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Avatar

ponsaelius

Alpha Member Since Aug 2016

50 Posts
299 Comments
Upvotes 83%
Downvotes 17%
  • Subject Posted By Forum Category Last Activity Activity
    What is the "future of Windows" ?
    By ponsaelius, 2 months ago
    37 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Windows
    ponsaelius Microsoft Windows 2 months ago 37 Replies
    Death of an HP Stream tablet
    By ponsaelius, 3 months ago
    16 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Hardware
    ponsaelius Microsoft Hardware 3 months ago 16 Replies
    Watching Surface Pro X video reviews.
    By ponsaelius, 4 months ago
    4 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Microsoft
    ponsaelius Microsoft Microsoft 4 months ago 4 Replies
    Productivity Cortana
    By ponsaelius, 5 months ago
    1 Reply
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Microsoft
    ponsaelius Microsoft Microsoft 5 months ago 1 Reply
    All about the legacy
    By ponsaelius, 5 months ago
    17 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Microsoft
    ponsaelius Microsoft Microsoft 5 months ago 17 Replies
    Xbox Thoughts
    By ponsaelius, 6 months ago
    9 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Games
    ponsaelius Microsoft Games 5 months ago 9 Replies
    Passwordless Hello
    By ponsaelius, 6 months ago
    0 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Microsoft
    ponsaelius Microsoft Microsoft 6 months ago 0 Replies
    Duo Thoughts
    By ponsaelius, 6 months ago
    19 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Mobile
    ponsaelius Microsoft Mobile 6 months ago 19 Replies
    Iphone and Your Phone
    By ponsaelius, 6 months ago
    12 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Mobile
    ponsaelius Microsoft Mobile 6 months ago 12 Replies
    Reviews that are a blast from the past.
    By ponsaelius, 7 months ago
    4 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Mobile
    ponsaelius Microsoft Mobile 7 months ago 4 Replies
    How it rolls when Cortana goes
    By ponsaelius, 1 year ago
    8 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Mobile
    ponsaelius Microsoft Mobile 1 year ago 8 Replies
    Bing Maps demo
    By ponsaelius, 1 year ago
    8 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Microsoft
    ponsaelius Microsoft Microsoft 1 year ago 8 Replies
    Just deleted Cortana
    By ponsaelius, 1 year ago
    12 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Mobile
    ponsaelius Microsoft Mobile 1 year ago 12 Replies
    Surface Phone
    By ponsaelius, 1 year ago
    1 Reply
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Mobile
    ponsaelius Microsoft Mobile 1 year ago 1 Reply
    Let Cortana Go
    By ponsaelius, 1 year ago
    19 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Smart Home
    ponsaelius Microsoft Smart Home 1 year ago 19 Replies
    Cortana in intensive care
    By ponsaelius, 1 year ago
    3 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Mobile
    ponsaelius Microsoft Mobile 1 year ago 3 Replies
    Cautious about the future of Xbox
    By ponsaelius, 1 year ago
    10 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Games
    ponsaelius Microsoft Games 1 year ago 10 Replies
    Personal Assistant(s)
    By ponsaelius, 1 year ago
    22 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Uncategorized
    ponsaelius Microsoft Uncategorized 1 year ago 22 Replies
    Joining the world of ambient computing
    By ponsaelius, 1 year ago
    4 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Internet of Things (IoT)
    ponsaelius Microsoft Internet of Things (IoT) 1 year ago 4 Replies
    WindowsPhone Angst
    By ponsaelius, 1 year ago
    60 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Mobile
    ponsaelius Microsoft Mobile 1 year ago 60 Replies
    Surrender as a strategy
    By ponsaelius, 2 years ago
    22 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Uncategorized
    ponsaelius Microsoft Uncategorized 2 years ago 22 Replies
    Does Cortana have any point any more ?
    By ponsaelius, 2 years ago
    43 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Mobile
    ponsaelius Microsoft Mobile 2 years ago 43 Replies
    Skype seems to have no purpose
    By ponsaelius, 2 years ago
    13 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Mobile
    ponsaelius Microsoft Mobile 2 years ago 13 Replies
    Drifting away from Modern Life
    By ponsaelius, 2 years ago
    13 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Mobile
    ponsaelius Microsoft Mobile 2 years ago 13 Replies
    Love Windows
    By ponsaelius, 2 years ago
    41 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Windows
    ponsaelius Microsoft Windows 2 years ago 41 Replies
    Natively speaking to Cortana and Google Assistant
    By ponsaelius, 2 years ago
    4 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Mobile
    ponsaelius Microsoft Mobile 2 years ago 4 Replies
    Cortana, Productivity and deja-vu
    By ponsaelius, 2 years ago
    5 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Microsoft
    ponsaelius Microsoft Microsoft 2 years ago 5 Replies
    Accidental Personal Tech Change
    By ponsaelius, 2 years ago
    6 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Microsoft
    ponsaelius Microsoft Microsoft 2 years ago 6 Replies
    What happened to my passport and universal identity management?
    By ponsaelius, 2 years ago
    1 Reply
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Microsoft
    ponsaelius Microsoft Microsoft 2 years ago 1 Reply
    Nokia at MWC18
    By ponsaelius, 2 years ago
    13 Replies
    Forum: General Discussion
    Category: Mobile
    ponsaelius General Discussion Mobile 2 years ago 13 Replies

    Page 1 of 2 1 2 »

    comment
    In reply to paul-thurrott:Launched in an incomplete state. I am sure it will not leave any negative impression

    Posted 1 week ago on Windows 10X for Single Screens Leaks – 50 Comments

    comment
    A version of Windows, called Windows, that doesn't run Windows applications. It seems like deja vu.My own

    Posted 1 week ago on Windows 10X for Single Screens Leaks – 50 Comments

    comment
    Everything I have read and seen about Windows on Arm (Windows on Qualcomm) makes me feel that at best it has l

    Posted 1 month ago on Microsoft is Reportedly Designing Its Own ARM Chips – 76 Comments

    comment
    I am thinking of moving from Lastpass with this. The question is how do I import my existing passwords into ed

    Posted 1 month ago on Microsoft Authenticator Gains Password Management and Autofill Capabilities – 40 Comments

    comment
    In reply to anderb:No point at all.

    Posted 1 month ago on Hands-On with Windows 10 on ARM x64 Emulation – 81 Comments

    comment
    Windows on Arm (WOA) is really Windows on Qualcomm (WOQ). Whereas the M1 is Apple Silicon or MACOS on Apple.Th

    Posted 1 month ago on Hands-On with Windows 10 on ARM x64 Emulation – 81 Comments

    comment
    2020 is the year Google gets cured of its Apple envy. It's a condition that prevented Microsoft doing wel

    Posted 1 month ago on The Perfect Smartphone for 2020? (Premium) – 27 Comments

    comment
    The future of Windows. Android.

    Posted 1 month ago on Android Apps on Windows, Again (Premium) – 54 Comments

    comment
    Google create iMessage.

    Posted 2 months ago on RCS Messaging is Now Available Globally in Google Messages – 14 Comments

    comment
    I haven't seen any bad comments on the M1 so far. Lots of things about Apple's claims and graphs wit

    Posted 2 months ago on Apple Did It … Again (Premium) – 147 Comments

    comment
    What struck me as they seem to have done several things simultaneously. Produced a powerful compelling SOC, lo

    Posted 2 months ago on This Is Apple’s First ARM Processor for the Mac – 101 Comments

    comment
    I have an iphone 8 plus. After Windowsphone I had Android for a while but eventually about 18 months ago I pic

    Posted 2 months ago on In praise of the iPhone 8 Plus – 7 Comments

    Forum Post

    What is the "future of Windows" ?

    Over the years I have noticed a lot about "the future of Windows". Back in 2012 it was clear. Thick client gone and instead we would have Windows RT with Universal Windows Applications from the store that would run on PCs, tablets, and phones.


    It didn't quite turn out like that. The next stage was Windows 10. The last version of Windows. This came with updates twice a year, several different maintenance cycles, and update options. A thing that has dwindled into a series of partially finished interface changes including both a settings app, a control panel and several remaining MMC components. Added to this are features that appear one year and disappear the next year.


    Then the future of Windows was Windows 10 S. High performance and safe. Store applications only. People who had the misfortune of having Windows 10 S "on by default" quickly "upgraded" to Windows 10 when they found there was nothing they wanted in the Windows Store. This morphed into Windows 10 in S Mode. Which was still Windows 10 S but with an on/off switch.


    Next, we have the return of a 2012 favourite. Windows 10 on ARM. More accurately Windows 10 on Qualcomm. It looks like Windows 10 but isn't really something for the mainstream. The usage case seems a convoluted explanation of long battery life, thin design, and no fans.


    Then we have Windows 10 X. It's "killer feature" was dual screen devices only. Except that now it's for any screen. It's called Windows but may not look like Windows. It may run Windows applications, or it may not. It could run applications in an emulation or VM.


    Then we have Windows Cloud. A subscription Windows that is in addition to some client that allows you to run some kind of virtual PC in Azure which will then allow you to use Windows programs that you can't use if you have a PC with Windows on it.


    I use Windows every day, at home, at work and in other places. Most users never think about "the future of Windows". They have a vague idea it should run any app that says it needs Windows. The emphasis from Microsoft seems to make things that use the Windows name that may not run the applications people expect to be able to run with the performance they expect.


    Windows 10 doesn't seem the last version of Windows. I still don't know what the future of Windows is. The most worrying thing is I don't believe Microsoft do either.

    Posted 2 months ago on What is the "future of Windows" ? – 37 Comments

    comment
    I bought the Day One Xbox One back in 2013. I remember the Microsoft launch was that this was a TV companion d

    Posted 3 months ago on Getting Ready for the Xbox Series X|S – 44 Comments

    comment
    Quad camera is always good. Having two cameras almost no one uses is not really a "feature".

    Posted 3 months ago on OnePlus Launches the OnePlus 8T – 13 Comments

    comment
    In reply to will:A long way from Microsoft applications working best on Windows. In a service based Microsoft

    Posted 3 months ago on Microsoft Will Finally Try to Fix Its Outlook Problem – 65 Comments

    comment
    No Bing maps? It’s almost like you can’t get a Bing Maps mobile app.

    Posted 3 months ago on DuckDuckGo Adds Driving and Walking Directions – 2 Comments

    comment
    They certainly have learned that the Intel Pentium Gold is actually "not a thing". However, the small(ish) scr

    Posted 3 months ago on Microsoft Launches New $549 Surface Laptop Go – 31 Comments

    comment
    In reply to Jhambi:I am aware of the chromium based alternative. If it was for myself I would mess with that k

    Posted 3 months ago on Death of an HP Stream tablet – 16 Comments

    comment
    In reply to j5:I am in the UK. I eventually spent £239 on a 9.7 inch 6th generation ipad from Music Magpie. T

    Posted 3 months ago on Death of an HP Stream tablet – 16 Comments

    Forum Post

    Death of an HP Stream tablet

    My wife has had a HP Stream tablet since we bought it at a discount in the San Francisco Microsoft Store back in 2015. I also had one. The bargain was that it came with an Office license and some credit for apps and music. it made the tablet effectively free. It ran Windows 8.1 and had live tiles.


    Almost immediately it became out of date. It didn't matter because we just used the tablets as browsers and a bit of Netflix. it wasn't serious computing. My thought was that it worked like a big WindowsPhone. Once it had an SD card in it the 32gb storage became usable.


    Things have changed. My wife now has an iphone SE 2020. Cortana is long gone from her WindowsPhone and Windows PC. When she picks up her 8 inch Windows tablet it is no longer a smooth ride to websites and news. She can't look at Twitter easily and even looking at photos is getting laboured as Onedrive keeps asking for credentials to "fix" her Microsoft id.


    Time to let the old tablet go into recycling. The Intel Atom processor was never great and Microsoft never made an ARM tablet after Windows RT crashed and burned. I am of the opinion that for some years the only real tablet people should buy is an ipad. An ipad has been ordered from Ebay. The Surface Go would suffer the same underpowered mess that the HP Stream had. A Surface Pro is a productivity device and not really a tablet. It's a 2 in 1 with a tablet mode add on.


    I now have this feeling I am gradually being sucked into the Apple ecosystem. As a professional Windows user I can see how that Microsoft's retirement from the consumer space moves "normal users" to other ecosystems. Apple's new found love for consumer services is providing the quality experience for personal computer users that Microsoft used to provide at the beginning of this decade.

    Posted 3 months ago on Death of an HP Stream tablet – 16 Comments

    comment
    They needed Google Maps. Microsoft have Bing Maps. Of course, there is no app on Android or IOS for Bing Maps.

    Posted 3 months ago on Inside Story of How Google & MS created the Surface Duo – 7 Comments

    comment
    There is a lock in for every ecosystem. Choose Android and you are sucked into the world of Google. Choose App

    Posted 4 months ago on Saying No to Pixel (Premium) – 80 Comments

    comment
    Exactly. After Windowsphone disappeared and after dabbling with Android I have ended up with an iphone 8 Plus.

    Posted 4 months ago on iOS 14 is Here. Where are the Microsoft Widgets? (Premium) – 46 Comments

    comment
    I am not a switcher but I recently got a very cheap 2009 Macbook that I upgraded with an SSD and memory. It�

    Posted 4 months ago on What to know about switching to Mac? – 39 Comments

    comment
    I think the reviews are in close agreement. Hardware is wonderful and a feat of engineering. Software is incon

    Posted 4 months ago on Surface Duo: The tablet that can replace your phone? – 55 Comments

    comment
    With Microsoft out of the consumer space these plans will work for some people. Years ago I stopped subscribin

    Posted 4 months ago on Apple Launches Apple One – 27 Comments

    comment
    A lot of price conscious consumers buy second hand games on discs. The Xbox One will continue to have a life f

    Posted 4 months ago on Now I Want an Xbox Series S (Premium) – 47 Comments

    Forum Post

    Watching Surface Pro X video reviews.

    One of the pandemic quarantine effects has been to watch more online video reviews. I watched a couple of Surface Pro X reviews and then YouTube, via its algorithm, decided to offer up a further selection.


    Windows on Arm isn’t really Windows on Arm. Its Windows on Qualcomm, albeit with a Microsoft twist of a customised chip. There appears to be little interest beyond Microsoft to produce Arm based PCs. From a pricing perspective there seems little reason for me to consider an Arm based PC. 


    Generally, the build quality and look of the Surface Pro X is praised. Almost no one has a bad word to say. The pen charging position seems excellent. Comment is made about the key Microsoft productivity apps running well. Where it starts getting murky is the application situation in general. The Surface Pro X, because it is Windows, is expected to run the range of legacy applications. Microsoft’s traditional business customers expect that inventory program that ran 15 years ago on XP to keep on running. Any software built for the 64 bit world won’t run at all or just crawls along.


    Some reviewers suggest the Surface Pro X is a great “Chromebook”. In the sense that it is an expensive browser replacement. 


    Apps are the problem. It struck me I have heard this before. My Lumia 950, and previous Lumia’s tell me that. This finally led me to adopting Apple’s Iphone as my primary mobile device. Shortly IOS 14 will give me live actionable widgets that look like tiles I can just glance at. I wonder where that idea came from? However, I digress. I wonder how the Surface Pro X is doing? I haven’t seen much written about real life movement from Intel based PCs to Qualcomm based PCs. 


    Intel are treading water right now. They seem to know this. The generational performance boost is still there but there seems little evidence of a new modern Windows experience on Qualcomm. There seems little incentive for PC makers to build them. There seems nothing priced in the consumer space. There seems little interest from developers. The false dawn of Windows RT seems to be repeating itself. 


    I am not sure if Windows 10 X is the “modern Windows” to get excited about either. 


    While my work life is all on traditional PCs and Microsoft Office 365 the same is not true at home. My Microsoft ecosystem consists of Office 365 Family subscription and an Xbox. Ten years ago Microsoft supplied music, movies, mobile phone and much more. With my consumer hat on a consistent modern, consumer-based ecosystem looks more like an Apple PC than Microsoft. 


    Surface Pro X seems to tick almost none of the boxes for a future Windows other than being able to compile the OS for a Qualcomm chip. 


    Posted 4 months ago on Watching Surface Pro X video reviews. – 4 Comments

    comment
    In reply to wright_is:Manufacturers always have a problem that people come in different sizes. If we could onl

    Posted 5 months ago on Google Pixel 4a First Impressions – 34 Comments

    comment
    In reply to kshsystems:I believe it was $150 million and Microsoft cashed out in 2003.

    Posted 5 months ago on Apple Hits a $2 Trillion Market Cap – 45 Comments

    comment
    In reply to mclark2112:The word of the moment is "pumped".

    Posted 5 months ago on In Praise of iOS 14 (Premium) – 45 Comments

    comment
    This is a step forward. Ten years ago, I switched from an iphone 4 to a WindowsPhone. I don't like the "g

    Posted 5 months ago on In Praise of iOS 14 (Premium) – 45 Comments

    comment
    I watched the 35-minute intro on YouTube. Panos was quite enthusiastic about "posture". I always associate tha

    Posted 5 months ago on Even Microsoft is Still Trying to Figure Out Surface Duo (Premium) – 63 Comments

    comment
    I assume the addition of a $2 NFC chip to do mobile payments would make the Duo unacceptably expensive.

    Posted 5 months ago on Surface Duo to Launch September 10 at $1399 – 98 Comments

    comment
    They will be demoing a dual screen version of TikTok to push the youth sales.

    Posted 5 months ago on Here Comes the Surface Duo – 78 Comments

    comment
    Samsung is making WindowsPhones.

    Posted 5 months ago on Microsoft, Samsung Extend Partnership Again – 28 Comments

    comment
    The Pixel 4a has arrived so late Google discounted the price before it was released. Sale price on launch.

    Posted 5 months ago on Google’s Pixel 4a Arrives August 20th for $349 – 18 Comments

    comment
    Microsoft will step up to the plate and create three skus.TikTok FreeTikTok 365 PersonalTikTok Enterprise E5

    Posted 5 months ago on Microsoft Confirms Its Interest In Buying TikTok – 64 Comments

    comment
    Looking forward to it's integration into Teams.

    Posted 5 months ago on Microsoft in Talks to Acquire TikTok – 44 Comments

    Forum Post

    Productivity Cortana

    Halo Infinite is going to be a blast if the Master Chief's AI Cortana makes an appearance. While shooting aliens she can reschedule his calendar and read his email. He is going to be so annoyed that her skills have been deprecated.

    Posted 5 months ago on Productivity Cortana – 1 Comments

    comment
    In reply to earlster:I am in the UK. I heard there was a Cortana speaker but it never reached us, Then there w

    Posted 5 months ago on Cortana on Invoke end-of-service offer – 15 Comments

    comment
    Microsoft is getting competitive with Google. I really can't keep up with the list of abandoned products.

    Posted 5 months ago on Microsoft is Killing Cortana on Mobile, Invoke, and Surface Headphones – 67 Comments

    comment
    In reply to proftheory:Exactly the reverse. It thinks there is too little competition reducing consumer choice

    Posted 5 months ago on EU Proposes New Laws to Rein in Big Tech – 74 Comments

    comment
    In reply to SvenJ:The EU doesn't collect VAT (Value Added Tax). It is collected by the member states who

    Posted 5 months ago on EU Proposes New Laws to Rein in Big Tech – 74 Comments

    comment
    In reply to wright_is:Sure. A new modern Windows is not necessary for a lot of business. The old one is just f

    Posted 5 months ago on All about the legacy – 16 Comments

    comment
    In reply to hrlngrv:I am not disputing that. The value of Windows is high in the business world. In the consum

    Posted 5 months ago on All about the legacy – 16 Comments

    Forum Post

    All about the legacy

    I have been reading and watching reviews about Windows on ARM. The Surface Pro X and, most recently, the reviews of the new 5G ARM based Lenovo. The latter being on this site.


    I think it's fair to say there seem to be benefits of battery life and making laptops thinner for these devices. However, they all seem to stop at the legacy of Windows. Microsoft isn't moving to ARM. More accurately it seems to be not moving from Intel to Qualcomm. ARM chips are an option in the roadmap. Microsoft have wasted a decade of trying to move Windows forward. Windows RT, Windows 10S, Windows 10 in S mode. All of which seem to have been curtailed by legacy. If Microsoft really is a cloud services company with no ecosystem for consumers it doesn't really need a "modern Windows". All it needs to do is supply apps for client computing and management tools to connect people to Microsoft subscription services. Windows for business, the legacy client, can chug along with incremental improvements and security updates. It really doesn't need to move to ARM. No substantial Windows applications are being developed and the ones in maintenance are Intel based.


    The removal of consumer services and the billions Microsoft makes from business means that other than collecting license fees from PC manufacturers nothing much needs doing.


    I use Windows every day at work and it's my preferred way of using PCs. However, I am a dinosaur. I saw Windows 1.0 being demoed and used DOS primary until Windows 3.x came out. Even then I used it inside OS/2 Warp. The last version of Windows should be Windows 10.


    ARM hasn't even got parity of esteem in the world of Microsoft. Windows for ARM doesn't seem to have attracted developers. Hence the need for emulation. Developers are Azure developers, Office developers, PowerApps developers in the Microsoft world. Not Windows developers. There is nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with Windows becoming a venerable old OS that businesses use to keep themselves in business. The default for PC buyers, now fewer in number, will be to get some version of Windows that most don't even need because they use the web.


    I think Microsoft should forget about Windows on ARM. Instead, if they want to create a new "lite" client OS it should be something else not called Windows and not supporting Win32. I really don't see the point of supporting legacy in 2020. There is a legacy OS. It's called Windows.

    Posted 5 months ago on All about the legacy – 16 Comments

    Forum Post

    Passwordless Hello

    About a month ago I attached a Windows Hello fingerprint reader to an Asus Laptop from 2018. Now my fingerprint allows me to login. I want to do as much as I can without passwords. I have a Fido2 usb key for two factor authentication on some websites. I am sold on reducing the complexity of remembering passwords.


    However, I do note that my 2018 laptop didn't come with Windows Hello built in. No camera that does face id. No fingerprint reader. Back in 2015 my Lumia 950 was doing a basic form of face id. It was perpetually in "beta" but it did work a lot of the time. Every Surface has shipped with Windows Hello. This should be built in and mainstream on the PC.


    As I look at the PC landscape the manufacturers haven't really taken up passwordless options. It will take Apple to put face id into its Mac range to wake up the PC manufacturers. Surface didn't seem to provide the innovation kickstart to get us to universal biometric login. I think if you buy a premium PC in 2020 you should expect a biometric login to secure your device.


    Posted 6 months ago on Passwordless Hello – 0 Comments

    comment
    I remember the articles well. So much I bought the Lumia 1020.in 2014 I went to New York and used it to snap p

    Posted 6 months ago on Throwback: Nokia Lumia 1020 (Premium) – 22 Comments

    comment
    I am considering moving to Playstation.

    Posted 6 months ago on Upgrading or downgrading to the next console? – 7 Comments

    comment
    No.

    Posted 6 months ago on is anyone thinking about the Duo as their next device? – 119 Comments

    comment
    Microsoft have had a "lost decade" trying to create future "modern" Windows. Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows 1

    Posted 6 months ago on Two Paths, One Destination (Premium) – 75 Comments

    comment
    In reply to Vladimir: I thought Nvidia made money out of Bitcoin miners....

    Posted 6 months ago on Windows and Devices by the Numbers – 23 Comments

    comment
    Another “lost decade” of client computing coming. Maybe they will just update legacy Windows for business

    Posted 6 months ago on Windows 10X Delayed to 2021, Loses Win32 Support – 136 Comments

    comment
    In reply to alsorun: Maybe. If you are buying games for yourself. Poorer families have always relied on the tr

    Posted 6 months ago on Xbox Thoughts – 8 Comments

    comment
    In reply to Bill_Strong:I don't know. What I can say is that it provokes questions of price, value and ot

    Posted 6 months ago on Xbox Thoughts – 8 Comments

    Forum Post

    Xbox Thoughts

    I recently had an IM with my nephew, an Xbox One S owner, and FIFA player about the next generation of consoles. He told me he was set on moving to a Sony PS5 console. I didn't get too deeply with his choice but I found it interesting that I had assumed my own move would be from my Xbox One X to a Series X at some point. Mostly I play Call of Duty. I just like shooting stuff although it is really fun and I am not good at it.


    I thought about this a lot. Too much. However, the last time I really bought into a console was the Xbox 360. Just for a bit of gaming after work. I ended up with two. One went under the TV to show movies, TV and play DVDs. The other was a "full time" gaming machine. I bought the Xbox One day one console as a natural upgrade. I spent more than I wanted because you had to have a Kinect sensor that I never used for anything except logging in.


    That first Xbox 360 was all about the ecosystem. I had a music pass, a PC, rented movies from Microsoft, I had email from Microsoft, then Skydrive (Onedrive), and then a WindowsPhone. It made sense. It drove me to just get an Xbox One when it came out.


    In 2020 I now have an iphone, my movies and TV are rented from Amazon or Google and play via a low cost dongle. My music is from Spotify. I still have an Office 365 personal account but Microsoft is just another supplier. As Microsoft moves towards an Xbox Cloud future my console and just having fun with a small number of games is looking out of time.


    I haven't decided not to buy a Series X. I haven't decided to buy a PS5. I have started thinking about my needs as a games player. I recognise the Microsoft value proposition of a subscription games service in the cloud is a potential future. What I also realise is the ecosystem that drew me to Xbox no longer exists. As a consumer I have a choice on which console I will buy for my gaming needs. Xbox is the last Microsoft consumer brand. There is no consumer ecosystem that ties it all together anymore. This year will be interesting to meet my needs. Other than my Office 365 subscription and my PC I may be out of what's left of Microsoft's consumer offering by 2021.

    Posted 6 months ago on Xbox Thoughts – 8 Comments

    comment
    In reply to proftheory:The primary economic argument for the British left has been that the EU is a capitalist

    Posted 6 months ago on Now the EU is Going After Voice Assistants, Smart Devices – 22 Comments

    comment
    Microsoft are struggling with ARM because of legacy issues. They can't move to ARM for Windows until they

    Posted 6 months ago on The Passing of Wintel? (Premium) – 88 Comments

    Forum Post

    Duo Thoughts

    The Surface Duo turns a whole lot of things in the story of Microsoft, Surface and mobile their respective heads. I have been thinking about this a lot and not really come to any conclusions.


    The first thing is the relationship between hardware and software. Microsoft client operating systems had always been built for other people to make the software. Surface upset this being both Microsoft hardware and software. Surface Duo turns all this around 180 degrees. It’s Microsoft hardware with a third party OS. In this case Google. 

    It is a Surface in the sense of creating a new form factor. However, they are trying so hard not to call it a phone. They are trying to say that this device is for “dual screen productivity”. It feels like they really want to make a phone but recent history means they can’t. So, despite aching to make a phone, they have come up with a device that can do everything a mobile phone can do but they don’t want to call it that. I slightly wonder if a “Surface Phone” turn up eventually. After all the Surface Pro and the Surface Book tried to avoid being laptop. Then eventually they built a laptop.


    Panos Panay was interesting holding the Duo. My mind slipped back to the moment he held up the Lumia 950 in 2015. He looked like a man holding someone else’s product. It was. It was a Nokia. At that point he looked like a man trying to promote the benefits of doing root canal surgery on yourself. The Windows Mobile 10 OS was buggy and was only at its best after the anniversary upgrade. The plastic back and removable battery didn’t feel too flagship at all. However, WindowsPhone fans were waiting for the first Microsoft Lumia. 


    It struck me that the Duo was what WindowsPhone should have been. Designed and built by Microsoft. They had Apple envy but not Apple execution. Microsoft had to wait for OEMs, wait for carriers then subsidise Nokia. This is another 180. If they want a device like Surface Duo they must build it themselves. If they really wanted a phone business in 2010 that would compete with Apple then they should have built it themselves. 


    Posted 6 months ago on Duo Thoughts – 19 Comments

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    In reply to ianw789:I think it's because MacOS is client side. Most new stuff is web based or cloud servi

    Posted 6 months ago on Steven Sinofsky says the Mac will be the ultimate developer PC within 2 years – 111 Comments

    comment
    Mac on Arm seems to be changing the value proposition. The idea that Windows, a 30+ year old OS, has had sever

    Posted 6 months ago on Steven Sinofsky says the Mac will be the ultimate developer PC within 2 years – 111 Comments

    comment
    In reply to AnOldAmigaUser:I just used imessage with some comments to my nephew, he has an iphone 11, and it w

    Posted 6 months ago on Iphone and Your Phone – 12 Comments

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    In reply to Phil_Adcock: Still testing the experience. Personally it is doing what I want right now, I would l

    Posted 6 months ago on Iphone and Your Phone – 12 Comments

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    Yes. I would like Microsoft to "finish Windows". I can find the control panel that has been around for decades

    Posted 6 months ago on Move Slowly and Fix Things (Premium) – 65 Comments

    comment
    Microsoft. The company that wanted to be as cool with consumers as Apple. Then, they decided they looked bette

    Posted 6 months ago on Throwback: Microsoft Store (Premium) – 40 Comments

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    The Microsoft Store is really a legacy mobile store. It has some advantages if you have sourced software. It u

    Posted 6 months ago on Does anyone actually use the Microsoft Store? – 84 Comments

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    In reply to lwetzel:Screenshot from the Microsoft store.

    Posted 6 months ago on Iphone and Your Phone – 12 Comments

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    I am an IT Pro and I make my living supporting Exchange Online and other Office 365/Microsoft 365 services. I

    Posted 6 months ago on The Grass Is Always Greener (Premium) – 112 Comments

    Forum Post

    Iphone and Your Phone

    I bought a second hand iphone as I don't have the huge amount of cash you need to get an iphone. Although Android is full of customisations the consistent interface and the quality of apps has won me over. This week the idea of "live tiles" types of widgets and other things in IOS 14 have impressed me along with not selling my soul completely to Google.


    The big issue for me was Windows integration. Your Phone has made Android the platform that is most compatible with the Windows ecosystem and using Windows. The iphone is a separate thing.


    Until I found Dell Mobile Connect on the Windows Store. Its an app that does a lot of what Your Phone does. At first you can't just download it because it says my Asus i7 is not compatible. That's true. However, if you put it in your cart then you can buy it for 0.00 and then download it. I would suspect the compatibility check only works at one point. Once downloaded it does a good job of being "Your Phone for iphone".


    It makes me wonder why Microsoft don't do it. My suspicion is licensing rather than technology.



    Posted 6 months ago on Iphone and Your Phone – 12 Comments

    comment
    Pleased live tiles are back and an a to z list of apps. WIndowsPhone is back!

    Posted 6 months ago on The Sams Report: Microsoft Shuts Down Mixer, Closes its Retail Stores – 4 Comments

    comment
    I am in the UK and back in 2013 the first rumours of a Microsoft retail presence were on the blogs. Not here b

    Posted 6 months ago on Microsoft is Closing Its Retail Stores for Good – 166 Comments

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    A main home screen, swipe to the right to get an a to z list of apps, widgets that look like tiles. Welcome ba

    Posted 7 months ago on Hands-On with the New iOS 14 User Experience – 55 Comments

    comment
    In reply to ghostrider:I use the launcher. It had a few good points. I used to like the Bing picture of the da

    Posted 7 months ago on Microsoft Launcher 6 Heads to Beta – 9 Comments

    Forum Post

    Reviews that are a blast from the past.


    I often watch tech reviews on YouTube or read them on the web. This week I have been struck by the commonality of the views about the Huawei P40 Pro.


    Typically, they say something along these lines.


    Huawei has a fantastic camera with huge innovation. The software is great. Battery life good. Design and finish premium. However, it can' be recommended because it has a poor app store.


    You could easily replace the word "Huawei" with the word "Windowsphone". The difference in 2020 is that Google is not actively blocking this but it's the USA.




    Posted 7 months ago on Reviews that are a blast from the past. – 5 Comments

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    In reply to wright_is:Online services. I was the first UK Compuserve trained Sysop in the UK. I ran the UK Sha

    Posted 7 months ago on Throwback: Inside MSN (Premium) – 8 Comments

    comment
    I used Cortana on my WindowsPhone, until that was discontinued. I waited for a Cortana speaker for the home. T

    Posted 7 months ago on Microsoft Releases New Cortana Experiences – 14 Comments

    comment
    As Skype for Business morphs relentlessly into Teams I am left wondering about Skype for consumer. You can alr

    Posted 9 months ago on Welcome to the Microsoft 365 Era – 39 Comments

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    In reply to tony_ansley:Skype for Business is a legacy product in many respects. Origins in the Unified Commun

    Posted 9 months ago on Ask Paul: March 27 (Premium) – 22 Comments

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    In reply to kshsystems:Loads. I bought the leading chat app in the world. Killed it's own chat app. Reboo

    Posted 10 months ago on Looks Like Microsoft is Killing the UWP Version of Skype Too – 51 Comments

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    Walked passed the store in Newcastle (Eldon Square) today. There were some Apple employees inside with the doo

    Posted 10 months ago on Apple Closes All Retail Stores Outside China Due to Coronavirus Concerns – 2 Comments

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    Google seem to be seeing the value of mid-ranger devices. Apple look like they have a SE successor coming. The

    Posted 10 months ago on Google’s Pixel 4a Detailed in New Leaked Video – 6 Comments

    comment
    Shortly after this happens the main Apple support pages will have tips on how to switch notifications off.

    Posted 10 months ago on Apple Will Now Allow Apps to Send Ads Via Push Notifications – 13 Comments

    comment
    In reply to robinwilson16:English (United Kingdom) is a tough language for Microsoft. Cortana has always strug

    Posted 10 months ago on Microsoft Reiterates Cortana’s Role in Windows 10 – 30 Comments

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    Since I don't live in the US I don't expect to see this for a l-o-n-g time.....

    Posted 10 months ago on Microsoft Reiterates Cortana’s Role in Windows 10 – 30 Comments

    comment
    I owned a Samsung device once. I could never really like it because of all the crapware you could never uninst

    Posted 11 months ago on So, I Pre-Ordered a Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G – 24 Comments

    comment
    A lot of this is about timing. UK telecoms companies have said they are already using Chinese kit and a ban pu

    Posted 11 months ago on Britain Will Limit, Not Ban Huawei from Its 5G Network – 13 Comments

    comment
    Microsoft were never serious about this market. Like most Microsoft consumer efforts it was late, half baked,

    Posted 1 year ago on Microsoft Is Slowly Pulling the Plug On the Harman Kardon Invoke – 53 Comments

    Forum Post

    How it rolls when Cortana goes

    My wife and I had been Windowsphone users for years. When Windowsphone spiralled into terminal decline we had to change. Initially we both went Android with Nokia devices and used Microsoft Launcher and re-mapped the home key for Cortana. For a variety of reasons I picked up and iPhone 8 Plus recently but she stuck with Android.


    News that Cortana is going away left me with choices. Rather than wait for Microsoft to "disappear" the app I removed it from the iphone. Siri is more of a friend now but has limitations for dealing with Microsoft services. My wife faced a choice too. After a chat Cortana disappeared. She also used some Cortana capabilities in the launcher too. Realising this was now pointless the Microsoft launcher was removed. So now the phone is getting very standard Google. She has realised that she can talk to the Google Assistant now.


    Of course this is the point about ecosystems. It might well be that one product or service isn't making a profit. Maybe you can't make some things pay. However, when companies withdraw products and services the ecosystem looses ubiquity.


    It doesn't really matter to Microsoft because we are not core customers. My workplace is but we are not.

    Posted 1 year ago on How it rolls when Cortana goes – 7 Comments

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    Can't be long before Google change the code to stop it working....

    Posted 1 year ago on Microsoft is Testing Gmail Integration in Outlook.com – 21 Comments

    comment
    Just spotted some mistakes. Oddly I can't edit the post without a Wordpress debug error. Funny old world.

    Posted 1 year ago on Bing Maps demo – 8 Comments

    Forum Post

    Bing Maps demo

    I can't remember whether it was Ignite or the Surface launch this year but I was struck by the use of Bing Maps. It has rattled around in my head for a while but I couldn't really figure out why I was bothered.


    At one point the demo was all about a hiking trip. The new collections feature in chromium Edge (Chredge) seemed to be the focus. I can't remember exactly what the context was but I now realise why it bothered me. The demo had out the hiking trip together as a neat list in the browser linked to Bing Maps. In a way this is something I do all the time. Not exactly with collections but definitely with maps. On my WindowsPhone I was able to use the maps app with the places I picked on Bing Maps. It was all linked to my Microsoft account.


    Things have changed now. I have to use Google Maps. Favourites have to be on Google Maps. This is down to Bing Maps not being updated very often, generally being very poor and also Microsoft don't actually have a way of taking directions with you on the move. You literally can't plan a trip with Bing Maps and then later use your mobile phone to navigate because Bing Maps doesn't exist on IOS or Android.


    Back to those demos using Bing Maps. I get why Microsoft wants to demo it's own property. I do. However, it's ridiculous because mapping is something you want to take with you on a mobile phone. A dual screen device would be great for mapping. However, the new Android Surface Duo will have Google Maps.


    It bothers me that the most common use case for planning on Bing Maps on a PC is to take the plan with you on mobile. The problem is you can't.

    Posted 1 year ago on Bing Maps demo – 8 Comments

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    In reply to harmjr:Yep. We have Alexa in the house. I use it to listen to music, alarms when I am cooking, my

    Posted 1 year ago on Just deleted Cortana – 12 Comments

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    In reply to brad-sams:Does the inside knowledge come from your new job as a male Cortana voice?

    Posted 1 year ago on Just deleted Cortana – 12 Comments

    Forum Post

    Just deleted Cortana

    Being in the UK means Cortana never really functioned completely. It took years to be properly supported on my Windowsphone(s) and, although it did most of what I wanted, it didn't quite get "British sports", news and other things that worked in the USA. Flight information was "iffy" and no smart speakers either. It needed to work everywhere but it didn't work well anywhere.


    So reading here, and elsewhere, that Cortana's death as a standalone assistant was happening I removed her. I got a iphone 8 plus secondhand a while back so it's just an app. It's also now part of the retreat from Microsoft consumer. Cortana is rebranded as "clippy 2.0" for Office. Not so much AI as "I see you are making an appointment would you like some help?".


    From your most personal assistant on your Windowsphone to merely a bit of help on an app, It's OK. It never worked properly outside the USA. It never worked at all in most of the the world. Professionally, as someone who works as an Office 365 Admin, Microsoft is great. As a consumer it's heading for zero interest.


    Cortana I hardly got to know you at all. With only slow decline to watch I am putting you out of your misery and deleting you today.

    Posted 1 year ago on Just deleted Cortana – 12 Comments

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    I don't remember any announcement in 2015 that Microsoft were abandoning Windowsphone. Apart from launchi

    Posted 1 year ago on Android is the Right Choice for Surface Duo (Premium) – 63 Comments

    Forum Post

    Surface Phone

    I decided to watch the Microsoft Surface Event this time around. Microsoft seem to keep these things a reasonable pace unlike Apple. Much of what was announced was trailed in the media so it wasn’t too surprising.


    Then there was the Surface Phone. A lot of chatter over the last couple of years. Will they or won’t they? A lot a caveats about products that Microsoft “work on” but never get released. This time it was an announcement of something for 2020. To be fair 2020 is not that far away.

    My thoughts were that this is the “new Microsoft”. They are “partnering with Google”. No longer competing but being a partner. Android is the mobile platform. The new Windowsphone has a Google OS. 


    The presenter was Panos Panny. I am aware a lot of people think Panos is a great performer but I always enjoyed the over the top presentations by Steve Ballmer. Panos always seems dry and his enthusiasm is about “the product”. It makes sure you know these “products” are not for personal enjoyment but a task driven, productivity driven work tool. The line is not blurred between work and home. Microsoft has work covered with these well designed “products”. Other companies provide the fun and devices you really want to use for the rest of the time. There are two separate worlds and Microsoft inhabits one of them.


    The Surface Phone, for that is what it will be called, is a work device. The camera isn’t a feature. The examples are your work email, using excel, word and powerpoint on the go. You can make calls. Panos reluctantly mentioned it was also a phone. However, the moment of joy was when he said that the future product would be a “Surface”. 

    When Panos said that it took me back to his awkward presentation of the Lumia 950. It was the product he didn’t want to be associated with. It wasn’t a Surface. 

    A tale of two presentations. At least Panos isn’t embarrassed any more by having a Microsoft branded phone in his pocket. 


    Posted 1 year ago on Surface Phone – 1 Comments

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    Samsung now make a "Windows Phone".

    Posted 1 year ago on Galaxy S10 Line Gets Front-Facing Night Mode, Link to Windows Integration – 4 Comments

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    In reply to paul-thurrott: In part it must be the new devops mantra of code and fail fast. It creates many ite

    Posted 1 year ago on This is Why Windows 10 is So Unreliable (Premium) – 51 Comments

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    I haven't been to the London store. I actually visited the San Francisco store in 2015 when I was on holi

    Posted 1 year ago on Anyone been to the London Microsoft Store, Oxford Circus yet ? – 8 Comments

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    The new Microsoft.

    Posted 1 year ago on Cortana Is Being Removed From Its Own Thermostat – 24 Comments

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    My own big question is; Is this Microsoft's integration with Samsung as it's preferred supplier or i

    Posted 1 year ago on Samsung Expands Its Galaxy of Stars (Premium) – 16 Comments

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    In reply to wright_is:I am not glossing over the integration Microsoft can do with Android. Being a more open

    Posted 1 year ago on Samsung and the Surface Phone – Premium – 38 Comments

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    I was thinking about the new Microsung or Samsoft partnership. Samsung has always bloated their interface with

    Posted 1 year ago on Samsung and the Surface Phone – Premium – 38 Comments

    Forum Post

    Let Cortana Go

    Living in the UK I am used to the "US Only" nature of Microsoft's release cycle. I remember at one point Bing Maps on my WindowsPhone actually began to deal with local public transport reasonably well just before WindowsPhone was cancelled.


    One of those products is Cortana. It was supposed to be one of the most personal of personal assistants. In the UK it mostly didn't track packages at all. It occasionally provided flight information but usually didn't. It did cope with weather in Celsius so at least that worked. A mixed bag of some working things, some partially working things and a lot of stuff that never worked at all.


    One of the new interfaces was voice. Cortana, as a personal assistant, would surely be part of a home speaker. Late in the day the Invoke speaker was announced and produced. It was the most expensive home speaker on the market and supported the US. Yes, the USA only.


    As sales of the the second most expensive home speaker in the world tanked, only beaten in price by Apple's Homepod, there seemed little hope for the rest of the planet getting this product. Microsoft announced a partnership with Amazon so that the Echo would get Cortana skills. With affordable Amazon speakers I could get Cortana to work for me using my voice at home. There were even demos at build.


    Here I am in the UK. It's July 2019. Can I use Cortana skills on my echo? Of course not. It's "US Only". Still unreleased for the rest of the planet.


    Microsoft should really use the removal of Cortana as part of Windows 10 just to kill the product. It's AI might be powering Office 365 functions but just let Cortana go. Once the mobile platform disappeared, and was followed by restricting Cortana functionality to the USA and giving up on smart speakers there wasn't much point in Cortana. Let her go Microsoft. 

    Posted 1 year ago on Let Cortana Go – 18 Comments

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    When I had a Windowsphone I hoped that Skype would emulate Imessage and be a genuine messaging hybrid of SMS p

    Posted 1 year ago on Skype Kills Its SMS Connect Feature – 10 Comments

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    With the maturity of the market and all phones having a pretty decent feature then an ad campaign focusing on

    Posted 1 year ago on Apple Explains What the iPhone Can Do in New Campaign – 13 Comments

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    Microsoft sharing will be great for Windowsphone users. Oh wait there aren't any devices to share with af

    Posted 1 year ago on Google Working on AirDrop Clone for Android – 7 Comments

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    In reply to madthinus:Absolutely. Cortana suffers from it's features being restricted to the USA. Both th

    Posted 1 year ago on Microsoft Is Turning Cortana in Windows 10 Into a Standalone App – 28 Comments

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    In reply to jimchamplin:Most of the big brands offshore their first line support to the cheapest parts of the

    Posted 1 year ago on Can’t download some rented movies from the store anymore, and microsoft support – 20 Comments

    Forum Post

    Cortana in intensive care

    My Nokia 8.1 has Android Pie on it and is customised with a range of Microsoft software. I use Google services but I have been embedded in the Microsoft ecosystem for a couple of decades and used a WindowsPhone for years.


    The current configuration set the assistant to Cortana and has the Microsoft Launcher. I have liked the launcher a lot since coming from WindowsPhone because at least there is some synergy with my PC.


    Lately Cortana seems to be suffering from entropy. Things have stopped working. My calendar no long displays, my commute is faithfully ignored. It’s like timewarp back to 2014 when Cortana itself was a US only experience that didn’t even understand celsius was a thing and the metric system was popular. 


    I noticed that Microsoft Launcher had Cortana built in and it was displaying my calendar. So I looked at the assistant settings for the first time in months and the Launcher could be set as the default assistant. 


    So I tried this. The moment I did this Cortana could deal with my calendar again. The dedicated app worked worse than the integration of the launcher. The commute is still struggling just giving me traffic reports even though I have said I travel by bus.


    Cortana seems not to have much focus at Microsoft. Maybe the death of WindowsPhone really just put Cortana in intensive care and it’s another service I will need to ditch soon.


    Posted 1 year ago on Cortana in intensive care – 3 Comments

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    I think it's an interesting development. I think it's right that people think Facebook is the very o

    Posted 1 year ago on Facebook Targets Bitcoin with New Cryptocurrency – 29 Comments

    comment
    Now if it could get rid of the high volume annoying trailers that start up with random music when you are brow

    Posted 1 year ago on Netflix Testing Instagram-Like Feed on Its App – 5 Comments

    comment
    Apple ignores Windows. The headline at build was "Microsoft ignores Windows". So it's Apple playing catch

    Posted 1 year ago on Apple Has No Plans for Music, Podcasts, and TV Apps on Windows – 43 Comments

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    Of course Apple supported Windows because it was the dominant operating system. It is now a legacy OS and most

    Posted 1 year ago on The End of iTunes (Premium) – 53 Comments

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    Well it's taken a long time for Microsoft to break out of North America. Apple have more than a dozen sto

    Posted 1 year ago on Microsoft’s First Microsoft Store in London Opens This July – 9 Comments

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    Strange that you finally received the Windows RT press release so late.

    Posted 1 year ago on First Ring Daily 622: Microsoft’s Modern OS Mess – 2 Comments

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    As a consumer Microsoft has no interest for me. I am even considering moving from Xbox to Playstation on the g

    Posted 1 year ago on Ask Paul: May 3 (Premium) – 4 Comments

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    Maybe it's a market Microsoft should consider...... (cough!)

    Posted 1 year ago on Fitbit’s Smart Watch Sales are Surging – 10 Comments

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    Will Cortana skills on Alexa ever be made available outside the USA?

    Posted 1 year ago on Questions for 4/26? – 11 Comments

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    In reply to gregsedwards:You can add Cortana as an Alexa skill in the USA. Nowhere else.

    Posted 1 year ago on Microsoft Issues Digital Personal Assistant Report – 14 Comments

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    Microsoft mentions Cortana should have been the headline. Outside the USA the question is "What is Cortana? Ne

    Posted 1 year ago on Microsoft Issues Digital Personal Assistant Report – 14 Comments

    Forum Post

    Cautious about the future of Xbox

    In 2013 I watched the launch of the Xbox One. The launch event, in my mind, seemed to indicate a transformation of the Xbox from a games console to a home entertainment device with AI, ability to use a Kinnect to make Skype video calls, Microsoft entertainment content, multiple catchup TV apps, and more. It also let you play games.

    The games part seemed to be an add-on. In addition, the games would be orientated towards an always connected internet world of digital games. This latter bit was a little annoying. In my town, along with many in the UK, games trade in is a thing. You could pick up a second had disc for a few pounds and try something out. You could also trade in expensive games once you were done. Lots of low income families would use this to keep their kids happy too. So this seemed a negative turn of events. Also digital games cost more. You could buy a game from Amazon or your supermarket for 25% less than a digital download from Microsoft. How does that even make sense? The cost of discs, packaging and store space or posting a package is cheaper than a digital download.


    Had Microsoft gone off their heads?


    I did buy the Day One console. I paid a premium for the Kinect. Microsoft had made it very clear there was no way back. No backward compatibility was going to be offered. Hundreds of pounds were spent. The old Xbox 360 games were traded in or given away. I was now fully Xbox One enabled. 

    Then the promised new entertainment services didn’t seem to arrive. I remembered that Microsoft had a launch segment with Steven Spielberg promising some content. There were US sports which were little use in Britain but I could live with the “US Only” mentality of Microsoft – it was normal. There were some rumour of a standalone TV box for MS entertainment services. 


    What has happened?


    The launch of a home entertainment centre was so good it gamers headed to the Playstation 4. Microsoft then “relaunched” the Xbox One as an actual games console. The home entertainment hub was gently dropped when Google released a £30 Chromecast and Amazon produced the Fire Stick. Kinect proved to be an expensive door wedge. Suddenly Microsoft announced Xbox 360 compatibility was coming. Unfortunately, I believed them when they said they won’t do that so I didn’t have any of my old favourites left. However, I could buy the digital remasters for more money than I spent on the originals. 


    In a sense my Xbox One was the promise of an integrated Microsoft ecosystem of services. Movies, TV, gaming, video calling, original content, integration with my WindowsPhone and PC.


    I do get that Microsoft find games a good a business. I like gaming. However, the Xbox One 2013 vision has hardly been realised so I am cautious about the Xcloud and other “X” properties. Microsoft have perhaps fooled me too many times with my consumer cash. 


    Posted 1 year ago on Cautious about the future of Xbox – 10 Comments

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    In reply to arknu:People may have been able to change it but normal users may not even know there is a choice.

    Posted 1 year ago on Google Adds Search and Browser Ballot Screens to Android in the EU – 10 Comments

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    So we may have the beginnings of voice being the next mobile. In other words the breakthrough of a niche techn

    Posted 1 year ago on Report: Smart Speaker Installed Base to Top 200 Million This Year – 3 Comments

    comment
    The long slow death of WindowsPhone continues. Everytime you think the wound has healed something comes along

    Posted 1 year ago on Facebook removing apps from all Microsoft platforms – 25 Comments

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    You can add to that the consumer "unlimited" onedrive storage. Microsoft introduced unlimited onedrive storage

    Posted 1 year ago on Bring Out Your Dead (Premium) – 56 Comments

    comment
    When Microsoft gave up on mobile and a consumer ecosystem then these decisions were certainly probable. I don&

    Posted 1 year ago on Microsoft is Closing Its Ebook Store, Edge Support – 72 Comments

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    We became an Amazon family because of Alexa. I waited for the Microsoft Cortana speaker but eventually you end

    Posted 1 year ago on Are You an Amazon or an Apple Family? – 10 Comments

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    In reply to Chris_Kez:My main reason for not being too closely tied to Google was that I had a Windowsphone. E

    Posted 1 year ago on Personal Assistant(s) – 22 Comments

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    I wear a fitbit versa today. Primarily to count my steps and act as a nagging friend to make me walk more. It&

    Posted 1 year ago on From Xbox to Health, A Brief History of the Microsoft Band (Premium) – 24 Comments

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    In reply to jchampeau:Thanks for the warning. That is part of the reason why I am churning this around in my m

    Posted 1 year ago on Personal Assistant(s) – 22 Comments

    Forum Post

    Personal Assistant(s)

    The day I saw Cortana demonstrated on Windowsphone back in 2012(ish) at a Microsoft conference I was all in. It took a long while to arrive on my Lumia in the UK and was less functional than the demo but it had promise. This was the most personal of phones with the most personal of assistants.


    I looked forward to having an ever improving experience, integration of the assistant with the services I use and the science fiction possibility of voice becoming a legitimate interface. In the current jargon – ambient computing. 


    Jumping forward to 2019 I find the picture has changed a lot. The promise of Cortana has evaporated as quickly as Satya Nadella’s commitment to three Windowsphones per year. Cortana never really reached full functionality in the UK. In fact it now answers fewer queries than four years ago. I doesn’t really tell me about my parcel deliveries, doesn’t work with mapping very well, knows little about public transport in the UK. As an “app” on my Android device it needs remapping to home screen but then Google Assistant has a problem. For it is the assistant that answers many of my queries on the move and integrates well with Android services. This is to be expected of course but now means two assistants are on my phone.


    At home the Amazon Alexa is my assistant of choice. It integrates with my music, news and has thousands of skills that allow me to listen to podcasts just by talking to my obedient friend. The Amazon Echo became my friend because there was no Microsoft offering in that category. However, we were promised a Cortana skill to allow me integration with the Microsoft services I use. That isn’t going well in Britain. Not a hint of Alexa being friends with Cortana so I can use my Echo as a Cortana speaker. Although I understand that the USA has this.


    Cortana is rapidly being deprecated in my personal use of Microsoft Services. It’s perhaps the inevitable consequence of Microsoft abandonment of consumers. As their consumer ambitions wither on the vine the consumers transition to other products that makes Microsoft look at their telemetry and discount the consumer market. The circle of deprecation, diminished use followed by deprecation continues. 


    The question in my mind is should I really start thinking as a consumer and move to the fully supported environment of Google Services. After decades of choosing Microsoft first it’s somewhat dispiriting the question is now seriously coming to my mind. 


    Posted 1 year ago on Personal Assistant(s) – 22 Comments

    comment
    Microsoft continues its journey to consumer irrelevance. Wall Street loves the strategy and its share price so

    Posted 1 year ago on Microsoft Pulls the Plug on Microsoft Band Apps – 42 Comments

    comment
    There are parallels in both Nokia and Huawei with the Microsoft story. Many of it's failures were due to

    Posted 1 year ago on MWC Barcelona: A Tale of Two Huaweis (Premium) – 24 Comments

    comment
    In part of the discussion about command line shells PowerShell was discussed as just an OS competitor to linux

    Posted 1 year ago on Use the Inner Source – Windows Weekly 609 – 2 Comments

    comment
    Cortana. The American personal assistant. It was the future once.

    Posted 1 year ago on Google No Longer Considers Cortana a Competitor – 18 Comments

    Forum Post

    Joining the world of ambient computing

    As a user of Microsoft products and services I am interested in what Satya Nadella says as CEO and how it might influence my personal technology decisions.


    Shortly after becoming CEO he said that Microsoft would be producing 3 mobile phones a year; one for consumers, one for business and a premium flagship model. he also said his three target product areas were AI, virtual reality and quantum computing. As a consumer I cant yet purchase a quantum computer and I saw my main VR opportunity as integration with Xbox One. This left AI and the idea of ambient computing.


    With the demise of the mobile platform after announcing his strategy using AI with Cortana become more challenging for me as a consumer. Being in the UK didn’t help either. For Microsoft you find English, outside the US, is a foreign language. Cortana has always been less functional than in the USA. Microsoft’s deep learning has problems with non-US users at many levels. However, according to Nadella, this was a key product area.


    The announcement of the Invoke speaker meant that I could have the Cortana interface in my home and perhaps it was going to deliver on that promise. Months later you could by the speaker in the USA at a huge discount and it was pronounced dead. The rest of the world never even saw it.


    In the meantime Amazon had released two generations of smart speakers, thousands of programmable skills and, when recently I wanted to buy a smart thermostat for my house none of the devices offered Cortana integration. So today I have Alexa everywhere. Even my TV streaming device can be voiced controlled. Back in 2013 Microsoft’s TV play was buy an Xbox One and watch TV on that. Everyone else offered a £30 usb device.


    If mobile is the two horse race between IOS and Android then ambient computing is a two horse race between Alexa and Google Assistant. It’s not even because Microsoft has bad products. They actually have no products people can buy.


    The new Microsoft is highly profitable. There is no doubt about that. However, if you are a user of technology in the home then Microsoft has opted out. If you don’t live in the USA then Microsoft has opted out to provide just a bare bones range of products and services mainly orientated to legacy systems.


    Microsoft as an enterprise company and business company has never looked so healthy. For everything else it’s not a player. Not only has Apple envy gone but even a sense of competition seems to have been diluted.


    As a consumer Microsoft is no longer my first choice. Most every other company is a better choice.

    Posted 1 year ago on Joining the world of ambient computing – 4 Comments

    comment
    Ditching consumers is paying well on the bottom line. Boring but profitable. Wall Street must love Satya.

    Posted 1 year ago on Microsoft Revenues Jump 12 Percent to $32.5 Billion – 21 Comments

    comment
    In reply to hrlngrv:The alternative position is not to believe a word Microsoft say. Maybe there isn't a

    Posted 1 year ago on WindowsPhone Angst – 60 Comments

    comment
    In reply to Bill_Russell:It's not a hobby. My principle computing device when I am out is my phone. Hatin

    Posted 1 year ago on WindowsPhone Angst – 60 Comments

    Forum Post

    WindowsPhone Angst

    Just over a year ago I became an ex-WindowsPhone user. Right now I am using a Nokia 7 Plus as my daily phone. A pure Android version, crapware free, Android One, but with the Microsoft Launcher and Edge browser. It's pretty much customised with Microsoft services. However, I hate it. I hate IOS too. It seems an interface of icons changed little since Steve Jobs launched the iphone and started the icon grid, home screen and home button paradigm. That's probably why I used a WindowsPhone for so long - a fresh and imaginative UI that was somehow Windows in a modern world. 


    I thought I was over WindowsPhone angst. The slow mysterious death of WindowsPhone. Killed by neglect but with bursts of hope as Microsoft occasionally launched something new or let a rumour run for a while. Microsoft communication via the blog is notoriously opaque. That's why you need other bloggers as intermediaries to decipher the cryptic nature of a Microsoft press statement. The new Microsoft was supposed to be about empathy. Yet the death of WindowsPhone was curiously direct and insensitive. A tweet as an answer to one question - Joe Belfriore said it's dead and I like my Samsung. 


    The last week or so had the return of WindowsPhone angst. The re-announcement of the previous end of life announcement to make sure bloggers could write some clickbait. WindowsPhone was declared dead again. It's new death covered on Windows Weekly.


    For one sudden moment of madness I looked at ebay to price a Lumia 950xl. I didn't click. I am emotionally disturbed by the death not mad. 


    Occasionally the muscle memory tries to click the dedicated camera button of the new Nokia I have but I suddenly realise that was a feature of my old Nokia WindowsPhone. I sometimes look for the additional "lenses" in the camera app. I also get annoyed that my calendar app doesn't exist and I use the considerably more fiddly Outlook mobile app. 


    However, the good news is that Microsoft is saving itself for the next wave. It is AI, ambient computing, intelligent edge. Fortunately when I moved to Android I integrated Cortana into my phone for the new promised future. My personal assistant from WindowsPhone transitioned to my Android device. I waited for the home speaker system to complete the world of ambient computing. 


    This week also formally announced the death of Cortana and the ambitions for ambient computing.


    At least I didn't buy a Zune (US only), Band, and I migrated to Spotify when the writing was on the wall......


    Posted 1 year ago on WindowsPhone Angst – 60 Comments

    comment
    Redmond has probably run out of the supply of white flags now.

    Posted 2 years ago on It’s Official: Satya Nadella Confirms Cortana Defeat – 136 Comments

    comment
    In reply to DocPaul:I used Cortana quite a lot on my Windowsphone. Less so on my android device. In fact, for

    Posted 2 years ago on Google Assistant Just Kicked Alexa’s Ass. And it Doesn’t Matter (Premium) – 41 Comments

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    In reply to DocPaul:Sort of. HMD are staff that Microsoft made redundant when they took over and closed down t

    Posted 2 years ago on Nokia’s Next Android Flagship Features Five Cameras – 37 Comments

    comment
    No blame here but ...It's entirely beautifully symmetrical that the company famous for limited internatio

    Posted 2 years ago on Coming Soon: Microsoft’s Windows Weekly Giveaways (Updated) – 216 Comments

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    In reply to CRoebuck:The UK is already an island. It's just the Brexiters didn't notice - certainly

    Posted 2 years ago on Coming Soon: Microsoft’s Windows Weekly Giveaways (Updated) – 216 Comments

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    In other news. Cortana is still not fully functional outside the USA. Microsoft wonder why Google Assistant an

    Posted 2 years ago on Google Assistant Gets New British and Australian Accents – 8 Comments

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    Given the invoke is a US only device and this feature is most useful in a home as a smart speaker it seems thi

    Posted 2 years ago on Cortana Is Getting Multi-User Voice Recognition Support – 16 Comments

    comment
    Microsoft can both recognise the fact that open web standards are primarily chrome standards and also acknowle

    Posted 2 years ago on Microsoft’s Embrace of Chromium is Historic (Premium) – 24 Comments

    comment
    US only. Being a global technology company is a tough computer science problem.

    Posted 2 years ago on Spotify Gets Improved Interface, Cortana Integration on Xbox – 7 Comments

    comment
    I guess that means it will be US only and won't impact mobile devices

    Posted 2 years ago on Mastercard Partners With Microsoft for New Digital Identity Platform – 15 Comments

    comment
    Microsoft now have a smart home system. Provided by Amazon. Cortana on the echo is a US Only product. Part of

    Posted 2 years ago on Microsoft is Now Selling Amazon Echo Smart Speakers – 18 Comments

    comment
    I am currently using Nine email client on Android. The reason is Outlook, for a long time, couldn't creat

    Posted 2 years ago on Microsoft Touts AI Advances in Outlook – 28 Comments

    comment
    Looks like Microsoft will either turn up late to this party or not at all. It wouldn't surprise me if Mic

    Posted 2 years ago on Samsung Infinity Flex Display Looks Like a Winner (Premium) – 47 Comments

    comment
    A mobile store with no mobile platform. Other than updating built-in apps I don't see there is much point

    Posted 2 years ago on Microsoft Store to Get Shopping Cart, Wish List Improvements – 10 Comments

    comment
    Seems perfectly logical as Microsoft moves 180 degrees away from it's original vision as a family enterta

    Posted 2 years ago on Xbox One Will No Longer Let You Stream to Your Phone Using a USB TV Tuner – 21 Comments

    comment
    The bigger problem outside the US is the continuing lack of availability of Cortana services. Its always nice

    Posted 2 years ago on Cortana 3.0 Launches in Beta on Android – 19 Comments

    comment
    With Cortana "dead" in the consumer space. What virtual assistant should I use?

    Posted 2 years ago on Questions for 9/28 – 9 Comments

    comment
    In reply to dcdevito:Its about ecosystems. Individual devices may not make money but, for consumers, it makes

    Posted 2 years ago on The Thing About Amazon (Premium) – 32 Comments

    comment
    With the only Cortana speaker now selling for 50 dollars can we safely declare Cortana dead? Or maybe at least

    Posted 2 years ago on Ask Paul for this Friday (September 21) – 25 Comments

    comment
    Like Windowsphone it seems Cortana is being "repositioned" as failed.

    Posted 2 years ago on Skype Hammers Another Nail in Cortana’s Coffin (Premium) – 22 Comments

    comment
    It's a good price. It's never been on sale outside the USA - rather like the Zune player.

    Posted 2 years ago on Tip: Harman Kardon Invoke is Just $50 at Best Buy – 45 Comments

    comment
    In reply to paul-thurrott:Exactly. I just find it interesting to get the opinion of the next generation, get o

    Posted 2 years ago on Surrender as a strategy – 22 Comments

    Forum Post

    Surrender as a strategy

    Out and about at the weekend I encountered some of my friend's kids. In a small church hall I was temporarily being "entertained" by a 11 year old twin girls using their ipad. I was curious if they knew about social media. I was helping them connect the ipad minis to the internet by tethering my phone while their parents were doing something else. 


    They explained that Facebook was for old people. Like me I suspected they wanted to say but were being polite. What about Snapchat I asked? Apparently that is "for kids". This was the authoritative view of the 11 year old experts. I then asked what they used. It turns out that it's all about Instagram and iMessage. Everyone is on iMessage. 


    The next day a friend of mine was talking about her daughter's Christmas present. Her 16 year old needed to update her iPhone so where could you get a cheap one. I told her such a thing didn't really exist why didn't she get an Android phone like the £200 value phone that mam was using. It was explained to me that her daughter had to have iMessage because it was the only thing the teens were using at school apart from Instagram. We talked about refurbished iPhones to get a good deal.


    Thinking about this I noticed no one mentioned Skype. The mums mentioned using Whatsapp between the adults but Skype wasn't even raised. 


    The next generation seem already lost to Microsoft due to their strange consumer strategy. However, they have the enterprise cloud and they don't seem to mind surrender as a strategy.

     

    Posted 2 years ago on Surrender as a strategy – 22 Comments

    comment
    In reply to djross95:Surely "Alice in Wunderlist" or "Alice in ToDo".

    Posted 2 years ago on Ask Paul: September 14 (Premium) – 32 Comments

    comment
    Oneplus is not really the small company it appears to be. It's people come from Chinese giant Oppo. They

    Posted 2 years ago on Apple Jacks Another Victory (Premium) – 54 Comments

    comment
    Android users might finally get the integration promised to Windowsphone users. However, this is Microsoft. Th

    Posted 2 years ago on SMS Connect Comes to Skype Insider Preview – 20 Comments

    Forum Post

    Does Cortana have any point any more ?

    I was one of the people that watched the first announcement of Cortana by Microsoft. Siri was on iPhone at that point but my experience of friends using Siri showed me that beyond asking about the weather it wasn't much good for anything.


    The promise of Cortana was quite different. This was to be a personal assistant for the most personal of phones - Windowsphone. It seemed to me that a digital assistant that really worked and had Microsoft's cloud machine learning behind it would do far more than Siri. Unfortunately it was going to be a while beofe my Windowsphone could test it. Cortana was a US only product. Eventually Cortana arrived in the UK. It took a long time and many of the features just didn't work.


    One of the things I looked forward to was maps, transport and directions. Like many Europeans using public transport (transit) is the way I get about. It quickly transpired that Bing Maps was inaccurate and primarily designed for drivers. Timetable information for buses and trains was entirely absent even though most transportation systems provided APIs to link to mapping and location services. Cortana eventually got to support local buses but due to mapping inaccuracy often the most obscure routes were shown taking you miles away from a bus stop. You could literally stand at a stop and ask for times only to be advised to walk 500m in the opposite direction to catch the bus that stopped in front of you. 


    Yet it did get better. I stuck with it. Local scout disappeared from Windowsphone and local information got worse. Cortana when asked for a local store gave you web references hundreds of miles away. On holiday in other parts of Europe it was less reliable. 


    Then Windowsphone was cancelled. In the spirit of President Trump a Microsoft executive just tweeted it was over and that was it. 


    There is no Bing Maps on Android but I put Cortana on as my assistant. Directions improved due to Google Maps being accurate and being updated. However, Cortana was still struggling. Asking it for bus times tomorrow to get to work would give me crazy routes starting late a night and waiting overnight in the bus terminal just to travel 8 miles instead to just giving me my commute options the next morning.  


    So I tried Google Assistant as my default. It seemed to understand which days I worked, my route, where I got off and made sensible transport suggestions. It alerts me quickly to local stores when I ask to buy something. It doesn't seem to be missing any features reserved only for the US. 


    Hold on. Isn't Microsoft focused on AI and machine learning. Cortana has access to my email, calendar and texts. It knows my location. Why does Google Assistant seem to know me better since I am really a user of Microsoft services. 


    Cortana is utterly failing to encourage me to use it on my mobile device. I am beginning to think I would like Google Assistant on the PC.


    Without a mobile platform Cortana seems an orphan. Inaccurate, partially compatible with life outside the USA, almost useless on mobile. I am not sure if I need a voice assistant on a PC however if I do it would be better not being Cortana.

    Posted 2 years ago on Does Cortana have any point any more ? – 43 Comments

    comment
    So far Nokia have played a mid-range strategy in developing markets and Europe. Although flagship phones make

    Posted 2 years ago on HMD Acquires PureView Trademark from Microsoft – 17 Comments

    comment
    Hubs were a design feature that could (should) have morphed into an easy way to access your favourite apps rat

    Posted 2 years ago on Android is Using AI to Fulfill the Promise of Windows Phone (Premium) – 38 Comments

    comment
    The Surface Go has a battery life indistinguishable from a conventional laptop and less than an iPad. How is i

    Posted 2 years ago on Questions for 8/17 – 8 Comments

    comment
    Me: "Alexa, Open Cortana"Alexa: "I can't find that skill"Me: "Alexa, thanks for your help. I forgot I was

    Posted 2 years ago on Cortana and Alexa Integration Launches in Public Preview – 17 Comments

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    I can see the basic functionality is the "continue where I left off" area of Microsoft's thinking. My own

    Posted 2 years ago on Your Phone App Now Available for Windows 10 Version 1803 (updated) – 24 Comments

    comment
    In reply to reefer:Not really Skype. Its Lync rebranded. Anyway MS want the enterprise to use Teams now.

    Posted 2 years ago on Skype seems to have no purpose – 13 Comments

    Forum Post

    Skype seems to have no purpose

    When I am home I like the idea of Windows 10 notifications alerting me to text messages. When I had a Windowsphone for a short while I seem to remember Skype allowing me to make it the default SMS messenger and then having do the same job in Windows.


    This didn't seem to last very long because Skype on Windowsphone lost messages, seemingly added them to random people in my contacts list and worked in a chaotic manner. I was forced to switch it off.


    Then there are people with iMessage. It uses IMessage to iMessage if it can and SMS if it can't. Its quite seemless. 


    I can now go to Android messages and have SMS in my browser. It allows me to text people with a real keyboard. This works pretty well and a lot better than Windows 10 has managed to do.


    I feel a little frustrated that Skype doesn't work like iMessage on mobile and doesn't allow SMS integration on the PC. Despite Microsoft having Skype in the product catalogue for years they seem to reboot the interface, take it apart, put it back together but fundamentally fail to get it working in the way it should work in a multi-device world. Even when Microsoft controlled Windowsphone and Skype it spent more time rebooting how it looked than getting it to work really well.


    We are now in a multiple messaging world. Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger and every other persons Android messaging app with encryption. Microsoft are fortunate Apple haven't brought iMessage to Android and PC. 


    I do feel that Skype is Microsoft product being killed by unnecessary indecision about what it is and what Microsoft want to do with it. 


    I would like Skype to be my go to application for integrated communication. It really doesn't work for that.

    Posted 2 years ago on Skype seems to have no purpose – 13 Comments

    comment
    Given Microsoft has no compelling consumer services other than Xbox is "Modern Life" a meaningless concept to

    Posted 2 years ago on Questions for 8/3 – 11 Comments

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    I worked with German colleagues for more than 4 years and saw the problem first hand when they wanted to use M

    Posted 2 years ago on Drifting away from Modern Life – 13 Comments

    Forum Post

    Drifting away from Modern Life

    I used Windowsphone exclusively from about 2010 to just a few months ago, My last Lumia 950 got sold on ebay and my regular device is a Nokia 7 Plus. I used Cortana and Bing Maps on Windowsphone and liked the experience of live tiles. Like many people I hate the “grid of icons” experience of both Android and IOS. However, there is no choice. 


    As a British user of Cortana I was used to it being less functional than the USA. Until reasonably recently it didn’t understand my route to work because I travel by bus rather than drive. The mapping with Bing was well behind Google. It did the job but often put things on the wrong side of the street etc. With both products I clicked ferociously at the feedback button to correct map errors and improve the experience. I didn’t see much change myself but you can always hope. Suffice to say things were sub-optimal but improving over time. 


    Once on Android I put the Microsoft Launcher on and added Cortana as the default assistant. Despite Cortana’s lacklustre performance in general it could read my Outlook appointments and work with my PC. So there was reason to standardise. Cortana isn’t as good. It is really just a voice web search and not a very good one. It is quicker to search on the command line. I could go on with it still not understanding my journey to work but it seems Google Maps does. After a couple of trips it suggests my bus route and tells me about delays. I find this to be extraordinary given that Microsoft is now focused on AI and machine learning. How come Cortana didn’t know this stuff? 


    Gradually, on Android, I have found Cortana not to be improving but a step backwards from Windowsphone. The application this week has taken three presses to start. Sometimes it doesn’t start at all unless I restart the phone. 


    Google Assistant has now gone back on. Cortana is still there in the launcher but demoted. 


    As Microsoft is now talking about “Modern Life” consumers I reflect on the fact that my modern life outside home and work depends on information on my mobile. Usually travel, commuting, payments, search, directions, mapping and photos. I find myself drifting towards Google services that just seem to be doing these things better.


    Thinking about Microsoft’s “Modern Life” for consumer. My current feeling is that presently the services consumers use are not the services Microsoft is focusing on. In fact they have slowed development in almost all of them to the point in which consumers have to make extra effort to use less useful services if they want to use Microsoft products on mobile.


    If they want to do “Modern Life” then there is a lot of work to do.

    Posted 2 years ago on Drifting away from Modern Life – 13 Comments

    comment
    Samsung crapware and bixby put me off paying a premium for unwanted rubbish.

    Posted 2 years ago on Samsung Galaxy S9 Not Selling as Well as Expected – 29 Comments

    comment
    I am confused here. There is no Bing maps for Android so I can't use it on my mobile device. I could use

    Posted 2 years ago on Bing Now Lets You Make Your Own Itineraries in Maps – 8 Comments

    comment
    I agree with much of what is written on the website which means I get a bit curmudgeonly when it comes to comm

    Posted 2 years ago on Ask Paul: July 27 (Premium) – 24 Comments

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    As a consumer I agree. Most normal people will not take their new Android phone add the Microsoft Launcher, se

    Posted 2 years ago on Microsoft’s Cross-Device Plans are Already Feeling the Squeeze (Premium) – 90 Comments

    comment
    In reply to valisystem:Absolutely. When the PC was dominant Microsoft relied on people using Internet Explorer

    Posted 2 years ago on Apple Music Inches Up on Spotify in the U.S. – 13 Comments

    comment
    In reply to jimchamplin:Ah yes. Petition Microsoft to build a tricorder. The 21st century technology is so 90s

    Posted 2 years ago on Enthusiasts Petition Microsoft to Make Andromeda – 93 Comments

    comment
    In reply to RR:Complaint is the wrong assumption. I was assessing whether Satya Nadella had achieved a target

    Posted 2 years ago on Love Windows – 41 Comments

    comment
    In reply to VancouverNinja:Always speak for myself and no one else.

    Posted 2 years ago on Andromeduh? (Premium) – 66 Comments

    comment
    Actually Microsoft enthusiasts want a Surface Phone not some not phone stylus pencil friendly filo fax courier

    Posted 2 years ago on Andromeduh? (Premium) – 66 Comments

    Forum Post

    Love Windows

    When new CEO Satya Nadella was new at the job he articulated Microsoft's mission much more clearly than he does now. Instead of talking about intelligent cloud and intelligent edge he just said he wanted people to "love Windows".  https://www.crn.com/news/applications-os/300075482/microsoft-ceo-nadella-we-want-people-to-love-windows-10-not-just-use-it.htm


    I work in IT so my work is Windows. Windows clients, Windows server, the cloud and Office 365. I use Windows because it allows me to access the tools I need to do my work. I don't use UWP apps at all and I use a variety of other tools including PowerShell. This puts me clearly in the Microsoft ecosystem.


    I actually liked this idea of "loving Windows". The idea that Windows was more than work and more than productivity, for me, was a good thing. I had a Windowsphone, a Windows PC, my old Xbox 360 was my movies and TV box and, when the family plan arrived, Groove would take over from Spotify as my music service. 


    In three years Nadella has failed to progress my love of Windows. In fact it's gone backwards. Now Windows has retreated from the central part of my technology use to being mainly something I use for work or when I need a keyboard to type. 


    Apple did the same thing. There was a time when an Apple user had to have a Mac to sync music, activate and upgrade an iPhone and use Apple services like iTunes. Apple then just made the Mac a component in an integrated ecosystem. 


    Microsoft seems to have done the same thing. It's downgraded or deprecated Windows as just part of their environment. The difference is that Microsoft don't have an ecosystem outside business and productivity. Of course there is Xbox and Minecraft. Despite their rather incompetent launch of the Xbox One in 2013 as a $500 TV box that had to have a Kinect sensor it survived the poor marketing of consumer products, 


    I reflect that in 2018 there is little to make a consumer "love Windows". I struggle to find a service, not related to work, that a normal non-gaming consumer would look to Microsoft for.


    If you care about Windows then this is a little bothersome. Microsoft may be looking ahead to the next wave of quantum computing virtual reality headsets that interact with the cloud but Windows is disappearing. It makes me sad that I can't love Windows and no one else can in the way Apple and Google seem to generate real passion for their products. I am not sure whether UWP or PWA really matter much in the Microsoft universe when cloud interaction may not involve Windows at all in 10 years. 


    Nadella is and will make Microsoft shareholders a lot of money. That's what he is there to do. However, I think if you care about Windows then we have passed the peak and are heading to a future without WIndows.


    Posted 2 years ago on Love Windows – 41 Comments

    comment
    OnePlus is currently a global phone. Works on all global carriers. For the last couple of decades the USA has

    Posted 2 years ago on The Next OnePlus Flagship Could Be Available at a US Carrier – 4 Comments

    comment
    OnePlus have been rightly criticised for abandoning older handsets to a perpetual life of older versions of An

    Posted 2 years ago on OnePlus Commits to Three Years of Updates – 33 Comments

    comment
    Alternatively the quiet announcement might be because VR headsets aren't setting sales figures on fire so

    Posted 2 years ago on No VR on Xbox One? Good! (Premium) – 20 Comments

    Forum Post

    Natively speaking to Cortana and Google Assistant

    Hey Google I said, followed by a request to list my appointments. I had nothing. Then I started Cortana and asked the same question. I got my list from my calendar.


    It wasn't accidental. On my Nokia 7 Plus I have Google Assistant mapped to the home key and Cortana as an icon on the home screen. I can use either assistant. I was half tempted to try Alexa because she lives in my home speakers. The Echo is there because the Invoke is a US only product and, I am reliably informed by Microsoft, my Amazon devices will work with Cortana soon.


    However, I am diverting myself. The key issue here is that as Microsoft retreats from the consumer ecosystem I have to use Google services. My email and calendar is on Outlook.com. In my Windowsphone days everything was integrated. Now I am split between Google that supports Windows by having the browser everyone uses but nothing else and Microsoft that barely supports it's own products for consumers.


    I could go all in on Google. Forget Outlook.com, my Office 365 Home, Microsoft apps and the like. Just cave in to the feeling that Microsoft barely even notices me and move to Google.


    Voice assistants are definitely part of the ecosystem. If you use one then you get drawn into the supporting products. I am now reflecting on whether I should give up on Cortana. Give up because outside the USA it's genuinely less useful and Microsoft don't really seem to be making it better. Give up because I use voice assistant help primarily on the phone and Google Assistant is just better on mobile.


    Having moved from Windowsphone I am just contemplating killing Cortana. Arguably I may kill her on my own system before Microsoft pulls the plug on Cortana for consumer.

    Posted 2 years ago on Natively speaking to Cortana and Google Assistant – 4 Comments

    comment
    Pocketcasts seems to be the superior product in terms of features. Google's Podcasts looks pretty basic.

    Posted 2 years ago on Google Podcasts is Live – 8 Comments

    comment
    I have been using the Microsoft Launcher since I moved full-time from Windowsphone to Android. I didn't l

    Posted 2 years ago on The Microsoft Launcher Challenge (Premium) – 43 Comments

    comment
    In reply to Brazbit:Of course. Windowsphones were selling. Just not enough to make Microsoft look like a "play

    Posted 2 years ago on OnePlus 6 Has Already Sold One Million Units – 17 Comments

    comment
    Probably a good buy if Microsoft want to rebuild it's developer focus after UWP and it's other dead

    Posted 2 years ago on Microsoft + GitHub – 72 Comments

    Forum Post

    Cortana, Productivity and deja-vu

    I have been reading recently that Cortana is going to change to being a "productivity" product. Since AI is a key new future wave identified by CEO Satya Nadella it would not look good if Cortana was discontinued. It will, so I read, feature in enterprise and business. It isn't dead it's just resting (with apologies to Monty Python's parrot sketch).


    Since CES at the beginning of the year, the explosion of smart home devices from Google and Amazon, and PC manufacturers getting serious about Alexa, Cortana seems to be taking a back seat. Cortana has always taken a backseat here in the UK. Despite speaking English, Microsoft treat English spoken in the country that invented English as a foreign language market. You need to speak US English to get a first class seat in Cortana's world. Features in the US version have don't work in the UK at all or are reduced. Transportation in the UK includes train and public transport, like much of Europe, whereas the US is a car economy. The net result is that Cortana gets a bit lost when you choose transit or ask about trains. Bing maps is not too great either here. Buildings are mis-placed by miles, bus routes are a bit confused and any corrections you submit never get corrected.


    Reminders are great. Except that they don't seem to connect to the To Do app, Outlook, Outlook.com or anything else. Cortana doesn't really understand context. I asked recently for an airport map and it showed me the centre of the nearest town. Cortana stopped working with music, can't find podcasts or understand that "home" is my home address I put into Cortana.


    In short my non-US experience is a struggle and if I didn't want to use Microsoft services I would have drifted back to Google Assistant a long time ago.


    I was thinking about this. I was seeing that this is a barely working service outside the USA, it hasn't improved in years, it is declining in market share, lacking in development, no mobile platform that makes it easy to take with you. It is now being "rebranded" for productivity rather than having it's shortcomings addressed.


    For me this was the same pattern as Windowsphone. Non-American markets being poorly served, a product that was not being updated, denial about it being discontinued and a move to business as a revival strategy.


    So I understand that Cortana is just the front end to AI at Microsoft. Bing is part of the equation along with other things. This feels like deja-vu. A Microsoft product gradually losing traction while Microsoft denies it is fading away.

    Posted 2 years ago on Cortana, Productivity and deja-vu – 5 Comments

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    In reply to crfonseca:There will be very little software you can use with Surface Phone if it ever emerges. Th

    Posted 2 years ago on Microsoft to Retire Groove for Android and iOS – 62 Comments

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    To summarise. Microsoft is continuing it's strategy of abandoning a consumer ecosystem as it further cons

    Posted 2 years ago on Microsoft to Retire Groove for Android and iOS – 62 Comments

    comment
    The "ecosystem" for Andromeda is e-books. Certainly very niche.

    Posted 2 years ago on Andromeda Dreams and Awakenings (Premium) – 41 Comments

    comment
    Cortana, as a consumer product, will be unlikely to register. Microsoft have no real consumer strategy except

    Posted 2 years ago on Watch Out Alexa, Google is Coming Home – 36 Comments

    comment
    In the UK "Windowsphone" was sold as Nokia. Everyone knew Nokia and the display stands say Nokia. Actually the

    Posted 2 years ago on Did regular consumers just not know about Windows Phone? – 44 Comments

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    I think this looks a great flagship device. For most normal people "good enough" starts at a mid price point a

    Posted 2 years ago on OnePlus 6 Arrives May 22, Will Start at $529 – 27 Comments

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    Onedrive and Office 365 is the best value. As long as you know about it as a consumer. However, consumers have

    Posted 2 years ago on Google Announces Google One, Online Storage With Flexibility – 36 Comments

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    Very funny. I thought you missed Windowsphone 7.8. This was the version that was produced when, after promisin

    Posted 2 years ago on Behind the Scenes: Build 2018 – Premium – 35 Comments

    comment
    I can see Microsoft 365 as software defined managed service play. Instead of passing your business IT needs to

    Posted 2 years ago on Microsoft Finally Hits Pause on New Windows Features (Premium) – 31 Comments

    Forum Post

    Accidental Personal Tech Change

    Change can sometimes be planned and sometimes accidental.


    For a number of years my home devices have been governed by a distinctive Microsoft slant. Going back 5 years my TV was connected to my old Xbox 360. I rented movies from the Microsoft store. I used Microsoft apps on the Xbox 360 for catchup TV. I used my Windowsphone for Groove Music (was Xbox Music) and Podcasts etc. Cortana was the digital assistant I used on the move. Maps were from Bing. Onedrive looked after the photos and was particularly appealing because of the Windowsphone bonus space for photos. Eventually an Xbox One became the living room device when I bought an Xbox One S for gaming.


    Basically the digital services part of my life was Microsoft-centric. 


    I didn't really make a decision to move away from Microsoft. I really didn't. However, my wife needed a music service and it made financial sense to get a family plan. So Spotify became the music service. The Xbox DVD reader often failed to read my DVDs so I bought a cheap Sony device for that. Windowsphone was killed so I got an Android device then it made more sense to use a Chromecast. My Spotify connects to home speakers and, in the UK, there are no Cortana home speakers. So I got an Amazon Echo to work with Spotify. 


    Google gives me unlimited storage to look after my photos and there is no Bing Maps app for Android so Google Maps are the default.


    The other day I looked around my personal technology and realised that, apart from my PC, I have gone Microsoft free. I never decided to do that it just happened.


    I don't think I am the only one.

    Posted 2 years ago on Accidental Personal Tech Change – 6 Comments

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    In reply to bharris:Personally I think a standalone mail, calendar and contacts app on Android would work bet

    Posted 2 years ago on Outlook is a Mess (Premium) – 59 Comments

    Forum Post

    What happened to my passport and universal identity management?

    The other day I was buying from an online retailer. Nothing unusual there. However, with Facebook in the news right now I was struck that the site said I could log on with my Facebook account. I have done this before on a number of sites. It's convenient and stops me creating lots of online accounts that I have to remember. Convenience over security.


    So where is Microsoft on this?


    If you have implemented a hybrid Office 365 environment you will know that Microsoft offer an enterprise security standard single sign on. Microsoft is a trusted brand in the area of security unlike the Microsoft of 15 years ago that needed a trustworthy computing initiative. In fact you could see the spasms that Facebook is facing today is a new version of the trust gap that hit Microsoft back in the days of Bill Gates.


    Microsoft did create "passport" that morphed into the Microsoft Account (MSA). Passport was, in hindsight, another service that was way ahead of it's time and not really explained to people or promoted. Right now websites and ecommerce ought to all authenticate with MSA and not Facebook. MSA should be the trusted account people rely on for identity management. Perversely few websites do this. You can login with Facebook, Google even Spotify but rarely does MSA appear as an option. Could this be the complexity of implementation? Could it be lack of awareness?


    I think it's the old Microsoft problem of identifying a problem, developing a solution, not publicising it or not making anyone aware of the advantages. Being in the first wave but leaving it to the latecomers to dominate a service that should be Microsoft's reputational ace in the hole. When people think of online security and ease of use they should think MSA. They actually think Facebook. 

    Posted 2 years ago on What happened to my passport and universal identity management? – 1 Comments

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    Chromebook works for the people who can survive with Windows 10 S. You also have the advantage of the browser

    Posted 2 years ago on It’s Easier to Add than Subtract (Premium) – 76 Comments

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    Things that are missing in Windows. My top one.SSH natively. I think it's coming in Powershell but it sho

    Posted 2 years ago on The Sams Report: Making the Big Decisions – 3 Comments

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    Windows 10 S is really good if you want a Chromebook experience on Windows. Alternatively you can buy a Chrom

    Posted 2 years ago on Ask Paul: April 6 (Premium) – 30 Comments

    comment
    Its about time that email encryption just becomes "normal".

    Posted 2 years ago on OneDrive, Outlook, Other Office Products Get New Security Features – 29 Comments

    comment
    I suppose it's fitting that Terry Myerson was head of Windowsphone. Satya Nadella never did announce that

    Posted 2 years ago on The Future of Windows? (Premium) – 97 Comments

    comment
    Cloud is clearly a strength for Microsoft. Perhaps it is becoming the cloud company. Meanwhile Windows is now

    Posted 2 years ago on Terry (Premium) – 126 Comments

    comment
    In reply to johnh3:Well he steered phone to non-existant. The devices part of the business was looking sparse.

    Posted 2 years ago on Microsoft Windows Gets a New Leader – 71 Comments

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    If Microsoft go to a "dumb client" approach to access cloud services then for most people ChromeOS is a better

    Posted 2 years ago on UWP Failed … and Now Apple and Google are Copying It (Premium) – 59 Comments

    comment
    Well this is another element of a product that Microsoft haven't got right. Skype lost the IM wars when M

    Posted 2 years ago on Wonder What’s Happening With Wunderlist? Wonder No More – 43 Comments

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    In reply to mhanch:I used Open Live Writer for a while but it's main stumbling point for me was lack of s

    Posted 2 years ago on Living with S Mode: Core Apps (Premium) – 31 Comments

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    If a default browser setting means the browser you have chosen isn't the default then, what is the point

    Posted 2 years ago on Here’s What’s Really Happening with Windows 10 (Premium) – 132 Comments

    comment
    Microsoft might be all in on mixed reality but is there any evidence that consumers are buying more MR headset

    Posted 2 years ago on Questions for 3/16? – 14 Comments

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    When Microsoft sell PCs they advertise the fact that these are "signature editions" free of bloat and crapware

    Posted 2 years ago on You Can Now Get a Microsoft Edition of the Samsung Galaxy S9 – 27 Comments

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    Windows 10 S or S mode is interesting because it doesn't really make any sense as there seems no tangible

    Posted 2 years ago on The Sams Report: Is Windows 10 S a Failure? – 4 Comments

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    Good news for Microsoft customers outside the USA where no Cortana speakers are sold. I have my echo ready.It

    Posted 2 years ago on Microsoft’s Still Working On Cortana/Alexa Integration, No Timeline for Release – 18 Comments

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    Mobile World Congress has just finished. It's the place where the mobile technology world converges. Is M

    Posted 2 years ago on Questions for 3/2? – 10 Comments

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    In reply to brad-sams:There is no guarantee of any brand surviving of course. I make a side observation as a E

    Posted 2 years ago on Nokia at MWC18 – 13 Comments

    Forum Post

    Nokia at MWC18


    Although there is a lot of coverage of the Samsung Galaxy S9 one of the interesting spaces that has been vacated by Google and Apple is the well built mid-range mobile device.


    Oneplus has a great phone in the mix but the recent scandal of credit cards being stolen from their online ordering system and the reluctance to update their devices quickly may present an opportunity for Nokia.


    Nokia has joined the Android One programme and, looking away from the premium Nokia 8 Sirocco, the Nokia 7 Plus seems to fit the space that Google Nexus devices used to sit in. When you add in the completely stock Android implementation then it really represents some value in that space.


    Nokia is certainly back from a European viewpoint. I think the Nokia 7 Plus is the most interesting of all their announcements.

    Posted 2 years ago on Nokia at MWC18 – 13 Comments

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    The current Nokia 8 would be fine for me except that the camera seems to get some poor reviews. I am not sure

    Posted 2 years ago on Nokia Joins Android One, Launches 5 New Phones at MWC – 23 Comments

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    Mobile seems to be the AR platform that is moving ahead. It all seems like the "city lens" pioneered by Nokia

    Posted 2 years ago on Google Ships ARCore 1.0 for Android – 12 Comments

    comment
    With no consumer ecosystem of services in Microsoft's portfolio is it fair to label Andromeda as "enterpr

    Posted 2 years ago on Questions for 2/23? – 20 Comments

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    Apart from the silly Bixby button I dont really like Samsung pre-installed crapware. I guess some people do th

    Posted 2 years ago on Thinking About the Samsung Galaxy S9 (Premium) – 31 Comments

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    If the new Surface Andromeda is released there is no apps ecosystem in Windows for mobile. Is it's succes

    Posted 2 years ago on Questions for 2/16? – 11 Comments

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    Back in 2014, I was on holiday from the UK in New York. In the tourist trap of Times Square Captain America pe

    Posted 2 years ago on Yes, Nokia Should Have Chosen Android, Not Windows Phone (Premium) – 55 Comments

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    Makes the Lumia 950 a big seller by comparison.

    Posted 2 years ago on Google Pixel and Essential were 2017’s High-Profile Flagship Failures (Premium) – 40 Comments

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    PWA's could help the Windowsphone "app gap".... oh too late.

    Posted 2 years ago on Microsoft Confirms PWA Plans for Windows 10 RS4 – 79 Comments

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    MIT will be offering their batchelors degree in Microsoft Licensing in April 2018 so it can be understood.Wind

    Posted 2 years ago on Exclusive: New Windows 10 Consumer SKU Roadmap Revealed – 46 Comments

    Forum Post

    The retreat from consumer products

    My nephew started university last year and his parents bought him a laptop that came with Microsoft WIndows. They didn't buy a Surface Laptop or a Surface Book because they were way out of their budget. Instead they were directed to the HP and Lenovo devices.


    For my brother and nephew Windows comes "free" with the laptop. Rather like 4 wheels and an engine come as standard with a car purchase. He bought a student version of Office on the university website. I advised him to do this when he asked me how to get Word and Excel. From his perspective he bought a 4 year license from the university. His iPhone uses Spotify for music at a student discount. His student discount app is only available on iPhone and android. 


    As a normal consumer the Microsoft brand barely exists. 


    While it is true that Wall Street loves Microsoft's strategy on enterprise, cloud, AI, etc it is also true that none of these things is very visible. Abandoning consumer products and mobile results in lack of visibility. There is nothing wrong with that. Oracle are a huge business invisible to consumers. IBM is a business service company. 


    Back in the 1980s Bill Gates' vision was a PC on every desk. That was business and consumer. With 90%+ of the PC market you could say the vision statement worked. Ballmer's "cloud first, mobile first" less so. Nadella says "intelligent cloud, intelligent edge" and no one has a clue what "success" looks like even if it happens. 


    For those of us that consumed Microsoft services over the years we are now consuming less. However the companies we work for are probably consuming more. 


    What is going to be interesting is watching how Microsoft is being followed in the media. The year 2017 is probably the year that Microsoft will have abandoned consumer products - with the single exception of gamers. The year 2018 will be the year that websites covering the Microsoft space will either change to more general consumer technology or alternatively become enterprise news websites. Neither is a bad thing.  It will just be interesting to observe.



    Posted 2 years ago on The retreat from consumer products – 39 Comments

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    Microsoft has done a lot to take the PC from a bargain basement device to a premium aspirational device. That&

    Posted 2 years ago on New Model Shifts Hint at Surface Turmoil (Premium) – 62 Comments

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    The earnings call this week confirmed Microsoft as the Enterprise company. Other than Xbox and that Windows is

    Posted 2 years ago on Questions for 2/1? – 10 Comments

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    Mobile stores have proved effective because of the nature of mobile and customer expectations.A company like M

    Posted 2 years ago on Lead by Example (Premium) – 62 Comments

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    Given Microsoft has no meaningful mobile platform, where you need a decent camera, I dont see it matters much.

    Posted 2 years ago on Microsoft Tests New Windows Camera Update to Enable Future Innovation – 17 Comments

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    In reply to skane2600:You are being pedantic. However I guess I was taking the observation from the perspectiv

    Posted 2 years ago on Windows "Polaris" – 53 Comments

    Forum Post

    Brad said Microsoft fans should buy an iPhone

    In a recent edition of the Sams Report Brad recommended I buy an iPhone. Of course he doesn't know me personally. I am just a listener/viewer that occasionally asks questions.


    Why should I buy an iPhone?


    I don't want to paraphrase too much. However, the basic argument is that Google competes with Microsoft across a range of things such as cloud, browser, mobile, ecosystem etc and is threat to Microsoft. Apple, on the other hand, has a business focused on the iPhone and consumer cloud. Given Microsoft's retreat (abandonment) of consumer this makes Apple a complementary business rather than a competitive business. I think he has a point.


    The problem I have with the advice is I think that there are some difficulties. I think the nature of Microsoft fandom is different from Apple fandom or even Google fandom. Normal Apple buyers do see buying almost as a fashion statement. Sometimes I feel that Apple is to technology what Calvin Klein is to underwear. When a new iphone comes out I see buyers making sure you can see the Apple logo on their treasured purchase. The purchase itself, in an Apple retail store, is part of the experience. The first day of release for a new iPhone would be easier on the web but Apple fans, like a religious movement, seem compelled to queue outside. Something mocked by Samsung ads.


    Microsoft fans seem a different bunch to me. They seem to be fans because the technology makes sense to them. The Microsoft brand, other than Xbox, is not actually something that has a wow factor. The Microsoft fan is not uncritical - often quite the reverse. These days the Microsoft fan participates via the Insider Programme. Microsoft fans are also in the enterprise - a place Apple fans are not seen other than with mobile management issues. 


    My view is that it's firstly a culture clash that really makes "fan" relationships unequal. Calling someone a Microsoft fan is quite different from some kind of brand ambassador in the Apple sense.


    Crucially Nadella has failed in one objective to create "fans". He said he wanted people to "love Windows". Relegating Windows to a work productivity tool makes this very difficult.


    Next is the cost and value proposition. I really believe Microsoft "fans" are more price sensitive. Although Microsoft, through it's Surface line of PCs, has put the premium PC into focus most users buy PCs much cheaper than these devices. The premium PC market is primarily business plus specialist markets like gamers. Apple actually loves the exclusivity buyers feel because it's expensive. it is an overtly aspirational device. Android, other than Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones, is orientated to the everyman market. Technically Android devices can be set to default to Cortana and Edge with a Microsoft Launcher whereas iPhones can just have apps. 


    Strategically it is true that a Microsoft "fan" wanted to support the company then iPhone is probably the best choice. I would say the Microsoft fan would want Microsoft to have viable mobile platform. In the absence of such a platform a Microsoft fan would look to a mobile device that can be customised to be a Microsoft experience. That's probably Android. Specifically as near to an vanilla stock Android as you can get. This is why the Oneplus 5T got so much attention. 


    So I think Brad is right recommending the iPhone to Microsofties of all kinds. However my expectation is that just wont happen because "fandom" is not the same.

    Posted 2 years ago on Brad said Microsoft fans should buy an iPhone – 26 Comments

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    As a journalistic exercise this is all good stuff. In some sense there is a lot of glib comment. I am part of

    Posted 2 years ago on Windows "Polaris" – 53 Comments

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    So Microsoft are trying to build WIndows that won't run Windows apps. First try was Windows RT, second wa

    Posted 2 years ago on The Sams Report: Why You Should Care About February 8th – 2 Comments

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    With the Surface Laptop having the option of Windows 10 Pro rather than "S" is there really a future for a ver

    Posted 2 years ago on Questions for 1/26? – 12 Comments

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    In reply to mikeghou:Agreed. Nine is the way to go. I would even prefer standalone contact and calendar apps l

    Posted 2 years ago on Problem syncing contacts from Android to Outlook – 8 Comments

    Forum Post

    Wunderlist and ToDo

    Wunderlist was a product bought by Microsoft to allow people to create and deal with "to do" lists and the like. It was integrated with Cortana because you could add it as a connected service.


    Just when I was starting to use Wunderlist Microsoft announced they were deprecating it and introducing Microsoft ToDo. Rather naively I assumed this would be a re-brand of Wunderlist but it turned out to be a whole different thing.


    ToDo wasn't updated very much. On the positive side there was a UWP WindowsPhone and Windows 10 app.


    Wunderlist seems still to be around and you can still download it from the Store. Cortana lists and reminders don't seem to relate to either of them.


    So is Microsoft ToDo the future and the app I should be using? Is Wunderlist really going to be deprecated and should I really use that? How does Cortana lists and reminders fit into this.


    ToDo lists seem to be a something straightforward. How does Microsoft end up with 3 different systems?


     


    Posted 2 years ago on Wunderlist and ToDo – 5 Comments

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    Apparently the Surface Laptop can now be bought with Windows 10 Pro (no S) if you want to. I thought S stood f

    Posted 2 years ago on Windows 10 S: A New Name, Office Apps, Chrome, and More (Premium) – 85 Comments

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    In reply to paul-thurrott:Of course. But I have favourites and collections in Bing Maps.On a wider canvas it&#

    Posted 3 years ago on No Bing Maps app – 5 Comments

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    Microsoft's Windowsphone had an early lead with the Nokia City Lens app some years ago. AR to help explor

    Posted 3 years ago on Google is Bringing AR to the Web. Where’s Microsoft? (Premium) – 11 Comments

    Forum Post

    No Bing Maps app

    I try to use Microsoft services on my Android phone. This isn't just being a Microsoft "fan" but rather being compatible across devices.


    On my PC Bing Maps has a lot of favourites and collections. Bing Maps is there because I have a Windowsphone. I now have moved, mainly because Windowsphone has been abandoned. I would like to carry on using my Lumia 950 but that's a different story. 


    Google Maps on Android is clearly an excellent app. It is probably the best maps app. However it carries the baggage of being connected to the Google ecosystem rather than what remains of the Microsoft ecosystem.


    If you look for Bing in the Google Play Store there is the Bing search app. It doesn't include maps. If you look for Bing Maps there seems no official app. However, we are living in the world of PWA. So I type https://www.bing.com/maps. On a PC this gets you to Bing Maps. On Edge with an Android phone it takes you to Bing search. No maps.


    As Microsoft abandons consumer services it seems to not even provide a way of getting to the Bing Maps website on mobile. Bing Maps does seem to sell services to enterprise customers. It seems the retail offering has given up the ground to Google like much else in the consumer space.


    Posted 3 years ago on No Bing Maps app – 5 Comments

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    I am at the "what's the point?" stage. The current Google ads showing the Pixel 2 AR with Star Wars chara

    Posted 3 years ago on Windows Mixed Reality Headsets Are Already 50 Percent Off – 49 Comments

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    If Edge on mobile is good enough then PWA becomes the universal app platform that Windowsphone was seeking.Of

    Posted 3 years ago on PWAs are the Future of Apps. Period. (Premium) – 52 Comments

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    The previews are pretty annoying. A bit like autoplay videos and ads on news sites. Basically it makes me back

    Posted 3 years ago on Netflix is Broken (Premium) – 37 Comments

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    I miss Windows on my Mobile device. The Lumia 950 was launched without enthusiasm with a buggy OS. To be fair

    Posted 3 years ago on The Andromeda Strain (Premium) – 100 Comments

    comment
    Is the demise of Cortana yet further evidence that Microsoft's abandonment of mobile is having ripples th

    Posted 3 years ago on Questions for 1/12 – 5 Comments

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    In reply to mocavo67:The Invoke is a US only product.Cortana is not available globally either. The fullest fea

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft Denies That Cortana is Dead (Premium) – 96 Comments

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    Yep. Cortana was on a downward stretch once Windowsphone was cancelled. The whole point of an AI is to be ever

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft, Please Open Up Windows 10 to Other Assistants (Premium) – 80 Comments

    comment
    In 2015 Microsoft declared that they would be releasing 3 Windowsphones a year. I weigh Microsoft's decla

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft Denies That Cortana is Dead (Premium) – 96 Comments

    Forum Post

    Tag US Only Features

    Historically readers of blogs or websites from outside the USA have looked a US based tech journalism and realised there was little global perspective. Personally I think this is a general problem in the USA.


    One particular problem is Microsoft. Most of its products are either specifically locked in to the US market, have US only features, dribble out slowly internationally or require non-US users to select inappropriate regional settings to get things to work.


    Cortana is a great example of a US centric AI that knows less and less when you leave the USA.


    What would help would be stories tagged for readers. Tags could be.


    USOnly - not globally available

    Limited Globally - essentially only the US but some availability elsewhere

    Key markets - available in most markets that Microsoft release to

    Global - available everywhere


    I suspect "global" will be the least used but tagging would help non-US readers.

    Posted 3 years ago on Tag US Only Features – 4 Comments

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    In reply to Mehedi:I posted as much in the Forums yesterday before any of this came out.The mobile abandonment

    Posted 3 years ago on Amazon Bringing Alexa to Windows 10 PCs – 54 Comments

    Forum Post

    Will Cortana for consumer survive 2018

    I am regularly struck by the paucity of Microsoft in their communication. It almost requires a translation into English. They last year a blog telling us about their "partnership" with Spotify was really about closing down Groove.


    What does this communication technique tell us about the focus on AI versus actual things that are happening.


    Cortana, for example, is only really on the PC. For most users it's just a search box. In the USA Cortana has a wide range of features and there is even the Invoke speaker. For some countries, like the UK, there is a limited Cortana service and for most of the rest of the world it's not supported. 


    The end of Groove means Cortana can't even listen and identify music any more. So its less functional. Microsoft used to say that Gmail meant you had been "Scroogled" so has the consumer been "Grooved"?


    If the big bet is on AI then why doesn't it work in most places? Why is it getting less functional or at best barely usable.


    Microsoft is partnering with Amazon and their Alexa assistant. Alexa is globally available and attached to many consumer products provided by Amazon. It has had a year to perfect the smart speaker market and now has huge developer support in skills.


    I don't think it's too far of a stretch to see Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 S eventually having Alexa as the default assistant with Cortana relegated to being a business AI powering Office 365. Amazon would get access to consumer desktop operating systems to sell music, tv, prime membership and the like. Microsoft could then concentrate on their core enterprise market.


    AI might be a Microsoft priority but Cortana for consumer may be dead shortly.


    Posted 3 years ago on Will Cortana for consumer survive 2018 – 32 Comments

    Forum Post

    You don't have to go far to find out why Groove failed

    I work in a Microsoft-centric Enterprise. The whole thing, server, services and cloud. This being Europe a couple of colleagues have old aging Windowsphones and will be moving to Android shortly because they can't buy a new flagship model.  


    It is a pretty well informed office too. Daily news circulations of the latest patches, updates to server, Office 365 and the like.  


    So in what the Americans call a "water cooler moment" I was mentioning the end of the Microsoft music service over Christmas. My own history is that I was a subscriber and waited for a family plan to include my wife and nephew but it never came. So I moved to Spotify a couple of years ago. Back to the office. The almost universal reaction was people were totally unaware Microsoft had a music service. You need to remember that Zune devices were "US Only" and Zune was barely mentioned globally. Xbox Music was only released as an app on Windows 8. So the Windows 7 enterprise never saw it. 


    One colleague did mention Microsoft's music service but added that he couldn't use it because it was for the Xbox and he had a PS4.


    All my colleagues have Spotify subscriptions. Mainly because they buy a family plan so their kids are covered. 


    I didn't have to go far to find out why Groove closed.

    Posted 3 years ago on You don’t have to go far to find out why Groove failed – 14 Comments

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    As Cortana does less the ecosystem contracts. Maybe the word of the moment is "retrench". Maybe Alexa will be

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft (Kind Of) Kills Cortana’s Music Recognition Feature – 35 Comments

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    I am sure it will be another "US Only" product that will be cancelled in 12 months due to lack of interest and

    Posted 3 years ago on You Will Soon Be Able to Pre-Order This Beautiful Cortana-Powered Smart Thermostat for $319 – 22 Comments

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    Groove actually showcased how good a UWP app could be. After stumbling around as a buggy mess for years the la

    Posted 3 years ago on Goodbye, Groove Music – 38 Comments

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    The lack of a family plan, absolutely no promotion and lack of a desktop client for Windows 7 all helped make

    Posted 3 years ago on Goodbye, Groove Music – 38 Comments

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    Seems a good result for Microsoft given where they were with XP sticking around for years and many enterprises

    Posted 3 years ago on Fall Creators Update Usage Soars – 46 Comments

    Forum Post

    I had a cool Windowsphone once.


    I am in the UK and, like the rest of the world, Windowsphone was rarely promoted in retail and you struggled to buy one, I owned several models.


    In Britain the Windowsphone market had reached 14%, just slightly behind the iPhone (19%), and the Lumia 1020 was released. The distinctive camera and colour meant people asked me about it. Two people in my office bought one based on the pictures I showed to them. Even salesmen in retail stores had heard of the Lumia 1020. I had the yellow model of course - just so it stood out.


    I took the Lumia 1020 on holiday to San Francisco. In the UK there were no Microsoft Retail stores. So I stopped into browse the Windowsphones. There were a few low end devices in a small corner of the store with no promotion. As I was looking a sales guy approached me and I said I was expecting a couple of top class devices on display. He said they hadn't had anything like that for months and mostly it was like the sad group of budget phones in front of me. I did pull out out my Nokia Lumia 1020 to show him what I meant. He said he had heard about great phones in Europe but this was the US and they didn't get that stuff here.


    So I had a cool Windowsphone for a while and, by accident, discovered why US market share was 3% at the time.





    Posted 3 years ago on I had a cool Windowsphone once. – 11 Comments

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    I have an Echo. Not being in the USA means Microsoft products arrive months or years later. Many times they do

    Posted 3 years ago on Amazon Pushes Further Ahead of Apple, Google and Microsoft with Alexa – 53 Comments

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    So it's going to be interesting how Cortana is accessed from Amazon Alexa devices. Will you just be able

    Posted 3 years ago on This is the Most-Needed Change for All Digital Assistants in 2018 (Premium) – 43 Comments

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    Windows 10 S is the future of Windows in the same sense as IBM OS/2 was the future of command line PC operatin

    Posted 3 years ago on In Defense of Windows 10 on Snapdragon (Premium) – 36 Comments

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    It would certainly help if Edge was updated via the Store rather than via OS builds. I happen to be using Edge

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft Edge is an Outright Disaster (Premium) – 54 Comments

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    In reply to hrlngrv:Microsoft had a 10% market share in most of Europe. The USA was the weak market - the one

    Posted 3 years ago on Why ecosystems reallly matter – 7 Comments

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    Seems very version 1.0 whereas Amazon and Google have had a year or so head start.

    Posted 3 years ago on My Review of the Harmon Kardon Invoke – 18 Comments

    Forum Post

    Why ecosystems reallly matter


    At the weekend I decided to buy a TV Series. I watched all but one on Netflix but I wanted to binge watch. I took out my (Android) smartphone and used the Google Play Store to buy a series. Later I used the phone to send the series to my TV via Chromecast.


    After this I reflected. Three years ago I would have rented video using my Windowsphone and watched it via an Xbox.


    Today I use Spotify for my music instead of Xbox Music, primarily because Spotify has a family plan.


    My work is all in the Microsoft environment but as a consumer I have an Amazon Echo and my entertainment choices, except for gaming, have moved decisively outside the Microsoft ecosystem.


    My wife has a Lumia 950 and pretty soon she will probably want to upgrade he phone. She will probably find it easier at that point to go Google. Going Google is a frictionless processs.


    When Microsoft abandoned the first party smartphone market it also headed dramatically towards losing the ecosystem war. They have an app for everything but customers are being nudged towards Google and Apple solutions.


    Ecosystems matter, For consumers it seems Microsoft doesn't have one.

    Posted 3 years ago on Why ecosystems reallly matter – 7 Comments

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    Good to see Microsoft promoting mobile in it's store. Makes a change from the Lumia 950/XL that you strug

    Posted 3 years ago on Yes, Microsoft Needs to Sell Its Own Phones (Premium) – 36 Comments

    Forum Post

    Microsoft Pay Arrives

    Microsoft had a payment platform on Windowsphone 8.x which they announced in 2012. It required the carriers to provide a special secure SIM, that almost no one provided, and buy in from banks.


    Fortunately the Nokia devices that were the centre of the Windowsphone eco-system all had NFC and were payment ready.


    This was all called Wallet. Apple didn't even have NFC in their phones.


    In Europe, which had "chip and pin" technology since 2003 and where Nokia devices were in double digit sales the retail stores were moving to "tap and pay" pretty quickly. The Olympics in London during 2012 were showcasing at least one British bank's technology by having NFC payments enabled.


    Microsoft introduce "tap and pay" in 2016 in the US Only, only on Lumia 950 and 950XL phones, only on limited banks, following Google and Apple that had already launched globally.


    Now they have cleverly renamed their "Microsoft Wallet" as "Microsoft Pay". You might think this could be a mobile payment technology launch globally perhaps. Although since Windowsphone is now dead that's probably not the case.


    What it seems to be is a sort of Edge browser plugin that uses the recently established web api for making payments. Basically a desktop web helper to store your credit card numbers using a browser with a small share of the market.


    I welcome it but Microsoft seem to spend an inordinate amount of time renaming things in a confusing way. Most people in the social media thought "at last mobile payments coming to WIndowsphone outside the USA.


    No. Its something to store your credit card in Edge - just like that Windows 98 thing that stored your credit cards for IE but with an internet standard attached.

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft Pay Arrives – 6 Comments

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    Agreed.The recent "death notice" of Windowsphone is a case in point. For a couple of years journalists have be

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft’s Problem? It’s Not Technology (Premium) – 24 Comments

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    I understand that OnePlus is part of the Chinese based Oppo. They have released two flagship phones in a year.

    Posted 3 years ago on OnePlus 5T Leaks Ahead of Launch, and It Looks Great – 20 Comments

    comment
    If Andromeda is an enterprise device and since most enterprise apps are win32 does this mean Andromeda will b

    Posted 3 years ago on Questions for 11/10 – 10 Comments

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    RS4 is apparently going to support progressive web apps. If Windows 10 mobile supports pwa does that effective

    Posted 3 years ago on Questions for 11/3 – 7 Comments

    comment
    I guess the Windowsphone version is delayed.... :)

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft Announces New Mixer App for Android, iOS – 9 Comments

    comment
    In reply to CrownSeven:We don't know if Win32 will be included in the modular idea of Andromeda. This cou

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft’s Andromeda: A Folio of the Future – 97 Comments

    comment
    The major reason why Microsoft abandoned phone, apart from the multiple reboots, lack of marketing, lack of st

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft’s Andromeda: A Folio of the Future – 97 Comments

    comment
    It was mentioned that Microsoft put $10 billion into Windowsphone and was now saving money. Of course $7.2 bil

    Posted 3 years ago on The Sams Report EP 112: ARMing the Future – 3 Comments

    comment
    According to Nadella mixed reality is the next wave of computing. Looking at the headsets it seems rather more

    Posted 3 years ago on Questions for 10/27 – 21 Comments

    comment
    I am using Edge now every day on my home devices and on my android phone. I would like it a bit better but it

    Posted 3 years ago on Can you use Edge as your daily browser? – 44 Comments

    comment
    The future of AR is probably on mobile for most people. Pull out your phone and maybe review something with an

    Posted 3 years ago on Hands-On with Windows Mixed Reality – 24 Comments

    comment
    Cortana speaker is also US only.

    Posted 3 years ago on The Sams Report EP 111: Invoke vs Echo (2nd Gen) vs Secrets – 3 Comments

    comment
    One big reason why Windowsphone failed to gain traction was lack of apps and specifically lack of UWP apps. If

    Posted 3 years ago on Questions for 10/20? – 19 Comments

    comment
    With Microsoft leaving consumer is there any point to Microsoft retail stores?

    Posted 3 years ago on Questions for 10/13? – 15 Comments

    comment
    The spin is fine. That's what industry leaders like Nadella are supposed to do - not linger on failure an

    Posted 3 years ago on Analysis: Microsoft’s Mobile Strategy is About Moving Past the Smartphone Defeat (Premium) – 34 Comments

    comment
    In reply to WP7Mango:For the most part UWP is a platform specific wrapper rather than a platform agnostic univ

    Posted 3 years ago on Joe Belfiore finally stops the vague waffle – 106 Comments

    comment
    In reply to paul-thurrott:For me the "thing" is just the reluctance of Microsoft to speak in plain English. Ob

    Posted 3 years ago on Joe Belfiore finally stops the vague waffle – 106 Comments

    Forum Post

    Joe Belfiore finally stops the vague waffle

    Most Windowsphone users have been realistic. They know that Microsoft has lost interest but whenever they put to Microsoft representatives the question of what they are doing about WIndowsphone they have got vague answers of little substance.


    Microsoft say they will "support" Windowsphone when they out it into maintenance mode. They talk about mobile "experiences" across devices. They are never seen with a Windowsphone device.


    Lack of clarity was frustrating for people.


    However this weekend Joe Belfiore, recently quoted as using a Samsung S8 "Microsoft Edition", came out and said it in a tweet;


    https://twitter.com/joebelfiore/status/917071399541391360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.windowscentral.com%2Fmicrosoft-windows-10-mobile-features-and-hardware-are-not-focus-anymore


    "Of course we'll continue to support the platform.. bug fixes, security updates, etc. But building new features/hw aren't the focus."


    " As an individual end-user, I switched platforms for the app/hw diversity. We will support those users too! Choose what's best 4 u."


    "We have tried VERY HARD to incent app devs. Paid money.. wrote apps 4 them.. but volume of users is too low for most companies to invest. "


    Back in 2016 Terry Myerson said phone was not the focus. This was taken to mean in 2016 but it meant that was it.


    Personally I think this is first straightforward answer we have seen.


    However without mobile there seems little point in UWP and Cortana because these technologies are only relevant on a personal device like phone. UWP has limited use as a driver to the store but overall it is really PC only for most things. Cortana on PC is fine but where you really want it is on mobile. Mostly Android phones will use Google Assistant.


    The investment in mobile, in my view, was never just about mobile but rather it was the place other technologies are going to live for a while. Mobile is the personal computer. AI and mixed reality are on mobile first.


    So well done Joe. You have finally said what Microsoft should have said a year ago and are closing the door on consumer computing with the exception of the Xbox.



    Posted 3 years ago on Joe Belfiore finally stops the vague waffle – 106 Comments

    comment
    In reply to fishnet37222:OK. So it's a UWP version of media player.

    Posted 3 years ago on What a Fool Believes (Premium) – 83 Comments

    comment
    Nadella did say he wanted people to "love Windows". Loving Windows means having something that is at the centr

    Posted 3 years ago on What a Fool Believes (Premium) – 83 Comments

    comment
    Approximately how many people will be using Cortana to access their Invoke speaker and request it play a Groov

    Posted 3 years ago on Questions for 10/6? – 15 Comments

    comment
    I was told I didn't have download rights on my purchased music. It wasn't a lot but annoying. I thou

    Posted 3 years ago on Tip: Download Your Purchased Groove Music Now – 62 Comments

    comment
    Microsoft retrenchment in consumer moves to another phase.

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft Ends Groove Music Pass, Offers Transition to Spotify – 215 Comments

    comment
    This week Bill Gates said he used an Android mobile phone. Microsoft have never said Windowsphone is dead. Is

    Posted 3 years ago on Questions for 9/29? – 6 Comments

    comment
    Nokia seemed the more committed partner to Windowsphone in many ways. To Microsoft it was a sku among many but

    Posted 3 years ago on Satya Nadella Admits He Was Against Nokia Acquisition – 55 Comments

    comment
    Will the process of trawling the web for PWA apps and putting them in the store finally provide mobile apps fo

    Posted 3 years ago on Questions for 9/22? – 21 Comments

    comment
    Mobile payments. Announced for WIndowsphone in 2012. Never implemented globally. Available in the US only in 2

    Posted 3 years ago on Too Soon, Microsoft. Too Soon (Premium) – 60 Comments

    comment
    There has been a bunch of Windows 10 Mobile bug fixes recently. Is Windows 10 Mobile ready to come out of beta

    Posted 3 years ago on Questions for 9/15? – 12 Comments

    comment
    Autumn (Fall) 2017 is an important time to write about this. Windowsphone users who loyally followed Microsoft

    Posted 3 years ago on I’m Switching to Android (Premium) – 108 Comments

    comment
    If Microsoft becomes the "cloud company" at what point does it matter whether people use Windows as client? Ma

    Posted 3 years ago on Questions for 9/8 – 10 Comments

    comment
    In reply to hrlngrv:However how much more money would they have made having relevance in digital voice assista

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft’s Future With the Consumer Is in Jeopardy (Premium) – 88 Comments

    comment
    Nadella is the enterprise guy. He is CEO because he knows the enterprise. He knows server and what business wa

    Posted 3 years ago on The Sams Report EP 104: Microsoft’s Scary Consumer Future – 2 Comments

    comment
    I have thought Microsoft is heading to consumer irrelevance. However part of it is that they aren't inter

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft’s Future With the Consumer Is in Jeopardy (Premium) – 88 Comments

    comment
    Microsoft made noises about mobile devices for enterprise. Doesn't this weeks' news from NYPD just s

    Posted 3 years ago on Questions for 9/1? – 18 Comments

    comment
    This would have been OK if Microsoft had still been in the mobile game. These use cases need specialist apps a

    Posted 3 years ago on Windows Phone: The Final Insult (Premium) – 53 Comments

    comment
    Does the poor quality of the Windows Store make WIndows 10 S irrelevant when people can have a web based apps

    Posted 3 years ago on Questions for 8/25? – 12 Comments

    comment
    If trusted apps cant be trusted then one of the reasons to use the store, security, is missing.

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft, Yet Again, Needs to Clean Up the Windows Store – 44 Comments

    comment
    There is a strange circularity here. Windows 10 S is there to compete with Chromebooks but it doesn't ru

    Posted 3 years ago on Living with Chromebook: The Basics – 110 Comments

    comment
    In reply to hrlngrv:Trusting Google isn't an issue for me. If I had a Chromebook I could easily logon to

    Posted 3 years ago on With the Windows Store Maturing, Windows 10 S is Almost Ready For Me (Premium) – 48 Comments

    comment
    In reply to bbold:If WIn32 apps can't be put in a wrapper to work on Windows 10 S then it is going to lim

    Posted 3 years ago on Living with Windows 10 S: It’s Just Not Ready (Yet) – 117 Comments

    comment
    I think you are correct. If people want to run web apps then the best web environment is Chrome. if they have

    Posted 3 years ago on Living with Windows 10 S: It’s Just Not Ready (Yet) – 117 Comments

    comment
    Microsoft makes it's money in the enterprise these days. Consumer is a long way second. WIndows 10 S stor

    Posted 3 years ago on With the Windows Store Maturing, Windows 10 S is Almost Ready For Me (Premium) – 48 Comments

    comment
    The debate here seems to emphasise Microsoft's mobile problem in the consumer space. Of course they make

    Posted 3 years ago on Paul’s Tech Makeover: Music (Premium) – 49 Comments

    comment
    The personal digital assistant is only personal if it's with you everywhere. By withdrawing from phone Mi

    Posted 3 years ago on First Ring Daily Live: All Roads Lead to Ham(S) – 2 Comments

    comment
    Groove might get a family plan. Microsoft have just noticed this as a user request. Everyone else caught on ab

    Posted 3 years ago on The Sams Report EP 100: Have I Really Done This 100 Times? – 4 Comments

    comment
    Apple Pay is a world wide payment system.When Nokia went all in for Windowsphone one the key features of Nokia

    Posted 3 years ago on Apple Has Finally Found Its Next Big Product (Premium) – 22 Comments

    comment
    HP a certifying the Elite X3 for verizon. Alcatel are releasing Pro 4 in Europe. Dont they know Windowsphone i

    Posted 3 years ago on Questions for 7/28? – 14 Comments

    comment
    Jameson is of course not Scotch but Irish and triple distilled.

    Posted 3 years ago on First Ring Daily EP 201: Paul Sends Brad a Mystery Box – 5 Comments

    comment
    I am getting a feeling about Windows 10 S. it's the feeling I got about Windows 10 Mobile. It's a va

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft, It’s Time to Open Up Windows 10 S to Insiders (Premium) – 50 Comments

    comment
    In reply to bbold:Its not about complaining. I am now on Android but Windowsphone people have reasonable expec

    Posted 3 years ago on LinkedIn for Windows 10 Triggers Its Own Controversy – 47 Comments

    comment
    In reply to DaddyBrownJr:To be fair the Android version has grown up a lot more in the last 12 months. Which i

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft Really Wants You To Try Groove, $10 for 7 Months of Service – 50 Comments

    comment
    The ideal customer is an American, single, uses Windowsphone. If you live outside the USA, have a family and u

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft Really Wants You To Try Groove, $10 for 7 Months of Service – 50 Comments

    comment
    They could do with the same as phone. Just put Windows into a featureless branch and then the update is all ab

    Posted 3 years ago on Over-Promise, Under-Deliver (Premium) – 86 Comments

    Forum Post

    What if the new thing depends on the old thing?

    Microsoft got rid of Windowsphone to ride the next wave. To jump ahead of the competition. One such wave was AR with Hololens and Windows Mixed Reality.




    However the competition, Apple and Google, are entering the wave without any real new hardware. Instead they are leveraging the device people already have – the mobile phone.




    Both companies seem to think consumers will use AR via the mobile phone acting as the lens and the interface. Hololens could remain stubbornly tied to the enterprise and maybe gamers. That need not be a bad thing for profit. However it could be that Microsoft ends up being locked out of consumer applications for AR by not having a viable mobile platform.




    Moreover if the world is going mobile as the primary personal computing device the pre-requisite for the “next big thing” could be a viable mobile platform.




    Microsoft may not care if consumer devices for mobile are not made by them if they run enterprise cloud services. I am not sure if Microsoft can find the next big thing for consumers now they are out of mobile.


    Posted 3 years ago on What if the new thing depends on the old thing? – 8 Comments

    comment
    I am surprised they could find enough Windowsphones out there.

    Posted 3 years ago on House of Cards Is Still Using Windows Phone! – 8 Comments

    comment
    Windows 10S is a little like WIndows 8. The OS no one asked for. What for the roll back or rather how most use

    Posted 3 years ago on The Windows 10 S Paradox (Premium) – 83 Comments

    comment
    So UWP stops being universal and just becomes apps that you trust from the Store.Most IT Pros and enterprises

    Posted 3 years ago on Thinking About the Future of UWP, Windows Store, and Windows 10 S (Premium) – 88 Comments

    comment
    The throw away society. You never repair anything you just throw it away when it stops. Bad for the planet and

    Posted 3 years ago on iFixIt Gives Surface Laptop Lowest-Possible Score – 117 Comments

    comment
    When I ask Cortana "how tall is everest" in the UK I get a search telling me how to order Everest Double Glazi

    Posted 3 years ago on Now Cortana Can Configure Itself as the Default Assistant on Android – 17 Comments

    comment
    In reply to rameshthanikodi:Of course it's dead! Yep. Please Microsoft admit it. Go on. Its hard but do i

    Posted 3 years ago on The Microsoft Tease – 4 Comments

    comment
    So Microsoft make no profit on Xbox and the current generation has sold 30million units. This warrants continu

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft Won’t Make a Profit Selling Xbox One X – 47 Comments

    Forum Post

    The Microsoft Tease


    As a Windowsphone fan I still have my Lumia 950 in a drawer but my daily driver is currently a Galaxy S6. I would love to use the Lumia but it is now so app free that I would struggle to use it for what I need.


    I still take it out, update it, and wish it was more useful. However I recognise a dead platform.


    Microsoft doesn't. It is in constant tease mode. They say we are not finished with mobile yet. We haven't abandoned mobile. We want to provide mobile experiences.


    It's double talk. If you want to buy a Lumia today then ebay is your best bet not Microsoft. They have killed the entire consumer ecosystem and as markets where they used to have more than 10% share have no stock of new product they are reducing. Users are moving and for all practical purposes a Microsoft mobile is an Android phone with apps.


    Yet there is tease from Microsoft. Microsoft need to take their first party devices off death row and just kill them formally. Just announce Microsoft making first party devices is over. Just say the "feature2" branch will fix a new bug or two but the only "feature" will be to change the date in the copyright message.


    Put the last consumers out of their misery. Stop them interpreting every time the word "mobile" is mentioned as some kind of hope. Help these people have closure. They deserve at least a good bye Windowsphone party.

    Posted 3 years ago on The Microsoft Tease – 4 Comments

    comment
    Agreed. In 2016 Terry Myerson said there was no focus on mobile. People are now used to that from Microsoft. I

    Posted 3 years ago on Thinking About Microsoft’s Mobile Fantasy (Premium) – 111 Comments

    comment
    In reply to Paul Thurrott:They got a whole bunch of people (including me) to buy Windowsphone. The offer would

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft’s Looking to Reboot Mobile with New Software and Hardware – 178 Comments

    comment
    I am one of the people that thought Microsoft should have bought Spotify a long time ago. My question about Gr

    Posted 3 years ago on The Sams Report EP 90: A New Hope for Windows Phone Fans – 8 Comments

    comment
    Does the global release of Surface Pro mean Microsoft has discovered the world outside the USA? Will other pro

    Posted 3 years ago on Questions for 5/26 – 11 Comments

    comment
    It's interesting that as Google becomes more personal Microsoft drifts ever further towards the enterpris

    Posted 3 years ago on Google Brings Family Features to YouTube TV, Calendar, Keep and Photos – 26 Comments

    comment
    There is are two Apple Stores in my locality. One at Eldon Square in Newcastle and the other in the Metrocentr

    Posted 3 years ago on Their Biggest Advantages – 24 Comments

    comment
    The promise of Windowsphone from events 5 years ago has never materialised. The most obvious was secure NFC pa

    Posted 3 years ago on When Will Then Be Now? (Premium) – 38 Comments

    comment
    Apple is clearly passionate about mobile. Google is passionate about mobile. It comes in everything they launc

    Posted 3 years ago on The Biggest Threat to Microsoft’s New Mobile Strategy? Ambivalence (Premium) – 18 Comments

    comment
    I dont disagree but I observe that the Nokia handset offer is that it will distribute monthly security updates

    Posted 3 years ago on Google Will Partially Address Update Fragmentation in Android O – 33 Comments

    comment
    The reason why they are patching XP is because the UK NHS has a lot of XP computers still working.I am in the

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft: Ransomware Targets Out-of-Date PCs Only – 79 Comments

    comment
    Microsoft seems to have no relevant consumer products other than Xbox. They have a music service that works be

    Posted 3 years ago on What I Expect from Microsoft Build This Week – 38 Comments

    comment
    Thanks for taking my question. In a world where facts are coincidental in the blogsphere its good to see real

    Posted 3 years ago on The Sams Report EP 88: Everyone Settle Down – 1 Comments

    comment
    If Chromebooks are just a browser on a laptop is Windows 10 S just a browser on a laptop you don't want t

    Posted 3 years ago on Questions for 5/5 – 17 Comments

    comment
    A fair criticism of a a Chromebook is that it is really just a browser. Why not run Chrome on a PC? Is it fair

    Posted 3 years ago on Surface Laptop: A Contrary View – 118 Comments

    comment
    This advance to Windows 10 S really depends on how many people just upgrade straightaway to pro. At the price

    Posted 3 years ago on Surface Laptop is Microsoft’s Most Important Surface Release Ever – 203 Comments

    comment
    Is it US Only?

    Posted 3 years ago on A Closer Look at Surface Laptop Configurations – 38 Comments

    comment
    Or Microsoft could do what they did with Internet Explorer - download it from their website or push it with Wi

    Posted 3 years ago on Some Thoughts About Microsoft Edge and Updating – 60 Comments

    comment
    Seems to be a lot like Windowsphone was. On second thoughts it would be a better phone feature.

    Posted 3 years ago on What My People Says About the Windows 10 UI (Premium) – 52 Comments

    comment
    I just had to help a friend buy PC for a home/office. He is the only user. He has a one off grant to buy the e

    Posted 3 years ago on Is This The End of Microsoft Office as We Know It? – 61 Comments

    comment
    For me UWP has it's aim in the name - universal. Universal means every device. It's main device wher

    Posted 3 years ago on Windows 10, PCs, and the Future of Apps (Premium) – 80 Comments

    comment
    In reply to rameshthanikodi:The accompli guys synced with Amazon cloud services and moved it to Microsoft.I gu

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft to Improve Gmail Support in Mail and Calendar for Windows 10 – 11 Comments

    comment
    Cortana is really only at an optimum feature set in the USA. For the rest of the world it's... a bit behi

    Posted 3 years ago on Google Home Now Supports Multiple Users – 16 Comments

    comment
    With the upcoming third reboot of WIndows Mobile (phone) isnt the app gap going to continue with no developer

    Posted 3 years ago on Questions for 4/21 – 11 Comments

    comment
    If this is genuinely the future then I think Microsoft have jumped too early. Even if a user spends 95% of his

    Posted 3 years ago on Windows 10 Cloud, Explained (Premium) – 86 Comments

    comment
    Microsoft burns a lot of it's most loyal fans. By all means have a 2 year support rule. However everythin

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft Releases New Build of Redstone 3, Makes Big Changes to Mobile Builds – 45 Comments

    comment
    Microsoft have always had a problem with mobile on a global scale by mostly introducing features as US Only.

    Posted 3 years ago on Questions for 4/14 Podcast – 11 Comments

    comment
    In reply to Josh Cook:If Nokia get the camera right they will probably be a contender. Of course with all thos

    Posted 3 years ago on OnePlus 3T, Day 2 – 29 Comments

    comment
    In reply to dcdevito:whereas for Microsoft products like Cortana on Android you have to pretend to be in the U

    Posted 3 years ago on OnePlus 3T, Day 2 – 29 Comments

    comment
    Ah. They have renamed the "People Hub" from Windowsphone to "My People".Serious about recycling.

    Posted 3 years ago on Revisiting My People in Redstone 3 Build 16170 – 11 Comments

    comment
    Seems a reasonable viewpoint. The issue I have is not that Windows 10 Mobile is dead. I fully understand that

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft’s new love for Android is no betrayal – 5 Comments

    Forum Post

    Microsoft, Mobile and Trust

    Part of selling a product, any product, is trust in the product. At a most basic level that something will do what it says it will do.


    On a wider scale brands are valued and charge a premium because of trust. Trust that a product or service will be supported and will continue over a period. Of course there is “end of life” when new products replace it and occasionally a product that just wont sell and makes no sense in continuing. Customers understand that. However the brand trust will get over that.


    Suppose now Microsoft comes out with a SurfacePhone. Who now trusts Microsoft with first party mobile devices? They spent $7.2 billion dollars on a first party mobile brand and ditched it. They have rebooted their mobile operating system 3 times since 2010. They have changed their development strategy to UWP which no one uses. They have an app free mobile platform with little to think it changes.


    You can even buy your Samsung Galaxy S8 from Microsoft Retail Stores.


    If the SurfacePhone is launched at $500, $600 or more then what consumer doesn’t look at that price point and think about spending their money. How does a consumer trust that Microsoft is really interested in Windows on Mobile. So far the evidence is that Microsoft are totally dis-interested. They would like a successful mobile product but in the vast size of Microsoft businesses it's just another thing.

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft, Mobile and Trust – 0 Comments

    comment
    Good points in the Podcast.On Dex versus Continuum. Let's cast minds back to the July 2015 Nadella memo o

    Posted 3 years ago on The Sams Report EP 83: Blue Shift To Redstone 3 – 3 Comments

    comment
    In reply to BigM72The link between phone and apps is critical. Apps, as they are now, are mobile. Apple hasn&#

    Posted 3 years ago on Creators Update Will Not Fix Windows 10’s Biggest Problem (Premium) – 100 Comments

    comment
    In reply to Chris_Kez:For the last 4 years Microsoft didn't consider that the business and enterprise soc

    Posted 3 years ago on Creators Update Will Not Fix Windows 10’s Biggest Problem (Premium) – 100 Comments

    comment
    Agreed. The Linkedin app on Windows 10 Mobile (for example) is a 2013 vintage app. No updates in years. The ow

    Posted 3 years ago on Creators Update Will Not Fix Windows 10’s Biggest Problem (Premium) – 100 Comments

    comment
    Dont get excited readers outside the USA. These offers are US-Only. Switch to an international store and the p

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft Store Kicks Off Annual Pi Day Sale – 7 Comments

    Forum Post

    Why are Bing Maps so much worse than Google Maps

    I really dont know the answer to this but it seems to me that Google Maps are the one to beat. It seems to have been like that for years.


    So does anyone know why Microsoft's Bing Maps is so far behind the experience of Google Maps?



    Posted 3 years ago on Why are Bing Maps so much worse than Google Maps – 14 Comments

    comment
    Delighted to see they have added a feature present in Spotify since it launched. Looking forward to a family p

    Posted 3 years ago on Tip: Share a Groove Playlist – 7 Comments

    comment
    The difference with Nokia and Microsoft was that Nokia was "all in" for WIndowsphone. Microsoft not so much. C

    Posted 3 years ago on For Nokia Smartphone Success, Hardware Design Isn’t Enough (Premium) – 17 Comments

    comment
    In reply to jjaegers:Being a smaller player in a big market for Nokia could be better than being a dominant p

    Posted 3 years ago on HMD Announces a Family of New Nokia Smartphones – 39 Comments

    comment
    Interesting that they had Google onstage with them. They emphasised that it would be a vanilla Android with no

    Posted 3 years ago on HMD Announces a Family of New Nokia Smartphones – 39 Comments

    comment
    Nokia just announced at the MWC in Barcelona that all their phones would come with Google Assistant.

    Posted 3 years ago on Google Assistant is Coming to More Android Phones – 9 Comments

    comment
    You mentioned US only services again. Windowsphone would have an interesting graph if you mapped services avia

    Posted 3 years ago on The Sams Report EP 79: HoloLens Be Thy Game And Unboxing – 4 Comments

    comment
    I guess having a family plan so people might choose to subscribe is a "missing feature".

    Posted 3 years ago on Groove Music Will Use New Share Interface in Creators Update – 17 Comments

    comment
    Hi I have a couple of thoughts which are questions (of a sort).Is an ultra mobile device that can make calls a

    Posted 3 years ago on Questions for 2/24 Podcast – 16 Comments

    comment
    Nadella has killed Lumia so the only current production phone using Continuum is the HP Elite X3. i dont know

    Posted 3 years ago on Microsoft’s Continuum Advantage is Slowly Slipping Away (Premium) – 23 Comments

    comment
    This leaves HP and Acer the chance to "dominate" the 0.3% Windowsphone market.....

    Posted 3 years ago on NuAns NEO Reloaded to be an Android-powered smartphone – 3 Comments

    comment
    Gartner was wrong to predict that Microsoft would have 12% of the mobile market in 2016? Right....Not so fast.

    Posted 3 years ago on The Sams Report EP 78: Material Margins – 2 Comments

    comment
    In the UK we used to have a market of 11%. Microsoft have concentrated on the strategy of relying on OEM'

    Posted 3 years ago on Windows Phones on the plane – 29 Comments

    comment
    Microsoft's strategy has been successful then. Reduce the cost of it's mobile division by removing it's mobile

    Posted 3 years ago on Gartner: In 2016, Android and iPhone Killed Off All Smartphone Competition – 55 Comments

    comment
    In reply to crfonseca: I am in the UK so I assume no new Microsoft service or product is available. After all

    Posted 3 years ago on Outlook.com Premium Comes Out of Preview – 32 Comments

    comment
    In reply to Narg: One thing that made Windowsphone less useful was it's maps app and the lack of Google Maps (

    Posted 3 years ago on Favorite Places are Getting a Big Update in Google Maps – 14 Comments

    comment
    I am still waiting for it to track flights properly. Never worked for any booking I have ever received. Always

    Posted 3 years ago on Cortana Reminders Get a Lot More Sophisticated – 20 Comments

    comment
    Maybe the "cloud edition" comes with free unlimited Onedrive storage?

    Posted 3 years ago on In-Box Documentation Confirms that Windows 10 Cloud Can Be Upgraded to Pro – 38 Comments

    comment
    The clue is in the name. Universal Windows Platform (UWP). Mostly, since Microsoft has a market share of 0.3%

    Posted 3 years ago on UWP is Key to the Long-Term Success of Windows 10 (Premium) – 62 Comments

    comment
    In reply to colin79666: Never been available in the UK. So I guess it's US only.

    Posted 4 years ago on Google Voice Gets Its First Major Update in Five Years – 20 Comments

    comment
    What equipment was used to film this?

    Posted 4 years ago on CES 2017: Brad and Paul Behind the Scenes (Premium Video) – 65 Comments

    comment
    So it's a lot like continuum. Add keyboard, mouse, connector and monitor. Then its a PC.

    Posted 4 years ago on CES 2017: Intel Unveils a Credit Card-Sized Computer – 29 Comments

    comment
    I tried to use Cortana regularly on my Windowsphone from launch here in the UK. What I found was that many fea

    Posted 4 years ago on Playing the Long Game: Microsoft’s Cortana Strategy Revealed (Premium) – 43 Comments

    comment
    In reply to madthinus: Agreed. Botching the OnePlus link for a short term exclusive in India was the mistake.&

    Posted 4 years ago on RIP, Cyanogen – 13 Comments

    comment
    As Microsoft have stopped making phones HP has an opportunity of grabbing the 97% of the Windowsphone market.

    Posted 4 years ago on Windows Device Stats for December Looks at Windows 10 Mobile and Surface – 45 Comments

    comment
    Personally I use Gramofon with Spotify. Plugs into my ancient amp and speakers. Does a decent job for the pric

    Posted 4 years ago on Hands-On: Spotify + Sonos – 9 Comments

    comment
    In reply to lordbaal1: Windows 10 Mobile is now just a compiler option. There is close to zero development. Ju

    Posted 4 years ago on Going back to Windows Phone – 85 Comments

    comment
    Cortana isnt particularly useful. Mostly it just shows a web search, like you can with a browser. Ok it means

    Posted 4 years ago on Dissection: A Closer Look At Cortana Usage, Growth And Competitors – 20 Comments

    comment
    I am relieved that Cortana doesn't work in the USA either. I thought Cortana was rubbish because I was in the

    Posted 4 years ago on First Ring Daily EP 49: Surface Bananas – 7 Comments

    comment
    A Surface laptop would be quite nice. However I agree it's a bit too pricey right now. 

    Posted 4 years ago on November Was “Best Month Ever” for Surface – 27 Comments

    comment
    To me this looks like theformal transistion away from the desktop pc to the portable mobile pc. Wintel admins

    Posted 4 years ago on ARM-Based Windows 10 Portable PCs!? Hell Yes! – 147 Comments

    comment
    Cortana for Android is only available in the US market. You can sideload it from an APK outside the US but the

    Posted 4 years ago on Of Home Hub and Microsoft’s Missed Opportunities – 73 Comments

    comment
    In reply to Paul Thurrott: I agree pretty much completely other than personally IOS is not my favourite. Howev

    Posted 4 years ago on Going back to Windows Phone – 85 Comments

    comment
    In reply to dylanmcneill: The apps Windowsphone doesn't have for me;   1. Banking app that allows me to s

    Posted 4 years ago on Going back to Windows Phone – 85 Comments

    comment
    Elop obviously loved Nokia and it's products. Microsoft doesnt really care too much about Windowsphone and reg

    Posted 4 years ago on Nokia is Back, Sort Of, But Let’s Not Rewrite History – 25 Comments

    comment
    Sounds like the statement OEMs make when you buy a PC. They add software to "enhance" your experience. What is

    Posted 4 years ago on Joe Belfiore Returns To Microsoft, Will Drive Windows 10 Consumer Shell Initiatives – 57 Comments

    comment
    This shows the success of the Microsoft Windowsphone strategy. Reduce costs (by stop making phones), rely on O

    Posted 4 years ago on Report: Smartphone Growth is Flat in 2016 – 21 Comments

    comment
    In reply to xapache: I still had hope for Windowsphone in 2016. I dont know why - emotional reasons I guess. I

    Posted 4 years ago on Microsoft Uses Black Friday to Sell Off Remaining Lumias – 55 Comments

    comment
    Agreed.  There should be no ads in Windows. I have managed to turn most of mine off. However in the longe

    Posted 4 years ago on Microsoft Cheapens Windows 10 with Ads – 51 Comments

    Forum Post

    British banks continue to abandon Windows 10 Mobile

    Earlier this month I changed banks to TSB in the UK. For a number of years it had a reasonable Windows 10 Mobile app which, although it was a wrapper for the website, actually worked pretty well when I tested it a few months ago.

    The day I changed I discovered that TSB had dropped Windows 10 Mobile that very week and only Android/IOS was left.

    Now Barclays, one of Britain's largest banks, is dropping Windows 10 Mobile support. 

    https://mspoweruser.com/barclays-uk-banks-pull-windows-store/

    Pretty much the only banks left are RBS / NatWest. To be fair they seem to be actively supporting Windows 10 Mobile. 

    This was a marketin the UK that had 10% sales until the Nadella "memo of Windowsphone death". Now it's heading for the fractions of 1% like the US market. Completely unsustainable.

     

    Posted 4 years ago on British banks continue to abandon Windows 10 Mobile – 13 Comments

    comment
    So let's take away win32. Let's have Windows 10 update and remove legacy support and look at that future from

    Posted 4 years ago on The Biggest Problem with Windows Today? The Past – 91 Comments

    comment
    For readers outside the USA Cortana is a poor relation. Features in the USA, available months ago, are not ava

    Posted 4 years ago on The Future Of Cortana Is Cloudy – 49 Comments

    comment
    In reply to wolters: This is the problem with Microsoft's retreat from mobile. Now people have Android phones

    Posted 4 years ago on Google Play Music is Getting a Major Refresh – 25 Comments

    comment
    The main problem with the Xbox One was the launch. The console was pitched as a TV device and not a games cons

    Posted 4 years ago on Celebrating 15 Years of Xbox – 15 Comments

    Forum Post

    A taste of US Cortana

    Cortana is a geographically challenged AI. She may help the Master Chief off-world but here on Earth she does weird stuff.

    I am in the UK. This means Cortana is officially available on Windowsphone and PC. She is not officially available on Android. To use Cortana you need to grab the apk and sideload it.

    If you do sideload the Cortana apk she is American. She recognises only the US regional settings, tells you about US sports and provides US headlines. 

    The reality of Cortana's geographical issues was brought home to me this week.I had ordered some items from the US and the US postal service was sending them to the UK. I was invited by the website to check them and I put the parcel number into Cortana. In the US Cortana apparently tracks parcels. Not in the UK. It sent me to the US Postal Service website. Disappointing I wouldn't be getting alerts on the Lumia 950.

    I also was changing bank accounts. The bank wanted me to activate the account via a mobile app. To be fair there were alternatives but this would be the quickest. However no mobile app for Windowsphone. So I swapped my sim into the Android device and was good. Curiously Cortana alerted me to my parcel and said it was tracking it. 

    I quickly checked and realised that although Cortana didn't track parcels on my UK Windowsphone or my UK PC the sideloaded Cortana for Android, using the US region, was tracking it. The data had obviously been absorbed in my earlier search but was not working in the UK.

    Really Microsoft! Cortana for Android is not global yet and just switch parcel tracking on because sometimes we do order stuff from the US!

    Cortana, artificially more intelligent in some markets, needs to go global.

     

    Posted 4 years ago on A taste of US Cortana – 1 Comments

    comment
    The rumoured Surface Phone. If Microsoft were keen on a "Surface Phone" I think they would stop talking about

    Posted 4 years ago on Dell’s Windows Phone Shows An Intel Future That Hasn’t Arrived – 48 Comments

    comment
    Shame you cant just buy the remastered version. I would like to try it again. I can't say I am enthusiastic ab

    Posted 4 years ago on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered Multiplayer Review – 11 Comments

    comment
    In reply to illuminated: Windowsphone would be on life support if Microsoft paid the power bill instead of rel

    Posted 4 years ago on Microsoft Lumia disappearing into statistical black hole – 16 Comments

    comment
    The Alcatel is obviously US only. So the market is restricted to the worst selling Windows 10 Mobile market. S

    Posted 4 years ago on The Sams Report EP 63: Phones, Teams, And Events – 1 Comments

    comment
    In reply to hrlngrv: I haven't got all I need. I tolerate not having stuff. For example I am on holiday and wo

    Posted 4 years ago on Microsoft Lumia disappearing into statistical black hole – 16 Comments

    Forum Post

    Microsoft Lumia disappearing into statistical black hole

    According to this recent article if your phone is not IOS or Android is part of a 0.3% market share. 

    http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/03/google-android-hits-market-share-record-with-nearly-9-in-every-10-smartphones-using-it.html

    This is not Windowsphone. This is Microsoft, Blackberry and everyone else who makes a phone that hasn't got Android or IOS on it. Theoretically Microsoft share of 0.3% could be 0.00001%.

    Of course Windows 10 Mobile is just a compiler option on Windows 10 builds with some different libraries. Most serious writers about Microsoft have called time on it's mobile platform, Microsoft employees dont use it, Microsoft executives dont use it, most retailers dont stock it, many carriers can't remember ever selling it. 

    Microsoft execs never really talk about phone. They vaguely mutter something about "supporting Lumia" or "mobile devices" or "mobile experiences". 

    Full disclosure. I use a Lumia 950 everyday but I am resigned to an almost app free experience. There is some stuff there; a news feed, twitter, facebook and spotify. It's not great. People have spent money and are having a second class mobile experience by staying in the Microsoft ecosystem.

    Microsoft need to put this thing down. It's wounded. There has been nothing released by them in a year. OEMs are thin on the ground and gaining a huge market share of Windows 10 Mobile wont add up to 1% of the mobile market.

    Microsoft should treat it's customers like adults. No doublespeak. The mobile game is done. Kill the platform and move on.  

     

    Posted 4 years ago on Microsoft Lumia disappearing into statistical black hole – 16 Comments

    comment
    Very smart. Looks nice. I wonder if this is the counterpoint to the Lumia firesale. Now Microsoft is out of co

    Posted 4 years ago on Alcatel’s New Windows Phone Provides Continuum and VR Experiences – 29 Comments

    comment
    This speculation tends towards the $1000 Surface Phone or maybe even the $1500 Surface Phone with Continuum do

    Posted 4 years ago on Still Want a Surface Phone? Here’s Some Good News – 77 Comments

    comment
    Of  course you are correct with the sandboxing of Windows apps being updated on a different cycle to the

    Posted 4 years ago on Windows as a Service Isn’t Working – 69 Comments

    comment
    A generous word is "aspirational". For business and the consumer there was somewhere between little and nothin

    Posted 4 years ago on The Sams Report EP 62: Microsoft and Apple Make The Pitch – 4 Comments

    comment
    With Windowsphone market share so small stopping Skype support on all Windowsphones wouldn't impact very many

    Posted 4 years ago on Thurrott Daily: October 24 – 31 Comments

    comment
    I think you are right. Looking at the X3 as a phone is pointless. It's only selling point is as a PC or Laptop

    Posted 4 years ago on Understanding the HP Elite x3 – 63 Comments

    comment
    In reply to Simone_Gallo: Cortana for Android is US only. The way you get it onto Android is sideload it as an

    Posted 4 years ago on budget android phone coming from windows – 21 Comments

    Forum Post

    Microsoft Digital Lives from 2007. Where did it go?

    One of the videos I think tells us a lot about change at Microsoft and their mobile strategy is this little digital life video;

     

    https://youtu.be/x-AbGaKdCbs

     

    Microsoft products are everywhere in this vision. Instant Messaging, phone, maps and location, music, directions etc etc.

    The vision was not imaginary because these were working consumer facing products.

    As you watch this old looking world you have sense that each product is now done by Apple and Google in an integrated ecosystem whereas Microsoft managed to evolve every item in the list to something that doesn't work as an ecosystem.

    Microsoft clearly had a vision of mobile and ecosystems blending together and then made a total mess of all of them.

    Posted 4 years ago on Microsoft Digital Lives from 2007. Where did it go? – 3 Comments

    comment
    In reply to davidblouin: Windows 10 Mobile is pretty good on my Lumia 950. I like it. But HP also had WebOS th

    Posted 4 years ago on Windows Device Stats: Windows 10 Mobile and HP Elite x3 Both Stumble in October – 105 Comments

    comment
    A better question than "when will Microsoft stop reporting phone earnings" would be "when will Microsoft just

    Posted 4 years ago on The Sams Report EP 61: Microsoft’s Many Things – 5 Comments

    comment
    In reply to paul-thurrott: I agree. I have 950 and so does my wife. I just like the camera. That's how I justi

    Posted 4 years ago on Windows Device Stats: Windows 10 Mobile and HP Elite x3 Both Stumble in October – 105 Comments

    comment
    I agree pretty much with all of this. Blackberry made the move to the "business market" a couple of years ago

    Posted 4 years ago on Windows Device Stats: Windows 10 Mobile and HP Elite x3 Both Stumble in October – 105 Comments

    comment
    NFL - that's a kind of rugby Americans play. I guess it would be more significant globally if it was football.

    Posted 4 years ago on Microsoft Has a Bill Belichick Problem – 84 Comments

    comment
    Zune, Windowsphone, Band, now Home Hub. Microsoft fans have been bitten before by the consumer ambitions of Mi

    Posted 4 years ago on Microsoft’s Home Hub Looks To Bring Cortana To The Kitchen – 35 Comments

    comment
    One question I always have here in the UK is whether Microsoft's "US Only" strategy is a deliberate snub to co

    Posted 4 years ago on The Sams Report EP 60: Painting A Surface – 3 Comments

    comment
    It would be bizarre for a business and enterprise company to re-engage with consumers in the home. The consume

    Posted 4 years ago on Bringing Cortana to the Kitchen – 68 Comments

    Forum Post

    Is Cortana already a dead platform

    There is a lot of hype about Cortana in the Microsoft world, it's AI and capabilities.

    I wonder how much Cortana is really used on the PC and whether the "Cortana search" is just people typing in the box as a convenience.

    I am also in the UK and for many of us outside the USA Cortana features just dont exist. Cortana has never noticed an email from British Airways about my holidays. It hasn't got a clue about railway journeys in the UK, when Yodel or DPD are going to deliver a parcel, or even my local buses that it consistently gets wrong.

    It also has problems about timing my trip to work because I dont have a car. Even if I did traffic conditions are an unknown quantity. There is much more but fundamentally it is not a lot of use. 

    Where these features are most useful are in mobile. Getting to the right place with map integration etc. However Windows 10 Mobile is not the most popular platform and in the Uk it suffers from mapping inaccuracy and poor knowledge of the locality. That's really strange because "Local Scout", the old Windowsphone "local" solution was pretty good. 

    Of course Cortana can't show me electronically stored tickets because it has no apps or knowledge of the local transit. That seems to be changing in the maps app but many times it's just wrong. When I am mobile it cant pop up flght delays because it can't process airline ticket stuff in Europe it seems. I have read up on this and apparently the email sent by the airline has to be in specific format. Well that's not going to happen soon because business jsut doesn't help like that. You have to develop some kind of AI recognition - a little like the skill Cortana is supposed to have.

    if you have to use an Android phone for a while then Cortana disappears. Outside the USA Cortana is not even in the Play Store. You are forced to using Google Now which seems to work very well here in the UK. You can sideload Cortana manually here in Britain on your Android devicebut it only accepts US regional settings so it's less useful than the Windowsphone version.

    Google just re-branded to the Google Assistant and with the non-existance of a Microsoft mobile device strategy the direction of travel is people using Google Now or Siri as their primary AI bot assistant. 

    Cortana had great potential when launched but all the other platforms have matured much faster than the Master Chief's AI. Microsoft are showing no real move to making Cortana's existing features to work well globally and keep adding US only features. It's a sure receipe for parochial AI. A sort of "Truman Show" AI that works great inside a limited bubble. 

    Posted 4 years ago on Is Cortana already a dead platform – 11 Comments

    comment
    I saw a Microsoft Store when I was on holiday in San Francisco. There are none in the UK - where I am. We have

    Posted 4 years ago on Microsoft Store (Not the Online One…the Physical Ones) – 15 Comments

    comment
    A better question over phone is should Microsoft provide a version of Android update existing Windowsphones to

    Posted 4 years ago on The Sams Report EP 59: Should Microsoft Build An Android Flagship – 13 Comments

    comment
    I bought a Lumia 950 on fire sale in the UK because I still like the thing. The clunky never updated apps ming

    Posted 4 years ago on The Failure of Windows Phone and the Next Big Thing – 70 Comments

    comment
    Free unlimited storage for photos and videos. I wonder if anyone else could have thought of that to promote th

    Posted 4 years ago on Google Pixel Preview – 41 Comments

    comment
    Apple used to be the most expensive mobile phone you can buy. The price seems huge. Just looked at the UK pric

    Posted 4 years ago on No Surprises at Google Product Launch – 46 Comments

    comment
    I would quite like to edit a comment in case I make a typo....

    Posted 4 years ago on New Comments System NEEDS More Work – 15 Comments

    comment
    Getting rid of the band is consistent with Nadella's enterprise first consumer last strategy. He should probab

    Posted 4 years ago on Disbanded: Microsoft Confirms It Will Not Sell a Band 3 – 69 Comments

    comment
    I can only agree. Everytime I try a new "Cortana feature" in the UK it turns out to be US only. Cortana for An

    Posted 4 years ago on Windows 10 Tip: Get Cortana Insights with Sticky Notes – 20 Comments

    comment
    Microsoft have at least done a Windows 10 Mobile session at ignite. It's alwaysa struggle for them these days

    Posted 4 years ago on EP 58: The Microsoft Pivot – 8 Comments

    comment
    So Windows 10 Mobile is reduced to a compiler option when they do a new build of Wndows 10. Windowsphone for b

    Posted 4 years ago on Microsoft Discusses a Very Limited Future for Windows 10 Mobile – 92 Comments

    comment
    I like Cortana as a user but Google Now seems to have the edge in many ways. For example flight tracking. With

    Posted 4 years ago on Episode 2: Ignite Day 2 – 20 Comments

    comment
    So he said "400 million active Windows 10 devices" PCs, Xbox, Hololens and phone. I wonder what the breakdown

    Posted 4 years ago on Windows 10 is Now on 400 Million Devices – 94 Comments

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