

Windows Phone, Latin America’s second most widely used mobile platform - Bootvis
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/Press/2013/Aug13/08-21WPLATAMPR.aspx

======
Bootvis
I think the most interesting thing about this development is that in Latin
America app developers have a much stronger motivation to build apps for
Windows Phone. As a Windows Phone owner I think that the lack of apps is the
most annoying thing by far. The rest of the OS is actually quite OK.

------
beobab
I'd be completely happy with my windows phone if only it allowed me to set
custom SMS tones. I was very surprised that I like it so much. It has caused
me the most frustration I have ever experienced in a phone, but I still like
it.

The cheap Nokia Lumia models seem to be making it more popular. My brother and
I both independently bought one, despite both being self-proclaimed apple
fanboys.

------
AlexanderDhoore
The little devil in me would like to see Microsoft burn. The little angel in
me knows that a third big mobile OS will be good for competition. I guess I
hope Windows Phone does well, but not too well :)

~~~
harrytuttle
Despite being a UNIX die-hard, I rather like Windows Phone. I'm on my second
handset (Nokia 710, now 720) and will buy another without hesitation.

If someone can suggest a handset that has better navigation with zero cost,
has a battery life like the 720 (2 days EASILY), is silky smooth, has an IMAP
client that isn't a piece of shit, is available SIM free for under £200, has
perfect Exchange integration, never crashes and can withstand being dropped
hundreds of times then I'll switch.

Oh and Nokia build quality: these things are like Nokia 3310s - you can throw
them across the room, drop them from full head height and they still work
flawlessly with no breaks (I've tried it).

Not one single Android, BB, Firefox or iOS device can actually do all that,
which is my problem.

~~~
networked
>Despite being a UNIX die-hard, I rather like Windows Phone.

I love the UX of Windows Phone but what has kept me from getting a WP8 device
for myself is the lack of an SSH client as configurable as JuiceSSH for
Android or PuTTY for Symbian (as far as I'm aware). Is there one fit for a
UNIX die-hard? The killer feature of JuiceSSH for me (which was a major reason
why I decided to stay on Android) is transparent SSH hopping.

Another, lesser, concern is the lack text reflow in IE but I think we can
expect that to be addressed soon. It's one of the top feature requests.

~~~
harrytuttle
I gave up on SSH on "glass" devices so this is fine for me. Too easy to FUBAR
something from miskeying.

I switch on the WiFi hotspot on the device and use PuTTY on my ThinkPad
instead.

~~~
networked
>I gave up on SSH on "glass" devices so this is fine for me. Too easy to FUBAR
something from miskeying.

As I've said in a previous HN thread on WP8 (edit: [1]), now that Android
devices with QWERTY keyboards are being phased out it could be a real
opportunity for Windows Phone if Microsoft encouraged vendors to ship devices
with physical keyboards. How viable a market this is, I wonder? I imagine past
Nokia Eseries users (like myself) would appreciate it, as should at least some
of the enterprise Blackberry users Microsoft seems after.

[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6200051](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6200051)

------
meerita
Buying an iPhone in Argentina is really complicated. First, because the many
complications to import, second because you can't buy dollars making it more
complicated and third because even if you use your credit card the government
charges an extra huge percentage of the spent price in taxes. All these things
are done to stop argentinians to buy foreign money.

~~~
pedalpete
Argentina has some strange things going on, but why is it different with a
windows phone?

------
scottlilly
Sadly (I'm a Windows developer), it's almost all Android here in Paraguay.

I spoke with a couple local companies that do mobile development and the
biggest problem is still the cost of hardware. That's even though Paraguay
doesn't have anywhere near as large a problem with importing as other nearby
countries do (for example, Uruguay's 60% import duty and 22% IVA, Argentina's
restrictions on imports and spending money outside the country). I
occasionally pop into cell phones stores and I haven't yet found a Nokia Lumia
to replace my old X6. I'm sure they're available, but they certainly aren't
common.

------
forgottenpaswrd
Wow, I love how with all this PR text they manage to not mention Android even
once.

~~~
CmonDev
Because that would, like, make so much sense for them.

------
bitserf
Interesting, what is the reason for the growth in Latin America compared to
elsewhere? Does Nokia have a strong brand there?

~~~
drill_sarge
Maybe with the lower price point Lumia phones? I don't know. Maybe they are
pushing it really hard like here (Germany). Buy Lumia here ad, buy Lumia there
blabla marketing.

~~~
hudell
Yeah, at least in the south of Brazil, you can't enter a city without seeing a
huge ad saying something like "welcome to cityname, here you can buy windows
phones in the storename" That and a lot of pictures of windows phone interface
everywhere

------
primelens
Hard to know what to make of this without any numbers, but I doubt the iPhone
(or any similarly priced top-end phone) was flying off the shelves in many of
these countries.

~~~
CmonDev
People are buying things they can't afford in every country. That might be a
defining characteristic of our age.

------
devx
I wonder if Windows Phone will soon have TPM 2.0, too:

[http://investmentwatchblog.com/leaked-german-government-
warn...](http://investmentwatchblog.com/leaked-german-government-warns-key-
entities-not-to-use-windows-8-links-the-nsa/)

