Windows Mobile smartphones are great. The operating system is beautiful, sleek and super-optimized. No one would call it a "lagdroid." Indeed, even if you are running windows mobile on a phone with just 512 MB of RAM, you'd be surprised that you'd still be able to run Asphalt 8!
The problem however has always been the "App Gap". The Windows store just doesn't have the same number of titles and none of the kinds of apps that
Microsoft just killed it at their October 6, 2015 product launch.
Windows 10 Devices Announcement
They released the new Surface Pro 4, 2 Flagship Lumia Smartphones, the 950 and the 950 XL together with the new Surface Pro 4 and the Surface Book. Needless to say, everyone who watched that keynote was stunned by just how advanced and beautiful the hardware seemed (and expensive!!!).
Lumia 950XL
Lumia 950
The hardware were also LIQUID COOLED.
Lets put that into perspective.
Car with air-cooled engine / car with liquid cooled engine
It's a no contest!
But you know what else is so interesting about these devices? They all run the same operating system, just different editions. This means that they can all run the same kinds of apps.
Microsoft calls these the Universal Windows Apps (UWA). The idea behind this is
Multitasking actually works on Continuum!!!
I can be productive like a boss wherever I am now
These devices that Microsoft is coming out with won't be the only devices to run Windows 10. What we saw on October 6th were high end devices, but Windows 10 devices run the gamut from the very cheap to liquid-cooled beasts. They are also popular on the enterprise.
New Surface Lineup
The Dynamic Fulcrum hinge on the Surface Book
Fact of the matter is, with Apple just having unveiled the iPad Pro, there is still a dearth of apps that can properly make use of its new features such as stylus and raw graphics and processing power. When you look at it, the surface has the app advantage with apps like Staffpad and Drawboard PDF. At the very least, in terms of productivity apps, Windows tablets and the iPad are at parity. The question is, which platform is going to catch the imagination of app developers? My bet is with Microsoft, already there are more than 110 million people running Windows 10, Windows tablet use is picking up as well as Windows store downloads and with the new UWA platform, an app developer can gain access to all those devices from the smartphone to the tablet, Xbox to the Hololens and the PC--its the new frontier!
And that is what makes phones running the upcoming Windows 10 Mobile so promising. It draws its strength from the desktop and with apps that can scale depending on the screen you run and with the same power of the desktop.
For the enterprise, a Windows device would remain a more compelling purchase, that with their increased biometric security (all Windows 10 devices can theoretically support Windows Hello), enterprise support for Microsoft and the ability to sideload custom apps to any Windows device (this is a rumored feature), so a company can develop an app they can use for their specific business in house. It also helps that the tools for making UWAs are now readily available as well as instructional materials.
Also in development is the bridge program that allows developers to port Android, iOS, web apps and Win32 programs to UWA: Projects Astoria, Islandwood, Westminster and Centennial.
Whats more, with UWAs, developers will find that they are big fish in small ponds. In contrast to Android and iOS, its increasingly difficult to make a profitable app. Not on Windows, make a good app, you should do well. Take this guy:
I think developers like myself care more about the number of users not the number of other apps. That being said, when the number of competing apps is low it does make it easier to pick up more users. I think it's interesting that nobody points out that for a small app developer to come to iOS or Android stores it's incredibly difficult to get noticed in the sea of apps already out there, without something really unique or very high quality / different features it's unlikely to get more than a few downloads. I created an Android app a few years back to help me log my working hours, there were a few other apps doing a similar thing, my app was the simplest to use and looked fairly modern at the time, after 4 years in the store it got 60 downloads and 3 purchases to remove adds. So my net profit was like -$20 after paying $25 to publish it. True I didn't dedicate much time to it and only updated it a few times but when there's so many millions of users you would normally expect at least 100s of downloads and a small profit right? And that's exactly where the thinking goes wrong. The same app on Windows Phone 8, in less time has gotten 2000+- downloads and about 40 purchases to get rid of ads. When its something like Facebook it's clear there are more users on iOS and Android because everyone will get the Facebook app regardless of what OS they are on so for companies like Facebook that's where the money is. For small developers I think the money is in Windows, the problem is small developers don't have the resources to create perfect apps which is why Windows has so many low quality apps and not enough high quality ones.
Need any more convincing? Windows has the number, the hardware and the appeal. Developers, its your move.
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