Verizon Pulls All Lumias From Their Site, Seemingly Halts All Sales; Other: VideoLAN Fights WP Users

[Ian S.]

Two ("Shocking"?) Stories Here Everybody

 

Apparently Verizon dumped WP entirely.

 

The Microsoft, Verizon drama appears to be continuing as the Verizon Wireless website has evidently pulled all Nokia Lumias from their website. The HTC One (M8) for Windows and Samsung ATIV SE are still available, so Verizon does not appear to be targeting Windows Phone in particular.

Verizon has not said anything publicly about its strained relationship with Microsoft over the Lumia line.Lumia Icon owners have grown increasingly incensed at the long delay for the Lumia Cyan and Denimupdates.

Microsoft's Joe Belfiore did reiterate that the update was due in "early 2015", although that is of little solace for those waiting.

The Lumia 822 and Lumia 928 are rather old devices, although both have recently received OS updatesthrough Verizon and Microsoft. Still, it was always a bit odd that Verizon pulled the Lumia Icon from sales channels but left its predecessor the Lumia 928 as an option. Now, Verizon appears to have rectified that but not in the way people expected.

Oddly enough, Verizon is still selling the BlackBerry Q10, which seems to be a higher priority than a flagship Lumia Windows Phone in 2015.

http://www.windowscentral.com/verizon-appears-pull-all-lumia-phones-site-halts-sales

 

 

VideoLAN Fires At WP Users on Twitter

VideoLAN takes offense

In a series of tersely worded tweets, VideoLAN took to Twitter to berate Windows Phone users over their behavior:

[adrynalyne]

Apparently Verizon dumped WP entirely.

 

Complete contradiction to the statement that the M8 and Ativ are still there.

[Dot Matrix]

Verizon's lack of support for any phone really, is apalling. Verizon doesn't have a Windows Phone problem, they have a phone problem in general. Unless your device has an Apple logo on it, updates to phones are few and far between for Android users as well.

So glad I dumbed them years ago. They treat customers like poo.

[+Red King Subscriber²]

I never heard a single good thing about VLC and comparing to other players it is clear that the developers are subpar.

[PGHammer]

Verizon's lack of support for any phone really, is apalling. Verizon doesn't have a Windows Phone problem, they have a phone problem in general. Unless your device has an Apple logo on it, updates to phones are few and far between for Android users as well.

So glad I dumbed them years ago. They treat customers like poo.

Apple also does their own updates - they don't depend on VZW for them.  (It's depending on the carrier for updates that gets handsets in hot water - it's not unique to Lumias; how many Android phones are still largely held hostage for the same reasons?).

[Major_Plonquer]

 

I never heard a single good thing about VLC and comparing to other players it is clear that the developers are subpar.

 

FYI: as a software and media professional let me tell you that - at least on Windows - VLC is the ONLY media player I would ever use. It plays more audio and video formats than any other player - without needing spurious and often virus-riddled CODECs - and does so flawlessly. As a professional developer I usually can't stand Open Source software as it's usually badly designed, poorly coded and totally unsupported. Amateur. In this case I make an exception. This is a great little piece of software - or not so little s the case may be.

So there you go. Now you've heard a single good thing about VLC.

So if you don't mind, please point me to your apps so that I can see for myself just how much you've contributed and how much you REALLY know about software.

Otherwise you're only "carping from the cheap seats".

PTOOF!

[T3X4S]

I never heard a single good thing about VLC and comparing to other players it is clear that the developers are subpar.

HUH ?!?  On the Windows platform - its the ONLY media player.  I have never, not once, had it crash. 

 

[remixedcat]

yeah it's VLC or the default... unlike android where you have hundreds.

 

On android I use poweramp for music and moboplayer for video.

[+Warwagon MVC]

Verizon's lack of support for any phone really, is apalling. Verizon doesn't have a Windows Phone problem, they have a phone problem in general. Unless your device has an Apple logo on it, updates to phones are few and far between for Android users as well.

So glad I dumbed them years ago. They treat customers like poo.

 

I love my verizon prepaid phone.

 

I'm sure if WP was selling like hot cakes they wouldn't stop selling it.

[WinMacLin Guy]

I think a lot of the pressure being put on the WP VLC dev is unfair. I have not had crash-free experience with VLC on Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8, but the devs are clearly working to make it better (for me nearly every update has made the experience better by fixing bugs or adding new features). As always it takes time, and seeing how this particular port is being handled by very few individuals it is natural to expect for it to take longer to mature. 

[Darrian]

I have yet to install an update to VLC that will play any video at all.  Instead it just freezes the app.  All I'm trying to play are standard mp4 files (h.264/aac) that other players, including the Xbox Video app can play just fine.  So yeah, I don't think VLC is ready for consumption yet.  But it's still in beta right?  We've been waiting years already, for a lot of apps, so if you're a WP fan you should have learned patience by now.

[:B: Rex]

back on topic, i sure hope they release or provide a windows update soon. if they dont that will be it for me and windows phone.

getting a so called flagship phone in the lumia icon and then not being able to update it when i was told by verizon employees the update will be out in a few weeks when in fact it hasnt happened in months. then microsoft saying updates are coming but never appear. im getting kind of ###### off at the whole thing.

you can blame verizon, or blame microsoft but windows phone is a joke now to me.

i really like it but no support means it is a fail.

i am stuck with verizon since they have the best coverage in my area and i am on my wifes plan so i dont know what i will do when i need a new phone

[Ryoken]

Re: VLC.

VLC is the player that will play anything. Bit it is NOT very good. It's quality is sub-par vrs a properly setup player like MPC-HC/BE with proper Codec's and Renderers. Also, the virus comments, is BS. You get viruses because you install codec packs, which are garbage to begin with. Installing every codec under the sun is worse than having none, cause now you have conflicts and competing priorities all over the place.

 

Don't take that as me hating VLC. I have it installed, it's great when you have a file that just won't work in another player, cause it'll play anything. But it's never my first choice. Hearing someone say they are a "media professional" then saying VLC is best, is like hearing someone say they are an Audiophile, and telling you Apple Earbuds of BOSE headphones are best.. No.. just.. no no no.

 

 

As for WP fans being bitter towards devs.. Yep. I see it. It's little man syndrome. Many (not all) WP Fans can't accept the fact that they are not only 3rd place, but such a distance 3rd that it's not worth investing much time or resources into developing for the platform. Times 100 when it's for a free product. Sure it's a chicken/egg, no one makes stuff for it, so no one buys it, so no one makes stuff for it, but end of the day, devs generally focus where the people are.. and they aren't on WP. So every time I hear some WP Fanboi's going nuts over something not working right there, or not going to their platform, and making demands, I just have to laugh.. And rest assured, the VLC devs just said openly what many other devs have thought or done themselves.

[statm1]

In response to the hate on codec packs.. I have been downloading and installing codec packs for years now from a few different developers. The Windows 7/8/10 Codec pack from Shark007 and the K-lite pack as examples. There are horrors stories from both packs, but unless you get the pack download from somewhere other than the authors or from a non-reputable download repository, I don't really understand how anyone is getting malware from it. I for one have never had a security problem from either one nor have they created a stability problem in my usage. I use a codec pack so I can play most if not all video files I come across in WMP, also so I don't have to configure any of the codecs individually had I not used an organized pack.

[adrynalyne]

I love my verizon prepaid phone.

 

I'm sure if WP was selling like hot cakes they wouldn't stop selling it.

They didn't stop selling it.  They still have two models on there, right?

 

First post is partially false and contradicts itself.

[DConnell Member]

I never heard a single good thing about VLC and comparing to other players it is clear that the developers are subpar.

 

VLC reliably plays practically anything I throw at it. For just playing a quick video file, it's a good alternative. I haven't tossed it on my SP2 yet, but I probably will. I'm just concerned about the effect it might have on battery life. I've heard it isn't the easiest on the battery, especially compared with the default Video app.

 

About the only other video player I use, apart from XBox Video, is XBMC/KODI. And its a full media center - kind of overkill just to play a quick video.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

I love my verizon prepaid phone.

 

I'm sure if WP was selling like hot cakes they wouldn't stop selling it.

it's kind of hard for the phones to "sell like hot cakes" when verizon hardly promotes them at all. worse yet most Verizon reps will do their best to push people away from windows phones

[George P Global Moderator]

They only pulled the Lumia phones, maybe because of growing pressure to update them? The carriers don't want to give you the newest software for free, they want you to buy a new phone from them with it, keep the cycle going.

 

MS should just sell unlocked phones directly for good prices that work on all carriers, then they can update them without issue and delays.

[Noir Angel]

Microsoft are hardly a poor company, perhaps it's about time they started negotiating better terms with carriers to stop them being bent over a barrel where software updates are concerned.

[Ian S.]

They didn't stop selling it. They still have two models on there, right?

First post is partially false and contradicts itself.

Yea well but the time you posted, I couldn't edit it anymore. Besides Lumia is almost completely the gave of WP

[adrynalyne]

Yea well but the time you posted, I couldn't edit it anymore. Besides Lumia is almost completely the gave of WP

 

On Verizon, Lumia doesn't mean a whole lot to anyone, so...no.

[eddman]

It plays more audio and video formats than any other player - without needing spurious and often virus-riddled CODECs - and does so flawlessly.

Guess you've never used MPC-HC, or perhaps didn't know it existed. It's among the oldest and most capable players out there and is constantly updated; and no, it doesn't require any external codecs to function.

[+Red King Subscriber²]

The issue with VLC is just how much work and quality is obtained over a period of time.

To compare,

There is the Media Player .NET that was, rather recently, introduced and gained significant popularity. One person working on it but the quality is substantial.

Then there was a enchanced rendered fork of MPC:HC - again one developer - rewrote subtitle and renderer to be heavily optimized.

Compared to that VLC developers are... bad at their job. Espiecially for wanting money and never delivering.

Last time I checked VLC for Windows was not using DXVA... if there is any bigger joke out there, I haven't found it.

[Darrian]

Guess you've never used MPC-HC, or perhaps didn't know it existed. It's among the oldest and most capable players out there and is constantly updated; and no, it doesn't require any external codecs to function.

MPC-HC is on Windows Phone?

[eddman]

MPC-HC is on Windows Phone?

No, I meant windows. The person I replied to didn't mention WP at all.