Lumias shipping more than all Blackberries

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

Red Storm

Lifer
Oct 2, 2005
14,233
234
106
Sorry. Didn't mean to exclude BB10. I haven't kept up with BB so I haven't considered it at all. But glad to hear it has multitasking.

I think my point like it was from 2009 is that you don't really need full blown multitasking until you have multi window. So until multi window isn't just a Samsung thing, the whole app switching really behaves just like a saved state like in iOS.

It's not just a Samsung thing, there are browsers, calculators, media players, notepads, chat clients, terminals, system info windows, and apps that make any widget a floating window too.

These all offer "true" multitasking, that is not possible with WP8 or iOS as far as I am aware.
 
Last edited:

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
14,612
318
126
That said, I honestly believe the concept of tombstoning apps is, for the most part, preferable to "true" multitasking.

I don't.

I use Android's multitasking all the time.

I remember the other day when I was restoring old text messages with SMS Backup+, downloading the needed files for Reckless Racing HD, and reading Anandtech on tapatalk all at the same time.
 

pantsaregood

Senior member
Feb 13, 2011
993
37
91
I don't.

I use Android's multitasking all the time.

I remember the other day when I was restoring old text messages with SMS Backup+, downloading the needed files for Reckless Racing HD, and reading Anandtech on tapatalk all at the same time.

Windows Phone (and probably iOS) are completely capable of doing those things. I don't know about iOS, but the initial release of WP7 supported background downloads.
 

Deeko

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
30,213
12
81
While I think that features that Windows Phone lacks are severely overstated at this point, I will concede that Microsoft needs to increase the pace of their release schedule. While 1080p support and new SoCs for Windows Phone sound nice, I honestly believe that Microsoft needs to continue down the path of adding features.

Also, Windows Phone does allow real multitasking.

Microsoft pushes out a substantial update for Windows Phone late in every year.

Windows Phone 7 was released in October 2010.
Windows Phone 7.5 was released in September 2011.
Windows Phone 8 was released in October 2012.
Windows Phone 8.1 doesn't look like it will be released any earlier than December 2013.

Microsoft is adhering to a yearly update schedule, while Google usually takes less than nine months to release OS updates. WP 8.1 will be a significant improvement if it's anywhere near as substantial as WP 7.5 was, but Microsoft needs to accelerate.

Also of note is that this is only representative of Nokia vs. BlackBerry. Nokia accounted for around 83% of the Windows Phone market in May, so overall sales of Windows Phones were likely around 9 million in this quarter, which certainly puts the WP ecosystem in a healthier place than BlackBerry.

Honestly, this isn't as true as it used to be. How long ago did Gingerbread come out? Three years? Since then there has been one major Android release for phones - and it doesn't sound like 4.3 is going to be life changing either. Their breakneck update pace has really slowed down.
 

pantsaregood

Senior member
Feb 13, 2011
993
37
91
Honestly, this isn't as true as it used to be. How long ago did Gingerbread come out? Three years? Since then there has been one major Android release for phones - and it doesn't sound like 4.3 is going to be life changing either. Their breakneck update pace has really slowed down.

Google markets each iteration of 4.x as a significant upgrade. Microsoft doesn't even publicly announce minor (GDR) updates. I'm not disagreeing with you, just analyzing it from the perspective of how updates are marketed.
 

Deeko

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
30,213
12
81
Yea, they make them out to be a bigger deal than they really are - but that aside, I don't deny that Microsoft could use a faster pace. They rolled out WP7, NoDo, an incremental update, and Mango in under a year - so why is it taking them so long to update WP8? Supposedly GDR2 RTM'd months ago - why can't they push this carrier testing along? Or even...why don't these releases get "leaked"? I know I had found workarounds to install NoDo and Mango before they were officially released.