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Why Is Windows Phone Failing?

Eweek asks "Why is Windows Phone failing?"  The question should be "How could it not fail?"   What is the benefit of a Windows phone?  It doesn't have the apps, ease of use, and coolness factor of an iPhone.  It doesn't have the apps, cutting edge hardware, and customizability of Android.  It doesn't even have basic things people want like a web browser with pinch to zoom.  There is literally no reason to get a windows phone except perhaps if you like the interface so much that you can't imagine using an iPhone or Android Phone.  Sure Mango will be an improvement, but it won't give anyone a reason to buy a Windows phone over another type of phone.  it will just make people who already wanted one a little happier.   What Microsoft needs to do is put together a phone that looks like a Galaxy S II with a 720p screen and a state of the art CPU/GPU.  Then it needs to port the 20 best x-box games over to Windows phone and allow you to play on-line with console players.  That is the only chance that MS has to have a device people lust over. 

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40% of "Many" Android Phones Being Returned--I Don't Think So

I usually do not link to the analysis of other sites as I do try to contemplate Android.  But, this post at Boy Genius Report does a very good job of debunking the recent of meme of 40% Android phone returns.
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Lies, Damn Lies, and IPhone Sales Predictions

Our friends over at Beat Week are citing a survey that 33-50% of all Americans are going to buy an iPhone 5 when it comes out.  Take a second to think about that.  Apple is going to sell 115-175 million iPhones in September?  It's absurd on it's face.  If you read the "poll" you can see why.  First. it is by Pricegrabber.com, a online price search engine--mostly for tech items, not a reputable polling company.  Second, the results are based on people "who responded" not a statistically valid sample.

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Pentile Display Revisited: Just as bad as before

A few people have been able to pick up a Motorola Photon which has a "qHD" pentile display (also on the Droid X and the upcoming Droid Bionic).  This side by side comparison with the HTC Evo clearly shows the visible pixelation despite the Photon's higher resolution.  Look at the glow around the star above and the texture on Mario's face below.  It should be perfectly smooth.  Motorola needs to drop the pentile screen quickly if it wants to compete.  The first thing people want is a good screen and using a pixelated one is not going to make them any sales.  In all fairness though, the Photon screen does have better contrast in the Mario picture.

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Beatweek Explains Android Success: Store salesman brainwash customers

Today Johnny Major of Beatweek informs us of the reason why people buy android devices:

• Carriers have demonstrated undue influence over their customers when it comes to steering them away from the phone they came into the store to buy (read: iPhone), instead talking them into walking out of the store with something they know don’t really want (read: Android).

Why are carriers pushing users to buy Android phones?  Johnny doesn't say.  Probably because it is a tin foil hat conspiracy theory that makes no logical sense whatsoever.  There are a dozen other factual errors and misrepresentations in the article (i.e. the $100 Nexus S is a new model), but this was my favorite

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Moronic Beatweek Post of the Week: Only "geeks" criticize the iPhone.

Just a week after being expertly fisked by iDownloadblog on his ridiculous take on jail breaking, Bill Palmer of Beatweek is at it again with his Apple worshiping posts.  This post is dedicated to "geeks" which seem to be defined as anyone who criticizes the iPhone for any reason.  First he continues to deny the all-too-real iPhone antenna problem--which Apple tried to fix on the Verizon iPhone.  Then he disparages anyone as a "geek" who gets upset when iPhone all glass (not gorilla glass) surface is easily scratched.  That's right Bill, if you are upset at an aesthetic problem, you are a "geek."  Lastly, he actually has the gall to say, without irony, that anyone who has any "problem" with the iPhone is, you guessed it, a "geek."  Bill, anyone so obsessed with a gadget as you are with the iPhone is a geek.


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Moronic Beatweek Apple Fanatics Post of the Week

There are many Apple fanboy sites on the internet, but none of them remotely hold a candle to the Apple worship of the editors of Beatweek.  Some of the stuff is so funny that I thought I would highlight some of their rantings and ravings every week.

• In this post, Beatweek tells us how the new iOS5 features are horrible because they change the perfection that is iOS4.  These horrid additions include: a large screen, iMessenger, and horror of horrors LTE--which they rediculously contend has no build out at all.  Correct if you exclude every major city on the east coast, west coast, and midwest. They even have the gall to say that no one wanted the iPhone's notification system to change--an almost universally desired feature.  And god forbid you should want to take 30 seconds to jailbreak your iPhone for some great features like SBSettings, then you are a total geek. 

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A sidebar about Netflix

This week Netflix raised its rates significantly and pissed off a lot of customers, but most likely for good reason.  The cost of content continues to go up.  The big mistake they made was not increasing prices gradually.  No one wants to see a 60% price increase with no additional benefit, even if it is still the best deal in town.  Whoever made this decision for Netflix should be fired for the PR nightmare it has caused the company.  For me, it made me consider just how little I have been using my Netflix account.  I cancelled my blue-ray package and will probably cancel DVDs and use Redbox for new releases until I run out of new broadcast/cable content to watch. I have been streaming a lot of content to my iPad so I will keep the streaming account which is a good deal for $8 a month.  I will save $16 a month which is a lot more than I would spend on Rebox movies. 

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Motorolla Shooting itself in the foot with Pentile Matrix Displays

All of Motorola's new qHD displays use a pentile matrix (Atrix, Bionic, X2, Photon, Droid 3).  There are a few types of pentile matrix screens, but the bottom line is that each pixel is not aligned the same way and causes what a/v people would call screen door effect--a visible grid bwtween pixels.   Now, some people can't see the difference or are such Motorola fanboys that they refuse to admit they do.  To me it is night and day.  So why is Motorolla using them?  Well they are cheaper to make and use less battery and can be marketed as qHD (960x540), but it seems to me like they are cutting off their nose to spite their face and they are in almost every new Motorola phone.   I would never buy a phone with a pentile screen.  840x480 screens look better to my eyes.  So, for your own sake Motorola, cut your losses and use a real LCD screen.

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Resolution will soon be a non-factor

I look forward to the day the resolution on phones and tablets become a non factor.  For me, resolution is a very important part of the experience as I really do not like looking at a pixelated screen.  It is rumored that the new Nexus phone from Google with be 1280x720.  For a screen of 4.3 inches or less, I don't see much need to go any higher.  Apple's next iPad 2 is a also rumored to have a 1535x 11.52 screen.  I think Android tablets will eventually go to 1080p.  Once we meet these levels then resolution becomes a non factor and we will probably only see the same ram, CPU, CPU cycle that we see in PCs today.

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Android Games Crushed by iOS Games

Games are now the most downloaded type of mobile software.  Android has certainly come a long way in terms of gaming, but having had an iPad for 3 months, I can tell you there is no comparison in breadth and quality--not to mention price.  Here are just a few of the games, I have gotten for $.99.  Real Racing 2 HD, Madden 11, Fifa soccer, Mirror's edge, Nova 2, Scared Oddysey, Dungeon Hunter 2, Asphault 6, Gangstar: Miami Vindication HD, Eternal Legacy HD, and a few more.  These are all near console quality games for .99.  The few that are available for Android are much more expensive and not made for tablets yet.  To Gameloft's credit, they did being the first mobile MMO, Order and Chaos, to Android only a few months after the iOS version.

Tiered Data Comes to Verizon

The day of reckoning comes on Thursday as Verizon moves to tiered data.  Nice of them not to even give new customers a discount of $5 the way AT&T does, but that's what you have to pay to get Verizon's network.

I do have to applaud Verizon for grandfathering in all current data users with the unlimited plan and not forcing us to get one of the underwhelming LTE phones available now.  My wife was waiting to get an iPhone5 this fall to get a smartphone so I bought her a used Droid 1 with an unlimited data plan for now so she could get grandfathered in.

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I have gone over to the Dark side...well not completely

I purchased an iPad 2 for my wife and I a few weeks and I will let you guess who is using it more :)  I have fallen in love with Netflix, Flipboard, Zite, Splashtop and I can't say how good a WoW clone that Order and Chaos is.  iCab is a really nice browser as well.  I bought the Zaggmate keyboard case and it really makes the iPad feel like an iOS laptop when I need a keyboard.  The keys are small and take some getting used to, but after a while it is not big deal.

Wait a minute you say, what about customization and widgets?  I don't think they are as important as on a phone.  On a phone I want all my direct dials at my fingertips.  I  want to be able to glance down at my email, facebook, and twitter and weather widgets.  On an tablet.  I don't really need any of those things so the more polished iOS interface has fewer drawbacks than it does on an iPhone.  I also don't have the problem of reading the small iPhone screen.

All that said, the simplicity does annoy me at times.  Things that take one step on Android take three steps on the iPad.  This is not a big deal on the iPad, becuase I don't need to access things very quickly, but on a phone it would be down right annoying.  Perhaps a jailbroken iPhone with a 4" screen would tempt me, but as of now I could not see myself switching to an iPhone--especially with Order and Chaos coming out for Android soon :)


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Dear Verizon: Not Everyone Wants a 4.3" Screen

The iPhone's biggest problem in my mind is that it is one size fits all. So why are Android manufacturers all using huge 4.3" screens? It is like all new high end laptops having 17" screens. Lets review the upcoming Verizon phones. Thunderbolt 4.3" screen, Charge 4.3" screen, Revolution 4.3" screen, Bionic 4.3" screen. See the trend? 4.3" screens have an initial "wow factor," but they have some big drawbacks. Not everyone is comfortable holding such a large phone especially after you put a case on it making it even bigger. The larger screen reduces pixels per inch making it more pixelated than smaller screens. Larger screens also use more battery. Sure there are some 4" phones like the Incredible S, but it is using an outdated processor and has a 480p screen. What Verizon needs is a 4" phone with a dual core processor and a qHD screen (not a fake qHD pentile matrix screen like the Atrix). So lets not turn Android into Apple and give Android users some choice.

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Amusing Apple Insider Screenshot

Here is an amusing screenshot of Apple fanboi site Apple Insider. Click the image to enlarge. Notice the three advertisements in red.

What Should My Next Phone Be?

I recently started a poll on the Phandroid Droid forum what phone people were going to upgrade to in the next six months. Here are the specs of my dream phone.

• 4"-4.3" inch 960x540 super amoled+ screen.
  
  


• Nvidia Tegra 2 or equivalent.




• Glossy black finish (I know it is cliche, but I like it).




• Battery size equivalent to Bionic.




• LTE and Unlocked bootloader.




• Made by Motorola or HTC7. Gingerbread or latest version of Android.
  

All of these specs are impossible as only Samsung phones have amoled screens. The Galaxy S2 meets most of these requirements except the last one of course, but won't be out on Verizon for a while (see my last post).

So I am stuck. Do I go for a Stealth (SCH-i510) and pass up dual core and risk Samsung's lack of upgrades? Do I go with the bionic and settle for an LCD screen that has not been getting great reviews despite the resolution bump and a locked bootloader? Do I wait for an HTC dual core phone and give up having a super amoled+ screen.

Fortunately I have a non-techie family member who has an upgrade in June. So if I get a phone in the next few months, I can always get another one and pass the old one along. Of course, then we have to get Verizon's tiered data plan.

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Samsung's new single core phone. Why?

Samsung will soon release the Stealth. It is a 4.3 inch super amoled phone. The screen looks terrific. Hopefully it will not have the problems with the GPS that the Galaxy S line had. My major problem with this phone, besides Samsung's reputation for not updating the OS on its Android phones, is that it is not dual core. Why would they release a single core phone with the Hummingbird processor that is almost a year old? Why not use the dual core chip in the Galaxy S2. The only thing I can think of is that Verizon is blocking the S2 so that it can sell Bionics first. It is a shame because a lot of potential Samsung sales will be lost.

Edit: Verizon is pulling the same stunt with the LG Revolution --a single core phone -- when it could be selling the dual core Optimus 2X and Optimus 3D.

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Nook Color: Best Bang for the Buck Android Tablet.

I am back after a long hiatus. Following up on my last post, not only is the Nook color down to $200 on ebay (new sold by B&N), but it is easily rooted and easily flashed with full froyo (or you can run it off an SD card). There is even an early build of Honeycomb for it. Head to head test show that it is even much faster than the Galaxy Tab. For anyone wanting an inexpensive basic android tablet, and don't need a dual core Honeycomb tablet, you can't beat the price.

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