Take one shot of Windows Mobile, one shot of a 1 GHz processor, and you’ll make a cocktail that still tastes like Windows Mobile, albeit with a zest of Red Bull. What I’m trying to say is, processors don’t matter if the operating system sucks. Windows Mobile has a terrible reputation, and while 6.5 is a little bit better, and HTC has their crazy skins that replace the Windows Mobile homescreen, you’re still using an operating system that is about as old as Vanilla Ice. Sure, drawing 3,000 triangles is 1800% faster, and yes, the CPU gives you 1.5x the number of megaflops, but at the end of the day, and be honest, do you really care?
I recently had a few beers with a colleague I used to work with at Nokia, and he asked me what I thought about the trend he is seeing with handset makers advertising the speed of their processors, to which I replied: “the only reason they’re doing that is because they know the software is so unconvincing that a consumer has to see a bullet point to feel better about making a purchase”. Is that fairly accurate? As for operating systems that could shine with a little bit more juice: come on HTC, bring out Android devices with more horsepower already!