When will we see an actual good Windows phone on Verizon?

[Shadizar]

The Trophy is (barely) adequate, but it's just about the least impressive handset for Windows Phone...

Wishlist, in order of importance (to me)

Large memory (~32+) (I know this isn't available, but hey, this is a wishlist...)

Large, bright screen like the 'droids in the store. (I don't want a droid, though, because I want the Windows Phone OS)

4G

Perks:

Front-facing camera

VZ navigator support

[janko10]

I'm afraid it's going to be quite a while

[chinch]

the good news is the next WP7 device will have these features (maybe not 32gb ram) but the bad news is no new devices for CDMA/Verizon has been announced yet. Verizon has manufacturer preferences but a Samsung 4.3" model like the at&t device announce would be ideal and my best guess (and i repeate pure speculation).

VZW navigator is moot with Garmin and other apps under $35 and no monthly fee

Verizon would hold this info closer to the vest with holiday launch more likely, given iPhone5 availability in early October and Mango update pushing out late Sept earl Oct to existing WP7 devices.

[bstobbe]

OK, listen close guys up in the ivory tower... this is your stereotypical mainstream bread and butter customer talking here.  I'm 32 which means I've basically been a Verizon customer since cell phones started yet am still young enough to be an active electronics enthusiast.  I'm also a software developer who has been using Micorosft software since Windows 3.1.  I'm the video game generation that crossed over from Nintendo upbringings to the powerhouse that is the Micorosoft XBOX360.  I happily pay $50 a year for an Microsoft XBOX Live membership and spend countless more dollars on Microsoft points every year.  Did I mention I even am happy with my 80GB Microsoft Zune?  It plays music just as good as an iThing... imagine that?  I'm getting to a point here... bare with me.  I'm fully aware Verizon is hands down the best cell phone company to be with when it comes to service, and well, everything really.  Its just not even close... nice work guys.  BUT... you guys got to get with the program and give Microsoft phones the same opportunity as Apple, Android, etc.  There is a HUGE number of people like me that would like to check out the new Mango OS on the best available hardware out there.  You're like a used car dealership that only sells Ford Fiesta's right now and I'm looking for the Mustang.  Get it together already.. and stop fixing the competition just because of some bad blood.  Your customers are only going to put up with this for so long.  It won't be long before every phone company has "good enough" service and people are going to start jumping ship.

[Delosky]

Yeah, what bstobbe said.

I too am in my 30's and part of the same generation you are.  I couldn't agree more.  Furthermore, I've been a Windows Mobile "smartphone" user since before they were called Smartphones and before Steve Jobs had even dreamed up the iPhone.  I was skeptical about WP7, since Microsoft had fallen so far behind Apple and Google, but I have to be honest, from what I've seen on the HTC Trophy, and now with the Mango update, it really is a phenominal OS that just needs some more devices to leverage all that it can offer.

Verizon, please, please, please offer other WP7 Mango phones in the near future (especially sometime around November 11th, when my existing contract for my old WinMo 6.5 Omnia 2 expires)!

[jsh1701]

I agree with all the prior posts. I have been with Verizon since before it was Verizon in my area (over 15 years). I have had a Pocket PC since the first incarnation of the HP iPac. I have stayed with it ever since. I really like Windows Moble/Windows Phone. I love how easy it connects to my Windows apps on my desktop computer.  I am ready for an upgrade and am just waiting for a phone better that the Trophy. I am not sure how long I will be patient before looking for a different carrier. I really like Verizon, it is the best service around. But I will switch if I must to get a phone I want running Windows Phone 7.5.

I would really like something like the HTC Titan, or Samsung Omnia W.

I don't care for iStuff, and Android is only OK.

I believe that Windows Phone will increase market share in the next 6 to 12 months.

[hopmedic]

Well, I'm a bit older than the prior couple of posters.  I have been using Microsoft software since Applesoft Basic (yes, Microsoft provided the OS for the Apple ][+ ).  Wrote my first program in 1980 on an Apple ][+.  I came from the generation of the well-known Atari 2600, but we had the lesser-known Magnavox Odyssey prior to that.  I dropped LOTS of quarters into Space Invaders, Pac Man, Galaxian, Spy Hunter, just to name a few.  I used a Palm Pilot, and last year at a Microsoft developer event, I got a T-Shirt because I was the first to name the device they pictured (an iPaq).  I, too, used Windows based phones well before Jobs thought of the iThingy, and was excited 18 months ago when I saw first-hand a prototype of the Windows Phone.

My point is that this phone crosses generational lines.  It doesn't matter if you are young or old.  This is a great phone.  Verizon has the network, but they could stand to learn a thing or two from Sprint about customer service, and from ATT about phone selection.  Give us a quality high-end Windows Phone.  We will only wait so long.

[sm4astan]

Maybe this is what we've been waiting for....

LG LS831 is a Windows Phone 7.5 handset for US CDMA carriers

LG Fantasy with Windows Phone tips up at FCC

My wife and I just gave our daughter a Trophy for her birthday (she's turning 15) and she LOVES the phone. A day after she got it from us she was able to update it to Mango, and keeps showing off the new little things she's finding.  I played around with it a bit and it's snappy and is what I've been waiting for, but I want a phone with a bit larger screen (for my larger hands).

I really hope this is coming to Verizon.

I'm hoping the reason they jacked the price of the Trophy up to $150 (from a prior low of $50 - before 2 year upgrade discount) is so that when they come out and release a higher end Mango phone, they can justiify a price bump to something higher.

It would be easier for them to justify Tropy at $150, and New Mango Phone at $299(?), as opposed to Trophy at $50 and Mango Phone at $299. 

Keep your fingers crossed.

[hopmedic]

This is good news that someone besides HTC is going to be building a CDMA Windows Phone.  It would be nice if we knew more about it, like is it better than what we have or not, but even without that, it is encouraging that SOMEONE cares about CDMA.  Myself, I will hold out to see what Nokia brings to the game, and use my Trophy until then, but this is definitely encouraging news.

Now if we saw a Samsung CDMA device.....  

[Xmind]

I too am looking for a high end WP7 device.   I really only have 2 requirements: 4+ inch screen and LTE.  I can't believe Verizon still only has 1 WP7 device and very disappointed that nearly every Verizon store I go into has the Trophey off in the corner and a couple times it was the only phone in the store that didn't have internet access for some reason?!?!?  I'm really crossing my fingers some high end WP7 device will be announced before the end of the month, but I'm not holding my breathe. 

[primortal]

---

Xmind wrote:

I too am looking for a high end WP7 device.   I really only have 2 requirements: 4+ inch screen and LTE.  I can't believe Verizon still only has 1 WP7 device and very disappointed that nearly every Verizon store I go into has the Trophey off in the corner and a couple times it was the only phone in the store that didn't have internet access for some reason?!?!?  I'm really crossing my fingers some high end WP7 device will be announced before the end of the month, but I'm not holding my breathe. 

---

Good luck with a WP7 device with LTE.  Microsoft hasn't programmed the drivers for the radios and that won't appear till an update is released.  Most likely won't see it till WP8.

http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-dual-core-lte-windows-phones-are-coming

[Xmind]

Yeah, I heard that too that MS just recently started thinking LTE, let alone having it ready for a phone to be released soon.  

[Xmind]

Not to talk to myself here, but man, really disappointed at Verizon's seemingly lack of effort towards WM7.   For the 2nd time in 2 months I went to the Verizon store to play with the Trophy a bit....and again guess which is the only phone in the entire store that doesn't have provisioning set up correctly to actually test internet related content?  yeah the Trophy.   They even moved the display around and still they hadn't set up the phone correctly....then claimed I was the first one to tell them.  <sigh>  /end rant

[primortal]

The sad thing is that the sale folks at the stores get commissions when they sell an android phone (possible iPhone as well) and not the for WP7 (yet).  So there is no incentive to sell/demo the device till they get "paid" to do so.

[Daros]

"The sad thing is that the sale folks at the stores get commissions when they sell an android phone (possible iPhone as well) and not the for WP7 (yet).  So there is no incentive to sell/demo the device till they get "paid" to do so."

Where did you get this?  I'm only asking because it's incredibly wrong... stores get huge money for every activation, whether it's android, iOS, or an LG Cosmos.  I don't believe there is any difference in that payout, either, unless there's a slightly larger one for phones with data plans attached.

[primortal]

---

Daros wrote:

"The sad thing is that the sale folks at the stores get commissions when they sell an android phone (possible iPhone as well) and not the for WP7 (yet).  So there is no incentive to sell/demo the device till they get "paid" to do so."

Where did you get this?  I'm only asking because it's incredibly wrong... stores get huge money for every activation, whether it's android, iOS, or an LG Cosmos.  I don't believe there is any difference in that payout, either, unless there's a slightly larger one for phones with data plans attached.

---

My statement came from one of the articles I found, http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2386538,00.asp

Here is a post from this community, http://community.vzw.com/t5/Windows-Phone-Discussions/Windows-Phone-7/m-p/518158#M76

[bbq1812]

Greetings all.  I'm using Windows Mobile 6.1 on an old HTC phone.  My 2 year contract is up and I'm in upgrade mode.  I'm leaning towards Windows Phone and see that there's a 3 day special here at Verizon for the Trophy at $29.99.  Seems nice, but I have read about the Titan and new Nokia phones around the corner and it seems best to wait.  I know, there's a better phone released every week...  BUT, in this case, the improvements seem big so another 2-3 months of waiting seems okay. 

Will I need to leave Verizon to get access to new Windows Phone offerings?  I have signal issues with AT&T where I live, but if that's my only option I guess I'll stop making calls in those dead zones.  I work with Microsoft products for a living so it seems logical to stick with their phone, assuming I can find one.  Will Sprint or T-Mobile step up their offerings?  Does AT&T seem to be the only carrier *really* committed to Microsoft?

[hopmedic]

---

bbq1812 wrote:

Greetings all.  I'm using Windows Mobile 6.1 on an old HTC phone.  My 2 year contract is up and I'm in upgrade mode.  I'm leaning towards Windows Phone and see that there's a 3 day special here at Verizon for the Trophy at $29.99.  Seems nice, but I have read about the Titan and new Nokia phones around the corner and it seems best to wait.  I know, there's a better phone released every week...  BUT, in this case, the improvements seem big so another 2-3 months of waiting seems okay. 

Will I need to leave Verizon to get access to new Windows Phone offerings?  I have signal issues with AT&T where I live, but if that's my only option I guess I'll stop making calls in those dead zones.  I work with Microsoft products for a living so it seems logical to stick with their phone, assuming I can find one.  Will Sprint or T-Mobile step up their offerings?  Does AT&T seem to be the only carrier *really* committed to Microsoft?

---

If I were you, I'd wait another week to see what Nokia announces at Nokia World, which (I think) is 10/26 if I remember right.  I read a rumor a while back that they were going to bring a high-end phone to Verizon.  Also, there is another HTC phone, the Prime, I think, which has been leaked to be sporting a CDMA radio, which would mean Sprint or Verizon.  Sprint already has one HTC phone with a slide-out keyboard, so I'm guessing that the Prime probably isn't headed to them.  Who knows at this point.  But since you're this close to the announcements, I'd wait it out at least another month if Nokia doesn't announce a Verizon phone.  With Christmas coming, there has to be something in the works.

[sm4astan]

LG Fantasy could also be coming.  

I ordered my wife a Trophy yesterday, got it today.  That's two Trophy's in the house now including my older daughters.

Overall it seems a great phone.  Very snappy.  I had to set-up my wife's phone so got some time to play with it.   If the screen were a bit bigger, I'd jump on it, but I want larger to make emailing easier on my bigger fingers.  

At this point, it's race to see whether Verizon can announce a new high-end Mango device or AT&T comes out with the Titan here in the States.  Whichever happens first is likely going to be the deciding factor on whether I jump over to AT&T or stay with Verizon.  I hate to use 2 carriers, especially when the family now has 2 Trophy', a basic phone (for younger daughter), and broadband on a laptop with Verizon, but....I use my phone alot for work when not in the office, and I'm not going to settle on something that's not quite what I want.  

The only thing that would force me to stay with Verizon if they don't announce something is if I pick-up a Titan from AT&T, and find during the 3-day return period that I can't get the reception I need in my area.  In that case I'd have to return the Titan and keep my current TP2 until something better comes along.

[hopmedic]

Quotes from Stephen Elop, CEO of Nokia:

"We will be introducing a PORTFOLIO of products into the United States, in EARLY 2012."

"In addition to the existing products, which include WCDMA and HSPA, we plan to introduce LTE and CDMA products to address specific local requirements."

Twitter handle @ms_nerd (who, BTW tweeted using Twitter for Blackberry, oddly),

tweeted this:

#tips #thisjustin New Verizon Windows Phone announcement coming real soon. Sprint? Not so much 😕

http://www.twitter.com/MS_nerd/status/128989060848041984

From what I have heard, his predictions have been surprisingly accurate, but we shall see.  Either way, I am going to wait for the Nokia Lumia 900, which has been leaked, but not announced at Nokia World. 

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Nokia-Lumia-800-Nokia-Lumia-710-Nokia-900-leak-just-before-Nokia-Worl...

There was a rumor a while back that Nokia would be launching a high-end phone to Verizon, so hopefully the 900 will be the phone that comes to Verizon.  The 800 has a smaller screen than the Trophy, while better in every other aspect.  The 900 has a rumored 4.3" screen.  That's what I'm talking about!

Also, free with every Nokia phone, and exclusive to every Nokia phone:

ESPN Sports Hub

Nokia Drive

Nokia Music

And probably more that I'm forgetting to list.

So the good news isn't coming as soon as we want it to, but it is coming...