back to article That Firefox OS mobe: The sorta phone left behind after a mugging

Mobile World Congress - the mobile networks' annual shindig - was getting unwieldy when 10,000 attendees and exhibitors hobbled between yachts in Cannes harbour, so it was moved to Barcelona. Last year, 70,000 attended MWC in the Spanish city, so it was moved to a new venue with twice the floor space and moving walkways between …

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  1. hplasm
    Meh

    Graph with *3* lines on it

    One for Windows Phone 8- it's not 'success'...

    1. Shagbag
      Coat

      Re: Graph with *3* lines on it

      "because the network operators fear Google so much, they’re backing every conceivable alternative, except the one that can succeed, which is Windows Phone."

      'jaw dropped at that one. 'Gave up reading and came straight here.

      1. JDX Gold badge

        Re: Graph with *3* lines on it

        WP has something new to offer was I think the point - a massive company backing it. Whereas all the other new platforms are just rip-off of Android. Android does things just fine already...

        1. Richard Plinston

          Re: Graph with *3* lines on it

          > WP has something new to offer was I think the point - a massive company backing it.

          In what way is it new ? MS has been offering phones for a dozen years or more and watched its market share fall from >40% to <3%.

          Apple is bigger than Microsoft.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Graph with *3* lines on it

          A massive company that changes it's mobile strategy more often than I change my underpants, leaving all existing users in the lurch.

          It happened with WindowsCE, It happened with Kin, It happened with Windows Phone, with Windows Phone 7.whatvever and it will happen with Windows Phone 8 too.

          One minute it's .NET Compact Framework, the next week it;s silverlight, god only knows what it is this week, but for sure any Windows Phone you will end up cursing the day you ever bought it...

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            You will end up cursing the day you ever bought it

            Never really understood this mentality. Perhaps I'm missing something in my phone use ... perhaps it's not there for browsing the web, doing emails, sms, watching vids, mp3 player, games, organising one's life, satnav and a very limited number of useful apps ...

            Sure I understand that some people are mentally very rigid and lack intellectual flexibility to the point that they find it hard to learn anything new quickly ... so having a familiar UI is important to some.

            I also understand that for some people it's important to have the same or 'better' than all their friends as this helps them to define their personality and place in the world.

            But I really don't understand what people are going on about when they suggest that any of these phones are 'better' than each other. The reality is that they all do the most important tasks required of a smartphone. Furthermore no one has to keep the same phone for more than a couple of years so if the phone you buy does it's job it's quite irrelevant what the company behind it does in the interim ... no one is forcing you to buy them again.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Graph with *3* lines on it

            Agreed. You really should change your underwear a tad more often than MS does its mobile strategy though.

        3. Paul Shirley

          Re: Graph with *3* lines on it

          WP - " a massive company backing it" with more 'form' for shafting it's collaborators than almost any other.

          Microsofts size + Microsofts past behaviour + Microsofts total lack of monopoly leverage = Microsoft fail. It's too late for the industry to stop Google dictating terms to them, it's the perfect time to hobble Microsoft and they'd be idiots not to do that. Even if I agreed WP is good, good for business or desirable, having Microsoft in your market never is.

          1. RyokuMas
            Holmes

            Re: Graph with *3* lines on it

            "Microsofts past behaviour"

            ... is probably why the network operators are backing every alternative to Android but Microsoft. On one hand, they've seen others get bitten by the "big bad Microsoft", and now they're scared of the "new big bad Google" who - as has been reported on El Reg recently - believe that their right to flog stuff and make money outweighs the public's right to privacy.

            Unfortunately, only Microsoft has the financial muscle to provide an alternative to Google. Unless the operators can put aside their infighting and work together to create a new breed of smartphone to compete. Personally, I'd rather see a blend of the two, with multiple smartphone operating systems - choice is always good.

      2. Androgynous Crackwhore
        Windows

        Re: Graph with *3* lines on it

        "because the network operators fear Google so much, they’re backing every conceivable alternative, except the one that can succeed, which is Windows Phone."

        'jaw dropped at that one. 'Gave up reading and came straight here.

        Ditto.

        Has anyone else noticed how Orlowski and TheVogon formerly known as RICHTO (TVFKR) are never seen at the same time? Hmmm...

      3. P. Lee

        Re: Graph with *3* lines on it

        > jaw dropped at that one.

        Indeed. WinMoPho is just an unsuccessful iPhone. MS would do exactly the same as Apple, given the chance and market expertise.

        The Telco's need a USP. If I were the telco's I'd try to license apps on user's behalf (or purchase via phone bill) in return for no spyware or advertising. Free and (since no advertising) faster apps, slightly more expensive calls. It might be a big hit with business where the company pays for calls, but the users get apps for free and it would reduce the data load on the network as adverts are no longer pulled from all over the internet.

        I don't know if it would work, but its worth investigating.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Boffin

          Re: Graph with *3* lines on it@ P.Lee

          "It might be a big hit with business where the company pays for calls, but the users get apps for free and it would reduce the data load on the network as adverts are no longer pulled from all over the internet."

          Many big corporates (like my 90,000 employee company) specifically ban users from downloading apps or media on work devices, including phones. And the last thing the network guys want is to replace the minimal load of a handful of adverts for permitted apps with the vast load of the entire company downloading dancing dog videos or playing networked games. So I don't see your mixed private/work example cutting much ice with corporate phone buyers, all aiming for the cheapest, nastiest crap they can find. In my company's case they standardised on nice cheap Wildfire S handsets, rolled them all out, and promptly had to replace them all with Orange San Diego's because the Wildfire S is too small for most people's hands, and too slow and clunky in operation (which could have been foreseen, but for the fact that somebody in IT procurement was suffering from the red mist, and could only see the euro signs).

          I think your offer makes good sense for retail customers, and is a good way of building a value added offer (unlike MNO's current offers of crapply customised Android makeovers that add no value but simply delay the roll out of updates). But that requires Toadafone and their mates to think like a customer, and there's precious little evidence that they can.

          What AO misses here is not that Firefox needs to be attractive or desirable, nor does it even need to sell - it's an option for the future. A hugely important option, because if Google do change the rules, then there is a working alternative. You can always pay to add some polish later if the need arises, but for a handful of shekels they (and the handset makers) know that they aren't beholden to MS or Google alone. It certainly needs to work at the basic level, because that's not something you can build quickly, and if it doesn't work you can't even sell it and promise future upgrades. Whereas a lumpen but effective OS can be rolled out, and then you throw money at the UI.

          I doubt that this will become a major player in the phone OS world (although note how Frefox became a major player in the browser market on the back of the poor quality of its major competitor). But for the MNO's and the phone makers, it just needs to persist, ideally to keep Google in line, and failing that to be an exit door from Android. Like an ejector seat in a military aircraft, you really want it to be there, but you don't want to have to use it.

  2. Anomalous Cowturd
    Linux

    Nice of you to make the effort Andrew...

    So, we should all just buy an iDevice then?

    Thanks.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Coffee/keyboard

      Re: Nice of you to make the effort Andrew...

      @Andrew - "you can’t get everything you want in any format you want for a decent price, and it doesn’t play seamlessly. All the things Apple does within its own walled garden"

      Joking about the "format" thing and the "price" thing, right? 'Cause that's freaking hilarious. I need a new cup of coffee and a new keyboard.

  3. Adair Silver badge

    Given Microsoft's track record...

    ...why would any of the mobile corps, etc. want to hitch their hardware wagons to WindowsPhone? Experience, or failing that history, says there's a good chance they'll be shafted as MS sets out to call the tune. I'm not saying MS is the devil incarnate, or that WP is crap, but perhaps it's understandable that plenty of people who want to make money try to make sure that is little as possible gets creamed off their profit margins, often wafer thin at the best of times, to feed the shareholders of an OS vendor who is beyond their control and used to believing that it's in charge.

  4. Thomas 4
    IT Angle

    A somewhat harsh editorial...

    ...especially when it comes to Firefox OS. I have a Lumia 820 and like it as much as the next man, as long as it isn't Eadon. Yet even I recognise that a new OS entering the market can only be a good thing. Is it going to cause Google and Apple to quake in their boots? I doubt it. Will it inspire Windows Phone 8 and BB OS 10 to fight tooth and nail for the third spot, thus improving their own OSes and setting a benchmark for newcomers to aim for? I hope so.

    Even the mighty Android and iOS had issues when they were first launched and had extremely small markets for their first year or so.

    1. jai

      Re: A somewhat harsh editorial...

      I think the point was that, given that both iOS and Android have made progress and improvements since they were launched, it's strange to see FirefoxOS come out with so much progress and improvements yet to be made. Surely they've looked at a recent example from the competition and so should have made an effort to compete.

      At least, that's how I read it.

      1. Danny 14

        Re: A somewhat harsh editorial...

        there is one thing about WP8 - the devices are cheap. If you want a work phone that connects seamlessly to an internal cloud and exchange environment then they are cheap to run and cheap to set up. Battery lasts reasonable time between charging too.

        Dont get me wrong, I wouldnt swap my galaxy S2 for one for -personal- use but im trialling a couple here at work for the SMT and they seem to do the job for the right price.

        1. Chris Parsons

          Re: A somewhat harsh editorial...

          Being an old person who uses his phone for phoning, text, email and maps, and little else, I have to say I love my Lumia 920 and it's got a great camera. As you say, it integrates well into the world of Exchange, and that's just what I want. Battery life's pretty good, too.

    2. Mark .

      Re: A somewhat harsh editorial...

      "Even the mighty Android and iOS had issues when they were first launched and had extremely small markets for their first year or so."

      It's also worth noting that iphone's 2nd place really is very recent - the history of smartphones has really been Symbian, then Android, with iphone mostly in 3rd, 4th or 5th place. It pipped into 2nd with Symbian being dropped, and BB's loss in share, but it's really more than Android has come to dominate, now at near 80% share. (Indeed, the gap between iphone and Android is far greater than iphone and whoever's in 3rd place.)

      And whilst Android grew rapidly after its first year, it took iphone around 3 or 4 years to get anywhere near comparable to other platforms.

      1. RyokuMas
        Thumb Up

        Re: A somewhat harsh editorial...

        "Even the mighty Android and iOS had issues when they were first launched and had extremely small markets for their first year or so."

        Been saying this for ages, normally as a challenge to the anti-choice biggots to find numbers to back up their claims - not that they ever have, accurate Microsoft stats seem to be rare as rocking-horse shit, but I figured that if these zealots actually had a point to make rather than just decrying Microsoft at every opportunity, they'd find some.

        I guess they'd be happy to live in a world where this sort of behaviour is perfectly fine and above board.

    3. JDX Gold badge

      even I recognise that a new OS entering the market can only be a good thing

      Why? If we have only one dominant player or even 2, then more competition can be good. If we already have 4 (iOS, Android, WP, BB) then we have competition and differentiation already. A slew of similar competing nix-based OS does not seem to do anything but fragment the ecosystem, especially the nix part of it.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: even I recognise that a new OS entering the market can only be a good thing

        If we already have 4 (iOS, Android, WP, BB) then we have competition and differentiation already

        @JDX: You're a Windows Phone fanboi, we get it, and we also understand why you should be worried about new competition entering the market and ending once and for all what chance your favourite platform has of achieving 5% market share.

        More operating systems entering the market place is a good thing, particularly when they can interoperate using HTML5 (Firefox OS, Ubuntu, Sailfish, BB10, maybe Tizen) and Qt (Ubuntu, Sailfish, BB10, Android, iOS, maybe Tizen).

        More choice, more diversity, yet essentially one shared ecosystem - what's not to like?

        1. DiBosco
          Thumb Up

          Re: even I recognise that a new OS entering the market can only be a good thing

          Actually, I really like your point about interoperability. with HTML5 and Qt. I really hate and resent the whole lock-in with Apple and Microsoft (and Android), whether it might be on the phone or the desktop.

          I don't know why more platforms aren't built with Qt. I use a package for writing embedded code which is called Crossworks. It's written using Qt and it's available not only for Linux, Windows and OS X, but also Open Solaris (and yes, I bought it to run on Linux, we *do* buy software, us Linux users!). It [Qt] makes fast, good looking truly cross-platform applications, every night Rowley do an automated build for each platform. It bemuses me that [third party] companies that make applications limit themselves to one OS. I really don't care about which platform has biggest market share; if people want to get locked-in with MS or Apple, that's their lookout, but it doesn't make sense for the third party app writers (and frankly, it doesn't really make sense for the users).

          "More choice, more diversity, yet essentially one shared ecosystem - what's not to like?" Spot on!

        2. JDX Gold badge

          Re: even I recognise that a new OS entering the market can only be a good thing

          >>@JDX: You're a Windows Phone fanboi, we get it

          Come back when you can make an argument rather than just insult people for upvotes. If a fanboi is someone who thinks WP is roughly on a par with Android and iOS then sure I'm a fanboi.

          HTML5 is not the answer. It lacks many essential features and requires developing in a horrific toolset. That's WHY everyone writes apps for multiple platforms in the first place, not for fun. Maybe in 5 years your point will be valid.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: even I recognise that a new OS entering the market can only be a good thing

            Maybe in 5 years your point will be valid.

            The point is valid now, the fact you don't think it is shows how badly you have your head stuck up Ballmers ass. The entire Firefox UI is written in just HTML+CSS, which just goes to show it can be done. Today.

            For the new platforms other than Firefox OS, if you want to go beyond HTML5, then you also have Qt, which works on every platform (though not Windows Phone, but that's Microsofts loss).

            There's a world of choice out there that you seem to be closing your mind to. Developers are not stupid, they'll choose the platforms that make sense and if that means using tools that allow them to target the incumbents (iOS/Android) and also the new players for very little additional effort then they will do so.

            Keep drinking the Microsoft koolaid and rocking the Windows Phone pal, it sounds like you'll be one of the last.

  5. Anonymous Coward 101

    Forking Android

    Why assume that operators won't mess up an Android fork, just like they mess up everything else?

    1. dotdavid
      Thumb Up

      Re: Forking Android

      That bit of the article made me laugh out loud. I'd love to see what depths of depravity for example Orange could come up with, judging by the state of their Android launchers, if they could control the entire platform...

    2. TeeCee Gold badge

      Re: Forking Android

      Maybe, but it's a lot harder to mess up something when the hard work of getting its underpinnings stable has already been done than it is to mess up something when starting from scratch.

  6. Dan 55 Silver badge

    Why would the operators back MS?

    WP has its own updates pushed out from MS's mothership and it's own MS-controlled app store where MS gets the cash and MS-centric services... it's a copy and paste of the iPhone.

    But yes, they should have funnelled money between them into the GSMA and come up with an Android fork with n different operator-flavoured versions of a home screen, icons, operator app store, mobile manufacturer app store (got to bribe them somehow), media store, account management app, push e-mail, cloud storage, Joyn, twatbook app, etc... Can't be that difficult, most of it's done already for Android and Intel would love the chance to throw money at it too.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Why would the operators back MS?

      Windows Update appeared in 1995. SUS appeared in 2005. iphone in 2007.

    2. GBL Initialiser

      Updates are pushed out from phone makers, not Microsoft.

      1. Intractable Potsherd

        @GBL Initialiser

        "Updates are pushed out from phone makers, not Microsoft." Why is that? I know it is true, but I don't understand why (yes, I'm new to Mobile OSes).

    3. Anonymous Coward 101
      FAIL

      Re: Why would the operators back MS?

      "But yes, they should have funnelled money between them into the GSMA and come up with an Android fork with n different operator-flavoured versions of a home screen, icons, operator app store, mobile manufacturer app store (got to bribe them somehow), media store, account management app, push e-mail, cloud storage, Joyn, twatbook app, etc... Can't be that difficult, most of it's done already for Android and Intel would love the chance to throw money at it too."

      Why would anyone in the market for a nice phone want this? The phones would need to be either much cheaper than existing Android phones, or better.

      Given that Android is given away to manufacturers and the major expense is the hardware, the phones are unlikely to be cheaper. The phones are extremely unlikely to be better: there is no possibility that the network operators will come up with a better maps app than Google, and a multitude of shitty app stores will be correctly perceived by consumers to be inferior to one good app store.

      I could see this plan might snare a few customers at the low end of the market, but at the higher end, forget it.

      1. Dan 55 Silver badge

        Re: Why would the operators back MS?

        Nobody at the higher end buys one of those mobiles rebadged for an operator, but there are plenty of people at the lower end who don't care and something like this would be fine for them. Intel wants to subsidise Atom mobiles. The operators can get revenue from the app store, customer data, and advertising instead of Google. They might have a problem with maps, but Nokia's just announced they're willing to licence theirs out.

        An Android-compatible platform which gives some power back to the operators wouldn't really take long to develop and would certainly be a better strategy than flailing about year after year. People who want the real Android deal but fancy any operator-specific apps (you never know, there might be some...) could easily download them if they feel like it.

      2. Paul 135

        Re: Why would the operators back MS?

        Android isn't given away to manufacturers. There is a license fee.

        1. Dan 55 Silver badge

          Re: Why would the operators back MS?

          There's a licence fee for Google Apps but not for Android

          1. dotdavid
            Unhappy

            Re: Why would the operators back MS?

            Oddly, there is a licence fee to Microsoft for use of some unspecified patents (sound familiar?).

            Unless you ignore Microsoft's threats, that is.

            1. Androgynous Crackwhore
              Mushroom

              Re: Why would the operators back MS?

              >Oddly, there is a licence fee to Microsoft for use of some unspecified patents (sound familiar?).

              >Unless you ignore Microsoft's threats, that is.

              Quite. MS refuses to even disclose what it is they're demanding royalties for. More protection racket than licence fee.

  7. The_Regulator

    Yes They Should

    Both continue to look at alternatives and support windows phone. Nothing is perfect whether that be apple, google, MSFT or BB but competition is good and I agree with your comments that windows phone is probably the most poised to be able to compete so long as Microsoft doesn't screw it up......(waits for crickets chirping)

  8. jai

    We can't stop here

    lol reads like Fear and Loathing in Barcelona :)

    Andrew's post at the end of the event will just read

    "This is bat country"

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The sorta phone left behind after a mugging

    I think that badge goes to Windows Phone. They can't give them away, storerooms are chock full of unsold Lumias. Wait until shareholders find out....

    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Re: The sorta phone left behind after a mugging

      "Dad, what's a Lumia?"

  10. piscator

    classic !

    "The on-site catering situation here is so desperate that by mid-week the Red Cross will be dropping food parcels, or the attendees will start eating each other. Perhaps that’s where Accenture comes in. Now that would be very JG Ballard. ..." Yo ! Where's that zombie icon ?!

  11. Ben Hanson 1
    Linux

    It seems to me that there is no doubt that there is a market for a techie phone. Someone can surely step in and make that market work for them. I suspect that it is merely a question of time before one of the Linux phone OS' is successful on its own terms.

    In this context banging on about 'Apps' seems pointless. The mass market is pretty much sewn up - we get it! No, a fork of Android will not do the job because no-one in their right mind wants to run Java on a mobile phone.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Sigh

      "In this context banging on about 'Apps' seems pointless. The mass market is pretty much sewn up - we get it! No, a fork of Android will not do the job because no-one in their right mind wants to run Java on a mobile phone."

      ..except that you write in Java, and compile to Dalvik bytecode, which is not Java bytecode, that being most of the bloody point. You know, the Dalvik VM not being the JVM...

      Unless you've not been keeping abreast of events in the last couple of years, matters surrounding Android and Java are at the heart of a rather large court case. You could do worse than reading up a middle before making posts like that.

  12. K
    Gimp

    All the things Apple ...

    I smell fanboi! ..

    Never the less you are right, Android is lacking in many areas and inconsistant in many places - but as a person who likes to tinker and play I accept those limitations over the restrictiveness of Apple products.

  13. the-it-slayer
    Go

    This article is missing something...

    A slobbering of Eadon? Or the black badge man as I like to call him/her/thing.

    Personally, more OSes that can enter the ring the better. Especially if Firefox OS is much more lightweight and communication-centric. Some people want smartphones, but don't need all the app-gumph that comes with it (and the requirement to spend, spend, spend on apps).

    Simplicity is king. In terms of architecture, iOS/Android are far from that now.

    1. Matt Piechota
      FAIL

      Re: This article is missing something...

      "Some people want smartphones, but don't need all the app-gumph that comes with it (and the requirement to spend, spend, spend on apps)."

      I must have missed that part of my phone contract; I have yet to spend a penny at the Google store. I generally find plenty of free options that are suitable for my relatively light phone usage (email, social media, restaurants, maps, etc.).

      1. the-it-slayer

        Re: This article is missing something...

        Even the free apps try to encourage you to buy their PRO counter parts. Maybe I should of said a "reliance" on an app store to fulfil people's requirements (app stores cost money to run/promote). Again, iOS/Android are too app-centric. Any major development to the basic communication frameworks (messaging/e-mail/calls etc) have barely been touched.

  14. Mark .

    "Then came Apple’s charge into the industry, and the industry’s response, first with lookalikes then with workalikes."

    The 2007 iphone looked and worked like my 2005 feature phone (with a grid of coloured icons), and it took Apple years to add the features like apps and copy/paste that other platforms had. But nothing like a nice rewrite of history...

    "It is exactly what you’d expect from an iPhone clone in 2009"

    What's a 2009 iphone clone - one that still couldn't multitask?

  15. James Hughes 1

    Can I have Andrew's MWC ticket?

    Because I pretty sure he shouldn't be there after an article like that.

    1. diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

      Re: Can I have Andrew's MWC ticket?

      I thought it was pretty hilarious.

      C.

      1. Law
        Stop

        Re: Can I have Andrew's MWC ticket?

        "I thought it was pretty hilarious."

        Uh huh... But for the wrong reasons I fear.

      2. Tim Parker

        @diodesign : Re: Can I have Andrew's MWC ticket?

        "I thought it was pretty hilarious.

        C."

        I thought it was laughable too - perhaps just not for the same reasons as you did....

    2. GBL Initialiser

      Re: Can I have Andrew's MWC ticket?

      Would that be because he questioned a high profile open source project (Firefox OS), questioned an "open" source product (Android), made a small remark that could cast WP in a positive light or some other reason?

      I suppose you could object to the overall tone but I found it quite amusing whilst still being news.

  16. Medium Aardvark
    FAIL

    fear Google?

    If the operators are scared of Google then they should be much more scared of Microsoft given their long record with partners.

    It is possible to create a very good mobile phone based on a linux platform - Nokia's N9 for example which is so good that it isn't allowed to compete with Windoze phone in large markets.

    Not that most people care what is inside the phone. They just want it to work & have lots of apps including angry birds & facebook.

    1. dogged

      Re: fear Google?

      If the operators are scared of Google then they should be much more scared of Microsoft given their long record with partners.

      The networks weren't given any cause for fear under the WM days. Remember those? When smartphones meant WM or Symbian? Back when Apple were a semi-bankrupt copy-house for other people's designs?

      As opposed to now, when they're only intellectually bankrupt.

  17. Jon Green
    Facepalm

    JG Ballard?

    I thought "Soylent Green" was based on Harry Harrison's novel "Make Room! Make Room!"

    1. Daniel B.
      Happy

      Re: JG Ballard?

      I'm guessing that he's referring to High Rise, not Soylent Green.

  18. Tom 35
    Facepalm

    What?

    except the one that can succeed, which is Windows Phone.

    How would the operators be better off dealing with Microsoft then Google?

    1. dogged

      Re: What?

      They did it before under Windows Mobile. I don't remember any wailing and gnashing of teeth back then.

      If you do, please let me know. It'd be interesting to compare the old WM+Symbian days for network pain with the new iOS+Android days.

  19. Lars Silver badge
    Pint

    Being hungry

    Being hungry is not good four your soul. But I suppose it's simply dull too in Barcelona.

  20. Quxy
    Thumb Down

    While I am inclined to agree about Firefox OS...

    Isn't AC is the same chap who used the same arguments in 2010 to confidently predict the rapid demise of Android and the increased dominance of Apple and RIM? [Rummages through archives.] Yeah, I thought so.

    Of course, at the time he did preface his predictions with the caveat that "I've been wrong about mobile more than I've been wrong about anything else - quite epically and unheroically wrong...", so we may not want to rule out mobile Linux yet.

  21. Law
    WTF?

    "you can’t get everything you want in any format you want for a decent price, and it doesn’t play seamlessly. All the things Apple does within its own walled garden"

    Lmao, sure sure.... So when does the new job at apple start Andrew?

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What?

    A lightweight OS that will run smoothly on cheap smartphones without having Google, Apple or MS putting their hand up your arse without any Vaseline? What exactly is not to like?

  23. Paul 135

    "you can’t get everything you want in any format you want for a decent price, and it doesn’t play seamlessly. All the things Apple does within its own walled garden. So it’s all a bit of a mess. "

    What a lot of codswallop. Android is infinitely much more flexible in this regard. The stench of fanboi was unbearable when reading this article.

  24. Daniel B.
    FAIL

    Bad advice!

    "because the network operators fear Google so much, they’re backing every conceivable alternative, except the one that can succeed, which is Windows Phone."

    M$ has shat over and destroyed most if not all of the mobile phone manufacturers that have dared to sell their soul to the Borg: Sendo, Palm, HTC to a lesser extent, and now Nokia. Any operator or mobile phone manufacturer going down the Microsoft way would be infinitely stupid by now! Also, note that Symbian's history goes back to a Nokia+world coalition precisely to *stop* MS from taking over the mobile OS market.

    I'd rather see the coalition go for something like webOS, or probably reviving Maemo/Meego or Harmattan as an alternate platform.

    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Re: Bad advice!

      The operators hate Microsoft because, like Apple, it doesn't let them customise the phones as their business intelligence advisers insists they must. Oh, and they've all also seen how much fun it is to be locked into Windows/Office/Internet Explorer.

      But I think it's just a strawman argument. I don't think operators have much to fear from Google services. They own the network and know exactly what kinds of packets are going where: premium services at a premium price at the flick of a switch: "watch the Champions League final on YouTube on your mobile exclusively with XYZ." Google will get into bed with anyone as will the operators (Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei, Alcatel…) so it's a match made in heaven.

  25. Anonymous Coward
  26. ThomH

    I think Firefox OS could have a chance

    FIrefox already has an established developer community so I don't think there's too much risk of early abandonment. Mozilla has shown no desire to sell parts of their software so I assume the licensing will be exactly like the browser — install the free package and there's no trade mark issues. That's unlike Android where you can't provide some components or use the name without paying a fee.

    I therefore think the Firefox OS could make a play for the very low end; the area where unlicensed Android currently plays but with the advantage that if nothing underhand is going on then there's an opportunity for more legitimate companies to supply a more visible push.

    It's not much of a chance but then I wouldn't have given Mozilla much of a chance in the early 2000s so I think it'd be foolish to write the thing off.

  27. Cameron Colley

    Nice troll attempt.

    Being aware of Windows mobile oferings before Apple got into phones and being aware of how Android managed to become more prevalent than Apple's mobile offering I can only think the author is a moron or a troll.

    Markets change.

  28. Knives&Faux
    Stop

    Where's the love for lumia? Great phone in my experience, don't understand the phone zealotry here.

    1. The_Regulator
      Windows

      LMAO @ Where's The Love!!

      LOL @Knives&Faux if you mention that windows phone is actually good here you will be instantly downvoted and classes as a troll.

      It is actually a sin on the register to say that anything produced by microsoft especially anything new e.g. windows 8, windows phone 8 is good.

  29. Unicornpiss
    Pint

    I would speculate that Andrew is a fanboi

    ...which is fine, but I was hoping for objectivity here. Overall a decent article, but not without bias.

    BTW, when I plug my Motorola Android device into a big-screen TV (which you can't even do with an iPhone), it "just works", and it works great. Pretty much you have a fairly powerful netbook at your disposal with several modes of operation. And as long as you're on a solid wi-fi connection or willing to shell out for streaming data over 3 or 4G, streaming media such as Netflix, Amazon, etc. works flawlessly.

  30. The_Regulator

    Lol @Streaming phone to Big Screen TV

    I would use that option if the only things left in the world were my phone and my tv otherwise thanks but no thanks.

    Cracks me up how android users want to tout garbage things like that as a selling point...

    1. M Gale

      AAAAAAAAAAAAAAALRIGHTY THEN!

      Cracks me up how android users want to tout garbage things like that as a selling point...

      Yep, real funny how I can plug my phone into someone's telly and be watching films and youtube with them all night.

      Well, we were watching Jim Carrey.

  31. mIRCat
    Pint

    Poor Andy sounds so put upon. Perhaps he needs a break.

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