back to article Microsoft and HTC are M8s again: New One mobe sports WinPhone

HTC has launched an M8 phone running Microsoft's latest Windows Phone OS – but only in the US and only for the Verizon network. "Consumers love the HTC One (M8) and today's introduction extends that enthusiasm to new audiences hungry for choice in their mobile experience," said Jason Mackenzie, President of HTC Americas in a …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How much??

    At that price, Microsoft are paying them for that phone.

    Hopefully some people will buy that phone, and let Microsoft know about their dismal app "store".

    Microsoft hasn't given up on its phone OS just yet.

    I, someone who's released a few apps, have.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: How much??

      I was just talking to a company who has developed a new platform for us, and their toolkit supported iOS, Android, BB 10 and Windows. When asked about Windows, they stated that they were seriously thinking about scrapping it because they had zero demand for it..

      1. Anonymous Bullard

        Re: How much??

        I was toying with the idea of developing a Windows "app" when I first tried Windows 8 preview. I then made the best time saving choice of my life (partly because the new Visual Studio was so awful).

      2. jinx3y

        Re: How much??

        probably because they are developing apps that the typical windows phone user doesn't need...and then charging more for it for it than with the other OSs...just sayin...

    2. Michael B.

      Re: How much??

      Taking a look at the buy now page the $99 must refer to the phone + monthly contract price. The full price is given as $599.99 so it's not a super bargain but just business as usual.

      1. jinx3y

        Re: How much??

        considering that people will pay that much and more for a used iPhone, it's a wonder more people aren't switching to Android...

    3. RyokuMas

      Re: How much??

      I, someone who's released a few apps, have.

      What apps? What did they do, who was your target audience, and how did you promote them?

      Just curious...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: How much??

        an app that makes farting sounds, targeted towards simple people... according to my calculations, that meant 98% of windows phone users where potential customers. (the other 4 users had my app on a different platform)

        1. RyokuMas
          Facepalm

          Re: How much??

          *sigh*

          I guess I'm being optimistic in hoping that the "fart app" reply with the oh-so-boring joke about numbers of Windows Phone users was by a different AC to the original poster - it's either that or the OP never actually wrote any WinPhone apps and was just saying they had as justification for a rant.

          If you want to develop mobile apps, your choice of platform is utterly irrelevant if you do not promote. Only the very lucky few hit that winning formula of the moment which takes them viral.

          Otherwise, you are just one voice, trying to be heard amidst all the others, including clones, fart apps, big players (king.com and the like) and everything else. And the bigger the marketplace, the more "other voices" there are.

          To put some context on things: the WinPhone versions of my games get about ten times the number of daily downloads that the Android version do, when no promotion is happening. On the occasions I have lucked out and got some promotion on the WinPhone store, this has increased several-fold.

          Now this is assuming that the audience demographic for Android and WinPhone are the same and my games are equally liked or disliked. Actually creating these games for each platform is relatively simple thanks to cross-platform tools, so it's only sensible to go after as wide an audience as possible.

          What will be interesting (for me) is my next release, which I'm hoping will be simultaneous across WinPhone, iOS and Android and intending to promote at an expo immediately after. I'm very interested to see how many downloads I get for each platform in the first week... and how many upgrade to the paid full version.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: How much??

            Who are you trying to kid? The Phone store is a ghost town. I get that you love it, and you want to convince people to sign up so it's more viable.

            1. RyokuMas
              Boffin

              Re: How much??

              "you want to convince people to sign up so it's more viable."

              Nope, not really, just talking about my experiences. Don't really care which store or platform my games get downloaded from, so long as there are people out there who get some enjoyment out of playing them. Hell, if it weren't for the fact that I have software licences and promotional costs to cover, I wouldn't even mind if people played pirate copies.

              Personally, I'd like to see Blackberry back in the game, and Firefox and Sailfish making some ground too - competition promotes innovation, and is good for the consumer, too. But I digress...

              Back on topic - despite the bluster, you haven't answered my question about how you promoted your apps. You see, I didn't think about promotion with my first games, and they're still languishing with only a few thousand downloads each after a number of years. I learned from my mistake and moved forward. Just as I've learned from my time working solely with Windows Phone to move forward and hopefully break into other platforms.

              Do you have Android - or iOS - versions of these apps? How successful have they been?

              ... or is this just another Eadon-esque claim to validate a troll on a platform you don't like?

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: How much??

      I note that the exact same HTC phone has nearly double the battery life running Windows Phone than when running Android.

      http://wmpoweruser.com/interesting-with-identical-hardware-the-htc-one-for-windows-offers-nearly-double-the-battery-life-vs-android-version/

      It looks like the faster, more efficent OS in terms of UI is also the more efficient in terms of power use.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    bloat

    8GB for such a primitive OS? wowcha

    1. Fuzz

      Re: bloat

      not sure where this 8GB figure comes from, my Ativ S running 8.1 shows 3.57GB used by the system. Loads of Windows phones only have 8GB of flash on the phone and they run 8.1 fine. The HTC 8S only has 4GB and will run 8.1

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: bloat

        3.57GB for such a primitive OS? wowcha

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: bloat

          "8GB for such a primitive OS? wowcha"

          It runs Windows Phone too.

      2. Techs UK

        Re: bloat

        my 8.1 phone system uses 1.8GB - where does this 8GB come from?

  3. Lusty

    One Mate

    Surely if HTC had any sense they'd have named the WinMo version One M8 and just called the Android one the One?

    1. Sampler

      Re: One Mate

      But their previous flagship phone was called the One (and OneX prior to that).

      From this and another report I read earlier today makes it sound like the hardware's identical, so if Windows Phone can be ported to any android handset maybe MS will goto Samsung afterwards.

      Afterall, even though the HTC phones seem to be consistently renowned as best in market in the press it appears the Sammy's are popular with the people. Getting WinPho on that could be a big step forward for them as most folk don't care it's an Android phone, just that it's a Galaxy.

      1. John 62

        Re: One Mate

        The Samsung UK site listing all its current Smartphones has a big Windows OS choice right under Android OS. Granted there's only one Windows Phone on there at the minute (Ativ S) compared to 52 Galaxy Android options, but it's there. Not to mention that Samsung has long been pretty OS agnostic. They've got their own in house OS (Bada, which was succeeded by Tizen) and they used to produce phones with Symbian and Windows Mobile.

        The only hurdle to Samsung putting Windows Phone 8.1 on a Galaxy is Samsung's branding strategy, which currently identifies all Galaxy devices as running Android.

    2. Captain Hogwash

      Re: Surely if HTC had any sense

      I see what you did there.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sendo article

    >>> Microsoft - backed as they are in trade negotiations by the armed might of the US Government, the world's only superpower

    Lol, it's hard to think who fell off their perch the hardest - Microsoft or "the world's only superpower".

    I guess the only superpower title has gone to China.

  5. JimmyPage Silver badge
    Facepalm

    MS are paying the wrong people ..

    sod phone manufacturers ... you could have wall to wall Windows phones in every store. Until you have enough *apps* to offer, no-one who can choose their phone will go Windows.

    If MS invested a few million to develop, say, 50% of the top 50 apps that are lacking a Windows port, they'd have a much better chance of getting Joe Soap to buy one.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: MS are paying the wrong people ..

      They've already tried to pay developers. That just resulted in 100's of magic 8 balls, scam/blag downloaders, and fart boxes.

      http://www.howtogeek.com/194993/the-windows-store-is-a-cesspool-of-scams-why-doesnt-microsoft-care/

      Normally I bum Microsoft - I got the a Surface in the first wave. But the 50 quid chinese knock-off android from eBay got more love from me.

      1. Can't think of anything witty...
        Stop

        Re: MS are paying the wrong people ..

        You do realise that article refers to the windows 8 store and not the windows phone store, right?

        I'd hate to think that you are making wild generalisations...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: MS are paying the wrong people ..

      "Until you have enough *apps* to offer"

      WIndows Phone has over 300,000 apps now. Pretty much the only thing missing that I can think of is SkyGo and apparently that's coming.

      1. therealmav

        Re: MS are paying the wrong people ..

        >WIndows Phone has over 300,000 apps now

        But - and Spotify, you swine I'm talking to you - many of them aren't feature comparable with the iOS and Android versions. Oh and you BBC with your pathetic Winpho iPlayer lacking any of the good stuff like downloads and integration with playlister.

        And I write as a Windows phone user who prefers the UI and is happy with the speed and general unbugginess of Winpho when compared with my previous experience of Android.

  6. Shaha Alam

    "...minus the 8GB required for the Redmond operating system."

    WTH?!?!??

    1. cambsukguy

      It is, in fact, 3.22GB, on my WP8.1 Lumia 1020.

      So, tiny then!

  7. cambsukguy

    I was interested in these app things

    So I looked at the top 50 apps downloaded for a popular OS, Android and noted whether the app was available for WP.

    Many of those that are not are games that, presumably are the current thing, for me, meaningless although knock-offs or originals are often available.

    There is no way I would have the lower battery life, lower upgrade support and lower security for what appears to be a barely better, possibly worse app experience.

    Some apps appear to be trying to mak ethe phone work better, recover performance etc. I have had WP for several years and don't see a performance reduction. I certainly don't need virus tools like AVG etc.

    Of course, the list doesn't include the fact that apps like Nokia MixRadio, HERE maps and Photosynth etc. make using WP better than Android/Google with its apparent necessity to have a data connection to even work for maps and driving directions - especially when travelling abroad. Add to that Nokia Glance for easy status without turning on the phone and the whole experience is slicker.

    And, obviously, I wouldn't have the Nokia camera and more durable physical device either.

    Still, if it is all about the app numbers despite the crappy power use, suit yourself.

    Facebook - available, original

    LINE, available, original

    Viber, available, original

    WhatsApp Messenger, available, original

    Instagram, available, original, although beta

    WeChat, available, original

    Kik, available, original

    Voice changer calling, not available

    Candy Crush Saga, only similar available

    Tube Mate Free, similar apps abound

    Secret - Speak Freely, similar apps available but presumable this is a community?

    Subway surfers, available, original

    Pou, similar apps available

    My Talking Tom, similar apps available

    Jetpack Joyride, available, original

    Ignore No More, remote lock available, baked in, no app required

    Google Play services, er, no

    Facetune, available, original

    Yahoo, built-in, also several apps

    Twoo - available, original

    Teen Patti Gold ♠ Indian Poker, available, not original

    Glide - Video Texting, not available except in apps like whatsapp

    Facebook Messenger, available, original

    Violetta Music Adventure, some violetta games, not original

    Temple Run 2, available, original

    8tracks radio, similar available. Also Nokia MixRadio, free streaming, local storage, play me etc.

    WhatsDog. WhatsApp's watchdog - Horrible app, not available

    MTK Engineering Mode - special app for specific devices

    VIDEO MP3 Convert, similar video downloaders, mp3 extractor/converters

    Trivia Crack, another trivia game, many available, word games like Wordament, Snap Attack, the list is endless.

    Cartel De Santa, available, not original

    Clean Master Phone Boost, Some performance app, jesus, just like windows XP

    ES File Explorer File Manager, still not really a file-based system although they may add something to the OS to deal with files I read

    Waze, available, original

    Pic Collage, tons of these

    Boom Beach, some expensive version available, not original

    MX Player, apparently plays videos

    LIC (for agents), available, original

    Apna Neemuch, not available

    Ronaldinho Super Dash, not available

    Head Soccer, not available

    Mobileuncle MTK Tools, special app

    MiniDiary, a diary, similar apps available

    Alavani - Marathi Horror Story, not available

    AllShare Player, DNLA available via Nokia app, works with Allshare

    S Health, Samsung app, needs gear, fit thing?

    Mods for PE2, minecraft thing, not available

    My Virtual Girlfriend Free, hmm, ok, similar apps seem to be available

  8. Tommy Pock

    I want one of these so badly I just did a sex wee.

    And that's that.

  9. Alan Denman

    US - the land of most patently obvious patents.

    HTC probably make a big loss paying MS for Android in the US.

    Windows r US.

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