has more cell phones than the US (though not in this class of device).
@juanvaldez
Im thinking the phones specs may be a little less as impressive as the higher end phones, handset wise.
I doubt they'll fragment the platform to the point in which apps developed for WP7 wont work on WP7lite (or whatever they call it), but may have variable performance.
@BlackedOut again, a somewhat best-case scenario. but that would hurt them 2 ways, less functionality on lite would mean less adoption of said apps. 2nd, any less apps/functionality means you are getting less of a full experience which means they wont actually be doing all they can to hook the developing world on their system (obviously the end-game here).
@juanvaldez
True, I think they want to get people in developing countries to familiarise themselves with WP7, hopefully the OS wont rely as heavily on their apps as the competition. (Im just asking for a downrank with that statement)
I think the way MS is handling their new phone OS(es, kinda) is quite smart - Have a target market in mind and create an experience around that.
I think the only reason we don't have the Courier coming this year is because they realised that a larger audience was interested in what was only intended to be a designing tool.
@BlackedOut on the 2nd point, we can only hope :)
@juanvaldez
Based on speculation from this article:
http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=15462
@BlackedOut Before I start, let's be clear - I am not hating or something I really like the idea of the Courier, but for design? I do a lot of sketching and drawing, and because Apple doesn't have any real tablet I bought a Lenovo. I don't see anyone like me going for two 7" screens versus the 12" on the Lenovo, except if it is much cheaper and has some serious graphic apps to take advantage of the two screens (and even then I am not quite sold).
Also, from the article you sent, they say they would like to target broader audience, not only professionals, where there is already some serious competition. The niche for this device is very small.
@Atkins
Yeah that was my point (see original post) perhaps its better this way- as in the long run, as a device made for professional designers/architects would not fit my needs.
@Atkins I think an advantage of the 2x7" is the ability to be small and rugged after folding. A single screen design, without a swivel, has a screen that would be left unprotected without a case and quite large (too large for a purse).
I like the idea of the Courier, I don't think I'll end up getting on even if they do find a large niche. But a portable journal is tempting, I just don't think I'd spend more than $400 on said device unless it competed very well in many other regards (gaming, browser usage, just about everything really). Tho, it's got probably a better chance than any phone to get me into the new WP7 OS if utilized.
All I could think about when I saw the picture was 480 by 480 and 800 by 320.
Isn't that called Windows Mobile 6.5? I mean, Windows Phone Starter Edition, the version that can't use 3G and probably wont let you do simple things like change your wallpaper?
Don't get me wrong, WinMo 6.5.3 with Sense is pretty solid on something like the HD2, but if they really do cut the ability to use 3G like that early leak suggests and they do some stupid shit like they did with the desktop Starter Edition it'd be a complete fucking joke.
@kenny goo
How is the 3G service in a developing country?
Is it widely available?
@kenny goo
Name 3 HVGA Windows Mobile 6.5.3 devices around.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/26/confirmed-windows-mobile-6-5-to-become-windows-phone-starter-ed/
@ BlackedOut
As an aside, that's the article I was referencing. While the omission of HSPA 3G frequencies may have been an oversight, as a general statement I think it's stupid to put out an OS that's straight up going to stop you from using 3G for no legitimate reason.
They should just leave it in and let carrier and coverage area decide the availability of service, emerging market or not. Instead they push this out as the gimped version that you'd be a fool to buy, much like Windows 7 Starter. That's all I'm trying to say here.
@ JW
And I mentioned HVGA when? The Engadget article speculated the HVGA spec *might* have something to do with a low end version of WP7. That had *nothing* to do with what I was talking about, which was Microsoft announcing that WinMo 6.5 would be rebranded as "Starter Edition", which sounds similar to Microsoft's announcement, not Engadget's speculation.
A.K.A. stop trolling.