back to article Microsoft keeps Win Phone 8 under hype-boosting wraps

The reason Microsoft isn't sharing more information about Windows Phone 8 with developers is because it doesn't want to let the cat out of the bag regarding the features of its new smartphone OS, the company says. On Wednesday, Redmond began accepting applications for its super-secretive Windows Phone SDK 8.0 Developer Preview …

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  1. Fuzz

    disappointment

    The only thing hype will bring is disappointment, nothing ever lives up to hype.

    Apple have just announced their new phone and it will be in peoples hands in just over a weeks time. If Microsoft want to attract people away from Android and iOS they need to announce features and an availability date. All we know about WP8 is that you can resize the live tiles, this isn't enough to make people pass up a phone they can buy for one that is coming at some unknown point in the future.

    If Microsoft have killer features they should tell people about them otherwise forums like this one will just remain awash with criticism of the 7.5-8 upgrade path.

    1. Mark C Casey

      Re: disappointment

      It's more than just that, MS aren't really doing anything to make it truly interesting to people.

      Not only have I never seen a single person using a windows phone, I’ve never even heard anyone talking about it except for tech sites like this. And it's usually in a negative light.

      They seem to think emulating some of what Apple does will magically make their products successful. But there's a base misunderstanding going on.

      Copying some of the tactics and strategies that Apple does will not give them success. What they fail to understand is what makes Apple successful is they're able to cohesively develop a fantastic product from top to bottom that people want and are interested in.

      MS have yet to still figure that part out.

      It's so bizarre, MS do a lot of the things that Apple has done like locking out other web browsers and competing services. Yet these things are done because Apple can get away with them, not because people want those being locked out. (they don't)

      This is why Android is a success that's going to eventually end up eating 90%+ of the phone market. Google are doing to Apple and MS, what MS did to Apple in the 90's. They're commoditising smart phones.

      1. MacroRodent
        Happy

        Re: disappointment

        "Not only have I never seen a single person using a windows phone, "

        Well, I see them every day in my commuter train, though it helps that said train runs through Helsinki and Espoo... Lumias are fairly common in Finland, where many people keep patriotically buyng Nokia phones...

        (I don't own a WP7 phone, but I know a couple of people who do, and they are quite happy with them).

        1. Mark C Casey

          Re: disappointment

          I frequently see iphones, android phones and blackberry phones. Not once have I seen a win phone.

          The UK is Europes biggest smartphone market, if MS want to make a dent anywhere it has to be here. Sad thing is their market share is decreasing, it went from 1 percent last year to 0.4 percent this year.

          The only place in the big European countries it saw growth was Germany for some bizarre reason. (0.9 to 1.4 percent)

          Source. (This cnet post)

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: disappointment

      Yeah call it The Prometheus Effect.

      Loads of hype, then you get you hands on it and its great for the first 15 minutes after which you realise you have just wasted money and precious lifetime on something very mediocre.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: disappointment

        I was under the impression that the Prometheus effect was getting something really, really great (fire) and then having your liver pecked out by crows for the rest of your life as a punishment?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: disappointment

          @AC

          "I was under the impression that the Prometheus effect was getting something really, really great (fire) and then having your liver pecked out by crows for the rest of your life as a punishment?"

          It has an entirely different meaning if you have seen Ridley Scott's load of crap.

  2. Mikel

    Slipping the ship date?

    Is that what that means? That would crush Nokia.

  3. Philippe
    FAIL

    Great idea

    So people won't hesitate in ordering an iPhone5.

    They won't know what they could miss.

    Are they recruiting chimps in Microsoft marketing department these days?

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    They probably want to limit the apps to a number that they are able to review. I don't think anyone wants 5000 fart apps to be available on release day.

  5. Wibble
    Coat

    Local phone chimp?

    Is that like a trunk monkey?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee3L9BQQ4Gs

  6. mistergrantham
    Holmes

    It seems to me like they're concealing a mediocre OS that's still less capable than Maemo/Meego-Harmattan or Android (but with the full spammage agenda of the latter). If so, the secrecy makes sense as it may prevent commitments to rival products by people who are prepared to wait-and-see.

    I also suspect their app-store will still be flooded with crappy appvertizements at launch, just the major brands at first.

  7. Hi Wreck
    FAIL

    Featurecide...

    They haven't figured out which parts they have to kill, provided that they can in fact remove them, in order to get thing out the door. This does not bode well.

  8. Mr Young
    Meh

    Yawn

    Does it do Cut and Paste? Or will I have to buy an App for that?

  9. Mikel
    Go

    WP8 is late

    Let's not get fancy. At this point it needed to have as many developers as possible for the Christmas buying season. But it doesn't, because WP8 is not ready for wide release. The ship date has slipped, perhaps until after the Holidays. But they don't want to admit that yet, or you might by an iPhone or Android. They're not as dumb as RIM.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    DrPizza is probably Ars Technica's Peter Bright.

  11. Captain Scarlet
    Black Helicopters

    it doesn't want to let the cat out of the bag

    They don't want to get sued by Apple before their new OS is out obviously!

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Not all features have been announced"

    "Not all features have been debugged" -fixed that for them

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