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jzwatches
Well, since MS has failed to win consumers' hearts throughout the years after ...
yalanand
Smartphone with Windows OS are slowly becoming popular in India. Windows OS ...
Microsoft begins aggressive new Windows Phone campaign
Sylvie Barak
2/23/2012 7:40 PM EST
SAN FRANCISCO--Ahead of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Microsoft has thrown down the ad gauntlet to its Android competition in a campaign it is calling "Smoked by Windows Phone."
The idea, which initially started at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas back in January, featured a Windows Phone representative by the name of Ben Rudolph, challenging people with Android phones to complete various tasks on their smartphone faster than he could using a Windows Phone device.
The video clips were uploaded to YouTube and went somewhat viral. Several of the videos have been viewed over 500,000 times on YouTube.
Microsoft has been attempting to build buzz around its mobile platform for almost a year, but so far, it has not managed to really win over consumers. The new campaign is designed to change that by taking the battle away from apps - or lack of them - towards speed, seamlessness of experience and functionality.
Microsoft said it would be taking the campaign to the next level, with 15 -30 second ads, bringing the challenge format to its Microsoft Stores and beyond.
You can see the first of the series below:
The idea, which initially started at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas back in January, featured a Windows Phone representative by the name of Ben Rudolph, challenging people with Android phones to complete various tasks on their smartphone faster than he could using a Windows Phone device.
The video clips were uploaded to YouTube and went somewhat viral. Several of the videos have been viewed over 500,000 times on YouTube.
Microsoft has been attempting to build buzz around its mobile platform for almost a year, but so far, it has not managed to really win over consumers. The new campaign is designed to change that by taking the battle away from apps - or lack of them - towards speed, seamlessness of experience and functionality.
Microsoft said it would be taking the campaign to the next level, with 15 -30 second ads, bringing the challenge format to its Microsoft Stores and beyond.
You can see the first of the series below:
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Neo1
2/23/2012 9:49 PM EST
Instead of all this gimmickry why can't they just do a stright forward benchmark test.
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KB3001
2/25/2012 6:26 AM EST
Well said! I am sick of all this marketing hype...
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goafrit
2/24/2012 11:36 AM EST
That is what they need to do. Yet, the cost is what is killing MST and not the tech. You can get IDEO Android phone for $100. I am not sure Windows can offer that.
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chanj
2/24/2012 3:29 PM EST
As far as I understand, two primary cost drivers of a smartphone are processor and screen size. As you compare phones, the biggest the screen, the higher the price. Typically, new model will come out with a high price tag. I believe comparing phone shall go with price performance with some factors being locked, for example, same or very close screen size. Otherwise, we are comparing Apple to Orange.
The new Microsoft Mobile launched way after the success of Apple iPhone 3G and of Nexus One. Between Apple iPhone and Nexus One, Apple iPhone doesn't really get very popular until iPhone 3G which was launched in mid 2008, a year after the launching of iPhone. Nexus One used the best components available in the market, serving as a reference design to hardware vendors. Nexus One was launched in 2010, more than a year of initial release of Android OS.
Although Microsoft launched Microsoft CE 16 years ago, they haven't been able to get a considerable chunk of market share. Now, with the revamping of Windows Mobile, expectation from MS would be high. Given Nokia Lumia 710 has just been released. According to market wisdom, we will know whether the new OS will own some good piece of the market.
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Frank Eory
2/24/2012 3:29 PM EST
So my personal experience with a Windows Phone at CES wasn't just a fluke -- they really ARE fast!
This campaign is great, and just what MS needs to do to build up excitement and build up the "cool" factor for Windows Phone.
They still, however, need to find ways to get the apps developers on board and address that shortcoming.
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Bert22306
2/24/2012 5:07 PM EST
A bit of a chicken and egg problem.
If the Windows phone gains some buzz, it would seem to me that app developers would create their same app also for Windows.
I don't put a lot of weight in the number of apps available for any particular type, because I figure that whatever becomes popular will soon get those same apps anyway.
Although I do realize that this is a very short term and fickle market we're talking about.
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cdhmanning
2/26/2012 4:06 PM EST
That logic would seem to be stuck in a classic catch 22 trap.
When the platform gets popular, app writers will start targeting the platform.
But surely the platform needs the apps to become popular?
That was not so much an issue in the past when apps were just a cute extra feature. Now, however, apps are a fundamental part of a smart phone. No apps - no smartphone!
Where MS falls down is that they have head-butted users and developers far too often. Each rev of the OS brings on huge changes and compatibility issues. MS have already started pushing WP 8 saying it is going to be better than, and different to, WP 7. So why would anyone: (a) want to buy a phone running a platform that is going to be obsoleted within a year or (b) want to write apps for an obsolete platform.
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KB3001
2/25/2012 6:27 AM EST
Given our experience with PCs, does not anyone want the experience repeated with Smart Phones? Not me, thank you very much Microsoft!
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Daniel Payne
2/26/2012 11:03 AM EST
To continue browsing please reboot now.... LOL. Come on people, we all know how flakey Windows OS can be, so why would a WIndows Phone be reliable? Android, iOS and RIM are established players in the smartphone marketplace, it is simply marketing suicide for Windows to take all three on, head to head.
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kinnar
2/26/2012 2:28 PM EST
Yes it is true Microsoft has also started targeting the application developers to attract towards designing applications for Windows Mobile OS by offering free Windows Powered Mobile devices to the developers.
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linpaws
2/27/2012 4:27 AM EST
Was watching a re-run of Ironman the other day when he falls from high up in the sky after a build-up of ice. The moment suit powers up, it boots up in some 1-2 seconds JIT ironman is about to hit the ground...
I just wondered what would happen to the hit series if the suit was running windows (BSOD?)
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selinz
2/28/2012 2:06 PM EST
It seems silly to compare a an operating system that's had to maintain backward compatibility for 30 years to a newly programmed smart phone. Microsoft's biggest problem was that they were late with the new and slow updating the old. Marketing 101 tells you that. Now they are playing catch up. But every unbiased review that I have seen seems to believe that technically, their current product is well done...
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yalanand
3/5/2012 5:03 AM EST
Smartphone with Windows OS are slowly becoming popular in India. Windows OS gives a totally fresh interface and moreover the phones are incredibly faster compared to Android phones.
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jzwatches
10/18/2012 12:52 AM EDT
Well, since MS has failed to win consumers' hearts throughout the years after the introduction of iPhone and Android, this is their only way to recoup all the losses they have faced. Yes, MS is not able to beat the other leading giants in terms of applications and features but it is only fair and reasonable that MS is trying to at least continue persevering to compete and win in terms of seamlessness and their loading speed. Consumers who use their smartphone and have failed to be satisfied in terms of these factors that MS has got to offer, might be enticed to change from their current commercialized smartphone to a Windows phone. http://www.jzandf.com
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