The journey from Windows Mobile to Windows Mobile

Let’s have a very honest beginning. I have been an ardent supporter/fan of Windows Mobile Standard/Professional/Phone/10 Mobile/whatever they used to or will it call next. It all started when I bought my first smartphone, the HP iPAQ Voice Messenger and followed it with an Asus P527. Running on Windows Mobile 6 (and 6.1 later), these were not mere phones, they were the true definition of Smartphones, or PDA’s as people called them those days. People all around were using feature phones and using the plastic stylus on the resistive touch screen on my P527 made me feel elite.

Along came the IPhone and Android and ruined it for me. It was getting ever so difficult to stick to Windows Mobile, people were now using fingers to use their phone (they could use a touch screen phone with just one hand, that was so freaking amazing) and the charm of Windows Mobile was diminishing be the day. I, like many out there, prayed day and night that Microsoft updates its offering and comes out with something at least on par, if not above the said rivals. But alas, some dreams take too much time to materialise, and when they do, the moment has gone.

I too jumped ship (too much honesty, eh) and got a HTC Wildfire (primarily because affording an IPhone was too difficult for a college student). I had always admired the attention to details, beautiful designs and superb build qualities that HTC was (and is, look at HTC’s One M8 and M9 guys) famous for, and had always wanted to own one. I was impressed with android, but more so with HTC Sense. But in the back of my head still hoped that Microsoft one day comes up with something that can finally compete.

Well, better late than never, and Microsoft launched Windows Phone. The dream had been realised and I got a Nokia Lumia 510 as soon as I could. Now, we here in India have always had this affinity towards Nokia, their phones were as strong as bricks, had battery life of days, and could actually be used as an alternate to Kevlar (I’m not joking, there’s news where Nokias have saved lives by stopping bullets). The Lumia 510 was all of that, and had the new Windows Phone operating system. As soon as Microsoft started rolling out Windows Phone 8, I knew I had to upgrade and got a Nokia Lumia 520. By the time I finished college, I was using a Nokia Lumia 630 with Windows Phone 8.1 (my honesty kicks in again, I was also using various Android smartphones during the same time as secondary, and sometimes primary devices).

Yes the market share was low, yes some applications were and are not available on the platform (I will hardly ever use Snapchat anyway, even WhatsApp is an overkill for me), and yes Microsoft had scrapped the old and started from scratch not once but twice, but the platform always fascinated me, and it still does. Having used various Android devices ranging from offerings by HTC, Samsung, LG and Motorola, I can safely say that none of them feel the same after a few months of use and tend to slow down to a level where they are practically unusable (Motorola’s Moto G series was the best at resisting this as per me). No Windows Phone/Mobile has ever given me that headache. Again, I have no comments on IPhone because I still cannot afford one, sorry!

Having used so many low to mid end devices, I really wanted a flagship now, and that was to be the absolutely gorgeous Nokia Lumia 1520. Though the phablet may look like a tad bit too large to some, I’m a bit of a considerable size myself and it felt made for me. I ordered one online (thank you Flipkart) as soon as I joined a job and could afford one (It was still retailing at 40K after a year of launch). It came loaded with Windows Phone 8.1 and felt very familiar, although stunning and fast in every way. The beautiful screen and the amazing camera on the phone are still the envy of my friends, and yes, they use IPhones too.

I have also been a Windows Insider since the program started, and had loaded the PC Builds on the spare Lenovo laptop my college provided. I tried the Windows Mobile Insider Builds on my old Lumia 630 until I found one to finally flash my daily driver with. That was to be the Build 10581 and subsequently 10586.11 (which many consider to be the RTM Build). The experience of using Windows 10 Mobile on the Nokia Lumia 1520 is an absolute delight, and hence kept aside for a separate post soon (hopefully after flashing the next, and maybe final, build).

Windows 10 Mobile’s final (or first of many) build seems to be just around the corner and I am super exited. When I learned about the Microsoft Lumia 950XL, I felt like I had finally found a successor worthy of an upgrade from my Lumia 1520, especially considering the fact that Windows Hello and Continuum would not be available on the Lumia 1520 as they require new hardware. As I was making the decision to purchase it, I stumbled across rumours of a Surface Phone. That’s when I decided to not go in for a purchase right now and wait till next year. The rumoured Surface Phone has amazing specifications (rumoured again), but if true, it would most definitely be my next phone. Keeping fingers crossed.

Clash of the Tablet Titans : Microsoft Surface Pro 3 vs Apple iPad Pro

A cartoon supposedly from 2012 caught my fancy while surfing the internet. Though not very appropriate, it shows a side of the technology industry we all know and choose to ignore. Having said that, it's time to get down and dirty now.

One is a full-fledged work machine while the other is a fully blown candy crush machine. One is a laptop wearing a tablet’s cloths, while the other is a tablet that want’s to evolve and be something more. Do I sound biased? Please let me elaborate.

Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3 is essentially a laptop replacement machine, packing high end processors, RAM and storage enabling it to run legacy x86 software, all complemented by a full blown Windows 10 pro operating system to cater to all your productivity and entertainment needs. On the other hand, the iPad Pro packs an ARM based processor designed to run mobile applications. It comes loaded with iOS 9, the latest “mobile” operating system from Apple. No matter how beautiful mobile applications are, they are no match for a full featured desktop application, and that is the biggest differentiator between the Surface Pro 3 and the iPad Pro. For a device aimed at the enterprise market, that’s a huge let down.

Side by side comparison of specifications;

	Microsoft Surface Pro 3	Apple iPad Pro
Screen Size	12”	12.9”
Display Resolution	2160 x 1440	2732 x 2048
Dimensions	11.5” x 7.93” x 0.36”	12” x 8.68” x 0.27”
Weight	800 grams	713 grams (WiFi Only) 723 grams (WiFi + Cellular)
Battery Life	Upto 9 hours	Upto 10 hours (WiFi Only) Upto 9 hours (WiFi + Cellular)
Storage	64 GB/128 GB/256 GB/512 GB	32 GB/128 GB
RAM	4 GB/8 GB	4 GB (rumoured)
Processor	Intel Core i3/i5/i7	A9X with M9 Motion Processor
WiFi	802.11a/b/g/n/ac	802.11a/b/g/n/ac with MIMO
Bluetooth	4.0 with Low Energy technology	4.2
Location	Digital Compass	Assisted GPS with GLONASS Digital Compass
Ports	Full-size USB 3.0 microSD card reader Headset jack Mini DisplayPort Cover port Charging port	Lightning Connector Smart Connector Headphone Jack
Operating System	Windows 10 pro	iOS 9
Camera	5 MP/5 MP	8 MP/1.2 MP
Microphones and Speakers	Stereo Microphones Stereo Speakers	Dual Microphones Stereo Speakers
Sensors	Ambient light sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer	Touch ID Three-axis gyro Accelerometer Barometer Ambient light sensor
Kickstand Positions	Multiple (built in)	Single (with keyboard accessory)
Accessories	Surface Pen (bundled) Surface Keyboard ($130)	Apple Pencil ($99) Apple Keyboard ($169)
Price	$799 - $1799	$799 - $1079

Yes, the iPad Pro offers a better camera, better resolution, cellular data, more sensors, etc. But we are talking about and comparing two products, one that was announced in May 2014 and launched the next month, whereas the other which was announced 2 days ago and is still not on shelves. The reported (leaked) specifications of the Surface Pro 4, the next iteration in series speculated to launch in the next 2-3 months, has an upper hand in all the areas mentioned above (sans cellular data, yes).

What caught me napping was that Apple actually brought a Microsoft employee, Kirk Koenigsbauer, to the launch event to show off Microsoft Office productivity suite running on the iPad Pro, while the event itself was being streamed live on Edge, the new browser in Windows 10. This is the first time in Apple’s history that something has happened where a non-Apple product/OS had access to live stream, but that’s a discussion for another day.

We do not even need a close look at the iPad Pro to see that it heavily “borrowed” features from the Surface Pro 3. Heck, it even borrowed the “Pro”! So, the new iPad has a bigger screen (all Apple devices seem to be growing up these days), a stylus (Apple Pencil for you, which clearly is not just any other stick to write on your screen with, but the best stick ever, because it’s Apple) and a magnetic keyboard, which doubles as a kickstand. Somewhere up in heaven, Steve is looking down upon us all and crying. It’s a pretty well-known fact that he repeatedly criticised styluses and keyboards, always stating that small screens with beautiful touch is what Apple stands for. Tim first launched the new, huge iPhone Plus series phablets 6+ and 6S+ (which undoubtedly was a successful business decision, albeit one Steve would have never taken) and now has launched the iPad Pro, which may as well be the final nail in Steve’s coffin.

I may sound one sided in my opinions right now, but I’m a person who has followed both the companies since a while now and was always eager for new product launches. Apple actually used to pioneer revolutionary pieces of technology that was ahead of their time. What I do not understand is, why turn into someone who always plays catch-up now? You did that with the iPhone 6+ (Phablet), again with the Apple Watch (Smartwatch) and you are doing it yet again with the iPad Pro (2-in-1). The key difference is that while the iPhone 6+, being a phablet, survived having an ARM architecture and a mobile OS, what remains to be seen is will Apple be able to replicate the success with iPad Pro? We all remember what happened to Surface RT, don’t we? But Microsoft and Apple are two very different companies and I really want iPad Pro to succeed (Surface Pro series needs competition in the elite tablet segment), bit can Apple really pull this one off needs to be seen.

Will the iPad Pro find takers? That’s a question we all know the answer to. “Why?” seems like the bigger question, but even that is pretty self-explanatory.

Can Windows Mobile do a Phoenix and rise again

Remember the glorious days of the good old Windows Mobile? The operating system was poised as the big thing that happened to smartphones and held a major market share in the smartphone world. Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM’s) flocked to the platform and businesses saw all their requirements fulfilled by the familiar and robust operating system.

Along came the iPhone and changed the market forever. Smartphones were no longer seen as the go to business devices and had a much wider appeal attached to them now. The familiar iPod like interface and design, massive entertainment features, a highly responsive touch screen and various other factors slowly changed the perception that a smartphone was a businessman’s phone and everyone wanted one now.

The downside? Price. Everyone may have wanted a smartphone now but the steep price associated with an iPhone kept many at bay. Google saw an opportunity and formed the Open Handset Alliance, roping in the largest who’s who of the industry and creating a new ecosystem. This led to the development of Android, which holds the largest market share in the smartphone world today. Android had the backing of almost all the big players in the mobile and telecommunications industries and was an open platform, providing cutting edge features at a price that was surprisingly affordable.

What was Microsoft doing while all this was happening? Microsoft was complacent and saw no need to change, dismissing the developments as temporary. It was only after its market started to decline and Windows Mobile lost its dominant position that Microsoft finally took notice and overhauled its experience with Windows Phone. But it was too little, too late. The world had already adopted iPhone and Android, and a hastily baked and unfinished Windows Phone was scrapped by the masses, including many loyalists. A few did remain, but the dwindling market share, which fell below a threshold soon, provoked developers to also jump ship and build applications for platforms where the revenue streams seemed better.

The final blow came when Microsoft abandoned what was left of its loyalists by scrapping Windows Phone 7.8 and not allowing the phones to upgrade to Windows 8, and subsequently 8.1, the new platform which had the potential to finally hold its own against the might of iPhone and Android. This was like starting from scratch again, and persuading everyone to buy a device, no upgrades whatsoever. There was virtually no market share and no developers were interested in developing applications for Windows. The lack of a flagship since the past two years has only worsen the problems.

After major reshuffles inside the company, Microsoft is finally close to releasing Windows 10, a universal platform that has cutting edge features and cross platform compatibility. And learning from previous mistakes, Microsoft is doing everything in its power to make people upgrade to the new platform, and rope in developers, thereby breaking the deadlock that was so far seemed as the biggest hurdle in Microsoft’s and Windows Mobile’s path. This is the last shot Microsoft has, and it knows that. But will it be enough? Only time will tell, and the judgement hour seems closer than ever for Windows Mobile.