One of the biggest advantages of Cortana was its ability to interface with third party application pretty much at launch (something Siri and Google Now still don't do much of). Going cross platform is awesome though I'm not sure if it'll be quite as useful. Realistically Microsoft could strike a deal and make an Android phone use Cortana by default (which might be really good) which would be quite interesting (especially if it could integrate with third party apps on Android, too).
One thing that makes me hesitant when choosing a new app is what platform(s) it's available or will be available on. I bounce between Android and iOS almost once a year; this type of ubiquity Microsoft is pushing makes me use their products more and more because I know they'll be available everywhere I go.
With Microsoft's recent friendliness to CyanogenMod, I'm thinking the latter is pretty likely. Combining this with a good competitor bundle to replace the "Google Apps" package that generally goes hand-in-hand with installing CyanogenMod on a phone (so including Outlook, a mobile Office, Cortana, some Bing stuff, etc.) would be at least a decent strategy. So, instead of downloading a "gapps" package to be flashed alongside CyanogenMod, a user could instead (or even in addition) download a "mapps" package that would give the user a more Microsofty experience. Hell, maybe Amazon could get in on this with an "aapps" package for things like their custom app store, Amazon Video/Music/Kindle, etc. (which would, granted, compete with their own forays into Android, but they already make these things available to normal Android devices anyway).
The issue in tech has never been who has the best tech wins. Over and over it isn't about technology or better this or that. It is based on mindshare of developers, the market position of the product and public demand for the item.
Window Phones are good tech. The phones are designed very well. The OS is fluid and it does things well. I just can't ever see it breaking into double digits of market share in the next 5 years due to public demand for Windows items and the lack of mind share. Maybe in 5+ years. I think MS has a better chance of just doing a Amazon and fork Android.
Maybe in 5+ years. I think MS has a better chance of just doing a Amazon and fork Android.
I really, really hope they don't do that and stay focused on Windows.
I would never, ever have thought that I'd say that, but since using a Lumia 1020 I have to grant that Microsoft created a damn good, flexible and extremely usable OS for mobile devices.
Remembering that atrocity that was Windows CE I never would have thought this possible and I really intend to stick with the platform. Despite the fact that software selection is somewhat limited compared to Android and iOS (which, practically speaking, is not really that consequential).
>It is based on mindshare of developers, the market position of the product and public demand for the item.
No, no, no. This war is won by distribution. Your mom doesn't go to the store to buy an android phone. She goes to buy a phone. Which phone? The one that the friendly employee at the store proposes. Which one is that? The one that the store manager tells the employee to push. Which phone is that? The one that corporate headquarters tells stores to push. Which phone is that? The ones with lucrative kickback schemes. Which phones are that? The ones that manufacturers decide.
Which phones will they decide on? The phones in partnerships with the company that changes their agreements and APIs every quarter? Maybe they will chose the company that they have a very profitable partnership going on for 3 decades. The company that has the power to waive a magic stick and turn them from unprofitable/breakeven to well into the green. Comapnies pay a lot of money to MSFT every year on patents. Samsung paid $1bn last year alone. Every manufacturer is losing money on smart phones because of that. Guess what? If you push our phone, we can share those patents with you. Oh, btw, we can subsidize those windows phones, give you some cash advance on the OS you sell for us just to stitch things up for the next few quarters.
Microsoft is all about business. Big business. Big partnerships. They suffocate competition in a very deliberate manner. Google hasn't competed ever with anyone. Moreover, Erick Smidt tanked Novel back in the day because of poor relationships with their partners.
On top of that, the OS will be good. Nobody will complain. Lots of phones will be sold in the lower end market. Some corporate deals will be done for the mid and high end markets and the ball will get rolling. Developers will be happy too. MSFT is making big progress in that lately. You also get the added bonus of developing for the windows PC and tablet platforms, in addition to the phone platform. Everyone will make lots of money. Except google.
I think your argument falls on one Company's name HTC. They went BIG on Windows Phones. They made a good phone. They failed. There was a big push at Sprint for Windows Phones a few times and I still see very few in the wild.
People don't go to buy a "phone" in 2015. They go to buy an iPhone, a Samsung or Note4, than the other 1/3 of the market are people who buy the "free phone" which is a thing of the past. Now it is cheapest phone which people have already got burned on. People talk about what phone all the time. Not I got what the store sold me. If they sell you anything it will be an expensive iPhone or Note.
My friend's teenage kids both hated their Windows Phones because they weren't iOS and thought it was uncool. "It wasn't even a Samsung." They both broke the phones so that they wouldn't have to be seen with them.
Ha extremely true. There is absolutely no way Google is going to let Microsoft peddle on their turf. They have been not so subtle about wanting to avoid windows phones for their core products and even to some extend actively sabotaging (remember that whole fiasco with Google blocking maps for Windows phone users?).
This makes me wonder if investing in Cyanogen was a wise strategy for Microsoft? This way they could get past the gates of Google and into the land of Android.
Don't forget about the YouTube fiasco where Google forced Microsoft to withdraw their unofficial app even though they tried everything to comply with Google.
>Realistically Microsoft could strike a deal and make an Android phone use Cortana by default (which might be really good) which would be quite interesting (especially if it could integrate with third party apps on Android, too).
Is there no way for the user of a Android phone to set Cortana as default? That seems strange given Google's and other folks' claims that Android is open.
If this is the case then it looks Android is more closed than a Windows PC where it would be trivial for a developer to create such a service without the platform owner's permission. How is Android more open than Windows again?
If this is the case then it looks Android is more closed than a Windows PC where it would be trivial for a developer to create such a service without the platform owner's permission. How is Android more open than Windows again?
Windows (desktop) is more open in the sense that the platform has fewer constraints on what the user can do by default. Android is more open in the sense that most of the source code is available. These points are not exclusive and do not conflict with each other. It's possible to have a very "hackable" platform without any source code at all - if there is enough interest in RE - and also a very limited platform of which all the source is available, but crypographic signing and other measures get in the way of being able to modify the software.
Windows (phone) is far less open though, and in general this has been the case with mobile devices.
But Windows (desktop) is slowly getting more locked-down too, as a consequence of the "war on general purpose computing".
The user can. BinaryIdiot means striking a deal with a manufacturer, the same way PC manufacturers make agreements to preinstall software on Windows machines.
But while manufacturers such as Samsung can and have agreed to preload Microsoft apps on Android devices, I don't think Google would allow manufacturers to change the search provider. Though that still doesn't prevent them from preinstalling Cortana, or replacing the homescreen with a Cortana launcher.
Partnering with a custom ROM such as CyanogenMod is certainly an option, too.
I assumed Google's requirements for allowing the Play Store on devices would include making Google the default search engine, but I may be mistaken, since it seems Android devices with Bing or Yahoo as the default have appeared in the past.
I'm sure Google would love to add that requirement. But with antitrust regulators from the U.S. and EU salivating at the chance to hit them for monopolistic practices they will avoid anything as overt as that.
Then why does Microsoft say this in their blog post:
>Although the functionality will be very helpful, because it’s “just an app” there will be certain things that Cortana does on Windows phones that won’t work on Android devices or iPhones. Some features require access to the system that aren’t currently possible with iOS or Android, so things like toggling settings or opening apps won’t initially be available in the Cortana companions for those platforms. Similarly, the ability to invoke Cortana hands-free by saying “Hey Cortana” requires special integration with the device’s microphone, so that feature will be limited to Windows Phones and PCs.
Is it a design decision or a platform restriction?
Tasker can certainly change settings and launch apps, so I don't see why Cortana couldn't. Maybe Microsoft just means it's more difficult? They do say certain features "won't initially be available", which implies they will in the future, though this contradicts the statement that the features "won't work".
Hands-free voice control is tricky because Qualcomm controls hardware support. There are some workarounds if you don't want to license Qualcomm's tech, but I guess Microsoft may not want to use such hacks. Otherwise, without Qualcomm's dedicated always-on voice coprocessor, leaving the mic on would drain the battery.
Android is very open, if it wasn't how could other companies take the OS and make their own very successful clones. Such as Amazon or any of the Chinese variants. No one has done that with Windows.
One thing that makes me hesitant when choosing a new app is what platform(s) it's available or will be available on. I bounce between Android and iOS almost once a year; this type of ubiquity Microsoft is pushing makes me use their products more and more because I know they'll be available everywhere I go.