User beats Windows Phone in speed test, denied prize "just because"

By Vice
in Back Page News

 Share

Recommended Posts

Collaborator

xeleraph

Posted
Posted

I own both an Android device (Xperia Ray) and a Windows Phone (Lumia 710). The lock screen on WP cannot be disabled, the best you can do is set the screen to never time out.

It's really obvious what's happening here. The Windows Store employee tried to cheat by pre-setting two weather tiles on her start screen to "win" the contest. Apparently it so happens that the guy did the exact same thing as well and had disabled his lock screen. The employee was beaten using her own cheating strategy, and was too butthurt to admit that the guy won, which isn't surprising given how she smugly expected to win since she was cheating... except that the other guy was cheating too! :D

  • simplezz, Charisma and Ambroos
  • Like 3
Grand Master

simplezz

Posted
Posted

I'm confused, can't Windows Phone's slide unlock be disabled? If yes, that guy isn't really winning, let the phones be set the same way and see how long it takes for the OS to show up the info, that's how I'd measure it.

That's not how the competition is set up. Microsoft store employees prepare a WP7 device with two live weather tiles before hand (yes cheating). So if we're being fair, then shouldn't every challenger also get a chance to prepare their phones by placing widgets on home screens etc? The whole "Smoked by Windows Phone" campaign is designed to give WP an advantage. This guy however caught out the store employee, who in an unsportsmanlike fashion wouldn't admit losing.

1 vs 2 actions do not prove Android is faster, it just proves Android was set with one less action and WP wasn't.

The same can be said of instances of when Windows Phone won. The WP7 devices were prepared beforehand with tiles or other options in order to be quicker. And the challenges are worded and chosen specifically based on what WP is the fastest at. I'm sure many people could design a challenge where iOS or Android "Smokes" Windows Phone too.

Collaborator

xeleraph

Posted
Posted

How anyone could be on Microsoft's side in this is beyond me. They've rigged the competition to hell just so they can have an advantage.

It was better when Ben Rudolph was the only one doing it. Once you start "training" normal employees to do it as well, it's going to be just a matter of time before the campaign becomes a big a joke as Apple "Geniuses" are.

  • 123456789A and guru
  • Like 2
Grand Master

ichi

Posted
Posted

I'm confused, can't Windows Phone's slide unlock be disabled? If yes, that guy isn't really winning, let the phones be set the same way and see how long it takes for the OS to show up the info, that's how I'd measure it. 1 vs 2 actions do not prove Android is faster, it just proves Android was set with one less action and WP wasn't. He's just trying to win by finding flaws in the rules, he doesn't really get the point of this competition.

This isn't a benchmark, it's a competition: you have your phone, I have mine, let's see who does things faster.

If the point was comparing stock and not your personal setups they would be requiring using stock OOTB phones, but that's not the case with any of the phones used.

Grand Master

AbandonedTrolley

Posted
Posted

I'm confused, can't Windows Phone's slide unlock be disabled? If yes, that guy isn't really winning, let the phones be set the same way and see how long it takes for the OS to show up the info, that's how I'd measure it. 1 vs 2 actions do not prove Android is faster, it just proves Android was set with one less action and WP wasn't. He's just trying to win by finding flaws in the rules, he doesn't really get the point of this competition.

I'm sorry but this is really a draw. Trying to compare a less than 1 second swipe of a lock screen to one without a lock screen is like saying who can pick up their phone out of the pocket the fastest. The reality is, by the time you look at the screen to read it, you can already have unlocked it just like the other guy. I do it all the time.

The slower motion is pressing the power button first so if that is required on the Android device as well, it is a truly a draw. Now, if it isn't required and you just take the phone out of your pocket and no actions whatsoever, I would give it a win.

He has got the point of this competition exactly correct. There are no flaws in the rules, the rules are which device can do it manually the quickest.

The WP saleperson had set up her handset to show the weather in the least possible actions (2) as she is unable to miss out the unlock phase. The android owner had done the same, setup his device to show the weather in the least possible actions (1)

Now as both devices need a power button press to start with lets assume they can both press a button as quick as each other, upon both doing that the Android device is already displaying the weather. The WP now needs to be unlocked before it can do the same, Android wins, simple as that.

Try telling a 100m sprinter that he didn't win because someone was half a second slower than him, but hey that doesn't matter, it's not that much slower so it's a draw.

They set the rules and lost.

Grand Master

Miuku.

Posted
Posted

Who turns off their lock screen anyway? It's like having a race to see who can start their car faster, but you've removed the door to your car just so you can get in faster.

People who don't need a lock screen but have a hardware switch for it - which is vastly better anyway.

Grand Master

AbandonedTrolley

Posted
Posted

People who don't need a lock screen but have a hardware switch for it - which is vastly better anyway.

Or people that want to win a competition based on speed. Same as asking why runners don't wear jeans and a jumper, they wear as little as possible to enhance their chances of winning. Exactly what this guy did, got rid of what wasn't needed for the competition so that he could win.

Grand Master

Joshie

Posted
Posted

How anyone could be on Microsoft's side in this is beyond me. They've rigged the competition to hell just so they can have an advantage.

It's called the extremely low standard of expecting a whiny blogger to offer ANY evidence whatsoever backing up his claim before agreeing with him "just because" you have a personal beef with Microsoft (or corporations as a whole) and this makes you feel warm and fuzzy because it jives with that beef.

How anybody can just believe anything any blogger anywhere says is beyond me. :p

Grand Master

tsupersonic

Posted
Posted

It's called the extremely low standard of expecting a whiny blogger to offer ANY evidence whatsoever backing up his claim before agreeing with him "just because" you have a personal beef with Microsoft (or corporations as a whole) and this makes you feel warm and fuzzy because it jives with that beef.

How anybody can just believe anything any blogger anywhere says is beyond me. :p

This is why these challenges should all be filmed. Think about it, if he did win, it would be bad publicity for Microsoft, to admit defeat. The competition sounds rigged - it makes it sound like MS is already prepared the device ahead of time with the challenge, and expects the other device to win? I say for a fair comparison, both devices should be bone stock, on WiFi, unlocked (aka no lock screen interaction or unlocking), and video recorded. If MS can do that, then I will take the challenge seriously. I love WP7, but having extensively, I know I can be much faster on Android to perform almost everything. Hell, there's even stuff WP7 can't do that Android can, and vice versa.
Grand Master

.Neo

Posted
Posted

According to HIM

And I'd say a lo of people look at the time in two cities, travelers, businessmen, students studying away from home, gamers gaming with friends in other states or countries....

Whether his phone is rooted or not is completely irrelevant in this instance. It's also possible to disable the lock screen and add two weather widgets to the home screen on my old HTC Legend which is running the stock firmware it came with out of the box. It's a feature basically all (if not all) Android phones have, deal with it.

Grand Master

Syanide

Posted
Posted

This is why these challenges should all be filmed. Think about it, if he did win, it would be bad publicity for Microsoft, to admit defeat. The competition sounds rigged - it makes it sound like MS is already prepared the device ahead of time with the challenge, and expects the other device to win? I say for a fair comparison, both devices should be bone stock, on WiFi, unlocked (aka no lock screen interaction or unlocking), and video recorded. If MS can do that, then I will take the challenge seriously. I love WP7, but having extensively, I know I can be much faster on Android to perform almost everything. Hell, there's even stuff WP7 can't do that Android can, and vice versa.

Of course it's rigged, what did you expect? This is marketing, not science. It was only crazy luck that the guy had two weather widgets on his home screen and that he disabled the lock screen. Microsoft should have owned up because they know it's downright impossible to win, but it's bad marketing either way. That's why these campaigns are crap and should be avoided.

Grand Master

.Neo

Posted
Posted

Who turns off their lock screen anyway? It's like having a race to see who can start their car faster, but you've removed the door to your car just so you can get in faster.

That's completely besides the point and has absolutely nothing to do with the contest.

Grand Master

123456789A

Posted
Posted

That's completely besides the point and has absolutely nothing to do with the contest.

I never said it did.

The contest in this format isn't a great idea. It shouldn't be about setting things up in advance, but rather the actual time it takes TO set things up.

Grand Master

BajiRav

Posted
Posted

How anyone could be on Microsoft's side in this is beyond me. They've rigged the competition to hell just so they can have an advantage.

True, they should just pay up.

It was better when Ben Rudolph was the only one doing it. Once you start "training" normal employees to do it as well, it's going to be just a matter of time before the campaign becomes a big a joke as Apple "Geniuses" are.

QFT. It was a nice little marketing campaign with $100. They upped the ante with $1000 and are overdoing it now.

This isn't a benchmark, it's a competition: you have your phone, I have mine, let's see who does things faster.

If the point was comparing stock and not your personal setups they would be requiring using stock OOTB phones, but that's not the case with any of the phones used.

It is actually a marketing campaign balooned into something beyond a nice little stunt. They should have never gone above $100. In some cases, stock WP will beat Android and in some Android might beat WP (although with my little exp with Android, I don't see any of my frequent scenarios faster on Android except may be weather).

It's funny that people claim "Microsoft is bad, this is all staged". of course, it is staged because it is a freaking advertizing campaign!

Mentor

pack34

Posted
Posted

True, they should just pay up.

They did

It is actually a marketing campaign balooned into something beyond a nice little stunt. They should have never gone above $100. In some cases, stock WP will beat Android and in some Android might beat WP (although with my little exp with Android, I don't see any of my frequent scenarios faster on Android except may be weather).

It's funny that people claim "Microsoft is bad, this is all staged". of course, it is staged because it is a freaking advertizing campaign!

Plus, doesn't everyone that competes get a free phone? The point of the whole thing is to show off the phone and get it into people's hands. To show them something cool in hopes that they'll show off their new phone to their friends so that they, in turn, may jump on board with the platform.

Grand Master

Yusuf M. Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

It's a bit unfair when your expectation of winning is so high that you can't possibly consider losing. And when you actually lose, you attribute it to something silly.

Situation has been rectified and she has been given the full winning prize (laptop) and losing prize (phone)

She? I believe you meant to say he.

Mentor

pack34

Posted
Posted

It's a bit unfair when your expectation of winning is so high that you can't possibly consider losing. And when you actually lose, you attribute it to something silly.

She? I believe you meant to say he.

My bad, I'm bad with gender of indian names.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Posts

    • An actual cosmic "Eye of Sauron" had been looking straight at us all along

      By +Edouard · Posted

      @Sayan...I have defended you at various points as I hope you know. This headline however is utter trash...shame on you sir!
    • An actual cosmic "Eye of Sauron" had been looking straight at us all along

      By hellowalkman · Posted

      An actual cosmic "Eye of Sauron" had been looking straight at us all along by Sayan Sen Image by Kovin P. Vasquez via Pexels | Not representative An international team of researchers has solved a long-standing mystery surrounding a distant blazar known as PKS 1424+240, helping explain why it produces some of the brightest high-energy gamma rays and cosmic neutrinos ever observed despite appearing to have a relatively slow-moving jet. The findings were published on June 6 in Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters. The study addresses a broader challenge in astrophysics: understanding how extreme cosmic objects accelerate particles to very high energies and produce very high-energy (VHE) photons and neutrinos. PKS 1424+240 is located billions of light-years from Earth. It has attracted attention for years because it is both a powerful source of VHE gamma rays and the brightest known neutrino-emitting blazar in the sky, according to observations by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. It is also associated with one of the strongest peaks in IceCube's nine-year neutrino sky map A blazar is a type of active galactic nucleus powered by a supermassive black hole that pulls in surrounding matter and launches jets of plasma moving close to the speed of light. What makes blazars unique is their orientation. One of their jets points almost directly toward Earth, making them appear exceptionally bright across the electromagnetic spectrum and allowing scientists to study some of the most extreme physical processes in the Universe. The scientists exclaimed it's like the 'Eye of Sauron' in deep space. Usually, the brightest gamma-ray-emitting blazars are expected to have jets that appear to move very quickly. However, radio observations of PKS 1424+240 suggested that its jet was moving much more slowly, creating a contradiction that became part of a long-running problem known as the "Doppler factor crisis." To investigate, researchers analyzed 15 years of observations from the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), a network of 10 radio antennas spread across the continental United States, Hawaii and St. Croix. Using a technique called Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), astronomers combine signals from widely separated radio telescopes to create a virtual Earth-sized telescope capable of revealing extremely fine details. The team combined 42 polarization-sensitive radio images collected between 2009 and 2025, creating a much deeper and more detailed view of the jet than had previously been possible. The observations were carried out as part of MOJAVE (Monitoring Of Jets in Active galactic nuclei with VLBA Experiments), a long-running program that studies the brightness, polarization and magnetic field structures of jets produced by active galaxies. The project aims to better understand how activity near supermassive black holes is linked to high-energy radiation and neutrino emission. “When we reconstructed the image, it looked absolutely stunning,” said Yuri Kovalev, lead author of the study and Principal Investigator of the European Research Council-funded MuSES project at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy. “We have never seen anything quite like it — a near-perfect toroidal magnetic field with a jet, pointing straight at us.” The image revealed an unusual geometry. The researchers found that Earth lies almost directly in line with the jet, with a viewing angle of less than 0.6 degrees. In simple terms, astronomers are looking almost straight down the jet. This turned out to be the key to the mystery. Because the jet is aimed almost directly at Earth, a relativistic effect called Doppler boosting dramatically increases its apparent brightness. The study found that this effect boosts the emission by a factor of about 30 while also making the jet appear slower than it actually is. “This alignment causes a boost in brightness by a factor of 30 or more,” said Jack Livingston, a co-author at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy. “At the same time, the jet appears to move slowly due to projection effects — a classic optical illusion.” The nearly head-on view also gave scientists a rare look at the jet's magnetic field. Using polarized radio signals, they detected a clear toroidal, or doughnut-shaped, magnetic field component. The observations suggest the jet carries an electric current and that its magnetic field helps launch, shape and stabilize the flow of plasma. Researchers believe this magnetic structure may also play a key role in accelerating particles to energies high enough to produce both gamma rays and neutrinos. “Solving this puzzle confirms that active galactic nuclei with supermassive black holes are not only powerful accelerators of electrons, but also of protons — the origin of the observed high-energy neutrinos,” Kovalev said. The research was conducted under the MuSES (Multi-messenger Studies of Energetic Sources) project, which investigates how active galactic nuclei accelerate particles and generate different cosmic signals, including light and neutrinos. Scientists say understanding how protons are accelerated and linked to neutrino production remains one of the major unanswered questions in astrophysics. The findings help explain why some blazars can appear to have slow jets while still producing extremely bright high-energy emissions. More broadly, the study strengthens the link between relativistic jets, magnetic fields, gamma rays and high-energy neutrinos. Researchers say the results provide new clues about how some of the Universe's most powerful natural particle accelerators work and offer important insights for multimessenger astronomy, which combines different types of cosmic signals to study extreme events in space. Source: European Research Council, EDP Sciences This article was generated with some help from AI and reviewed by an editor. Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, this material is used for the purpose of news reporting. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
    • What browser do you prefer to use, and why?

      By AnotherITguy · Posted

      Edge
    • Classic Outlook vs New Outlook — Which one do you prefer and why?

      By AnotherITguy · Posted

      Gotenks98 is right... Outlook (new) is absolute trash. Doesn't Mozilla have an Enterprise Version of Firebird?
    • Microsoft Weekly: Surface Laptop Ultra, Windows 11 context menus, Build 2026 recap, and more

      By TarasBuria · Posted

      Microsoft Weekly: Surface Laptop Ultra, Windows 11 context menus, Build 2026 recap, and more by Taras Buria This week's news recap is here, with Microsoft announcing the new Surface Laptop Ultra, fresh chips from NVIDIA for Windows on ARM, a no-build week, fixes for Windows 11's context menus, gaming news, reviews, and more. Quick links: Windows 10 and 11 Windows Insider Program Updates are available Reviews are in Gaming news Great deals to check Windows 11 and Windows 10 Here, we talk about everything happening around Microsoft's latest operating system in the Stable channel and preview builds: new features, removed features, controversies, bugs, interesting findings, and more. And, of course, you may find a word or two about older versions. At Computex 2026, together with NVIDIA, Microsoft announced the Surface Laptop Ultra, its most powerful laptop to date, powered by NVIDIA's RTX Spark processor. Details about this computer are currently scarce, as Microsoft has only revealed certain parts of its specs. So far, we know that the computer has a 15-inch mini-LED display, a rich set of ports, a powerful processor, and all-day battery life. It also comes with a new wallpaper, which you can already download here in full resolution. The Surface Laptop Studio is not the only NVIDIA-powered Surface, which Microsoft unveiled this week. At Build 2026, the company also debuted the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, an odd-shaped desktop with a 20-core NVIDIA Grace CPU and an NVIDIA Blackwell RTX GPU with 6,144 CUDA cores and fifth-generation Tensor Cores with FP4 precision, connected via the NVIDIA NVLink-C2C chip-to-chip interconnect for high performance. According to Microsoft, it can run models with up to 120 billion parameters locally without relying on cloud GPU infrastructure. These two new Surface devices are likely to cost quite a lot, and for those who need a more affordable device, Microsoft is preparing the next-gen Qualcomm-powered Surface Pro and Surface Laptop. This week, details about these two devices leaked in plenty of detail. Other announcements at Build 2026 include the following: Microsoft unveils new security tools for IT admins and developers building AI products Microsoft announces Scout, an OpenClaw-powered personal agent for enterprise customers Microsoft unveils MAI-Thinking-1 reasoning and MAI-Code-1 coding models Microsoft announced a new Windows 11 native command-line utility Microsoft unveils Majorana 2 quantum chip, accelerating commercial timeline to 2029 Microsoft believes that AI agents will eventually replace apps through Project Solara Microsoft introduces Web IQ, a Bing-powered search system built for AI agents Last week, Microsoft released a new Experimental build, which introduced a major Start menu upgrade. It now lets you toggle off specific parts of the menu without affecting other features, resize the menu, and hide additional UI elements. We published a closer look here, so if you want to know what Microsoft is cooking without enrolling in the Insider program and installing unstable builds, check it out. Speaking of new features, many users are very annoyed about the way Microsoft delivers them. Recently, a frustrated user shared their experience with gradual rollouts, and even Microsoft engineers admitted there is a flaw in the system that prevents new features from applying properly. One of those new features includes the ability to uninstall AI models in Windows 11 with a single click. Windows 11 is finally getting fixes for its slow context menus. Marcus Ash from Microsoft confirmed that the company is working on fixing Windows 11's context menus. Reworked context menus are going to be faster, simpler by default, and "configurable to what you use most." According to Marcus, Microsoft will share more details soon. Windows Insider Program Windows 11 preview builds, released last week, are now available for download as standalone ISO files. These days, Microsoft regularly pushes new images, allowing users to clean-install its recent Windows 11 preview builds faster and easier. If you want to try the latest Windows 11 features without jumping through the Windows Update hoops, get those new images here. Sadly, Microsoft did not release new Windows 11 preview builds this week. Come back next time. Updates are available This section covers software, firmware, and other notable updates (released and coming soon) delivering new features, security fixes, improvements, patches, and more from Microsoft and third parties. Microsoft is preparing new features for Teams. Later this month, the messenger will receive a new download manager with auto-dismissing notifications, reducing clutter and making the overall experience less annoying when dealing with downloads. Mozilla released Firefox 151.0.3, a new bug-fixing update for the browser. It is a small release, which fixes problems with pasting into text fields and the oversized VPN button on the toolbar. The update is now available for all users in the Release channel. Here are other updates and releases you may find interesting: VS Code 1.123 introduces massive upgrades for persistent AI developer workflows Microsoft OneDrive is getting a simple yet much-needed feature Microsoft faces heat after quietly blocking promised Office features on Apple systems Microsoft resumes forced Copilot app installation on some Windows PCs Browser vendors pen an open letter to Microsoft, saying "enough is enough" Here are the latest drivers and firmware updates released this week: AMD Radeon Software 26.6.1 with optimizations for F1 25: 2026 Season, World of Tanks: HEAT, and various bug fixes. Reviews are in Here is the hardware and software we reviewed this week Steven Parker dropped more mini PC reviews this week. GEEKOM Air12 2026 Edition is a low-power, affordable computer with an Intel Tiger Lake Pentium Gold processor, up to 16GB of memory, and 512GB of storage, costing just $349. It is light, quiet, energy efficient, and has modern ports on the front. However, the front-facing USB Type-C is data-only, and there are some quirks with the computer's memory, so check out the full review. The AMD RX 9070 GRE has been released worldwide, and we published a benchmark review comparing this powerful graphics card to the RX 9070 XT, 7800 XT, the NVIDIA RTX 5070, and RTX 4070. It has solid, balanced performance, plenty of RAM, and low temperatures, but watch out for mediocre ray tracing performance and not the best efficiency. Also, we reviewed the Cuktech 10 Ultra, a compact, high-power charger with four ports and a big display full of various stats. This tiny charger can pull nearly 120W and spread that power according to each connected device's needs. It also comes with a high-quality 240W cable, three power modes, and retractable prongs. The best part? It is quite affordable, just make sure you have an outlet placed in the right spot to benefit from the built-in display. On the gaming side Learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, freebies, deals, discounts, and more. Do you remember the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally, Microsoft's first handheld console designed in partnership with ASUS? This week, ASUS revealed a new version of the device to celebrate twenty years of its Republic of Gamers brand. The new ROG Xbox Ally X20 features an OLED display, a transforming D-Pad, TMR sticks, and other changes. However, the chip inside the console is still the same. Forza Horizon 6 launched last month to critical acclaim, but the game will soon have a new rival made by those who used to work on Forza Horizon titles. Mike Brown from Maverick Games announced Clutch, an upcoming racing game with a story-driven campaign, deep car customization, and rich multiplayer. The game is coming to PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 in Spring 2027. The next update for Minecraft now has a release date. This week, Mojang announced that Chaos Cubed will be available on June 16, 2026. In addition, Mojang published a teaser of the next Minecraft movie. A Minecraft Movie Squared has now been confirmed for a release somewhere in 2027. NVIDIA GeForce Now is getting 18 new games in June. Those include Jurassic World Evolution 3, Fatekeeper, GOALS, Gothic 1 Remake, NTE: Neverness to Everness, and more. If you are a Game Pass subscriber, you can also get new games soon: Persona 5 Royal, Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions, and more are coming to the service this month. Sumer Game Fest 2026 happened this week, where we saw plenty of new games, including Alien Isolation 2, Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3, Gen Atlas from the Shadow of the Colossus creator, a new Cuphead game in 8-bit style, a new expansion for Mafia: The Old Country, and more. Finally, here are this week's Weekend PC Game Deals, full of discounts and the latest freebies from the Epic Games Store. Other gaming news includes the following: God of War Laufey announced, introducing Kratos' wife as the new protagonist Ori studio's No Rest for the Wicked 1.0 release and console plans announced Microsoft launches Godot Sample to streamline Xbox PC game development on the engine Great deals to check Every week, we cover many deals on different hardware and software. The following discounts are still available, so check them out. You might find something you want or need. Samsung 990 PRO SSD 2TB NVMe - $389.99 | 39% off Sonos Sub 4 - Wireless Subwoofer - $759 | 16% off Logitech MX Creative Console - $159.99 | 20% off This link will take you to other issues of the Microsoft Weekly series. You can also support Neowin by registering for a free member account or subscribing for extra member benefits, along with an ad-free tier option.

  • Recent Achievements

    • Reacting Well
      X-No-file earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • One Month Later
      pestcontrol46 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      pestcontrol46 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      JKR earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Rookie
      moog19 went up a rank
      Rookie

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      510
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      276
    3. 3
      Skyfrog
      75
    4. 4
      +Edouard
      71
    5. 5
      FloatingFatMan
      68
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!