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Windows Phone 8.1 |OT| Update 1
- Thread starter brotkasten
- Start date
LukasTaves
Member
And the only one to blame for that is MS itself.
Specially in non US countries. Cortana is on Brazil for instance, but it's utterly useless and broken.
VanMardigan
has calmed down a bit.
I would love for Cortana to work better because I'm on a Windows PC for work and live in Office/Outlook so having an assistant that helps me and follows me from device to device would be great.
brotkasten
Member
I really like Cortana on Android, because it relays all notifications I want to my Windows PC. It's great.
I never use the assistant function on my phone, though. I barely open it either. I used to open it a lot, because the personalized news section was pretty good. But then they changed the default page to weather and calender and I can't seem to find a way to change it back. It's really stupid.
And of course you can't actually download it from a Play Store outside the US for some fucking reason, even though it's on PC and Windows Phone in many regions.
It seems like they're not working that much on Cortana either. The last pitches I saw were entirely enterprise focused, too (that industrial thermostat with Cortana and the Harman speaker demo at Ignite). The dev story for Cortana seems dead as well, to the surprise of no one.
Microsoft's consumer efforts seem like a dumpster fire that are finally burning into the ground. It's sad and annoying, because they started a lot of good stuff. But they are just not capable of committing to it. In the past it was because of different teams internally fighting each other, stealing focus, time and money from each other. Now, no one seems to care if it doesn't do anything for the enterprise. That makes their story about Windows being personal and something you like even worse. Like, what exactly did the "Creator's Update" do for creators actively working with your platform? All I remember is Paint 3D and Mixer. That's kind of weak, if it's supposed to inspire people to create things. There's no simple video editing app like Movie Maker anymore, there's no simple music creation app. Paint 3D is still pretty weak for drawing. It makes no sense.
I never use the assistant function on my phone, though. I barely open it either. I used to open it a lot, because the personalized news section was pretty good. But then they changed the default page to weather and calender and I can't seem to find a way to change it back. It's really stupid.
And of course you can't actually download it from a Play Store outside the US for some fucking reason, even though it's on PC and Windows Phone in many regions.
It seems like they're not working that much on Cortana either. The last pitches I saw were entirely enterprise focused, too (that industrial thermostat with Cortana and the Harman speaker demo at Ignite). The dev story for Cortana seems dead as well, to the surprise of no one.
Microsoft's consumer efforts seem like a dumpster fire that are finally burning into the ground. It's sad and annoying, because they started a lot of good stuff. But they are just not capable of committing to it. In the past it was because of different teams internally fighting each other, stealing focus, time and money from each other. Now, no one seems to care if it doesn't do anything for the enterprise. That makes their story about Windows being personal and something you like even worse. Like, what exactly did the "Creator's Update" do for creators actively working with your platform? All I remember is Paint 3D and Mixer. That's kind of weak, if it's supposed to inspire people to create things. There's no simple video editing app like Movie Maker anymore, there's no simple music creation app. Paint 3D is still pretty weak for drawing. It makes no sense.
Steelyuhas
Member
That's the thing that has been disappointing and baffling with Cortana. They were clearly ahead of the competition when they got Cortana out there, and the features/integration added to that since feels like marginal additions at best. It's been three and half years!
I can't speak to what the solutions are internally at MSFT to make this better, but they are still struggling with turning great tech into a long-term consumer success. The tech of Kinect and Cortana should have been Amazon Echo long before Echo came out and almost instantly owned the home AI assistant/IOT space. Hololens was way ahead of the game when they first showed it off, now Google and Apple have AR tech built into their mobile platforms which surely will have much more reach than the dedicated headset space will. There are plenty of more examples, but yeah...not sure why they are unable to commit to the tech they are developing.
brotkasten
Member
Oh, and because I just saw the news.
Please don't be immediately sucked into Microsoft's VR efforts. They always have partners lined up for launches like this and then it gets abandoned a year later.
Cortana did location- and context-aware reminders at launch 3 years ago. I thought it was the shit. Now I don't even know what it can do because there's no reason to use it, consindering how gimped it is.
Please don't be immediately sucked into Microsoft's VR efforts. They always have partners lined up for launches like this and then it gets abandoned a year later.
Cortana did location- and context-aware reminders at launch 3 years ago. I thought it was the shit. Now I don't even know what it can do because there's no reason to use it, consindering how gimped it is.
LukasTaves
Member
Yeah, that's a good point. Ms missed the smartphone crazy ship and tried to get the next thing. But even when they managed to be ahead of the next big thing they dropped the ball and got surpassed.
Music Streaming, AR, Personal Assistant, Voice Control, Depth sensoring cameras...
Watch they getting beaten by the point in trans formative devices and app platform as well. We'll probably see a foldable phone/tablet on Android taking off before the vaporware surface phone xD
Music Streaming, AR, Personal Assistant, Voice Control, Depth sensoring cameras...
Watch they getting beaten by the point in trans formative devices and app platform as well. We'll probably see a foldable phone/tablet on Android taking off before the vaporware surface phone xD
VanMardigan
has calmed down a bit.
Another example if being way ahead and then letting things die: multiple outlets have described the iPhone face unlock tech as basically a mini Kinect.
brotkasten
Member
e: And while I'm at it. How the fuck is it that two years after the launch of Windows 10, fucking Chrome(!) does pinned Websites better than Edge? What kind of sick joke is that?
That's because Apple bought Primesense, who came up with the first Kinect hardware. The Face ID thing is basically a smaller Kinect, afaik.
Windows Phone failing had this crazy ripple effect for so many consumer products and initiatives at Microsoft, it's insane.
btw, I'm glad to see you posting again, Van.
That's because Apple bought Primesense, who came up with the first Kinect hardware. The Face ID thing is basically a smaller Kinect, afaik.
Windows Phone failing had this crazy ripple effect for so many consumer products and initiatives at Microsoft, it's insane.
btw, I'm glad to see you posting again, Van.
I don't know why MS can't see how surrender in the consumer space will cascade out. For instance, I was all in on Microsoft services (outlook, calendar, people, edge browser, etc), but when I couldn't find a decent windows phone on Verizon, I had to go android. My MS account didn't work as elegantly on Android, so I ended up switching everything to Google's ecosystem. Because their surrender in mobile, they've lost me for email / calendar. Since I'm on an android phone, I'm using Chrome, might as well use it my laptop as well. How long before I start exploring Google docs, saved on gdrive? Nadella isn't as smart as he's given credit for, hit refresh indeed...
brotkasten
Member
I have absolutely no reason to replace the Samsung browser on my S7. It's really fast, the UI works well on the screen size, it has ad-blocker and a built-in night mode and it doesn't kill the battery as Chrome does.
And thanks to some Microsoft app, I can just send any web page to Edge on my PC anyway.
Haven't tried that? Do you need Cortana for that?
Also, does Google Photos still downsample photo uploads?
swipe navigation.
brotkasten
Member
You need the Microsoft Apps app for that. It's literally called that and used to be an ad for other Microsoft apps. No idea why they have buried it there instead of making it part of Cortana. Once you've installed the app, you can use any* browser, open a web page, open the share menu and from there you can send it to your pc and it will open in Edge. It's pretty cool. Again, no idea why it isn't part of Cortana.
*probably
Good point, but the Samsung Browser let's you swipe between tabs. I wish it was an option, though.
Also, press and hold the tabs button to open a new tab.
Weird I have the Microsoft apps app installed to my Android phone but there is no setting in there to log in with my specific account nor any settings in regards to sending any information to my PC.
Thanks, found it. I'll try it when I get home!
ahh that's what I get for reading while working and not paying attention, yes share menu to pc on browser works thanks
Poodlestrike
Banned
I feel like this ends with them basically just making their own android fork.
Astral/H3X
Member
I would definitely take MS's UI on Android. Android is still so fucking annoying, way too many random horseshit things to be drowned in and slow me down.
brotkasten
Member
Which will end up just as unsuccessful as Windows Phone, if they don't get Google Play Services on it.
Poodlestrike
Banned
Is this something Google can actually deny them? I figured it'd be like Kindle, where they've got their own store and stuff but you can still get the Play Store on it.
Makes app development, particularly games since most use a hook for the Play Store Achievements, frustrating to maintain all forks.
App devs already bother with Amazon who has been pushing its platform with its Fire devices, and they fill a consumer niche for cheap tablets.
A few with Samsung's store, which adds more burden since most people look for the app again on Google Play store.
Doubt they will bother with MS. Only thing MS wants is people to use its compiler for cross development.
Steelyuhas
Member
The updated Android launcher has a more mature implementation of fluent design than anything in Windows thus far.
I'll let you all take a moment to laugh/cry at that.
I'll let you all take a moment to laugh/cry at that.
brotkasten
Member
"Before I go any further, it's worth mentioning that Edge for Android/iOS does not use the EdgeHTML rendering engine. Microsoft confirmed that the Android version will use Chrome's Blink engine (but it won't just be a WebView wrapper). On iOS, it will use Safari's WebKit engine, as required by all third-party browsers on iOS."
I understand the limitation in iOS, but Android too? What is the point then?
I'm not sure if Google could actually deny them to ship it with Google Play Services, but it would look pretty bad if Microsoft did it. It's all about the optics. And on Kindle you have to install the Play Services yourself, right?
I understand the limitation in iOS, but Android too? What is the point then?
I'm not sure if Google could actually deny them to ship it with Google Play Services, but it would look pretty bad if Microsoft did it. It's all about the optics. And on Kindle you have to install the Play Services yourself, right?
LukasTaves
Member
Why even port edge?
I could understand if it supported the extensions, the annotating features etc... But this seems like a stripped down version with any of that.
I could understand if it supported the extensions, the annotating features etc... But this seems like a stripped down version with any of that.
Damon Bennet
Member
Browse on phone, carry on with windows desktop
frontieruk
Member
Chrome????
brotkasten
Member
Well, it's not ported. That's the problem. It's using Google's and Apple's rendering engine instead of their own and the only features it offers over the native browsers is bookmark sync.
This, right here, is this typical MS behavior I was talking about. They throw something that's very clearly not ready yet, out on a very crowded market that's already way ahead of that product. Then it not being picked up by consumers for some reason and development stalls and then gets stopped eventually because no one cared about any of the good ideas that might get implemented down the line.
A couple of posts up there I mentioned an official Microsoft way to do this with any Android browser on your phone and Edge on PC. Oh, and then there's Chrome.
Damon Bennet
Member
Microsoft announced that they'll stop promoting that feature. Edge is the way to go in the future. at least for ms.
brotkasten
Member
Oh well. That will clearly get me to dump the browser I'm happy with and switch to Microsoft's solution. I'll definitely try Edge out, of course. But taking the other option away in case Edge isn't for me, that is somewhat annoying.
LukasTaves
Member
Yeah, the browser is in preview apparently but I doubt they are going to change the engine at launch.
It does seem to support more than what I thought, though. It supports the book viewing features and syncs books from the store... Since they spent most of the time making edge a good ebook reader rather than improving it as a browser, so at least it supports their vision well.
brotkasten
Member
I know my bitching can come across as off-putting, but I really hope the browser turns out to be good. Even if it's not even based on their own engine. There's no reason not to want another good browser on the market.
I just tested it for you. Installed the Microsoft launcher, set it up accordingly as my default launcher, played it with a little and then went back to Nova. Aside from my wallpaper, everything was set up how it was before I installed the Microsoft launcher. That said, it might be a Nova thing, where the settings are saved.
Hmmm? There was link to the beta I went to, maybe that's why??
Edit:follow the link in this article
https://blogs.windows.com/windowsex...droid-microsoft-launcher/#zcyssvSbOWLJImGz.97
I see, I guess I had to opt in on the Beta. Trying again. Thanks!
brotkasten
Member
Yeah, my mistake was not opting in to the Beta.
Quite like the feed, actually. Will try it out for a bit.
brotkasten
Member
I didn't sign up for any beta that I know of
(Microsoft owns my soooooouuuuulllll)
Steelyuhas
Member
Yeah, still don't plan on buying books from their store, but at least they'll be available on the go now for those that do. It was pretty baffling prior to this.
That's what I did at first. Only after I joined the Beta via the link in the blog post, I got an update to the current version.
Astral/H3X
Member
I use Launcher 10; it's pretty much the closest I can imagine getting to Win10's launcher. There was some other one that was more downloaded and had "more features" -- in the bad way, where it's hard to find what you want, all the options make tiny changes and make everything buggier, and it was janky and not smooth. So basically just like Android in general.
maximum360
Member
It's almost time to retire my 950 XL. I ordered the V30. Sad to go...
NeOak
Member
Yup, time for pack it up. W10M is off mainstream support and now is on extended support only.
https://www.engadget.com/2017/10/08/microsoft-exec-says-windows-10-mobile-is-no-longer-a-focus/
https://www.engadget.com/2017/10/08/microsoft-exec-says-windows-10-mobile-is-no-longer-a-focus/
HarryDemeanor
Member
We had a good run boys and girls. Last one out turns off the lights!