Windows Phone 7.5 update lowers system requirements

The understanding of how a B2B relationship works is probably why Nokia went with Windows Phone - Microsoft is able and willing to tailor their software to Nokia's business model, and Nokia's business model fits with Microsoft's vision of the phone as a widespread computing device (see TouchDevelop) via the next generation of "feature phones" affordable to very large numbers of people in the developing world.<p>Looking at what was cut, these are the kind of features Google cannot afford to drop - services which require connection to Microsoft's servers in order to work and where latency issues and the degree of internet business presence in the much of the developing world could significantly degrade performance. For Apple, their ambition in these markets appears to be somewhat limited in scope.

Essentially, they have taken up the strategy that Google had back in Oct 2008. There were a lot of early comments from Schmidt, etc that indicated the Android plan was to compete on the low end of the hardware spectrum.<p>It sounds good, but I really question how much room there really is down there with the data plan requirements that typically come along with using any kind of smartphone.<p>Do people really want to pay $100 for a stripped down device when $200 will frequently buy them a full-featured smartphone (with similar data plan prices)?

This looks like a "kneecap Android" maneuver.<p>Make it so your OS performs great on cheap hardware, and then hope that that is enough of a benefit to get phone providers to push Windows Phone over Android because they can make more in margin with your inexpensive hardware.<p>Interesting strategy, to say the least.

Actually, they didn't really lower requirements in the sense that the OS requires less horsepower. They simply removed some networking features and blacklisted apps that use too many resources. In my view that stretches the notion of lower system requirements. :/

Not necessarily pertinent to the discussion, however in the linked article-<p>"Well, technically it doesn't amaze me at all, because Windows Mobile PocketPC SP2 CE Embedded Compact Ultimate already ran very fast on PDAs ten years ago, but still. "<p>Fast or fluid is not a word <i>anyone</i> would ever use to describe Windows Mobile / CE. I lived with those devices from the iPaq through the Moto Q, and it was always an absolutely miserable experience (worse than Android in the G1 release days, which is pretty bad). This has little bearing on the current generation of devices, but that incredible claim just could not go unmet.<p>EDIT: There is no "sarcasm" there beyond a play on a product name. If the poster doesn't really mean what they explicitly said, they convey it extremely poorly.