Microsoft ‘flattered’ with Apple’s iOS 5 Windows Phone features

By Tom Warren, on 6th Jun 11 10:58 pm with 320 Comments

Apple introduced its new iOS 5 operating system on Monday.

The OS, which powers Apple’s iPad and iPhone devices, will be available in the fall and will include more than 200 new features. A number of the features are very similar to ones used in Android and Windows Phone 7. Apple’s iOS 5 improvements didn’t go un-noticed at Redmond. Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore, Director of the Windows Phone program, tweeted his feelings on Monday afternoon. “Feeling flattered today,” said Belfiore after referencing a number of iOS 5 features. Belfiore also reached out to one poster who was impressed with Apple’s new camera hardware button implementation. “With a wp7 you get a dedicated camera button that wakes the phone from sleep and jumps u to camera,” he said. “Been shipping for 8 months! :) ”

Joe Belfiore on iOS 5

Here’s a list of some of the similarities:

Improved notifications

Apple has built a notification center into iOS 5 that’s very similar to Google’s Android operating system. The notifications are now displayed at the top of iOS and can easily be dismissed in a similar way to how Windows Phone 7 operates.

iOS 5 notifications compared to Windows Phone

Ergonomic keyboard

Apple has now built a split ergonomic keyboard into iOS 5. The feature is eerily similar to an identical keyboard that Microsoft revealed in Windows 8 recently. Microsoft also had a similar split keyboard in its Ultra Mobile PC (Origami) product.

Spot the difference? Windows 8 on bottom

Built-in Twitter

Apple has integrated Twitter straight into iOS 5. You can tweet directly from Safari, Photos, Camera, YouTube or Maps. Microsoft is also building in Twitter integration deep into Windows Phone Mango, the company has yet to demonstrate exactly how this will work however.

Twitter integration - Windows Phone left

Background download service

Apple revealed its own background download service for Newsstand. The new feature lets magazines and newspaper app subscriptions download automatically. Windows Phone Mango also includes a similar service that application developers can build into their apps.

Messaging improvements

Apple introduced iMessage on Monday. You can send unlimited text messages via Wi-Fi or 3G from the iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch to anyone who has an iDevice. Windows Phone Mango has also introduced deeper integration of messaging services directly into the operating system.

Messaging integration - Windows Phone left

iCloud auto photo uploads

Jobs also unveiled the ability for iOS to automatically upload pictures take from iOS devices. The pictures go into Apple’s iCloud system and are available for viewing online or on other devices. Windows Phone 7 also has an identical feature and uploads the pictures to Windows Live SkyDrive

Wi-fi Sync

iOS device owners can now wirelessly sync their device over wi-fi to a Mac or PC. As long as the iOS device is connected to a power source, it automatically syncs and backs up any new content to iTunes. Windows Phone 7 also has an identical feature with the Zune client.

Camera improvements

Apple has also changed the way the camera works. The volume + button now works as a hardware camera button and there’s even a lock screen shortcut to quickly allow iPhone users to take pictures. Both are identical features of Windows Phone 7.

New iOS 5 camera features similar to Windows Phone

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3OIDXOI5OEMTX6Z3O5YUBFSISA Diego3336

    And I can imagine the “specialized media” putting Apple as the innovative and MS as the copycat when iOS5 and WP7.5 reaches the market this fall.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3OIDXOI5OEMTX6Z3O5YUBFSISA Diego3336

    And I can imagine the “specialized media” putting Apple as the innovative and MS as the copycat when iOS5 and WP7.5 reaches the market this fall.

  • http://twitter.com/s_a_r_k_i_s sarkis chamelian

    Cant wait for Windows Phone 8, I guess Apples new logo “iFollow” or maybe “iCopy”

    • Anonymous

      Herp.

      iOS5 = Collection of features from other mobile OSes.

      Derp.

    • Anonymous

      WWDC 2011 was boring.

    • Mark

      Some of the Apple fanboy sites seem to be going wild over iCloud and Lion. iCloud looks okay. Have to review the Lion info further. Don’t see much that excites me there so far.

    • http://www.CravingTech.com/ Michael Aulia @CravingTech.com

      I’m into iOS 5 and Lion!

    • Mark

      Awesome. Thanks for such a high quality content rich response.

    • trashoner

      I’m into iOS 5 and Chicks!

    • http://www.CravingTech.com/ Michael Aulia @CravingTech.com

      I’m into iOS 5 and Lion!

    • http://twitter.com/ArturoRyes Arturo Ryes

      and from existing iPhone apps…

    • Anonymous

      iTroll GTFO!

    • http://twitter.com/joeldjro Domingo J. Ruiz

      (RIM+Symbian)*(Android+Windows Phone) = iCopiedall

    • TryllZ

      NOT what this article says, here it says:

      I+dont+care+what+anybody+else+Copied…All+that+matters+to+me+is+that+Apple+COPIED+M$…so troll some where else…

    • http://twitter.com/joeldjro Domingo J. Ruiz

      (RIM+Symbian)*(Android+Windows Phone) = iCopiedall

    • http://twitter.com/dragngt Heath Hayes

      Ummm… and who just released a phone this year that used the footwork of Apple and Google to build what they have?  Well, they copied the OS but they sure don’t have the users to even bother worrying about it.  Reminds me of the Zune.

    • Guest

      And Apple copied LG. Big deal. FO troll.

    • Anonymous

      Are you referring to the Prada? Anyone who actually knows the history and features of these devices know they could not be more different.

      Meanwhile you can thank Apple for whatever smartphone you use today.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Dan-Doughty/1302945760 Dan Doughty

      Microsoft has been in the game a lot longer then Apple and Google. Most of the smartphone patents are theirs. Most features you see on smartphones today were developed by Microsoft. Including the way that the OS talks to the hardware. Im sure that both Android OEM’s as well as Apple pay nice licensing fee’s to Microsoft. With the Mango update MS will get the users. WP7 was kind of a let down but if anyone knows how MS operates they know that its always release 2 that you have to watch out for.

    • Smeker

      Lol :) and yet iOS seem to perform better than either Android or WP7.. it must be that darn magic :)

    • Desireful3

      iOS Is much inferior to android… The marketshare explains itself. ;) WP7 is a brand new os and blows iOS out of the water. People don’t want a grid of icons anymore. It isn’t 2007 anymore.

    • MSblog

      Sorry but your mistaken, the market has shown > 93% of the market does want a grid of icons.  

      Source: comScore April 2011

    • Guest

      Reference? Or just pulling that one of your iAss?

    • dFIREBALL

      Over 200 million iOS devices sold is good enough reference vs 1% of that number for wp7!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • Espinozaa

      80 million people killed in WW2. That doesn’t make death something good.
      200M is only a reference that god loves fools cause he created many of them.

    • PopPop

      No the proper reference number is 650 million (# W7 sold)

    • TryllZ

      Not quite so, after the Mango update…you need to watch the Mango video on youtube then come trollin here…till then keep fanboying…LMAO!!

    • Guest

      So that means it’s a superset of both? Kinda bad news for Google and MS, no?

  • http://twitter.com/s_a_r_k_i_s sarkis chamelian

    Cant wait for Windows Phone 8, I guess Apples new logo “iFollow” or maybe “iCopy”

  • http://www.seriousinternets.com Tim Smith

    Countdown to apple fanboys finding a way to spin this when they’d be bashing Microsoft if it were the other way around in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1………..

    • http://twitter.com/TheeBladeOGrass Michael Pendergraft

      I would agree but since they didn’t announce a new phone, I found that most of the sheep have no idea what Apple introduced today. The fanboys can’t be bothered with silly things like knowing what their OS actually does!

    • Anonymous

      And they can’t be bothered with rooting their phones all the time when they could be getting laid.

    • Guest

      Yeah, but i know that my Windows requires patches almost every week, freezes daily basis and crashes constantly…
      You are right, there is not much to know about non MS OS. 

    • Yeah yeah sure

      Except you are lying. I love the anonimity of the Internet. You can be a ‘guest’ and make up anything you want. Go back to slashdot or wherever you spread your lies.

    • Zephyrnix

      YEah dude, ur lying. I’ve gotten ONE update through the phone’s life. You obviously don’t have a Windows Phone.

    • Polly

      @Guest with the windows freezes and crashes:  You really should upgrade from Windows ME, either that or clean the malware off your system if you’ve got something more modern for an OS.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=557199744 Eiren O’Keeffe

      Probably time for you to stop using Windows 95 and try Windows 7 :)   Also not sure what OS you use as my Linux distros and Mac OS machines get weekly updates too pretty much.

    • Moattar

      How many people around the world use linux and mac os?

    • http://twitter.com/snookasnoo Idon’t Know

      Poor babys.  Whine some more.

    • http://twitter.com/TheeBladeOGrass Michael Pendergraft

      No, the definition of sheep is to continue to use a 3.5″, single-core phone with an uninspiring static grid of icons then troll the message boards of other another OS and tell everyone how they should be using that dated junk. Maybe next time you can post the model of your car and the type of toilet paper you wipe with so we can drink the kool-aid and benefit from your unbridled knowledge completely.

    • Guest

      Belfiore may as well be flattered for WP7 sales are flatting LOOOOOOOOL

    • GB007

      Yes Apple has taken a few feature from MS, now if WP7 can only take that one feature of Apple’s iPhone… Sales!  Maybe to much to ask for… :(

    • GB007

      Yes Apple has taken a few feature from MS, now if WP7 can only take that one feature of Apple’s iPhone… Sales!  Maybe to much to ask for… :(

    • Asymetrica

      It has been said IDEAS are easy, EXECUTION is hard and it is Apples execution of the ideas that is KILLING Microsoft.  

    • Anonymous

      WP7 is looking much nicer than the iphone right now.

    • DayTrader

      Since WP7 was released about 33 million more people disagree with you.  LOL  Even MS WP7 commercial says iPhone is the one you can not take your eye off of and WP7 you cant wait to put away!

    • Anonymous

      And many people do agree with me. It seems like every single person I encounter in the real world with an iPhone is leaving their iPhone for either WP7 or Android. So many may disagree but that doesn’t change the fact that I and many others believe WP7 is looking much nicer than the iPhone right now.

      Also if you want to think about it with percentages and marketshare, more people dislike the iPhone than there are people that like it according to statistics.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_GTXGY46IFYDHBEU2OFEPXZRU5Y beck

      source?

    • Anonymous

      The fact that there are more people on this planet that do not have an iPhone than there are that do. That is very similar to him saying that because 33 million people bought an iPhone since WP7 launched that they think iOS looks like a better OS, so those that don’t have iOS must not think its very good. Also Android has a higher marketshare and we know how they feel about iOS.

    • More people than iphone lolz

      Your logic is rather impaired it seems.  “The fact that there are more people on this planet that do not have an iPhone than there are that do.”  There are 6 billion people on this planet.  Do you really think your statement has any merit now?

    • Anonymous

      When I write something like “This is intentionally poor logic btw.”, do you really think that I think my statement has any real merit?  I typed that line to avoid someone responding the exact way that you did.  The whole point of what I said was to point out the flawed logic the troll daytrader was using in the first place.

    • DayTrader

      If one has a choice between A and B, if they choose A over B it is because they think A is better.  Perfect logic.  

      If A is higher price then B, and they are still willing to choose A then they see higher value in A then B even at the higher price.
      Perfect logic

      If A makes then B then in a capitalistic economy is this is consider success.  
      Perfect Logic

      If all of the above happens and A is iPhone and B is WP7 then iPhone is more successful.  

      ColPanic I know this does not make you happy, and you personally would be willing to pay as much for you WP7 as a iPhone if carrier would have let you, please trust me, you are one in about 3 million (and coincidentally about how many WP7 been sadly sold)

      It is not I but you is lacking logic, it is your emotion based position that is affecting your logic

    • DayTrader

      If one has a choice between A and B, if they choose A over B it is because they think A is better.  Perfect logic.  

      If A is higher price then B, and they are still willing to choose A then they see higher value in A then B even at the higher price.
      Perfect logic

      If A makes then B then in a capitalistic economy is this is consider success.  
      Perfect Logic

      If all of the above happens and A is iPhone and B is WP7 then iPhone is more successful.  

      ColPanic I know this does not make you happy, and you personally would be willing to pay as much for you WP7 as a iPhone if carrier would have let you, please trust me, you are one in about 3 million (and coincidentally about how many WP7 been sadly sold)

      It is not I but you is lacking logic, it is your emotion based position that is affecting your logic

    • Anonymous

      The problem is that not everyone had that choice because many do not even know about WP7, my experience has been so far that when I show someone my phone they choose a WP7 device over the iPhone.  I have no emotion behind this, I will use whatever product I personally like best. I never said WP7 was selling better or more popular than the iPhone. I am however saying that your logic is poor because you say that since more people own the iPhone, that people think the iPhone is better.  Many were never shown a WP7 device when they purchased their phones and I had a coworker this last week that had to fight with AT&T just to let him purchase a Focus because he refused to get another iPhone.  I am simply looking at the patterns of the past and looking toward the future here. iPhone users said there was no worry about Android because it sold poorly in its first year and the iPhone was doing great, the same thing happened between the Xbox and the Playstation and look how both of those have ended up.

    • DayTrader

      Your suffering from something called:

      Confirmation bias (also called confirmatory bias or myside bias) is a tendency for people to favor information that confirms their preconceptions or  regardless of whether the information is true.[Note 1][1] As a result, people gather evidence and recall information from memory selectively, and interpret it in a biased way.   The biases appear in particular for emotionally significant issues and for established beliefs

    • Guest

      “If one has a choice between A and B, if they choose A over B it is because they think A is better”

      Not really.  Imagine a customer entering a car dealership. The salesman asks which car he wants and the customer responds with ‘a green one’.
      Likewise,  a friend of mine bought a mac because he likes the look.  First thing he did was intall windows 7.  He only uses OSX for iTunes because he doesn’t want that shitty program on his main system.

      “and they are still willing to choose A then they see higher value in A then B even at the higher price”

      Again, not really.  My aunt married a billionaire.  She comes form a rather worker-class family.  Now she is like all “snob”.  She bought a Jaguar.  Not because she thinks it’s “better” or “higher value”, but rather just because she doesn’t want to be seen in a “worker class car”.

      “If A makes then B then in a capitalistic economy is this is consider success”

      Such a comparision only makes sense if A and B are direct competitors with the same overall business concepts.  Which is not the case here.  Apple is a hardware company who only allows it’s own software to run on it.  Microsoft is a software company that runs on whatever chips third party manufacturers make for said software systems.  So the comparision in terms of revenue is rather narrow and senseless.

      “A is iPhone and B is WP7 then iPhone is more successful.  ”

      1. iPhone has a headstart of a couple years, so in terms of market share, it’s not a full picture either.  Let’s wait another year or two before drawing those conclusions.
      2. to have the same revenue, msft needs to sell dozens of wp7′s for every iphone, because msft is NOT a hardware company.  Learn to reason.

      “it is your emotion based position that is affecting your logic”

      Funny sentence coming from an obvious iFan.

    • StockTrader

      He liked the looks = he thinks it LOOKS BETTER
      She VALUES PRESTIGE
      Making Profit is why Capitalist make products

      1. MS was in the phone business YEARS before iPhone but lost MARKET share because MS failure to offer a better product,
      2. MS is a Software hardware (ZUNE, XBOX, keyboard, mouse, etc) but chose to not hardware phone a strategy – and the more successful strategy is reward in the stock market.  I do not define success the market does.  

      Not an iFan.  A fan of the drama of successful business strategies vs poor strategies. 

    • DayTrader

      If one has a choice between A and B, if they choose A over B it is because they think A is better.  Perfect logic.  

      If A is higher price then B, and they are still willing to choose A then they see higher value in A then B even at the higher price.
      Perfect logic

      If A makes then B then in a capitalistic economy is this is consider success.  
      Perfect Logic

      If all of the above happens and A is iPhone and B is WP7 then iPhone is more successful.  

      ColPanic I know this does not make you happy, and you personally would be willing to pay as much for you WP7 as a iPhone if carrier would have let you, please trust me, you are one in about 3 million (and coincidentally about how many WP7 been sadly sold)

      It is not I but you is lacking logic, it is your emotion based position that is affecting your logic

    • Anonymous

      When I write something like “This is intentionally poor logic btw.”, do you really think that I think my statement has any real merit?  I typed that line to avoid someone responding the exact way that you did.  The whole point of what I said was to point out the flawed logic the troll daytrader was using in the first place.

    • http://blog.nordquist.org Brett Nordquist

      Nobody knows how many WP7 Microsoft has sold. Microsoft isn’t saying because sales have been in the crapper. When a product is selling sell, as has been the case with Kinect, Microsoft won’t shut up about it. Microsoft’s unwillingness to share WP7 sales figures tells us everything we need to know about it’s performance so far. 

    • Anonymous

      I never said WP7 was selling great or better than anyone else, that does not change the fact that one of those who bought an iPhone might think WP7 looks better. It is pretty safe to say that many of the people who bought an iPhone did so because their friends have them and/or they don’t even know what WP7 is. My experience however has been that when I show some one my phone and they have an iPhone they start asking me about the phones available and usually end with “I can’t wait until my contract is up.”

    • Anonymous

      I never said WP7 was selling great or better than anyone else, that does not change the fact that one of those who bought an iPhone might think WP7 looks better. It is pretty safe to say that many of the people who bought an iPhone did so because their friends have them and/or they don’t even know what WP7 is. My experience however has been that when I show some one my phone and they have an iPhone they start asking me about the phones available and usually end with “I can’t wait until my contract is up.”

    • http://blog.nordquist.org Brett Nordquist

      Nobody knows how many WP7 Microsoft has sold. Microsoft isn’t saying because sales have been in the crapper. When a product is selling sell, as has been the case with Kinect, Microsoft won’t shut up about it. Microsoft’s unwillingness to share WP7 sales figures tells us everything we need to know about it’s performance so far. 

    • Narg

      Gees beck, Google it for goodness sake.  You’ll see that Android is blowing the doors off the iPhone camp.  WP7 isn’t doing much yet globally, but once you start seeing Nokia WP7 phones, they too will give iPhone more competition than they can handle.

    • http://blog.nordquist.org Brett Nordquist

      Android is beating in Apple in what? Marketshare. But Apple is kicking the shit out of EVERYONE in terms of profits. It’s not even close. It’s about making money. I don’t know anyone who paid full price for an Android. Most go into a store and the salesperson pushes Android phones on them because of the sales incentives and then they pay next to nothing for two phones. Apple actually SELLS their phones and people are willing to pay for them. Nokia + Microsoft is a wait and see. If I were Apple, I wouldn’t be worried because Windows Phone 7 seems dead on arrival. 

    • buckleyplanet

      wait, your measurement of success is that they charge more for their products? um…

    • buckleyplanet

      wait, your measurement of success is that they charge more for their products? um…

    • http://blog.nordquist.org Brett Nordquist

      Yes, products that sell for money, especially consumer products, tend to stick around longer than those that don’t sell. These are phones we talking about not open source software. Look at Nokia and RIM. Their products aren’t selling and they are headed for a rough and uncertain future. Apple has less than 20% market share but over 50% of the mobile profit pie in the US. They have products people are willing to pay for and don’t have to basically give their phones away unlike nearly everyone else. You may not like Apple, but you can’t deny their success. Just last week Apple surpassed the combined market cap of Microsoft + Wintel. Android has been a huge success as far as market share. No doubt. But when it comes to actually making money, Apple is schooling everyone else. 

    • http://twitter.com/justifyer24 Irman Ahmad

      because they overcharged everything and people like you willing to pay for the crap.. 

      “whoaa!! PHONE!! itssss SHINY!!! this must be expensive!! I want it!!” retarded..

      Apple is just a hyped b******ing money making company.. They even sue people if something “leaks”..
      Other big company even make announcement on what’s to come.. Apple is so ignorant and has the highest ego ever.. “they are the best, they don’t need flash” WTF????

    • buckleyplanet

      wait, your measurement of success is that they charge more for their products? um…

    • Anonymous

      A snake oil salesman in the old west would generally make more money that the local general store. Are you suggesting is cow urine miracle in a bottle was a better product than actual medicine or food or clothing?

    • http://blog.nordquist.org Brett Nordquist

      Great analogy, colpanic. Is that all you could come up with? Drug dealers tend to earn more than teachers too although their longevity in that profession is questionable. 

      I’m suggesting that creating products people want to PAY FOR is good business practice. Over 200 million iOS devices have been sold. Not given away. Not sold for a penny with a 2 year commitment or “buy one, get one free” like I see with every other phone maker including Android makers doing. 
      Hey, when’s the last time you’ve seen anyone get so excited about a phone other than Apple they are willing to spend the night waiting in line? Geez, have you ever seen a line, period, of people waiting to purchase an phone that wasn’t made by Apple? I can run down to local Best Buy and immediately purchase a number of shoddy Android based tablets. But I have to wait 2-3 weeks for an iPad because they are in such high demand. 

      I think you drank too much cow urine for breakfast. 

    • Anonymous

      I could come up with many more analogies but I only think I needed one. I left iPhone because it was a disappointment to me and WP7 has not been so far.  I personally don’t know anyone that gets excited about the iPhone anymore, however my wife has been harrassing me to switch to AT&T so she can get rid of her Vibrant and get a Focus. She talks about that phone for weeks after we visit my mother who has a Focus.   Your experience may be different than mine but I see more people leaving the iPhone camp for WP7 and Android now. I paid full price for my phone because I don’t purchase phones on contract, I know I do not represent any one else in the phone market but I’m pretty sure others here would also have gladly paid the same price as an iPhone for their WP7 and will do so again in the future.

    • http://blog.nordquist.org Brett Nordquist

      I don’t doubt you enjoy your WP7. To each his own. I’ve used Blackberry, Palm, Windows Mobile, WP7 and iPhones. Each had their strengths and weaknesses. I was referring to business models and that’s where Apple is lapping the field right now. Your WP7 isn’t selling. Doesn’t mean it’s not a good product but it’s been a market dud so far. Microsoft only makes a few bucks off each phone. Probably not more than $20 or so. It’s similar to how Microsoft licenses Windows for cheap but sells hundreds of millions of them.

      Apple is playing another game. They don’t need to sell iPhones in huge numbers because they make over $600 each time one is sold including kick backs from the carriers. Apple is like Porsche or BMW who make more per car. Android and others are like GM who need to sell a lot more cars to be profitable. And right now, WP7 isn’t selling well at all. That’s why Ballmer is willing to give Nokia $1 billion in “marketing incentives” to license their mobile OS for Nokia devices.

      Maybe their pact with Nokia can fix that. We’ll see.

    • Anonymous

      “Your WP7 isn’t selling. Doesn’t mean it’s not a good product but it’s been a market dud so far.” So you agree with the original statement I made. What was all this about then?

    • http://blog.nordquist.org Brett Nordquist

      The market, so far, doesn’t think WP7 is a compelling product. But there are many issues here. One is that people like me and millions more were burned using Windows Mobile 5/6/6.5 for years and cannot imagine giving Microsoft another dime for mobile. Another is how Verizon and AT&T and T-Mobile push Android phones on new smart phone customers. I’d had 3 friends who were looking to move from a feature to a smart phone. I told all three to strongly consider a WP7. Two went to AT&T and one went to Verizon. All three were told that WP7 had only a few crappy apps and that Android was the future. Maybe they believed that and maybe Google (Or Samsung or HTC) were providing monetary incentives to them in the form of spiffs. Either way, I thought, and still do, that WP7 is a good first smart phone for those who don’t want to go the Apple route.

    • http://blog.nordquist.org Brett Nordquist

      The market, so far, doesn’t think WP7 is a compelling product. But there are many issues here. One is that people like me and millions more were burned using Windows Mobile 5/6/6.5 for years and cannot imagine giving Microsoft another dime for mobile. Another is how Verizon and AT&T and T-Mobile push Android phones on new smart phone customers. I’d had 3 friends who were looking to move from a feature to a smart phone. I told all three to strongly consider a WP7. Two went to AT&T and one went to Verizon. All three were told that WP7 had only a few crappy apps and that Android was the future. Maybe they believed that and maybe Google (Or Samsung or HTC) were providing monetary incentives to them in the form of spiffs. Either way, I thought, and still do, that WP7 is a good first smart phone for those who don’t want to go the Apple route.

    • Polly

      Microsoft used to have a business model similar to Apple, with lots of same company tie-ins, but Microsoft got slapped down for being “anti-competitive”.  Apple is currently on that same treadmill running full bore.  Eventually some of Apple’s competitors will start to complain and then Apple will also have to “play nice”.  That and the Reality Distortion Field, where Steve Jobs can say “there’s nothing wrong with the design, you’re just holding the phone wrong” and the Apple Faithful™ lap it up like it was manna from heaven and all pat each other on the back because Steve “saved” them yet again.

    • Polly

      Microsoft used to have a business model similar to Apple, with lots of same company tie-ins, but Microsoft got slapped down for being “anti-competitive”.  Apple is currently on that same treadmill running full bore.  Eventually some of Apple’s competitors will start to complain and then Apple will also have to “play nice”.  That and the Reality Distortion Field, where Steve Jobs can say “there’s nothing wrong with the design, you’re just holding the phone wrong” and the Apple Faithful™ lap it up like it was manna from heaven and all pat each other on the back because Steve “saved” them yet again.

    • George-king

      um, I am not really sure you want to make that argument about sales, as it would then seem that Apple computers really really really really suck.  Apple estimates what 55 million Mac (not iOS) users, while MS has roughly 1.1 billion customers, and sold 350 million Windows 7 licenses in a year.  So, if sales and money are the issue, then you have to conclude Macs are a dismal failure (written from my 27″ quad core iMac).

      As to lines – again, you do not want to make that argument, as there were no lines for the Verizon iPhone – was it a flop?

      On a related point, Apple’s marketing is designed to create lines and create an initial demand burst – they release 1 phone per year, and at least initially you have to either order online, or buy it at an Apple store.  Hence, one is forced to que up.

      Compared to other phones, which are released repeatedly over the year, and are available at multiple locations on release day.

    • http://blog.nordquist.org Brett Nordquist

      George, head into any Apple store and try to buy an iPad 2. You can’t. How long has the iPad been out?

      There were no lines for the Verizon iPhone because people who wanted the iPhone already LEFT Verizon (like I did) years earlier. 

      Apple is playing a different game than Microsoft or Google which rely on massive numbers in order to reach profitability. That’s why Microsoft panic’d and did the deal with Nokia. WP7 must sell hundred of millions of phones in order to be considered a success because Microsoft make only a few dollars on each. Apple is reaping the largest profits with a smaller market share. How much as Google made on Android? Good luck trying to figure that out. Not even sure Google knows. 

      And please, don’t compare an Apple phone (hardware) to sales of a Microsoft software (Windows). I worked at Microsoft for 10 years. I understand how they go to where they are today and was there when the DOJ put the hammer down. Nobody is afraid of Microsoft anymore. Apple sells products because they are the best of breed. Microsoft is about selling millions/billions of licenses to the masses. 

    • George-king

      Brett.  Sales depend on where you live.  I live in Hawaii, and iPad 2s are easy to come by.  I had to get my daughter a new MBP for school, and was in the Apple store over the weekend.  They had plenty.  The local Best Buy has plenty.

      You are right about the differing business models, but Apple has always been a hardware company first, while MS has always been a software company first.

    • George-king

      Brett.  Sales depend on where you live.  I live in Hawaii, and iPad 2s are easy to come by.  I had to get my daughter a new MBP for school, and was in the Apple store over the weekend.  They had plenty.  The local Best Buy has plenty.

      You are right about the differing business models, but Apple has always been a hardware company first, while MS has always been a software company first.

    • George-king

      Brett.  Sales depend on where you live.  I live in Hawaii, and iPad 2s are easy to come by.  I had to get my daughter a new MBP for school, and was in the Apple store over the weekend.  They had plenty.  The local Best Buy has plenty.

      You are right about the differing business models, but Apple has always been a hardware company first, while MS has always been a software company first.

    • Test

      “There were no lines for the Verizon iPhone because people who wanted the
      iPhone already LEFT Verizon (like I did) years earlier. “  Your statement seems to indicate there are no new phone purchaser left.  So everyone who wanted an iPhone already bought one?  It seemed to me that there was a huge amount of anticipation for Verizon getting the iPhone.  I doubt that the vast majority of people who were locked into Verizon contracts were willing to jump ship just to buy an iPhone.  Sure some did, but many more stayed put.

      Thinking that phone sales is what MS is after is somewhat short sighted.  MS is a software developer, not a hardware manufacturer.  MS is using WP7 to leverage its software properties.  Just as apple created the iVerse to keep it’s customers locked into their hardware systems, MS is creating it’s own ecosystem with Xbox360, Skydrive, OneNote, Exchange, etc.  Phone sales will only increase the sales of their other products.  MS doesn’t need to compete with the iPhone on phone sales to be successful. 

      Also I wouldn’t call MS buying Nokia a panic move.  Nokia is the largest phone company in the world, seems to me it would make a lot of sense for MS to take advantage of that.

    • Test

      “There were no lines for the Verizon iPhone because people who wanted the
      iPhone already LEFT Verizon (like I did) years earlier. “  Your statement seems to indicate there are no new phone purchaser left.  So everyone who wanted an iPhone already bought one?  It seemed to me that there was a huge amount of anticipation for Verizon getting the iPhone.  I doubt that the vast majority of people who were locked into Verizon contracts were willing to jump ship just to buy an iPhone.  Sure some did, but many more stayed put.

      Thinking that phone sales is what MS is after is somewhat short sighted.  MS is a software developer, not a hardware manufacturer.  MS is using WP7 to leverage its software properties.  Just as apple created the iVerse to keep it’s customers locked into their hardware systems, MS is creating it’s own ecosystem with Xbox360, Skydrive, OneNote, Exchange, etc.  Phone sales will only increase the sales of their other products.  MS doesn’t need to compete with the iPhone on phone sales to be successful. 

      Also I wouldn’t call MS buying Nokia a panic move.  Nokia is the largest phone company in the world, seems to me it would make a lot of sense for MS to take advantage of that.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=814389446 Charles Sparks

      Windows 7 softwares are sold from $129.99 to @6b8d83fdd97af21ba6b8d9a61bc3683a:disqus 229.99 while Mac OS is sold for $29.99 and they beat sales from windows, and Windows 7 isn’t a step up from Vista, so in my opinion anyone willing to spend that much for a tiny UI update is beyond me

    • Lim Wooi Kok

      I bought my Desire HD(android) in full price, and not tied to any contract or rebates….

    • http://twitter.com/justifyer24 Irman Ahmad

      making money heh?? then how come even FOUNDER of apple(steve jobs) is more much poorer than current Microsoft CEO (steve ballmer)?? Jobs can’t even see Bill Gates if they all(richest people) lined up in a line..

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=814389446 Charles Sparks

      Steve Jobs makes $39.95/a year but tell me why he’s one of the richest men alive

    • GP007

      How many of those would have gotten a WP7 device if not for stupid sales people not even trying to sell them in the first place?  Or did you miss all the news about that little tidbit yesterday?  

    • zzz

      Statistically speaking…about 4.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=557199744 Eiren O’Keeffe

      Interesting point as I’ve got several phones and the one that’s actually generated the most interest when chatting with folks is the WP7.  In all fairness even the folks I know at the apple store think WP7 is pretty sharp.  Carrier’s not letting updates out has really hurt it – the WP7 handset I’ve got is non-carrier branded and the OTA updates from MS are brilliant.

      When all’s said and done though this is all fantastic for us as the toys just get cooler and cooler!

    • Pgcon6

      Did the 33 million people consciously compare and evaluate, or were they like lemmings pulled along by the crowd?

    • Moattar

      The same sentences said more and more in the age of Play Station 2 but every marketing strategy needs time. what is the market position of sony in game industry now?

    • phil jay

      i would say the way ms i integrating all those services kills anything we’ve seen so far, and Skype will give it the rest(like skyping via people hub)..

    • CAH

      How does that explain the awful implementation of the camer button (sic)

    • Carlxyz

      errr…. camera button! don’t think so

    • JarJar

      Booooommm!!!!!!!! One simple question, so why didn´t WP7 became into a succesfull case?

    • https://parithon.startssl.com/ Anthony

      Because the majority of sales is pushed toward Android first and iPhone second… steering customers away from WP7 is possibly one of the sales issues that needs to be addressed.

    • TonyT

      Because sales people want satisfied customers and selling customer WP7 would just disappoint them when they discover the purchased a soon discontinued product.

    • HealtherL

      Yes just because MS is willing to give customers second rate product, sales people should have to.

    • Guest

      Spelled your name wrong there “heather”. Or should I say “tony”?

    • HealthierL

      Half right, just like WP7

    • Guest

      Spelled your name wrong there “heather”. Or should I say “tony”?

    • Guest

      Spelled your name wrong there “heather”. Or should I say “tony”?

    • GP007

      There’s nothing second rate about it as most people don’t even care about all the techie software details. 

      Does it make calls?  Yes (and it doesn’t drop them like your silly iPhone4s crappy design)
      Does it play music and videos?  Yes
      Games?  Yes
      Text messages?  Yes
      Email?  Yes
      Calendar?  Yes
      And pretty much all the top named apps you’d really need are also in the marketplace.    The only thing second rate here is your thinking.

    • Anonymous

      WP7 and iOS have a lot more in common than Android does with either.  They’re both far more polished.  And I’ve got a VZ iPhone 4 that I’ve used nonstop through the backroads of 7 states now, and zero dropped calls.  Focus your energy on the rooters with nothing better to do all day long – they’re the guys that look down at your phone through their noses.

    • AlNino

      I take it that the iPhone was in a $20 case that was sold to you by Apple. Funny part being it is only available at Apple. Hahaha. Wow. Even Apple admitted that the iPhone 4 has antenna problems, and they tell you the next update should fix it. What I fail to grasp is that they mentioned that the problem lies in the calculation that it uses to calculate the signal strength, which ironically they mentioned that is the same calculation method they used in the 3gs. Colour me stupid, but how come it affected the iPhone 4 and not the 3GS? Just admit, Apple got yall like puppets.

    • Anonymous

      I’ll admit that you don’t know what you’re talking about, but I won’t color you stupid – only a tad ignorant to the entirety of the facts:  (1.) The Verizon iPhone’s been out for no more than a couple months and Apple didn’t give away any cases for it because a case is unneeded; (2.) you’ve obviously never used this phone or even read anything about it you’d have an idea of its performance; (3.) the antenna performance of almost every other smartphone made was posted not long after the iPhone 4 antennagate and revealed the iPhone is anything but alone in having “grip of death” issues – in fact, several phones including those based on Android were even worse.

      I’ve used just about every personal computing platform available since 1981, including the VIC-20, TRS-80, and PC/jr and I feel pretty confident in saying it takes a lot of analysis for me to buy into any platform but I tend to learn the lessons of my past.  Having learned a fair amount and continuing to be as tough as ever about my decisions I’m pretty comfortable Apple owns a majority of the industry’s profit margin because they simply build a superior product with the least end user hassle.  But again, I’m in the business of having my phone work out of the box – not rooting and skinning until I get the features, layout, and version of the software I should have had in the first place.

    • http://twitter.com/blakey15 D.O.M

      How is WP7 a second rate product? I think Android is… Have you not seen how fragmented their Marketplace is now, full of rubbish. And the amount of different looks Android has going on due to Samsung, Sony HTC, etc adding gimmicky looks makes it look a mess. WP7 in comparison looks well polished and has a solid feel to it.

    • Dimitriy Williamson

      as someone else also said. until microsoft controls the software and the hardware it wont be a perfect phone. you are right that you can see this with android. loads phones running different kinds of the same software. whats the point? choice? is there choice really? wolf in sheeps clothing

    • Anonymous

      You’ll never convince an Android user that polish is important.  That’s a losing cause.

    • http://twitter.com/blakey15 D.O.M

      How is WP7 a second rate product? I think Android is… Have you not seen how fragmented their Marketplace is now, full of rubbish. And the amount of different looks Android has going on due to Samsung, Sony HTC, etc adding gimmicky looks makes it look a mess. WP7 in comparison looks well polished and has a solid feel to it.

    • Guest

      FO troll

    • Guest

      FO troll

    • Guest

      FO troll

    • GP007

      Soon discontinuded what?   Stop smoking whatever the hell it is you are because it’s not good for you.   WP is here to stay and it’ll get updated and became better.  Hell just with the Mango update alone coming later this year it’s already at iOS5′s level easy.  What other than the few things Apple just copied from others does iOS5 bring that’s so great and new feature wise?  NOTHING!   

    • phil jay

      He wouldn’t be so negative if he was smoking something nice I’m pretty sure!

    • Dimitriy Williamson

      that’s a silly thing to say. if it wasnt for apple the ui would not have been developed for android and windows. true: there were touch based phones before iphone. what apple did very cleverly and rightly is make a touch os that is solely configuered to phones and subsequently tablets. look at nokia with symbian and windows phones before WP horrible. they existed but were not good. to say that apple copied is easy. but who hasnt. windows was the last one to enter the fray…do we say that windows then just copied everything else? ignorant people will point out the tiles but look at the bigger picture…its a touch based phone. i say salute and embrace this competition. there are few innovators from now on…and its all about staying with competition not ahead. services are pretty similar and lets face it the fact that each company is competing is a good thing.

    • HealthierL

      The good news is it lasted longer the KIN.   

    • Anonymous

      Your logic is flawed, my mother returned her iPhone for a WP7 device and couldn’t be happier.

    • iWantMyWP7

      Agreed with ColPanic.  I am also converting my iPhone friends to WP7 … and I don’t have to try hard either.  Their jaws just drop at the sight of what it can do.

    • iWantMyWP7

      Agreed with ColPanic.  I am also converting my iPhone friends to WP7 … and I don’t have to try hard either.  Their jaws just drop at the sight of what it can do.

    • DayTrader

      ColPanic this may help you:

      Confirmation bias (also called confirmatory bias or myside bias) is a tendency for people to favor information that confirms their preconceptions or  regardless of whether the information is true.  As a result, people gather evidence and recall information from memory selectively, and interpret it in a biased way.   The biases appear in particular for emotionally significant issues and for established beliefs.   

    • AlNino

      I believe most of the arguments here started regarding the features that are present on both the iPhone and windows Phone 7. Earlier on someone mentioned that a Windows Phone 7 is full of crashes and the likes, which am willing to argue that is not true. Most people confuse what the Desktop OS does to the way the Windows Phone 7 behaves which is a flawed way of looking at things.

      DayTrader mentioned something about confirmationm bias, which you should practise since you are practising it. Personally most people here where I leave only know about the iPhone and not much about the Windows Phone 7, not because of marketing strategies but because of how sales representatives represent the phones. Now I think it was Brent Something, mentioned in an earlier post that they do that because it is the better phone. Am gonna have to disagree with that flawed logic, they do that because of the profits that will be given to them according to the number of phones that they sell.

      Now another issue that has been raised is the fact that iPhones are more productive than Windows Phone 7. That is only true if you buy, yes I said it, buy the Apple-Approved Third Party apps from the iTunes App Store. Now if I really needed that app and there is nowhere else that I can get it, I will be forced to buy it otherwise my productivity is halted.

      Now to raise the last issue, which is the reason for these debates, I will have to agree with ColPanic, WP7 might not be the most expensive and the most bought, but then they are better than iPhones, truth be told. And they come with features that actually allow you to be productive in your daily tasks.

      Now I personally own an iPhone 4 (which I had to buy a case for since its got a crappy antenna), a blackberry Torch(very nice I might add), and the Samsung which has WP7 on it. Now iPhone just has the similar features that have been added earlier, just with cooler names.

      Let’s just agree on one thing, Apple fans are just Rich Spoiled People than have nothing better to do than pay for an overpriced thing that will not be yours as Steve Jobs will tell you what you should install and uninstall on your own phone. Stupid really, trust me.

    • Dimitriy Williamson

      is this a big conspiracy?

    • Dimitriy Williamson

      is this a big conspiracy?

    • trashoner

      I tell you why. Because every time you walk into a cellphone store regardless of what carrier if you ask a rep for a phone that has a touchscreen that can let you surf the net they will show you an Android phone.

      Numbers aren’t important in this post. MS geeks have had fingers pointed at for using a platform that “copies” other platforms and for not using a platform that “innovates”. This is our turn to point fingers at the competition that claims to “innovate” and “design” better.

      I have a windows phone and an iPad 2 and I can tell you this, I can’t wait till iOS copies all of the best features my phone had since september last year. I just realized that the only reason I hated my new iPad 2 is because of the lack of nice feature my windows phone has, and of course iTunes which is a piece of crap app. I can’t wait till apple copies more of the Zune player. A nice zune pass like service would be nice.

      I’m a PC and I love seeing apple being a copy cat.

    • Barnyardtech

      You should be looking forward to replacing your iPad with a new Windows tablet running Win 8 (hopefully first half of 2012).

    • Guest

      “hopefully first half of 2012″

      Yeah, good luck with that.

    • MSbolg

      More likely you want to replace it with iPad 3.  

    • GP007

      Which will still be lacking things as per Apples way of holding features back so they can get you to buy the next version again and again and again.  

    • Anonymous

      I already have a normal phone, I don’t need a large one that can’t make calls. I need a tablet that lets me consume easily when I want and work just as easily when I need to work. Before you say anything about the ipad being great at productivity (which is false in my case) I need Office.

      Also I will probably be getting an i5 or i7 based tablet which I will still be using a few years later while ipad users will be waiting in line to get their third ipad in as many years that is still not as powerful.

    • http://blog.nordquist.org Brett Nordquist

      So you don’t own an iPad but you say it’s not great at productivity? Please. I hope you’re not reviewing cars by watching them drive by.

      I own two iPad 2 and do over 80% of my work on them. What you should say is the iPad (which you don’t own) isn’t a good device for how YOU work. Many of us left Office years ago for more innovative products. 

      In the meantime, keep waiting for that elusive Windows tablet. It’s just around the corner in 2012 or 2013. Ya, that’s the ticket. While you wait, I’ll be getting work done on my iPad 2. 

    • Anonymous

      “Before you say anything about the ipad being great at productivity (which is false in my case) I need Office.”
      So it has the full Office suite then?   Don’t act as if I have to purchase an iPad to use it for an extended period of time. I have evaluated the iPad for a few days at work and it could not meet my needs.  You are not Steve Jobs, you can not tell me what my needs are.

    • Sugarless

      does 80% of your work consist of whining on this website?

      obviously our definitions of work differ immensely. the idea of getting work done on today’s apple tablet brings a warm chuckle to me. what are you going to do? plan your day? play cut the rope? surf through thousands of useless apps in search of the holy grail to add to your collection of useless things stored on your overpriced piece of metal?

      asus eeeslate is unmarketed, runs the real deal and is the best at bringing real use to the silly market of tablets. if anything could get REAL work (Data Analyzation, In Depth Movie editing, advance photo editing, computer simulations, computer programming, animation, powerpoint creation, etc.)  done it’s this.

      you sir have been served.

    • http://blog.nordquist.org Brett Nordquist

      The Asus EEESlate? ROFL! How many billions worth of iPads does Apple have to sell before you wake up? 25 billion? 50 billion or 100 billion? 

      Asus? Freaking hilarious. Talk about a POS. 

    • Guest

      How many iPads apple sells is irrelavent and only representative at how many people they can convince to fork up the money.

      There are 1.2 billion people in the world who bought into Mohammed’s story.
      There are 2 billion people in the world who bought into the Jezus story
      There are 800 million people in the world who bought into Shiva story.

      That only proves that all those people were convince – but that doesn’t mean they are correct, now does it?

      iPad = service consumption, NOT productivity.  Writing an email or making some notes is NOT productivity.

    • http://blog.nordquist.org Brett Nordquist

      So you don’t own an iPad but you say it’s not great at productivity? Please. I hope you’re not reviewing cars by watching them drive by.

      I own two iPad 2 and do over 80% of my work on them. What you should say is the iPad (which you don’t own) isn’t a good device for how YOU work. Many of us left Office years ago for more innovative products. 

      In the meantime, keep waiting for that elusive Windows tablet. It’s just around the corner in 2012 or 2013. Ya, that’s the ticket. While you wait, I’ll be getting work done on my iPad 2. 

    • http://unhub.com/eingoluq Eingoluq

      maybe a bootcamp app will come out for the ipad and you can have the best of both worlds.

    • Dimitriy Williamson

      you do realize that zune has been stopped as a stand alone player because it was a failure.i seem to remember ipods going strength to strength even if iphones exist.

      point being. everyone wants to say theirs is better when in actual fact they are all striving for the same thing: sales and customer satisfaction. someone tried to sell me a windows phone the other day (i have an iphone) and i said…genuinely, do you think that is a better phone than this? and they said no. telephone sales reps seem to deflate when you say oh i have an iphone…they just say oh fair enough.

    • http://twitter.com/blakey15 D.O.M

      Do you mean a stand alone player on the desktop? No it hasn’t, Zune Software is still availble to download and use, plus people using Windows Phone 7 use it to sync music and use the Zune Pass. Zune has probably got a larger user base than it ever had done… Zune is now on Windows Phones, Xbox’s, Desktops, and the actual Zune itself is still on the market in the US with the Zune HD.

    • Dimitriy Williamson

      i meant the actual physical player…like ipods

    • Dimitriy Williamson

      ZUNE hd has been discontinued.

    • http://www.facebook.com/martin.zugec Martin Zugec

      Well, reply is simple – Microsoft was able to compete technically, but the marketing was left behind in this case.

      The problem (or one of them) was for example launch of the WP7 – Microsoft was entering mature market with iPhone and Android and instead of making a lot of noise around WP7, they’ve kept everything under strict NDA… And they probably expected that people will throw away their iPhonesAndroids and everyone will talk about WP7.

      I was looking forward to WP7, but it was almost impossible to get any idea how is it going to look like (or play with the device before it was launched). 

    • Georg Scholz

      It WILL. It’s like a good bottle of wine which needs some years to ripen. I’m very sure that soon after Windows 8 will be released and Windows Tablets come on the market, then the big boom will start. Especially a big wave of business customers will then soon switch to WP7.

    • Guest

      I’m just waiting until the vocal majority wake up and reaslise all the things Google has copied from MS and Firefox (Yes, that is how uninformed they are, Mozilla is NOT following NOR “stagnating”).

    • Guest

      Winners write history. It’s been that way since the dawn of time.

    • Guest

      Winners write history. It’s been that way since the dawn of time.

    • Guest

      Winners write history. It’s been that way since the dawn of time.

    • Guest

      Firefox is still winning. Look at the marketshare, the shit you’ll never be able to do because Google doesn’t WANT you to, (NoScript is just one example, they are cautious to avoid adding features that would make it possible). Most of the reason is ignorant people saying that one box is better than two for the URL bar (I should know, I actually learned about UIs, unlike “journalists” or “bloggers”), “journalists” who just regurgitate PR spinning from companies and don’t actually do any work but have the audacity to point out that Mozilla supposedly copied Chrome. Firefox, Safari, Opera and even IE9 have surpassed Chrome in speed SEVERAL times and yet people still say “it’s the fastest” and given hard evidence to the contrary the response is “not in my experience”. They’re just fanboys who won’t let go of the fact that Chrome is NOT the best objectively at least depending on the week/month we are talking about. That’s what lock-in with Google products does.

    • Guest

      FF is dying. Deal with it.

    • Diagramatic

      And chrome is becoming more unstable and I advise people to remove it.

    • Espinozaa

       I use ie, ff and chrome on desktop and latop. Loading pages only differ milliseconds in all of these 3 browsers. So I wont be able to compare without a stopwatch and so I don’t care much. But when it comes to opening browser, opening tabs, opening preferences, navigating between tabs, chrome is the simplest without any heavy features so it wins by far.
      When we compare features I would go with FF because of its rich plugin set. I would use IE only when some site is not browser portable and forces me to do so.

    • phil jay

      chrome gives you the cookie instantly while typing, and doesn’t need those 200 toolbars.. so much for ui. ie9 is nice because its simply done nicely.

    • TCBoyd

      And as things are progression, that history will likely be written on a iPad!

    • Guest

      The exact same was said about the mac.  Before the bulldozer MSFT came into the picture with windows 3.11 and then again with windows95 for the final blow.
      Windows 8 will not be any different.  And WP7′s conquest will follow shortly after.

      I’ld advice apple shareholders to drop stock, while it is still high, and load up on msft, while it is still relatively low.
      I know I am…

    • Guest

      The exact same was said about the mac.  Before the bulldozer MSFT came into the picture with windows 3.11 and then again with windows95 for the final blow.
      Windows 8 will not be any different.  And WP7′s conquest will follow shortly after.

      I’ld advice apple shareholders to drop stock, while it is still high, and load up on msft, while it is still relatively low.
      I know I am…

    • zzz

      Gates proved it with DOS, and Jobs learn from that, it not the first but what can do it best.   Right now I have to admit Apple is doing it the best.  

    • Narg

      Stuck in the 80′s eh?  LOL!

    • zzz

      Yes our beloved MS is :(

    • zzz

      Yes our beloved MS is :(

    • zzz

      Yes our beloved MS is :(

    • Guest

      y’all are ridiculous… a lot of these ideas date back 20 years or more. it is who patents it first or implements it best. oh and everybody sues everybody. it is all a game people. ITS the GAME.

      if you like tinkering and the google experience, buy google. if u like simple, just works and pretty, very pretty, buy apple. if u like nice and late to the game(as of 2011, u never know), buy win phone 7. if u dont give a damn and just wanna make calls, buy basic nokia. if u like ugly, good enough and cant live w/o physical keyboards, buy blackberry. and so on and so onu think the idea of tiles or icons in a grid or swipe down for notifications is new. even multitouch. many brilliant people in sillicon valley have had all these ideas many many years ago. its is about which team can market it and bring it to the public and for profit of course. there are so many interesting user interface concepts out there that never see the light of day.

      a lot of patents granted are deserved, but a lot more are just plain ridiculous.

      patents to a certain degree actually stimulates innovation (so that everybody is NOT just copying everybody) but after it crosses a certain boundary it begins to stifle competition. especially the little startups. the monopolies could care less.  they have already become successful. so they dont want any knew challengers that can lower their profit margins.

      some people on this threads actually think apple copied android on the swipe down notifications. is this some kind of a sick joke or are my eyes failing me. the same people who created the mac OS, status bar and drop down menus some 20 something years ago, aquired lots of multitouch inventions from others and invented some. they even went ahead and patented lots of em. they perhaps know every trick in the book and the limits of multitouch.
      the idea of split keyboards has been around since the dawn of time.

      you really think they havent thought about swipe down notification years and years ago. for some reason they didnt ship it then perhaps they thought they could come up with something better or it caused too much clutter especially with their SIMPLE mantra. same goes to those who think microsoft copied it too. the people who brought us windows with all the drop down windows, pop ups etc… microsoft as also been experimenting with touch tables and surfaces a long time now.

      it is about who can market it to the masses FOR PROFIT.

      fanboys WAKE UP! and stop bashing each other. buy what u like and what works for u.
      u can brag a little about something that clearly stands out in your platform of choice but stop them brainless bashings

      my 2 cents or my rants…

    • mandigo

      so true!!!

    • Anonymous

      Countdown to you not overusing the word “fanboy” in…. Oh no, something’s gone wrong at mission control.  This one won’t be leaving the launcpad any time soon.

    • Guest

      Nothing to bash here…Some of those features are fantastic UX improvements. But none of them are game changer innovations… 

      It’s funny that MS fanbois get excited by this small UX feature implementation…
      Why do you care? You are an MS. You get free gym membership and discount at company store…

    • http://davidvkimball.weebly.com David V. Kimball

      Check out this pathetic article: http://www.cultofmac.com/microsoft-vp-flattered-ios-5-stole-all-its-ideas-from-windows-phone-7-doofus/99271

  • http://www.seriousinternets.com Tim Smith

    Countdown to apple fanboys finding a way to spin this when they’d be bashing Microsoft if it were the other way around in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1………..

  • WoW Apple

    the only thing microsoft should be flattered about is the way apple copied microsoft thumb keyboards for its tablets

    shame on you apple

    • Anonymous

      How could they have copied that, thumb keyboards was only shown some days ago during Windows 8 presentation.

    • fred

      Knowing how paranoid Steve Jobs is, he probably has spies all over the world looking at the Windows 8 tablet prototypes.

    • Anonymous

      I agree on that, Steve Jobs is a complete paranoid stranger.

    • Anonymous

      i am one to think that steve jobs has spies within Microsoft. Some features that i can mention that might have resulted of those spies are, the iPhone(Microsoft was showing off Surface way before that idea came to be and they they went and bought the multi touch company that made the iPhone possible. Notice that even thought they are different the concept is pretty much the same, just different form factors). Universal search within the OS, Microsoft had already shown this feature prior to apple implementing it. There are many other features that even thought Microsoft starts showing them off first then all of the sudden Apple ends up releasing them first. 

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3OIDXOI5OEMTX6Z3O5YUBFSISA Diego3336

      And the Courier

    • TryllZ

      count me in on this one…steve thought what addition can be made to the new iPhone5, well this is what he has been upt0…lately..

    • Tdyer

      It has been part of windows since UMPC’s. About five years now.

    • Anonymous

      Ok, sorry didn’t knew that.

    • http://www.seriousinternets.com Tim Smith
    • Anonymous

      Ok, you’re right. Didn’t knew that. 

    • MikeByke

      Actually, the thumb keyboard was introduced by Microsoft a long time ago with the Ultra-Mobile PC: http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows8/windows-8-preview-analysis-public-unveiling-136340.  (ala: Paul Thurott)

    • Espinozaa

      I am using some kinda thumb keyboard for android for 8 months.
      I do not know from whom apple copied it but I am sure MS copied it from android like most of its features.
      It’s sad that people are not aware that most of the features of IOS5 are stolen from android.

    • http://unhub.com/eingoluq Eingoluq

      you are wrong, search UMPC

  • WoW Apple

    the only thing microsoft should be flattered about is the way apple copied microsoft thumb keyboards for its tablets

    shame on you apple

  • Heurte

    Bad Apple

    • http://twitter.com/ObieOdot Gabriel

      Rotten Apple

  • Anonymous

    Better notifications? Notifications suck on Windows Phone too.

    • Anonymous

      You got to be kidding me? it’s fucking the best there is, it’s not intrusive and let’s you glance at it and just continue doing what you were doing.

    • Anonymous

      You got to be kidding me? it’s fucking the best there is, it’s not intrusive and let’s you glance at it and just continue doing what you were doing.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jonathan-Marston/542557737 Jonathan Marston

      It’s good on WP7, but not great. They need a way to view the last few notifications. As it stands, sometimes I’ll miss a notification because another one will come in, or I won’t get to my phone before it goes away…

    • randy williams

      Isn’t that why there notifications right on the start screen and even the lock screen? How can you miss it unless you have very short term memory right after it came up you shouldn’t. But  you are right it is great they could have it to where you could access it anywhere in any app like a swiping feature where the notifications come up.

    • Anonymous

      No, actually, Jonathan is right.  Let’s say an app like Alphajax pops up with a notification and I don’t have to to look at it right then.  There is no way currently to go find what it said or what app generated it after it disappears after its 10 second window of opportunity. 

    • Justfortherecord

      Isn’t it the Notifications job to….I dont know…notify users of something of note???? just a wild guess there…

      Notifications aside…… We can all argue who came up with what but the reality is that innovation whether it be mobile phones and or bows and arrows. There will always be someone out there building a better mouse trap or automatic weapon or missile or what have you.

      Lets give credit where credit is due, applaud the innovators and applaud the people who actually make it viable for you, me and the world.

      dont get hung up on the he said she said aspect of it…Its a losing battle that no “Fanboy” will ever win. The only thing I suggest to M$ fanboys is to be Microsoft Evangelists and promote and expound on the virtues of Microsoft and its supporting partners and technology to drive innovation and market share.

      Competition brings out the worst in us and also the best in us. Lets help Microsoft become relevant in the consumers mind once again. Just keep pushing. No need to bash. Let the technology and the people who stand behind them speak for itself.

       

    • Anonymous

      He’s being a mango, let him be a fruit. Or an Apple.

    • Anonymous

      WP7′s Home screen is the notification page and application launcher, in ONE spot. Now that’s integrated.

  • http://twitter.com/jimmyfal Jimmy Fallon

    I can feel the tide turning here man. This is the beginning of the end. The bear is back. Suck on that one CNBC.

  • Aminiesta

    wow!!!! A new revolution.A iCopycat.Just for iPhone and iPad..

  • Anonymous

    It’s so cute how Apple and Microsoft are squabbling over second place.

    • randy williams

      Yea Android doesn’t have their viruses, fragmentation, and weak OS problems that are not going to hit them in a couple of months once people figure it out and get tired of the sluggish fragmented OS. 

      And this is coming from an Android user who has a Samsung Fascinate. 

    • DayTrader

      It is no squabble Apple is first in profits and iOS market share.

    • Guest

      First in profits = more to lose, especially since Google has now surpassed them and isn’t looking to make $ off their OS.

      First in iOS marketshare. LOL. Yeah, funny how you want to combine them now that Apple has lost to Android in mobile.

    • DayTrader

      It is no squabble Apple is first in profits and iOS market share.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=11814278 Chris Woelfel

    It’s funny when you go to other sites and they obviously don’t mention WP ripoffs. *cough engadget editorial roundup of it*

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3OIDXOI5OEMTX6Z3O5YUBFSISA Diego3336

      Engadget and IDG/PCWorld are the most biased “specialized” media out there. It’s a shame how biased they are.

    • Anonymous

      don’t forget Gizmodo.

    • trashoner

      and Winsupersite :)

  • Guest

    I guess the difference is that Apple did it all in months and will have it in the hands of millions soon.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3OIDXOI5OEMTX6Z3O5YUBFSISA Diego3336

      “In months” you say 48 months since the first iPhone was launched? I got it lametroll

    • Guest

      No, 48 months is how long it has taken MS to respond to iPhone 1, and even then not fully. Months is how long it took Apple to see these MS “innovations” and incorporate them, along with 190+ other updates, into iOS. And they’ll have them all in millions of users hands around the world within days of their fall launch. Meanwhile, MS might get around to completing Mango sometime before year end, and then maybe another six month clusterfuck getting the update out to both people who bought a WP7 phone.

    • Sfgdf

      Wow, what’s it like to stick your cock in Steve Jobs dude?

    • http://profiles.google.com/lerimer Lerimer Santana

      wrong there Sfgdf, Steve shoved it in him!!!

    • http://profiles.google.com/lerimer Lerimer Santana

      wrong there Sfgdf, Steve shoved it in him!!!

    • http://profiles.google.com/lerimer Lerimer Santana

      wrong there Sfgdf, Steve shoved it in him!!!

    • Guest

      truth hurts, huh?

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3OIDXOI5OEMTX6Z3O5YUBFSISA Diego3336

      Justin Bieber put his CDs in hands of millions in weeks too, is that good? By my accounts, Mango’s features were showed weeks ago and both OS are scheduled to be released at the same period. So what’s the Apple advantage here? Oh, I forgot I’m chatting with a troll.

    • http://profiles.google.com/lerimer Lerimer Santana

      no fanboy here bu there is one huge advantage. If apple says a day, Octuber 11th for example, iOS5 will be there on that day for everyone. If microsoft says mango will be available on october 11th too….. we might not get it fot another month or two, like the NoDo update now. I’m just saying, when I see something and I have a date… I want it on that date… most people do. And if anyone is wondering I did have an iPhone1, iPhone 3g, iPhone 3gs, and a iPhone 4. Sold all that and moved to a Samsung Focus, and I love it!!! iOS5 has nothing on Mango, after today I am really convinced that I made the right choice by switching. I just hope microsoft deliver as soon as apple does, I dont want fall turning to winter without mango…

    • Guest

      It was for Bieber and his label. Last I checked, the music industry and the computer industry are about who makes the most sales.

    • Chinonso

      Actually iOS ships in fall, which is not usual for apple, but this is how it is this
      Time.

    • Mark

      That’s because they normally would have announced a new iPhone. But iPhone 5, or 4.5, has slipped and is now expected in Sept.

    • Mark

      That’s because they normally would have announced a new iPhone. But iPhone 5, or 4.5, has slipped and is now expected in Sept.

  • Anonymous

    And Apple is also copying Window’s delays in updating their software regularly, and is delaying iOS5 till…. oh wait ;)

    • Guest

      Fall.

  • http://www.twitter.com/JohnBiancato John Biancato

    Shame other blogs didn’t mention this.

  • guest

    Flattered? Check market share and market cap numbers again in a year and let’s see how all other platforms scramble for number 2 or 3.

    No other solution is as integrated as Apple’s…MS and others better stop talking and get launching…otherwise this game is totally OVER. 

    • http://twitter.com/oolong2 oolong2

      Yes because this article is all about market share….

      Funny how the shoe is suddenly on the other foot….    It used to be that  Apple fans would complain that Microsoft stole ideas from Mac OS and that Microsoft couldn’t come up with good ideas on their own.  Then Microsoft fans would talk about who Windows was crushing Macs in terms of market share, number of apps, games, etc.

      I welcome the change, it means that all the research Microsoft has invested in technology and UX is finally paying off.  With Kinect, Synchronization, WP7, and now Windows 8 they are doing some truely innovative things.

      As far as market share…  The writing is on the wall Windows Phone will be on top again.  Which is why all the analysts are predicting Microsoft overtaking Apple in mobile market share at some point.

      Apple’s business model only works well when they are the only game in town.  The same thing happened with Mac vs. Windows.  And now Android vs. iOS. 

      Apple doesn’t partner well,  Microsoft does.    I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…   All things being equal flexability and choice will when out in the market over time.   Apple/RIM cannot win against the sustained competition of (Samsung, Dell, Acer, HTC, Motorolla, Soney, etc)

    • http://josedmorales.net Josè Daniel

      I’ve couldn’t say it any better!

    • Guest

      Can I get some of whatever you’re smoking?

    • http://profiles.google.com/lerimer Lerimer Santana

      Market share…. iOS is on 3 mobile devices, windows phone 7 is on 1 moble device. Sit and watch as windows phone starts to grow and dominate the market share… all three devices wont help apple at all with your market share…

    • Guest

      Scramble for #2 or #3? Mactard, you’re already at #2. Didn’t you notice how quickly and easily Android passed you?

    • lolDouche

      You’re on WinRumors and you DON’T know how integrated Microsoft products are in everything else they do?  For shame.

  • FMH

    Lets post this link on Apple fan websites, everybody! Forward it to Macworld, Gruber, Engadget.com   etc..

    • Anonymous

      techcrunch especially, mobilecrunch, zdnet, cnet

  • Anonymous

    Suggestion to Microsoft: Put up “Cupertine start your photocopiers” posters at BUILD. It’s payback time :p

    • trashoner

      PAYBACK, PAYBACK, PAYBACK!!

    • a.Guest

      “Competitors, look and learn.”

      Would be a swipe at Apple and Google.

    • a.Guest

      “Competitors, look and learn.”

      Would be a swipe at Apple and Google.

  • Starphish

    Google/Microsoft/Apple have copied Google/Microsoft/Apple.  Stop being such huge Google/Microsoft/Apple fanboys.

    • Bnlf

      i dont care. good ideas are meant to be copied but apple’s reputation is all about innovation and i dont see any since the ipad april 2010.

    • Bnlf

      i dont care. good ideas are meant to be copied but apple’s reputation is all about innovation and i dont see any since the ipad april 2010.

    • Guest

      Same with Google. Copying MapQuest, Yahoo, Firefox, Haiku OS, keyboardr.com (Google Instant & keys navigation), Twitter, and countless others.

    • http://profiles.google.com/cseymore54 Chasen Seymore

      Not sure about innovation. Apple has pretty much stolen and made BETTER, as well as mass-popularizing tech items that were once tech-geek only products.

    • http://profiles.google.com/cseymore54 Chasen Seymore

      Not sure about innovation. Apple has pretty much stolen and made BETTER, as well as mass-popularizing tech items that were once tech-geek only products.

  • Anonymous

    I have a perhaps radical viewpoint; both Apple and (the new) Microsoft are awesome and I love what both of them are doing. And I hope they both keep learning from eachother and being awesome.

    • http://profiles.google.com/lerimer Lerimer Santana

      holy shit, you couldnt of been more right!!

    • Guest

      Only one buried its reputation so badly that even when they finally produce something good (WP7), hardly anyone wants it or will even give it a try. Not really sustainable.

  • Anonymous

    I have a perhaps radical viewpoint; both Apple and (the new) Microsoft are awesome and I love what both of them are doing. And I hope they both keep learning from eachother and being awesome.

  • http://twitter.com/VividTweets Deepak Bhakoo

    i am eagerly awaiting the release of Windows Phone 7 devices by Nokia. I sold my HTC Desire HD and now will only and only get the WP7 device. I always loved Micrsoft FYI <3 :)

  • Yousmelllikedoodoo

    Hey everybody I’m gonna stay up really late at night and bash on people that like a different mobile os than me!  Cuz I am sooo cool and I really need to get a life.  Then I’m gonna go and wack off to some anime porn  and maybe even look at other websites’ comments and comment on their comments! Joy!  Trolls

  • http://profiles.google.com/negahi.mahdi Mahdi Negahi

    I promise , Steves jobs will say : We[Apple] introduce these features for first time in world and Apple fans stand up and clap for steve…. and we will laugh……. 

    • Anonymous

      that’s the only problem I have. I understand there’s only so many ways to do something, and having to ‘copy’ is needed. However, to sit up there and make statements that they are the first on many of the things in the guise of innovation is almost laugable. i guess it helps when the main-stream press publishes articles that paint this picture.

  • APai

    amusing post, all the features, threaded sms and other stuff have existed elsewhere before, so will someone else be as smug as joe belfiore ? utterly ludicrous pride.

    • http://twitter.com/oolong2 oolong2

      Have some of these features existed before?  Sure.  Ludicrous pride?  Not at all…

      Joe Belfiore worked hard as hell on WP7…  You can see how tired and worn out he is after being in charge of Microsoft’s first new UI since Windows Mobile.  If I worked that hard for that long and withr constant criticism by the blogosphere and then I suddenly got validation by Apple that MOST of my ideas were in fact REALLY GOOD IDEAS then I would be pretty stoked too.

      Nothing wrong with that.   He deserves his moment IMO.

    • zzz

      Yes he should enjoy this “validation” from Apple for god knows he not going to get it from WP7 sales.

    • zzz

      Yes he should enjoy this “validation” from Apple for god knows he not going to get it from WP7 sales.

    • http://twitter.com/oolong2 oolong2

      Ha…  I was just commenting how Apple fans are bragging about sales and numbers while Microsoft fans are bragging about innovation and features.

      Oh how the tables have turned… ;-)

    • http://twitter.com/oolong2 oolong2

      Have some of these features existed before?  Sure.  Ludicrous pride?  Not at all…

      Joe Belfiore worked hard as hell on WP7…  You can see how tired and worn out he is after being in charge of Microsoft’s first new UI since Windows Mobile.  If I worked that hard for that long and withr constant criticism by the blogosphere and then I suddenly got validation by Apple that MOST of my ideas were in fact REALLY GOOD IDEAS then I would be pretty stoked too.

      Nothing wrong with that.   He deserves his moment IMO.

    • Guest

      On his worst day he’s about 1/100th as smug as Apple.

  • http://profiles.google.com/cam.w.lee Cameron Lee

    I think it’s great that MS already has some of these features, and will be releasing the others in Mango, but to say that Apple copied MS isn’t entirely correct (in other words: Microsoft shouldn’t be flattered, they should be worried). Apple likely did copy MS a bit in some areas, but tons of features are relatively obvious (hardware Camera button for example – not exactly a WP7 innovation). Also, the features will have been in Apple’s development channels for a while now. I can guarantee you they had cooked up the split keyboard for the iPad before the Win8 one MS showed off only a couple of days ago.

    • Guest

      Read the thread. The split keyboard dates back to UMPCs years ago. Apple copied. Plain and simple.
       

    • http://profiles.google.com/cam.w.lee Cameron Lee

      I did. Did you? “The feature is eerily similar to an identical keyboard that Microsoft revealed in Windows 8 recently.” – I’m debunking this sentence to show that Apple didn’t copy Win8.

  • Justfortherecord

    Isn’t it the Notifications job to….I dont know…notify users of something of note???? just a wild guess there…

    Notifications
    aside…… We can all argue who came up with what but the reality is
    that innovation whether it be mobile phones and or bows and arrows.
    There will always be someone out there building a better mouse trap or
    automatic weapon or missile or what have you.

    Lets give credit
    where credit is due, applaud the innovators and applaud the people who
    actually make it viable for you, me and the world.

    dont get hung
    up on the he said she said aspect of it…Its a losing battle that no
    “Fanboy” will ever win. The only thing I suggest to M$ fanboys is to be
    Microsoft Evangelists and promote and expound on the virtues of
    Microsoft and its supporting partners and technology to drive innovation
    and market share.

    Competition brings out the worst in us and
    also the best in us. Lets help Microsoft become relevant in the
    consumers mind once again. Just keep pushing. No need to bash. Let the
    technology and the people who stand behind them speak for itself.

  • Anonymous

    2012, Apple renames itself to Mango.

    • JIAYI HU

      rotten apple vs juicy mango :D

  • Anonymous

    Nice article, Tom.

  • Anonymous

    Why not said that Windows Phone and Android copy Apple virtual keyboard and multi-touch? Why not said that everyone copy Apple “Personal Computer”? Think about it. Do NOT said who copy who… Why not you said you are using your mouth eating and your friends, mom, dad, bro, sister, stranger all copy the way you eating with using mouth?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Saakhi-Neethan/100002185736812 Saakhi Neethan

    iOS copied so many features of WP7 Mango!!!

  • Anonymous

    Microsoft copies Apple. Apple copies Microsoft. Google copies Apple. Apple copies Google… etc… it’s always been this way. Get over it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/sir.mahdi Mahdi Negahi

    Reveloustion on Phone Mobile OS, yesssss , Apple did it on monday , but base on Windows Phone 7 and Android ))))) Nice job in Copy and Paste…… I know , Steve Jobs will say in a conference : ” we introduce these feature for first time in world , When I’d struggle against cancer, Apple engineers invent these feature”, then Apple’s fans shed tears. they stand up and clap for steve ….. just as usual :) ))))))

  • http://www.facebook.com/sir.mahdi Mahdi Negahi

    Reveloustion on Phone Mobile OS, yesssss , Apple did it on monday , but base on Windows Phone 7 and Android ))))) Nice job in Copy and Paste…… I know , Steve Jobs will say in a conference : ” we introduce these feature for first time in world , When I’d struggle against cancer, Apple engineers invent these feature”, then Apple’s fans shed tears. they stand up and clap for steve ….. just as usual :) ))))))

  • Guest

    y’all are ridiculous… a lot of these ideas date back 20 years or more. it is who patents it first or implements it best. oh and everybody sues everybody. it is all a game people. ITS the GAME.

    if you like tinkering and the google experience, buy google. if u like simple, just works and pretty, very pretty, buy apple. if u like nice and late to the game(as of 2011, u never know), buy win phone 7. if u dont give a damn and just wanna make calls, buy basic nokia. if u like ugly, good enough and cant live w/o physical keyboards, buy blackberry. and so on and so onu think the idea of tiles or icons in a grid or swipe down for notifications is new. even multitouch. many brilliant people in sillicon valley have had all these ideas many many years ago. its is about which team can market it and bring it to the public and for profit of course. there are so many interesting user interface concepts out there that never see the light of day.

    a lot of patents granted are deserved, but a lot more are just plain ridiculous.

    patents to a certain degree actually stimulates innovation (so that everybody is NOT just copying everybody) but after it crosses a certain boundary it begins to stifle competition. especially the little startups. the monopolies could care less.  they have already become successful. so they dont want any knew challengers that can lower their profit margins.

    some people on this threads actually think apple copied android on the swipe down notifications. is this some kind of a sick joke or are my eyes failing me. the same people who created the mac OS, status bar and drop down menus some 20 something years ago, aquired lots of multitouch inventions from others and invented some. they even went ahead and patented lots of em. they perhaps know every trick in the book and the limits of multitouch.

    you really think they havent thought about swipe down notification years and years ago. for some reason they didnt ship it then perhaps they thought they could come up with something better or it caused too much clutter especially with their SIMPLE mantra. same goes to those who think microsoft copied it too. the people who brought us windows with all the drop down windows, pop ups etc… microsoft as also been experimenting with touch tables and surfaces a long time now.

    it is about who can market it to the masses FOR PROFIT.

    fanboys WAKE UP! and stop bashing each other. buy what u like and what works for u.
    u can brag a little about something that clearly stands out in your platform of choice but stop them bashings

    my 2 cents or my rants…

    • mandigo

      so true!!!

    • mandigo

      so true!!!

  • xxdesmus

    Well played Microsoft …subtle but effective jab at Apple.  Cupertino start your copiers?

  • Mark Shelley

    people slagging of the samsungs have you had a go on the samsung galaxy s2  having had an iPhone 3g and 4 I can promise you now I have my samsung gs2 I am never going apple again. I was misled and poorly guided by apples clams to be a market leader when in fact its a follower in every sense of the word and I hate been told what I can and can not use with or do with my phone. sorry Apple you can kiss my arse!

  • Mark Shelley

    people slagging of the samsungs have you had a go on the samsung galaxy s2  having had an iPhone 3g and 4 I can promise you now I have my samsung gs2 I am never going apple again. I was misled and poorly guided by apples clams to be a market leader when in fact its a follower in every sense of the word and I hate been told what I can and can not use with or do with my phone. sorry Apple you can kiss my arse!

  • Jjohns

    The WP7 looks so clunky…. Just putting the two side by side shows how much more “polish” apple puts into their products.  But…. thats what happens when a company has control of both the hardware and software…

  • Ggg

    Very soon they will be ‘flattened’ instead ‘flattered’

  • joe

    what’s letter ’b’ doing at the right half of the keyboard on ios5

  • Anonymous

    iOS jsut gets better by the day dude.

    http://www.total-privacy.no.tc

    • TryllZ

      yeah right, only after copying ideas from here n there…dude!!, where have yuou been living…

  • Superalias

    Microsoft? Are they still in business? 

  • Anonymous

    Ok so wait…..having a physical camera button is something WP7 came up with, my camera has a physical camera button? WP7 also created wireless syncing? Some how apple copied a windows 8 feature split keyboard) that was only revealed last week? Twitter is also now something WP7 created? And apparently even google now has created the drop down menu? LOL wow fandroids and WP7 fanboys are something else. 

    • Anonymous

      dude. the purpose of the whole camera app thingy on the lock screen is apple’s “solution” for you take snap a moment in seconds. but do u even know that with wp7 you can activate camera app without turning the screen on by simply holding the camera button down for a second? and it even make use of the light sensor so that the camera app will not accidentally open in your pocket. and from the start wp7 has already have wireless syncing with zune on your pc and social network integration. And after mango wp7 users even get twitter and linkin integration other than facebook, google and windows live. oh btw, economic keyboard (or split keyboard as brainless apple fans like you like to call it) existed since windows 95. and where was apple in 1995?

    • Anonymous

      1. Do you realize how many phones before WP7 had a camera button that could
      activate the camera by holding it?

      2. The sidekick could do wireless syncing as well…so are you willing to
      admit that WP7 stole this from Danger? And most android phones have social
      network integration (which can be a pain in the ass sometimes).

      3. Ok but the split keyboard was a big clunky physical keyboard. Apple was
      on the verge of death 1995 which makes it that much more sad that Apple has
      come back to be worth more than Microsoft and Dell put together.

  • Manny

    “Apple worth more than Microsoft and Intel combined.”Next.http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/06/04/apple_passes_microsoft_and_intel_in_market_cap/

  • Tasosopianistas

    Here’s an easy response: at least it (“just”) works, to begin with. Simple ideas but well executed.

    Lets not mention how many times you’ve copied Apple’s work. At least with WP7 you did it in a way that doesn’t scream “photocopier”. At long last some real innovation from Redmond. And not to mention that if it wasn’t for iOS and Android, we’d still need a stylus to click on an [x] button at the top right corner on our phones. Argh… I remember those days and I’m glad they’re only a distant memory now (and as a UI-freak, I’m very interested to play with a WP7 phone at some point)

    And btw… Messaging always looked like that, from day one. Maybe you guys copied them around??? Do your homework before posting. And the last pic (skydiver) screams “Photoshop”.

    • Dimitriy Williamson

      RE the messaging. i was going to say the same thing. Apple messaging always looked like that. Windows phone came a couple of years after iphone so whats your point Tom Warren (the author of the article)

      the keyboard? well he said himself the keyboard was released recently…for apple to do the same in such a short time would be idiotic. plus…i still prefer the apple keyboard

      the camera? i never really had a problem with that…making it a step closer makes it more convinient but not essential.

      the notifications? well i think apple will be on of the first to admit that they did copy but at the same time…we all stand on the shoulders of giants. if you dont understand what that means then you probably shouldnt comment.

    • Dimitriy Williamson

      RE the messaging. i was going to say the same thing. Apple messaging always looked like that. Windows phone came a couple of years after iphone so whats your point Tom Warren (the author of the article)

      the keyboard? well he said himself the keyboard was released recently…for apple to do the same in such a short time would be idiotic. plus…i still prefer the apple keyboard

      the camera? i never really had a problem with that…making it a step closer makes it more convinient but not essential.

      the notifications? well i think apple will be on of the first to admit that they did copy but at the same time…we all stand on the shoulders of giants. if you dont understand what that means then you probably shouldnt comment.

  • Tasosopianistas

    Here’s an easy response: at least it (“just”) works, to begin with. Simple ideas but well executed.

    Lets not mention how many times you’ve copied Apple’s work. At least with WP7 you did it in a way that doesn’t scream “photocopier”. At long last some real innovation from Redmond. And not to mention that if it wasn’t for iOS and Android, we’d still need a stylus to click on an [x] button at the top right corner on our phones. Argh… I remember those days and I’m glad they’re only a distant memory now (and as a UI-freak, I’m very interested to play with a WP7 phone at some point)

    And btw… Messaging always looked like that, from day one. Maybe you guys copied them around??? Do your homework before posting. And the last pic (skydiver) screams “Photoshop”.

  • Tasosopianistas

    Here’s an easy response: at least it (“just”) works, to begin with. Simple ideas but well executed.

    Lets not mention how many times you’ve copied Apple’s work. At least with WP7 you did it in a way that doesn’t scream “photocopier”. At long last some real innovation from Redmond. And not to mention that if it wasn’t for iOS and Android, we’d still need a stylus to click on an [x] button at the top right corner on our phones. Argh… I remember those days and I’m glad they’re only a distant memory now (and as a UI-freak, I’m very interested to play with a WP7 phone at some point)

    And btw… Messaging always looked like that, from day one. Maybe you guys copied them around??? Do your homework before posting. And the last pic (skydiver) screams “Photoshop”.

  • http://twitter.com/Fourthletter58 Fourthletter58

    Nice of Microsoft to take credit for a load of features already available in Android, makes them seem like they are even in the game.

  • http://twitter.com/Fourthletter58 Fourthletter58

    Nice of Microsoft to take credit for a load of features already available in Android, makes them seem like they are even in the game.

  • TryllZ

    Why are you all furious over WP7, either you are sheer Apple-Fanboyz or you are Android suckerz, we all know eventually WP7 will takeover the market just like Windows, apple is just over-hyped and over-priced as for iPhone, as far as my knowledge goes every other person goes to buy an iPhone just cause some some one they know has it regardless of whether they know how to use it or not, needless to say, iPhone is just another Apple iPhoney…LozerZ..

  • TryllZ

    Oh, and I forgot to mention, I smell photocopier in the apple office…hmmm!!

  • http://aardling.com/ Stijn

    Balls. My Sony-Ericsson phone from 2004 already had a camera button on the side. This is only new because Apple/Win were behind in that dept.

  • http://twitter.com/elguido2k El Guido

    Shame whatever he uses to post to twitter has had a spullnig chocker #fail.

  • Brent

    Judging by how many Apple fanbois and MS haters showed up to comment here, it seems you and Joe hit a nerve. Good job!

  • fjpoblam

    It’d be nice if Apple’d placed the question mark and slash on the main keyboard as MS did.

  • fjpoblam

    It’d be nice if Apple’d placed the question mark and slash on the main keyboard as MS did.

  • Anonymous

    Let’s get this straight:  Microsoft “invents” the idea of a split keyboard on June 1st and Apple copied it and built it into iOS 5 in 5 days?  Are you kidding?

  • http://www.macewan.org Anonymous

    Those micro Twitter thoughts are a joke. Do they not see that their entire company is based on copying others? @joebelfiore comments are pathetic.

  • wendez

    Apple kicks everyone’s backside in marketing and advertisement. I never understood why MS doesn’t put more into their advertising. Rarely have I seen a cool commercial for an MS product (not never, but rarely). That and the fact that iPhone/pads, etc. were first and Apple is known more for their fluffy eye candy apps and user friendliness is why they have been the more popular product as of recently. Moving forward, I think iPhones, WP7 phones, and Androids will continue to be good competition for each other and they will all steal ideas from one another; but all that said – WP7 IS AWESOME! Even more so in the next version soon to be coming out. Microsoft is starting to come back around with a few of their products and not only be reliable, but innovative and fun! I personally believe that educated buyers will buy a WP7 phone over any iPhone (unless your life is too integrated with apple products otherwise). That’s just my opinion though. 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7WTKBTTYTD6NUFMXINJXKS2BNU William Velasquez

    Microsoft must sue apple.

  • Morgan Wisbey

    I love my WP7 but I have to admit the location based tasks is pretty damn cool. For instance you could set a task to pick up stamps at the post office and the next time you are driving near the PO the task appears. How many times have you gone to a store or location only to get home and realize that there was something else that you forgot to pick up or do? Hopefully MS adds tasks that sync with Outlook as well as this location based feature as well.

  • http://www.appatic.com Avatar X

    How appropiate it is that the Winrumors post with the most comments so far is because of a Microsoft vs Apple flame war with Microsoft being without doubt on the righteous side of the argument.  Winrumors as a blog is growing so fast…. :P

  • Andr01d

    iOS > any other mobile OS, after iOS 5. 
    Before that i gave the leg up to Android. 

  • Andr01d

    iOS > any other mobile OS, after iOS 5. 
    Before that i gave the leg up to Android. 

  • applesucks

    apple sucks

  • appelflap

    Both Microsoft and Apple copied the split keyboard concept from an app called Thumb Keyboard http://tinyurl.com/5stnxy2 (on the android app market for 6 months now)

  • writesprograms

    Seems to me that apps, (i.e. programs that do something useful) sell systems.  If developers don’t get behind you it doesn’t matter how advanced your os or hardware are.  Looks to me like developers are behind iOS.  When you hear the media talking about some great app they almost always say iPhone or Android phone.  If anything keeps Windows phone from really taking off, seems like it would be apps.  For the PC platform it hasn’t been that way.  The most commonly asked question by a Windows PC user: “Where can I get a program to do xyz.”  The most commonly asked question by a Mac OSX user: “Do you have a Mac version of that?” It seems to be quite an opposite scenario for smartphone apps and that will probably sway users much more than what buttons the phone has or if an app can tweet. 

  • http://profiles.google.com/boctorbill Bill Cernansky

    Uh .. the camera button thing was introduced to Androiders and iPhone jailbreakers long before WP7 was out. Microsoft was definitely not the generator of that idea.

  • Kevinvw2000

    I just wasted 10 minutes of my life reading all the fanboy banter… now back to my Dell Win7 laptop and my iPhone…love them both…

  • Anonymous

    It doesn’t matter who copied who. Apple will release their update first and will have a head start. By the time windows tablets come out, people will associate these features with Apple. Microsoft has been too slow to develop and release their products. They are catching up, but the competitors aren’t standing still. When they finally catch up or possible surpass the competitors, it might be too late because people will associate their products as inferior even if they are not.

  • Fred

    Copying is not adding features that the competition may have. That’s just common sense. Copying is what samsung has done the past few years by ripping off the iOS look and placing it on their phones.

    It only makes sense to make a hard button a shutter button. It only makes sense to have a messaging client. It doesn’t make sense to copy the look of something else. Create your own identity.

  • Nicholas Boardman

    Apple’s main selling point is their apps but after a while, people get bored of their apps and stop downloading most of them. People are only really interesting in all the apps in the first few months of getting the new phone. Since the original iPhone release in 2007, Apple haven’t had any game-changing major updates. Even looking at the design of the newer devices, they still look very similar to the original iPhones.Microsoft have been selling apps since the start of WM a long time ago. OK, they may not have had a centralized ‘app store’ but they still had hundreds of apps available. WM7 is has come along with revolutionary new features and Apple have found out, like BlackBerry that unless they keep up with the likes of WM7 and Android, they’ll fall behind. iOS is getting very dated and soon enough they’re going to get hit by it. The only thing iOS has behind it is Apple who for some reason loads of people love.The whole OS market is driven by companies copying each other. Someone comes up with an idea and everyone else steals it to keep up with them. Apple and Blackberry are falling behind. WM7 is still in its very early days. When iOS was in this stage, they had many more problems than WM7! Once WM7 and Nokia really start getting their new features and devices out, Apple and Blackberry are going to be in trouble and it may even turn into a 2-horse race instead of a 3-horse race!I’ve experienced both WM and iOS. Having had WM devices for years, I decided to get an iPhone to see what all the fuss was about. After just over a year of having it, I can’t wait for my contract to finish so I can get an upgrade and get a WM7 device. There are more than enough WM7 apps on the marketplace, more than anyone could ever need. Apple have thousands of rubbish, useless apps which are no good to anyone! I prefer WM7′s more condensed, useful collection of apps!  

  • http://cellularcomparison.org/ios-5-release-date/ iOS 5 Release Date

    The only reason I purchased a blackberry was because of BBM, but I guess I’m switching to the iPhone now..:)

  • http://cellularcomparison.org/ios-5-release-date/ iOS 5 Release Date

    The only reason I purchased a blackberry was because of BBM, but I guess I’m switching to the iPhone now..:)

  • Mahsoom Moosa425

    i still like windows phone 7. it gives us the joy of using a smart phone.(by the way i am only 14). i don’t like iOS 5 because it look likes a business class phone which is not right for me.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=814389446 Charles Sparks

    Android has many hardware manufacturers like HTC, Nokia, etc. While Apple’s iOS is only on their phones, and they’re outselling Android at the moment, and they don’t have other hardware manufacturers like Android, and if they did, I don’t think other companies could compete.