By 
It’s always a good day when you can enjoy the best of both worlds, but that luxury isn’t always available to us in the world of mobile devices. Only recently have tablets been able to come with multiple operating systems that the user can easily switch between. But what about phones? Thankfully, one Indian firm is about to address that.
Hot on the heels of Karbonn’s announcement that they’ve secured a licensing deal from Microsoft to make Windows phones, the Indian company revealed that they’ll be looking to introduce a smartphone that can boot both Android and Windows Phone on the same device. There aren’t many details about the device right this moment, though we know they’ll be targeting a June 2014 launch.
Karbonn’s track record seems rather solid, with the company maintaining a lengthy line of affordable Android phones and tablets for sale in their home turf of India. They certainly aren’t the most amazing phones out there, but they seem to have established themselves as a very capable company that India natives can be proud of with this innovative step.
There are many questions to be had, for sure. Will this work? Will this work well? How easy is it for the user to switch between Android and Windows? What kind of specs will it have? We don’t even have a name for the thing yet, so we’re still a bit of ways away from having even a fraction of those questions answered. Still, we couldn’t be more excited to see a manufacturer tackling this challenge.
There is one question we can ask all of you, though: would you buy one? I know I’ve always been intrigued by Windows Phone, though its immature apps marketplace and a lack of diverse options in the ecosystem have made me hesitant to give it a solid shot. This could definitely be the one device with a “window” big enough for me to climb through and see what the other side has to offer. Hit up the poll below to let us know if you’d be willing to grab one of these (assuming the price isn’t anything to worry about).
[polldaddy poll=7845818]
[via India Times, TechnoStall]
NOT SURE Y I WOULD WANT A WINDOWS PHONE!
I voted yes, but really just to use a test device. Price is also a factor.
vote for no. first of all why did you want to dual boot your phone? i can under stand people want to dual booth convertibles but even that is between android and full fledged windows and not Windows phone OS.
And the point is what really?….
Why the hell is money being wasted on this?
I think people on both sides would agree with you.
Something like this would need to be intelligently done. Contacts, text messages, phone log, etc would all need to sync between the two OSes. They’d have to share the same space and have access to the same files. I think the best concept was a Windows Tablet that can load an emulated Android screen so you can run those Apps. I’d like to see the reverse, a Start button on Android that loads the “metro” screen giving you access to the Windows stuff. Dual booting just seems too much of a hassle on a phone – but I must admit, I’ve liked some Windows 8 Phones, and wouldn’t mind having one, from time to time.
It might have been interesting 2-3 years ago. But now that Android is an established eco-system why would I need Windows? Especially Windows Mobile being a bastard amongst MS product family.
This kind of device may be a good choice for app devs though.
Waste of space. I probably would stop using Windows altogether within 2 weeks. Kinda gimmicky in my case
No.
Take my money!
I would buy one as long as I could install ubuntu on the WP partition.
No! Because the phone will have garbage hardware that won’t be able to handle the dual os
so you’ve seen the specs?
You’ve obviously not been around long enough to know this is the same old story, different character.
for a laptop yes, for a phone? hell no. MS is great for getting work done but on a phone, it is just incomplete.
To be honest, other than to do it, I’ve never understood why people want to dual boot a PC, let alone a phone. I can see it from the idea of experimenting with an OS on a limited budget, I suppose, but does anyone really spend a significant amount of time in two OS’s on one PC?
Nowadays, wouldn’t virtualization be a better solution that dual booting? You could actually use both at the same time without wasting time waiting on a boot every time you switch.
Virtualization is slower by its nature.
Windows is better for business apps, Linux is better for programming and engineering tools, and OS X is a blend of a GUI desktop with a POSIX shell. There’s something for everyone.
If you have the money, many people get the MBP/MBA for their superior industrial design, but put Windows for better access to work and/or games.
First, if I wanted to use Microsoft’s unloved and unwanted phone OS, then I would have bought one.
Second, even if I could tolerate Windows Phone, then Why oh Why oh Why would I want to dual boot? What possible benefit could there be for doing so? I want my phone and more importantly, it’s APPS to be instantly usable and accessible all the time. A smartphone is a highly personal device (like a toothbrush is personal) and is intended to improve your life and make you more productive. Every time I reboot, is down time. If I need something on the phone and it is booted into the ‘wrong’ OS, I have to say, oh, wait, I can’t get out of the taxi, grab my luggage and head into the airport, I’ve got to reboot my phone into the other OS in order to check on such-and-so, or what not.
Would my information be integrated across both OSes? I doubt it. Microsoft is trying to, in the exact words of Steve Ballmer “fucking kill Google” (right before he famously threw a chair). So can I expect my contacts, calendar, Google Hangouts, and many other things to be seamlessly synced across both Android and Windows Phone? (I’ll check back in one quarter of a galactic turn to see if it has happened yet.)
The number one thing I am looking for when I buy a phone, is that it is part of the Android ecosystem. All my cloud data is usable. I get a tremendous amount of convenience and a superior experience in exchange for Google being able to put targeted ads in front of my eyes from time to time. This is sort of like when you are buying a new (not a first) computer. You go in looking for a specific OS, usually Windows or Mac (in my case Linux). Oh, it would be cool to be able to dual boot, like booting Windows on a Mac, but in practice, not actually that useful. It would be somewhat better, to be able to run a Virtualized Windows on a Mac — IF you had some specific Windows app that you must run — for example. But this is highly unlikely for the Windows / Android dual boot smartphone. The reality is that if you use Android, there probably is not any app in the Windows Phone ecosystem that you need which is not already on Android. If you were primarily a Windows Phone user, then I could understand the appeal of the Android ecosystem and its large software base, but then that is probably why there are so few Windows Phone users. The numbers tell the story.
I suppose that for someone who considers a smartphone as a toy for its own sake, then yes, I could see the appeal of a dual boot phone instead of having to buy two phones. But for most people, the smartphone is a powerful tool — like having a PC.
It seems very telling to me that this question is about Windows Phone and Android dual boot rather than dual booting with something that could actually be useful, such as Android dual booting with iOS. (Not that I am interested in iOS.) But in this example, you have two large ecosystems where there is some useful software on one platform that is not on the other. The fact that this question is even asked just smacks of Microsoft desperation to me.
I think MS cannot admit defeat so to save face they are bringing up this idea..I could be wrong though.
You could be right though too.
Three things smell of Microsoft desperation.
1. The poll about dual boot Android / WinPhone
2. The WinDroid phones (WinPhone that can run Android apps . . . poorly)
3. Nokia making an actual Android phone styled like WinPhone . . . in order to make Android look bad, or make WinPhone look good.
>.<
For the Coles notes, tl:dr crowd.
“No.”
Coles notes? Never heard of it. Either I’m old, or you meant to say Cliffs notes.
Don’t think they make anything LTE. No LTE no go.
If it were an Android form with the power and form I came to expect from someone like LG and then the option to boot into windows 8.1 in DOCK Mode, as in while hooked to a larger screen and mouse and keyboard AND it functioned well in both. I could definitly see picking one up. (Obviously I know this isn’t but I am just saying what I would want.)
The Samsung Ativ Q did that – but it never came to market Windows 8.1 + Android VC
I wouldn’t mind sleeping with the enemy on the side. It’d feel good knowing I could have my way with her whenever I want. But mostly, she’d be neglected.
Cannot upvote this enough.
I would buy it if it were the right price and good hardware. Would I use the dual boot feature? nope.
I bought a Nokia Lumia Icon because I wanted to try Windows Phone, but I can’t see myself wanting to dual boot – seems cumbersome. Either you run Android or Windows – I dual booted Linux and Windows a ways back and always used 1 or the other – didn’t see the point of going through both.
I would only buy it for the exclusive Disqus app. I HATE when I open a Disqus comment link in my email and it takes me to a useless admin page. Other than that if it had that awesome Nokia camera, but this won’t have it.
I mean, I wouldn’t forsake a phone because it dualbooted…. I wouldn’t use it very much if at all, but it doesn’t take anything away from me….
agreed, wouldnt drive me away but I struggle finding a practical reason to have the functionality…
But a dual boot phone DOES take something away from you.
Storage space.
And if history is anything to judge by, a Windows Phone OS from Microsoft is not exactly going to be a lightweight drop in.
If I have no use for the 2nd OS, then why have it using up valuable space that could be mine — which I paid for.
Now if Microsoft heavily subsidized the dual boot phone, that might make it attractive, except for one thing. If Microsoft is paying to heavily subsidize it, they are going to make sure that they can get in my face. So I’m not just going to be able to ignore that 2nd OS, because it will keep pestering me to try it and use it.
Me: OMG! I need to make a 911 call right now!
Phone: Hello, would you like to try the superior features of Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8? Click here to try it, or else click here to see a short presentation on why you should abandon Android.
Sounds interesting, but I doubt the specs on that phone will be competetive.
If it were a phone with desktop Windows and not Windows Phone, then I would be interested.
so many articles on the subject, so little real products :(
I just put my Nexus on ebay for this …. I kid I kid.
I don’t really care, but I wouldn’t complain if I could boot both OS’s.
ok, I said no but I suppose I would have to see it in action before making a final vote but I really can’t imagine anything about WP drawing me to it enough to justify dual-booting to it.. I mean heck I am trying to rid myself of their desktop OS so why would I want their mobile one?..
Hahaha. No. If I want the look of Windows OS I’ll just download a launcher, thanks. Because god knows I would never use it for the hell of it.
I would consider a tablet with dual boot especially if I can run windows office on it properly (like the surface RT) but for a phone why bother. How many of you actually restart your phone more than once in a week?
Andyware can run Android Apps on Windows phone in parallel.
http://www.novapx.com
Can someone get more details?