Stick with an Android phone if you want to get os upgrades in future. Plus you can't beat sheer volume of support from large number of android users in TE itself.
WP8 phones are good, but may not get future updates when Microsoft releases a new os.
Very glad I found this thread as i've been recently thinking along the lines of TCO. If i'm going to be plunking down Rs.20 - 30k+ for a device i expect to use it for 3 years. I buy stuff to own not to resell.
So the first thing that needs to be considered is warranty. Let's see what it says for
Nokia
- twelve (12) months for the mobile device and accessories (whether included in the mobile device sales package or sold separately) other than the consumable parts and accessories listed in (2) and (3) below;
- six (6) months for the following consumable parts and accessories: batteries, chargers, desk stands, headsets, cables and covers; and
- ninety (90) days for the media on which any software is provided,e.g. CD-rom, memory card.
As far as your national laws permit, the Warranty Period will not be extended or renewed or otherwise affected due to subsequent resale, repair or replacement of the Product. However, repaired part(s) will be warranted for the remainder of the original Warranty Period or for sixty (60) days from the date of repair, whichever is longer.
AFAIK, 12 months is the same for Apple, Samsung, Sony and every other mobile device provider, in India. After 12 months these companies do now want to know you. This has a direct bearing on whether you can expect to get OS updates. Well, if they do not provide a warranty beyond 12 months for their phone then they have effectively washed their hands of their responsibility to you the customer. OS updates in this case depend on the OS vendor and whether third parties can modify the initial release for the phones concerned.
Any one want to tell me what the resale price for a flagship device will be once its out of warranty ? That would be the real test for resale value. How much of a hit in % can one expect from the original price.
Charging customers for major upgrades has always been Microsoft's plan.
True but its also true that m$ has historically been very good with backwards compatibility. Apps bought on previous OS versions usually worked on later OS versions. Granted this philosophy was the case for PC's whether it will extend to mobiles remains to be seen. But i would give m$ the benefit of the doubt until their behaviour dictates otherwise.
This leads to the next issue, if you want to use apps and they demand an up-todate OS, your use of the phone starts to diminish. People use apps, the OS is transparent to them, nobody gives a damn what OS they use so long as the apps they want continue to run.
The difficult bit to assess here is how mature the OS happens to be. If its past the major overhaul mark then future changes will be incremental and not major forcing faster obsolesence of the device.
HC->ICS is possible
GB-> ICS might not be, depending on the device.
ICS->JB->LP should be
is WP8->Wp9 possible Wp8 is more evolved than WP7.
There isn't Wp9 planned yet and Microsoft has given assurance to minimum two years of updates. They didn't stop support for WP7 users. They had the WP7.5 update and then the WP7.8 update. In fact it is still supported and Nokia keeps releasing updates for their Wp7 devices even now.
WP8 hasn't even been out for a year and the next major update is expected next month. Another update is set to follow by the year's end and it will be available for all the current Windows Phone 8 smartphones. If you buy a phone released today, you are assured to get updates until June 2015.
That is an interesting point, even though the manufacturers only provide 1 year, m$ is offering two years. This might have something to do with the fact that in Europe Nokia provides 2 years of warranty for the device unlike India where its only one year.
So basically if a new OS comes out on a two year cycle then do not expect app developers to build for the older OS. Your effective use of a phone is 2 years and not three, well you could push it but if the apps you use dictate latest & greatest then 2 years is the max you can afford to hold on to your mobile device.
In the desktop world, processing power has not been the limitation to upgrading to a major version OS, but rather the lack of device drivers for essential peripherals. Taking things to a mobile level and does anyone know who makes the various peripherals for their devices. Who makes the camera, the wifi interface etc. Nobody knows. This info is pretty damn hard to find. So its likely that the vendors for these devices will not be releasing updated device drivers for their devices they made a couple of years ago. Nobody is going to be satisified if they managed to upgrade to a major OS and found wifi or camera all of sudden does not work.
So all this means getting a mobile device to last beyond 3 years is going to be challenging regardless of the OS. But, the longer you hold onto the device the longer you get to amortise the initial cost. This forces people into the mid-range or worse still, the low end where updating to even a minor OS version isn't feasible.
I clearly think that WP9 will be released on current Wp8 devices, but you clearly think otherwise. Only time will tell now, let's wait and see.
You say this based on the maturity of WP8 and that going to Wp9 is iterative and not major.
Bottomline : if you're putting up 20-30k then what is a realistic timeframe to be able to productively use the device regardless of OS. Is there a way to generalise it, 2, 3, 4 years ? This is a rather crucial decision point when deciding how much to spend. As the higher asking price is insurance into the future. How long for ?
