New Exploit allows Android Lock Screen Bypass

[HenrySalayne]

11 minutes ago, Commodus said:

With that said, I'd mainly chalk the failure down to a lack of prioritization at Microsoft under Ballmer. Apple and Google succeeded in no small part due to their willingness to completely overhaul their companies in pursuit of mobile; Microsoft stubbornly insisted that Windows PCs were the centre of the universe, and refused to give Windows Phone/Mobile the attention and urgency it needed. It responded far too late to the iPhone (Ballmer should have been panicking the moment Steve Jobs left the Macworld 2007 stage), starved the team of resources and was perpetually late with both hardware and software features. That and Microsoft clung to an outdated licensing model that virtually guaranteed Android would be more appealing to OEMs.

 

Don't get me wrong, it sucks that mobile has become a duopoly much like the computer world did in the 1990s. But we tend to look at Windows phones through rose-tinted glasses, and the truth is that they just didn't scratch the itch for enough people.

Android and iOS were also pretty shitty when Windows phones were around. All the impressions we have are rose-tinted nostalgia.

Microsoft were indeed a day late and a dollar short. But with a tight integration to their office suite and Outlook and feature parity for the recreational functionality, they could have pretty much gotten away with the entire business-phone market.

TBH, looking at their current apps for mobile devices, Microsoft is still not taking phones seriously. I can only wonder why 90% of Outlook's desktop functionality is simply missing.

[Poinkachu]

The lesson to be taken from the OP.
"Do not leave your phone unattended when there's strangers or questionable friend around. And also do not lend them your phone without supervision"

I guess.

And maybe superglue + baking soda your sim card tray in case the phone gets stolen?

[Commodus]

23 minutes ago, HenrySalayne said:

Android and iOS were also pretty shitty when Windows phones were around. All the impressions we have are rose-tinted nostalgia.

Microsoft were indeed a day late and a dollar short. But with a tight integration to their office suite and Outlook and feature parity for the recreational functionality, they could have pretty much gotten away with the entire business-phone market.

TBH, looking at their current apps for mobile devices, Microsoft is still not taking phones seriously. I can only wonder why 90% of Outlook's desktop functionality is simply missing.

Eh, they were still considerably more polished than Windows Phone was in some respects. I remember chafing at limitations that weren't there on Android phones and iPhones released a year earlier.

 

To some degree, Microsoft's problem was that it was expecting too much from the Office tie-in. "Hey, it has Excel and Outlook!" Yes, but few people are going to do much more than make a minor document edit or issue a quick response email while they're on their phones. They're not building out the latest quarterly report or organizing a big meeting, and few people are really eager to find more ways to work after-hours. That's why even the modern mobile Outlook is so minimal — what people are willing to do on their phones just isn't the same as it is on a laptop or tablet.

 

I'd say Microsoft is doing better with phones now than it ever did during the Windows Mobile/Phone era, and not just because it has had more time to develop software and services. It's that the company is more honest about what works. It's not trying to pretend your phone is a complete mobile office, or competing in areas where it will likely always trail behind Apple and Google. It's providing the functionality you're more likely to actually use on your phone.

[mr moose]

14 hours ago, Commodus said:

I owned a Lumia 1020 and got to use other Windows phones for significant stretches of time (the Samsung Ativ S, for example) and... sorry, but the platform just wasn't that great. It was indeed fast, distinctive and occasionally clever, but it wasn't just the lack of apps that killed it — a lack of major advantages did, too. Live tiles just weren't that much of a draw, nor was the unified "people hub." Few people were going to jump from Android or an iPhone and marvel at all the things they'd been missing. And there were obvious shortcomings, like the belated additions of copy-paste text and a notifications tray.

 

With that said, I'd mainly chalk the failure down to a lack of prioritization at Microsoft under Ballmer. Apple and Google succeeded in no small part due to their willingness to completely overhaul their companies in pursuit of mobile; Microsoft stubbornly insisted that Windows PCs were the centre of the universe, and refused to give Windows Phone/Mobile the attention and urgency it needed. It responded far too late to the iPhone (Ballmer should have been panicking the moment Steve Jobs left the Macworld 2007 stage), starved the team of resources and was perpetually late with both hardware and software features. That and Microsoft clung to an outdated licensing model that virtually guaranteed Android would be more appealing to OEMs.

 

Don't get me wrong, it sucks that mobile has become a duopoly much like the computer world did in the 1990s. But we tend to look at Windows phones through rose-tinted glasses, and the truth is that they just didn't scratch the itch for enough people.

MS didn't actually care that much about PC in the consumer sphere as much as people think they did.  They are in the top 5 richest companies because they have been working the back end of business.  We mere mortals only ever got the crumbs from the company somewhere around 2000 and on.

 

I don't look through rose tinted glasses,  I genuinely (along with a few colleagues) lamented when my last WP phone died and the only options were iphone or android.

 

 

[suicidalfranco]

3 hours ago, mr moose said:

MS didn't actually care that much about PC in the consumer sphere as much as people think they did.  They are in the top 5 richest companies because they have been working the back end of business.  We mere mortals only ever got the crumbs from the company somewhere around 2000 and on.

 

I don't look through rose tinted glasses,  I genuinely (along with a few colleagues) lamented when my last WP phone died and the only options were iphone or android.

 

 

^Just a random concept art i found on the web

 

though would love to see that poly unibody make a comeback. This design is way more iconic than Apple's square phone with rounded corners. The only thing they should have done to improve it was finding a way to make the battery removable. 

[mr moose]

On 11/14/2022 at 9:50 PM, jagdtigger said:

Dont put words in my mouth. This argument ended right here....

You started this buy quoting me,  I said that WP coped a lot of undeserved shit when it came out and then you quoted me and did exactly what I said people did.  It's not my fault you didn't own one and your other reason for not liking it is irrelevant for the vast majority of consumers.  At least @suicidalfrancohad used one and can qualify why he didn't like it.

 

 

[Mark Kaine]

On 11/15/2022 at 11:28 AM, mr moose said:

MS didn't actually care that much about PC in the consumer sphere as much as people think

maybe maybe not... they sure spent record numbers to advertise windows 95 and probably following releases so i don't blame people thinking they care.

 

also there was bills whole "living room obsession"... they dropped the ball hard on mobile phones though. 

 

Spoiler

 btw i don't think its relevant at all but I loved windows phones... never owned one but i liked using it... problem was low tier support,  app store (they had one?) and generally the impression that ms literally doesn't care... so people thought its kinda "uncool" and in a way, it was, mostly due to the lacking app support... everyone kinda liked the UI though,  i think?

 

[mr moose]

7 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

maybe maybe not... they sure spent record numbers to advertise windows 95 and probably following releases so i don't blame people thinking they care.

 

also there was bills whole "living room obsession"... they dropped the ball hard on mobile phones though. 

Windows 95 was before the era I was referring to.  I thought I mentioned 2000+ in their somewhere.  They did do a bit of XP advertising but by the time vista came around it was more generic.

7 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

  Hide contents

 btw i don't think its relevant at all but I loved windows phones... never owned one but i liked using it... problem was low tier support,  app store (they had one?) and generally the impression that ms literally doesn't care... so people thought its kinda "uncool" and in a way, it was, mostly due to the lacking app support... everyone kinda liked the UI though,  i think?

 

Agree.  except about the everyone liking the UI,  I have a feeling many would argue they didn't. 

[Mark Kaine]

On 11/21/2022 at 8:42 AM, mr moose said:

Windows 95 was before the era I was referring to.  I thought I mentioned 2000+ in their somewhere. 

you did, but that's not too big of a gap there... they were still pushing whatever newest windows version was in 2000+ (probably windows 2000 )  

i think ms at least always pretended to care about avg consumers,  even when they made money elsewhere (hence i mentioned the whole ridiculous "living room" thing ... which i think was a huge hit to Bill Gates personal reputation since...)

 

On 11/21/2022 at 8:42 AM, mr moose said:

Agree.  except about the everyone liking the UI,  I have a feeling many would argue they didn't. 

yeah, im not sure, well the people who had windows phones liked it and i liked it too... wish it had an android store tho... especially back then when it was all new and exciting... i mean that was really its downfall... no apps ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

 

On 11/21/2022 at 8:42 AM, mr moose said:

They did do a bit of XP advertising but by the time vista came around it was more generic.

well, i remember that part differently! there was a huge hype for windows vista specifically,  its after all their best OS ever... no idea what happened afterwards... most people didn't like it for some reason,  same for 7, 8, 10... people always bitching lol... <-- i think that's where the "generic" part started!

 

 personally i rocked Vista until ~2017 absolutely no issues! 

except Firefox sucked,  it still does... but it was really bad back then haha >.<