Microsoft comes clean on doling out cash, free hardware to entice Windows Phone devs
By Chris Ziegler 
posted July 14th 2010 1:59PM
posted July 14th 2010 1:59PM
posted July 14th 2010 1:59PM
powered by gdgt
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@kreatos
Zune is coming to the UK when windows phone 7 is released
@JCerna I thought it was coming out with Duke Nukem Forever. In a special bundle package.
I went for a job interview at TBS (UK) and they've been given Windows 7 phone a month ago to test!
Seems logical. They've got to catch up somehow. This is kind of like contract development work done a bit more creatively.
As we saw with Palm, no developer support with interesting applications is a nice way to die slowly.
@andysexton And now that I think of it, it's just another way of doing what google did with the Android Developer Challenge stuff.
"Of course, there's not really anything wrong with Microsoft inorganically pursuing support for its ecosystem like this -- they've certainly got the pocketbook for it, and considering their come-from-behind position, they ought to be using any tool available to 'em right now to get this thing as ready as it can possibly be for app-hungry customers later this year. "
>>>>
They've certainly got the pocketbook for it and, considering their come-from-behind position, they ought to be using any tool available to 'em right now to get this thing as ready as it can possibly be for app-hungry customers later this year.
/fixed
Yes. Capitalism at work!
I just feel uncomfortable that they can use their 'monopoly' in Office and Windows to fund their phone thrusts. They can lose huge amounts to buy there way in with developers because of ridiculous profits they make on Office / Windows. But, nothing illegal about it.
@GaryREM You mean like google uses it's "monopoly" in search to fund their phone thrusts, or Apple using their "monopoly" in MP3 players to fund their phone thrusts?
It's business. Work from your strengths.
@andysexton
70% search share is strong, but no one is locked in. Google's advertising share may be more of an issue. Apple's music player share is a bit of a red herring since, although they have a large share of the market, it's only a small share of their profits.
MS, with over 90% OS share is making their money from Client and Business Div (ie Windows and Office) - $9.6 Bn last Q, while losing money in other areas. In most businesses the lock in continues.
But, its all legal.
I just would like to see MS focus on there strengths instead of trying to be in everything. Maybe they have it right and their cash cows are being challenged. But how much have they lost in entertainment... and they continued to lose money. Any company without the cash cow would have quit a long time ago.
@GaryREM
I think that's the point Gary.
Windows and Office aren't going away anytime soon,
But the Xbox and the Mobile platforms are really for future assurance.
And hey, they can do it, so why not?
@andysexton Except there was nothing stopping people from using, say, Ask or Yahoo! search instead. People just preferred Google.
On the other hand, in the past, hardware manufacturers were made to sign lock-in contracts when they licensed out Microsoft software, restricting their ability to choose different software to install. Additionally, swapping out your OS in the past required a (VERY) high amount of technical ability and always carried the risk that hardware wouldn't work because of a lack of drivers (something usually managed by the computer manufacturers). Now, people basically can't use anything but Windows because their favourite/common applications aren't available for other operating systems. Sure, Office and the Adobe suite are available for Mac OS, but it's not the same as buying any old program on a CD and being very certain that it'll, "just work" with their computer.
Google won the Search Engine war because they developed the best product for the job and people preferred them. Microsoft won the OS war because they didn't give anybody a choice.
@GaryREM
By the "Stick to their strengths" logic, Google shouldn't have done Google Docs, or Chrome, or Chrome OS, or Android.
Their strengths were search and advertising.
They used money from their search and advertising to buy YouTube.
Any problem with that?
good and i cant say i blame them. they're gonna need a strong app catalog at launch to stay competitive. if i were in their position, i would be pulling out all the stops to ensure winmo7's success.
Whatever it takes to be on top. I am good with it!
WP7 is going to be sickkkk!
@deedeedee
Can someone ban this idiot?
MS has no market share to offer, so they have no choice but to offer cash. This is a non-story, since ultimately the cash won't matter. It's like how they can get people to come to those pitiful Microsoft stores on opening day by offering free items, but they can't do that every day, so ultimately no one cares about the Microsoft store, and ultimately no one is going to care about WP7, since it offers no advantages over Apple or Google (other than not being APple or Google, which will help them sell a handful of phones).
@Perspective It offers Xbox live and game integration which the other 2 will never get and is a great selling point to both consumers and developers, offers zune pass integration which allows my music collection to be with me, plus offer and entire music library in the cloud to tap into virtually anywhere i go. It offers a completely free cloud integration with all my documents that I can access and natively open on the phone. Also if you did some research you would see that Windows mobile 6 still has a larger market share than Android has, so to say they have no market share to offer is a little off base and naive. It also offers development tools that are already familiar to almost any developer that works with VisualStudio, XNA, or Silverlight, which again is a much larger community than both android or iOs combined. And I'll just leave it at this list before I get too long winded.
it worked with Xbox...well, Xbox 360,
Crawl, Walk, Run...so here's to Windows Phone 8! :)
Developers,Developers,Developers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMU0tzLwhbE
A zune-HD-esque phone would be killer awesome, 4.3" please.
"they're making it rain on mobile developers with good ideas"
Is this a good thing or a bad one? I'm confused. It sounds bad - but the rest of the article sounds positive...
Microsoft has really taken the gloves off here ... at launch they are going to be on multiple carriers with multiple devices with major apps ready to go.
Everyone who has had an early look at the o/s says it's really pleasant to look at and quite usuable. I am sure Steve Balmer is keeping a close eye on the WinPhone7 team too.
The fanboys can hate all they want the truth of the matter is Microsoft is going to be a mobile player come fall.
All the handset makers are also making sure if you use your hand to hold your phone you get reception.
I can't wait to see some of the final products.
@HighestRanked2
just got done reading your posts in this thread and none of them have much merit .. your just a iFanboy harassing people randomly and attacking Microsoft as if they are some fly by night little company trying to horn in on Apple's business ... there is plenty of room in the market for Google, Microsoft, and Apple.
Your comment about the iphone flushing WM7 down the toilet made me giggle. The iPhone needs to work on its reception issues before it learns how to flush a toilet.
At first i thought you might just be a bored 13y/o bothering people but then i realized the 13 y/o's i know are much more clever.
@HighestRanked2
You responded to HIS comment. He responds to you and then he's YOUR stalker???
You're such a friggin paranoid moron.
I know i,m enjoying my Zune HD 32 docked to my home system with a playlist of over 700 songs of endless music never ending .
Say and do what you will i know what i'm doing :)
@PathogenX Seconded. It's hard to believe there's a person on the other side of my screen writing that tripe.
@Rafe1621
"Of course, there's not really anything wrong with Microsoft INORGANICALLY pursuing support for its ecosystem like this..."
"Coming Clean" about something that wasn't denied previously.
WTF are you talking about?
Microsoft does this in other spaces as well where they aren't winning...not a huge surprise. And hey, they need all the help they can get at this point.
@HighestRanked2
Wow! It's amazing how you have a time machine/ can see how an unreleased OS is going to do! You're such a biased moron. You can't even fathom for a second that something that competes against your beloved iPhone can do well.
Seriously. I have my doubts about it, and it's good to be skeptical with a new product, but WTF? You're assuring us that it's going to fail 100%??
Since MSFT got put through the wringer , I trust them more than Apple and maybe even more than Google.
Apple isn`t transparent on security issues at all...never has been. They sneak in massive security updates , and if something happens , they say it is YOUR fault.
Good shit MS!!!
Can't wait to pick up one of these phones at launch.
I really don't see anything wrong with Microsoft paying developers to get onboard their new mobile OS.
This isn't the Olympics or the NCAA.
That said, I'm likely not getting a WP7 phone, and I'm likely not Microsoft's target market either: young-ish professionals under 35. Microsoft is just such a 'square' outfit. They're your parents' idea of cool tech. I'm betting somebody like the 50-something tax attorney in the apartment next to me is somebody who's the target market for WP7.
They are trying the xbox model of buying exclusivity. I doubt it will work in the mobile arena. iPhone and Android have too much of a head start.
@rotarydialz
The iPhone had already been well-established at Android's release, but that hasn't stopped Android from becoming a popular phone OS. While a company wants to succeed, it doesn't mean they have to be at the top of the charts.
I still see how this has anything to do with getting me or anyone else to buy the phone.
All the more power to MS.
Win-win situation.
MS is well known to society, so they've already got an accomplished reputation.
Also, to you guys complaining about "MS doesn't have the right to do this" and stupid remarks like that, Welcome to America. Let me know of one of MS's products that sold poorly. None.
I'd be happy to be a developer right now, especially one who just graduated (easily entered into the career) or a veteran developer.
They basically have to do this. The way they've blown it over the past few year to the point where HTC just couldn't drag them along anymore, this really is their LAST chance