yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Windows Phone 7 General] conantroutman:
This is pretty much what I was going to chip in.....

The UK market seems to be vastly different from the US and Europe.

Most people are not aware of Android, let alone WP7....

Even talking about iOS instead of just "iPhone" / "iPod" will get you confused looks...

Sure those who are interested in tech will know about such things but I think that we (XDA users) tend to forget just how little the general public care about these things...

People want an iPhone because its cool to have one...

As peew971 mentioned, kids (<18's) seem to all have Blackberrys, presumeably because their parents refuse to shell out for iPhones when theres a pretty high chance of them dropping it in the toilet at a house party....

Other people have iPhones. Anything else is just seen as a phone.

I dont think thats specific to London if it makes you feel any better. Im in one of the smaller Scottish cities and that sounds about the same as here....

To steer this back on topic....

Windows Phone 7 is getting a decent amount of TV advertising in the UK but I dont think that will be enough to actually make people consider it as an alternative to iOS. On the other hand I cant see it being a turn off to the average joe as they wont view Windows as geeky or buggy, they'll just think...

"Its a phone.... made by windows"

Like I said, if its not an iPhone.... Its just a phone :rolleyes:
[Windows Phone 7 General] bill.g:
Personally I think the "Windows" is turning people away since windows usually screams "BSOD" and who really wants that on a phone.
[Windows Phone 7 General] Snowreaper:
I think it has a lot to do with MS traditionally abandoning its Mobile Phone product after a year or so. Who wants to buy something that is going to be dropped soon?

At least that's the way everyone I've talked to feels about it. And I'm inclined to agree. There's few apps, and what seems like little to no direction about what MS is doing with the platform. I think i might have seen 1 ad for them? While on the other side of the fence you can't go a day without seeing something about Android or iPhone.

Plus MS is going about locking down the platform from development, sorry I'll pass.
[Windows Phone 7 General] Casey_boy:
Just thought I'd post this here, was walking past my local 3 mobile store today...

D'oh! I suppose at least Windows 7 has a good reputation..?

Casey
[Windows Phone 7 General] ryude:
At least they wrote it in orange (aka Mango) :P
[Windows Phone 7 General] jmattp:
OP:

Yes, I do think the fact that it's a "Windows" phone turns people away. A lot of people can't even get past XP; They won't upgrade to 7 and they won't allow themselves to recognize how great Windows 7 actually is. As most of us know, Hotmail has improved so much over the years, but a lot of people haven't noticed because they've moved on and never turned back. I think people associate the aforementioned products and assume the phone is a failure before even trying it. And maybe people do associate Windows with frumpy bald dudes in beige suits, while iPhones are associated with young, hip, attractive people and accessories. It's all in the marketing. Besides that the iPhone is a great device and people have taken to it in droves because of it, Apple has dipped their ****s in so many production companies that you'll almost always see a Mac or iPhone on a movie, prime time TV show or late night talk show (like Late Night with Jimmy Fallon for example).

Microsoft has a pretty crappy reputation with Windows Mobile, Windows XP and Vista and all the viruses and blue screens. It's unfortunate that so many people can be so stubborn about it. It goes both ways too, recently I tried getting help on the Windows help forums for some issues I was having with IE9's taskbar notifications - which I eventually solved on my own - but the VIP member on the site had no idea what I was talking about. He was just copy/pasting irrelevant troubleshooting steps.

I think a lot of people tend to get comfortable with their ideas and don't want to move on. Windows Phone 7 is fresh and different. It was time for me to move on from icon grids and disconnected applications running on a platform and adopt a new UI and software that is intertwined with the rest of the OS. Microsoft is kicking a lot of ass these days. They need to launch an ad campaign to show it. I'd hate for them to have to give up on WP7.

Plus, the Xbox integration and mobile games are fun...
[Windows Phone 7 General] Andrmgic:
I try to convince people about windows phone.. it's a hard battle..

I think if people could just get their hands on it and use it that they would enjoy it.

My Focus running mango beta 2 makes me happy. I don't think about it being old hardware or being restrictive in terms of what I can do with my device.

It's such a tightly integrated experience that I haven't needed or wanted to install any applications aside from games.

It easily has the most consistent and pleasant UI, even extending into third party applications.

I feel as though the information I need is front and center and navigation controls are out of the way and that my whole experience is delightfully clean and useful instead of busy and cluttered.

Unfortunately for microsoft, it's the kind of thing that a person has to use to truly appreciate.. there is a definite perception problem and I really hope they can fix it.
[Windows Phone 7 General] ryude:
The problem is that even though the experience is superior to other OS, it's so different that it's a turn off initially. Like you said, it takes time to get used to it. Once you do though, you realize just how much better it is.
[Windows Phone 7 General] ruben302:
Yes, i actually do think "windows" scares people away, since almost no one liked windows mobile.
[Windows Phone 7 General] Sleep616:
I get this same reaction. I get uninformed people (some, friends) going up to me intrigued by the start menu screen when they spot me flicking through it and they ask "Is that an android?". I guess that comes down to the phones available with the WP7 OS, when Nokia comes out with theirs, hopefully that'll change.
[Windows Phone 7 General] HandySpanner:
Personally I'm amazed they didn't just call it Microsoft Phone or something else. Windows is such an irrelevant term, apps don't run in windows. Metrophone might have made more sense.
[Windows Phone 7 General] ryude:
Of course apps run in Windows, you can call it whatever you like but an application is an application.

Metrophone sounds like a metrosexual's phone.

Windows phone fits, if they were to use any other name it would have had to be completely different. No MS, no zune, nothing that could be linked to microsoft.
[Windows Phone 7 General] andycted:
My short answer, yes.

This is what keeps happening to me. People see my omnia, say either: "ah, the galaxy S is a nice phone (good morning!) " or even "This iphone looks a bit different". Takes two minutes just to let them understand it's another system. They just go "but it's a samsung, right ?". "Yes, but the system is done by Microsoft". Takes two more minutes to explain them that phones work like computer, someone does the hardware, someone does the software.

And after that, I declare once more: so, this is the new Microsoft system for smartphones, Windows Phone.

The reaction is either:

- What ?? I don't understand

- Ah, Windows mobile, right ?

- and someone just looks a bit puzzled, takes a step back and runs away
[Windows Phone 7 General] FTC:
....I don't believe that "Windows Phone" is turning away the interest of potential users. Millions and Millons have "Windows" on their PC and in general they are happy with it, appart from "geeks" in technical forums.... :)

WP7 is facing the problem that Apple managed to establish "iPhone" as synonym for "smartphones" like "McDonald" for hamburges or "Coca Cola" for softdrinks. The interesting aspect is, that Apple managed to do this despite the fact that their

hardware was never top technology. The success Apple is banking on was the "user experience". In the meantime, the UI of WP7 is better than iOS or Android, but the way to communicate this to the masses has still to be found...
[Windows Phone 7 General] HandySpanner:
Really? Which ones?
[Windows Phone 7 General] erraz:
The lack of free tethering turned me away
[Windows Phone 7 General] FTC:
...this is not a WP7 problem. Post your compaints with your provider.... :)
[Windows Phone 7 General] kwajr:
I do not think it turns them away. I think 98 % are clueless as to what there phones. I think most get what there friends have. That is how ios got to be so big and later android its now up to us and sales people MS needs to go in to every region and do some pk training for free to sales people. They are going to sell what's easy and what they use. So get the phones in there hands.
[Windows Phone 7 General] kwajr:
what the hell are you talking about windows mobile was out for years they had apps way before apple or Symbian. They held on to it way too long.

As for locking it down they and chevron are reissuing the tool fully backed by ms
[Windows Phone 7 General] kwajr:
really android is going yearly

is is yearly
[Windows Phone 7 General] Jasand:
The last Windows phone I had was the SE xperia X1 I will never go back to Windows again or SE. The worst mobile "xperience" of my life.

I now have an android and will never look back. Regardless of Windows advertising if there was any.
[Windows Phone 7 General] jotapm:
My friends see my Omnia 7 and ask "Is that an Galaxy S?" and I say "No, this one runs Windows Phone 7" and they associate with "Windows 7" and say "Oh, cool"

Why would people think of Windows as geeky? ~89% of the world uses it. Linux is geeky, not Windows.
[Windows Phone 7 General] erraz:
What I meant was native tethering by rom for free without at&t knowing what I was doing:)
[Windows Phone 7 General] andycted:
In my case I have to repeat it 3-4 times before they get it.

Some even keep saying "but it's an iphone, right ?"

And here it's not geeky vs non-geeky. It's just apple is fashion (we're a fashion country by far - not a tech country) and windows is not. We're always 2-years behind with tech, always been always will be. Think about food, weather, women and pretty much that's it. If my phone makes me looks cool I'll buy it (everybody had a razr until a couple of years ago), otherwise not.

Still, I think MS could do without our market share for all intents. It just shows the extent of the issue
[Windows Phone 7 General] elitemikes:
Right on!

People can't let go of the past. Past windows mobile users that hated it can't move on either.

I think android is closer to windows of the past after using it for 2 years and trying a honeycomb tablet.

Steve Ballmer is too pig headed to abandon the name windows. They need to get on the streets and start showing demos to people.
[Windows Phone 7 General] EnderPsp:
People never let go of the past, but that's not what slows down WP7 adoption. It's people, companies and prejudice. AND bad sale strategy. Interestingly, and speaking of the... prejudice, a follow up :)

Here's a good quote:

This phenomenon is particularly prevalent at T-Mobile stores. A few months after I bought my HD7 I went into a store to pick up some screen protectors. The rep asked me how I liked my HD7 and I told him that I loved it. This guy then tells me how a lot of people don't like it and that I should get an Android. WTF?!? T-Mo reps are like freakin' cult members.

I've also read a story about sale reps recommending Android (here on XDA - looking for it). And in various stores WP7 is not even visible. On WPCentral they talk about ideas.

As for people recommending Android, dudes... Please read your EULA. Giving acces to your private data and someone else managing my apps? Not for me...
[Windows Phone 7 General] jotapm:
Carriers love Andriod because they can put all their crap software in it and personalize the way they want.
[Windows Phone 7 General] erraz:
Thats why there is xda, So you can take all their crap off and personalize it the way you want
[Windows Phone 7 General] RoboDad:
But, when you consider that 99% of the Android-using public have never even heard of xda, that isn't much of a selling point, is it?
[Windows Phone 7 General] erraz:
True, otherwise xda would have a lot more peolpe
[Windows Phone 7 General] Peew971:
Why the hell are you posting here then? WP7 is nothing like your Xperia, SE doesn't even make WP7 phones.
[Windows Phone 7 General] Peew971:
They should just call the whole OS "Mango" from now on. Drop "Windows" altogether :P
[Windows Phone 7 General] kwajr:
so research before blasting someone dumbass http://mobile.engadget.com/2008/08/24/sony-ericssons-xperia-x1-reviewed-in-breathtaking-detail/
[Windows Phone 7 General] Peew971:
Comment deleted
[Windows Phone 7 General] kwajr:
He is an example of what's wrong. He doesn't even know there is a difference
[Windows Phone 7 General] awenthol:
I, like so many others, had WinMo and it was such a bad experience that I (unfairly, I know) won't give 7 a try. So, yes, I see "Windows" and want nothing to do with it....
[Windows Phone 7 General] Peew971:
Alright, sorry... Gotcha ;)
[Windows Phone 7 General] Peew971:
To be fair, if it wasn't called Windows maybe you still wouldn't give it a try just because you know it's from Microsoft. Am I right?
[Windows Phone 7 General] awenthol:
Funny how that is the exact same boat BlackBerry is in...reps push other phones.
[Windows Phone 7 General] awenthol:
That's a good question and I'm not really sure. If they named it different I think it would better convince me It's all new and not just a terrible iteration of 6.5.
[Windows Phone 7 General] andrew35133:
Isnt that what apple does with IOS, every new os drops a phone that they just sold you (IOS 5 and 3gs)
[Windows Phone 7 General] PieOfJustice:
No I like windows phone. But I know what you mean. People at my work (I'm culinary) love the Android or iPhone. When I mention windows they roll there eyes then proceed to spend all their time attempting to do things on their phone, while I'm "In and Out" in no time flat. Now keep in mind that each phone OS has its special characteristic.

iPhone is a media phone. Used for heavy gaming, music and movie watching.

Android phones are great for customizing to your liking.

Windows Phones are Social phones. Great if your a FB whore like me.
[Windows Phone 7 General] erroratseek:
Hello there,

I don't think its the Name, its the Marketing. In my Country, Germany, 1 of 10 People know wp7 but everybody knows iPhone and android. If you gi to a Providers mobile store you will find 1 or 2 wp-devices per Provider. In TV there is only one Clip showing a wp but they even don't say its Name. I just know its a wp because of the live tiles you can See for a Moment...

Else there is the that the devices without a contract are very cheap, but with contract you pay Much More for the phone as for an equivalent other is based device.

hope you guys understood everything of my word-salad. English is not my native language

greetings from Germany
[Windows Phone 7 General] Mister Locke:
I feel the issue is the lack of marketing post launch in America as well. Sounds like Microsoft needs to step up the advertising game. In fact the only advertisements I've seen are sporting events brought to you by Windows Phones and the "Really?" ad.
[Windows Phone 7 General] FTC:
....this "Really?" ads are nice and ironical but I fear that the public doesn't really get the point. Most "smartphone" users are totally hooked to their phone. They keep checking their phones and are getting nervous if they don't get a text message every 5 minutes. This is a kind of addiction and I am not too sure if Microsoft will be able and succeed to "educate" people to a more healthy and relaxed approach to todays instant communication...
[Windows Phone 7 General] andycted:
That could be true, but my opinion is that they would be perfect for other kind of products. Maybe the type of impulse-buy product or the one you buy often, not the one you buy once in a while and think a lot about which one to pick. I also think it would be a very good ad if you already had regained the confidence of people, not while you're rebuilding it.

Regardless, wp7 is going to succeed, even if 'how much' must be determined by marketing too
[Windows Phone 7 General] ryude:
I think it will succeed, if only because ios and android are getting too big. After a while people will start to say, "I don't want an iOS or android because everyone has one I want to be different, I'll buy a windows phone!"
[Windows Phone 7 General] ohgood:
by that logic, they'll skip wp and buy a dumbphone... no one has those anymore. why do people (here) care if their friends use iphone or android instead of wp ? really, its just a phone.
[Windows Phone 7 General] ryude:
Because that's how people are? Same reason why people buy brand name clothing or brand name foods or brand name cars. Image is everything in this world, haven't you figured that out yet?
[Windows Phone 7 General] munkeyphyst:
because we see the value in WP7 and are frustrated that more people can't see what it sooo obvious to us. That, and the fact that the more WP7 users, the more rapidly the OS will grow and develop
[Windows Phone 7 General] munkeyphyst:
I see this same addiction to immediate communication in the "wp7 needs an android style notification system" thread.
[Windows Phone 7 General] andycted:
Which is one of the few times I'm damn happy Microsoft never reads forums
[Windows Phone 7 General] RoboDad:
Then you don't get the point of that discussion at all. In fact, the exact opposite is true. If I were so addicted to checking messages that I checked every 5 minutes, I wouldn't have any need or interest in a notification pane. I would be able to see each notification as it came in. The precise reason I want a better system is because I often don't bother to check my phone for several hours, and as a result, miss some notifications that might otherwise be useful.

Since a smartphone is, by design, an information device, presenting information that requires your immediate presence, rather than storing it for later, more "relaxed" consumption, actually feeds the very addiction you want to eliminate.
[Windows Phone 7 General] munkeyphyst:
Maybe I am. I thought the gripe in that thread was that if a user was away from their phone for a few minutes and received a notice, they wouldn't have immediate access to who sent what and what was said.

the live tiles do store for later. If the argument is that you want a "relaxed" check it when ready experience, I'm not sure what I am missing.
[Windows Phone 7 General] jessiethe3rd:
Why Windows?

Windows equates to consumer challenges and mistrust.

Windows has a bad rep.

All true. Windows has somewhat of a brand issue based on legacy useage. The complete story is not all together yet for Microsoft to make some solid branding marketing - they need a unified UI, unified experience across devices, and unified services (XBL, Cloud (pro), Skype) to really make a bold statement.

Now that Microsoft has a new consumer marketing boss I would expect these pieces to come together as we get closer to a Windows 8 launch. While the phone does drive a certain amount of marketshare the real agent of change is the perception of Windows the desktop UI has in the eyes of the public. Windows needs a solid DT offering that is once again instantly recognizeable. Tablets, Desktops, Xbox, web services, Phones... everything must have a unified UX to really market this effectively. You can see the changes happening internally... web properties are being forced to conform to Metro UI. The new flagship OS will have Metro at the forefront... everything must go under this brand in order for it to succeed and drive Windows as the go-to UX of choice.
[Windows Phone 7 General] KINGOFNOOBS:
This thread is terrible. You don't come to a conclusion then find evidence to support it. It's the other way around. The reality is Windows Mobile 6.5 didn't get much exposure, and as of right now Windows Phone 7 does not have much exposure (do to average sales currently). The name is irrelevant. Also, the short name is "Windows Phone" which is short enough.
[Windows Phone 7 General] slayr007:
The windows phone brand name is here to stay. Windows phone 7 is probably one of the most unique OSes I've ever used. I also know that because of how ****ty Windows Mobile was, it probably won't ever gain the market share of Android or iPhone.
[Windows Phone 7 General] RoboDad:
I already explained that as clearly as possible in the "design problems" thread, and I really have no desire to either repeat myself here or further derail this thread.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] ghurty:
I have a network share on my win7 machine that has videos in divx and xvid.

What is the best way for me to access those files from my tf101 so I can watch them directly from the pc without copying it onto tf101 first?

Also, what media player could play them?

Thanks
[Eee Pad Transformer General] rpavich:
I was just messing around but I watched vids from my TF that were located on my laptop via the "my cloud" app on the TF....it's the sub app called "splashtop" and it worked just fine....
[Eee Pad Transformer General] transceiver:
upnplay app with moboplayer. Set up media streaming in windows7's media player. There should be instructions if you Google it.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] vlara:
Ive used plex and it seemed to play most of my videos fine.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] pastey:
This is the combo I use and it works a charm, however plex,splashtop etc will work also. Try them all because its down to preference...
[Eee Pad Transformer General] Zenoran:
here's another discussion on the topic. B-)

xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1093861
[Eee Pad Transformer General] Blades:
Very few videos will play correctly due to honeycomb issues, but cifs works well. I suppose you could set up real time transcoding if you had a comp with enough power. Includinb dgnvdec somewhere in the decoding chain would work well for those with nvidia cards - as that would perform all resizing/decoding/deinterlacing via gpu, freeing up cpu to handle the smaller encode. I'm pretty sure the default movie player can handle many different transports.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] ThaiM:
File Manager HD can be networked with your home network and then I stream and play with Moboplayer. Works pretty good.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] transceiver:
Plex will play videos that won't stream, like FLV files.

Splashtop will play netflix but with crappy quality.

UPNPlay has the best quality since it plays the original file but only the standard formats like avi and MPG.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] jerrykur:
I ran them directly using es viewer
[Eee Pad Transformer General] eb50:
seems like it has to load the whole video before u can "stream" it??? takes a long time to serve up a 2gb file
[Eee Pad Transformer General] RiffyDivine:
Has anyone found a good way to play ogm files?
[Eee Pad Transformer General] wilbur-force:
how ??

tried that and it says no player (i have moboplayer etc installed). if i then choose 'open as' and video is starts copying the whole file across ??
[Eee Pad Transformer General] PuerkitoBio:
File Manager HD downloads the whole file, it doesn't support streaming AFAIK.

I use GMote and Moboplayer (for vids). Audio can be played directly in GMote. Works great.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] stcardinal:
Whats the best way to steam? Both ES and FileHD makes me download to cache which defeats the purpose of networking. If I use N speed would the download be faster?
[Eee Pad Transformer General] javroch:
Plex will actually only transcode if it needs to, if it doesn't it'll simply stream the original media AFAIK. I use it and love it. It's probably one of the easiest ways to get this set up, especially if you want remote access from outside of your intranet.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] solstafir:
For .mpeg/avi streaming:

File Expert -> Dolphin Browser HD -> VPlayer

Can use MoboPlayer or RockPlayer instead of VPlayer, but seeking with VPlayer is better imho. Other file types may work...