Google blocks Windows Phone from Maps, limits Gmail
Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sat 5th Jan 2013 14:53 UTC
Talk, Rumors, X Versus Y And so this situation is starting to get ridiculous - and consumers are, as usual, caught in the middle of it all. Google has just blocked Windows Phone devices from accessing Google Maps on their phones. In addition, it also seems Windows Phone users are now restricted to the basic HTML version of the mobile GMail website. While understandable from a defensive perspective - Microsoft's extortion scheme targeting Android device makers and all that - it's still a massive dick move that only hurts consumers. Update: the media attention has worked - Google is backpedalling, and will remove the redirect. "We periodically test Google Maps compatibility with mobile browsers to make sure we deliver the best experience for those users. In our last test, IE mobile still did not offer a good maps experience with no ability to pan or zoom and perform basic map functionality. As a result, we chose to continue to redirect IE mobile users to Google.com where they could at least make local searches. The Firefox mobile browser did offer a somewhat better user experience and that’s why there is no redirect for those users. Recent improvements to IE mobile and Google Maps now deliver a better experience and we are currently working to remove the redirect. We will continue to test Google Maps compatibility with other mobile browsers to ensure the best possible experience for users."
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bosco_bearbank
Member since:
2005-10-12

I don't know which is funnier. That Google screwed Microsoft over like this, or that Microsoft fanboys are all up in arms about it.

Some of us who are up in arms about it are not Microsoft fanboys. Crap like this is wrong, regardless of who's doing it.

Reply Parent Score: 7

tylerdurden Member since:
2009-03-17

Still, there is some perverse irony in google "microsofting" microsot's "googling." Apparently, once a business reaches a specific volume they seem to display similar predatory tendencies.

Edited 2013-01-06 01:02 UTC

Reply Parent Score: 2

Nelson Member since:
2005-11-29

Exactly right. These are, in the end, all greedy corporations. There is no morality, there is only convenience. Google is kind (or semi-kind, and tolerable) to the open source community because it is convenient for them, not because of some moral high ground they take.

As soon as it becomes unattractive to them, they show their teeth and act as any other corporation would.

Reply Parent Score: 4

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ze_jerkface Member since:
2012-06-22

once a business reaches a specific volume they seem to display similar predatory tendencies.


It's when the company is no longer ran by a founder that values the business along with the customers and is instead ran by a board of directors that wants a profit and nothing more. All the large publicly traded corporations today would prostitute 10 year old girls if it made them a decent profit and didn't malign their public image. Just look at how the Google CEO talked about how evading taxes is actually a good thing. No loyalty at all to the country that helped foster its growth, it's just a geographic area of resources to them. Morality only matters to them in terms of legality and public perception.

Reply Parent Score: 3

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