
Don’t be surprised when Microsoft Android shows up - CrankyBear
http://www.computerworld.com/article/3057170/android/don-t-be-surprised-when-microsoft-android-shows-up.html
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WorldMaker
Another "Windows Phone sales are down" article. It doesn't add anything new to
the conversation and overlooks some obvious things:

A) The intentional shutdown of Project Astoria; which is more proof that
Astoria was on the verge of BlackBurying the platform, if for no other reason
than it would be yet another bullet point in articles such as this.

B) It's glossed over, but as much as the author seems to want to stick with
"Windows Phone" as a brand, the brand is dead. The trick is not for the reason
the author asserts: it's not "yet another rebranding", it's an entirely new
position that the author doesn't seem to understand/appreciate yet. There's no
more Windows Phone (RIP), because there's now _just_ Windows, on a mobile form
factor.

So yes, Windows mobile device form factor sales are down, but Windows device
sales in general are up. Microsoft is clearly and intentionally counting on
the platform effects of Windows keeping mobile efforts cheap in the long run
and maybe bring developers to some excitement in building for the platform as
a whole, across all device form factors.

I think the closest to a "Microsoft Android" will continue to be Microsoft
providing toys for Cyanogen's efforts, and I think Cyanogen's efforts
themselves (and Amazon's) show the limits of commercial viability for non-
Google Play Store Android forks/alternatives.

