Neil Hughes
The New York Police Department must replace some 36,000 smartphones running Microsoft's defunct Windows Phone platform, and plans to provide its officers with replacement iPhones by the end of the year.
The NYPD's ill-advised investment in Windows Phone, as detailed by the New York Post, lasted just two years. The switch to Apple's iPhone was prompted by the announcement from Microsoft in July that it has terminated support for Windows Phone 8.1.
The 36,000 phones were purchased as part of a $160 million program intended to help modernize New York City's police force with new technology. Officers were equipped with Nokia Lumia 830 and Lumia 640XL smartphones.
It was not indicated which iPhone model, or models, the NYPD plans to switch to, but the Post did indicate that the handsets would be brand new models.
Smartphones have become a crucial tool in law enforcement, with the NYPD using them on the street to receive alerts, search databases, file reports, and even get real-time updates on 911 calls.
The NYPD investment in Windows Phone, first announced in late 2014, was questioned at the time because of Microsoft's small share of the smartphone space. The release of Windows Phone 8.1 failed to turn the tide against the more dominant iPhone and devices running Google's Android.
Microsoft's mobile strategy now revolves largely around apps and services for iOS and Android, offering a good balance for those invested in the company's desktop and cloud ecosystem — Â but leaving any who invested in Windows Phone, including the NYPD, in the lurch.
Wesley Hilliard
AppleInsider Staff
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
53 Comments
Maybe now law enforcement will appreciate Apple’s penchant of trying to keep the phones as safe as possible. Who knows what would happen if a bad actor was able to access their Officer tools from a lost NYPD Iphone.
Ouch! But why iPhones? Could @gatorguy please explain? Wouldn't Android be a better, more cost effective choice? The NYPD could probably get some really good deals on Samsung knockoffs. Is the NYPD wasting taxpayer money buying overpriced, substandard (as in years behind Android) Apple crap? Just asking. <s>
I remember many years ago, when my town's local school board was deciding what computers to buy for the district, parents were lobbying Windows PCs because they wanted their children to learn on a "real" computer. The board wouldn't even let the Apple rep give a presentation. When my oldest son entered the University of Illinois as an engineering student he discovered the mathematics lab was full of Macs.
My have the times changed.
LOL
I bet the technology selection group was old school Windows and anti-Apple. What incompetence. They should all be fired
Who makes these kinds of criminally horrible decisions like investing $160,000,000 in windows phone just 2 yrs ago? Unreal.
This isn’t new. A friend’s son is a detective in the NYPD. He was issued his first iPhone over a year ago. More recently, he was issued an iPhone 7. He says that he never had a Win Phone.