NYPD to replace 36,000 Windows phones with iPhones by year's end

[Cal Jeffrey]

The New York City Police Department will be getting rid of the 36,000 Windows 8.1 phones it currently has and will replace them with iPhones by the end of the year. The move comes only two years after the department purchased the devices through the NYPD Mobility Initiative.

Said initiative's goal is to modernize the NYPD with a budget of $160 million to upgrade the precinct’s technology (including cell phones).

The last of the purchased Windows phones were only issued to officers a few months ago.The decision comes after Microsoft announced that it would no longer support Windows 8.1 smartphones. The devices also had several apps specially made for the NYPD. Presumably, the apps will have to be rewritten for iOS.

Department heads have already decided to switch over to iPhones instead.

The New York Post stated that the plan to go with Windows phones in the first place had tech experts perplexed. Considering the minuscule 2.3 percent market share Microsoft holds in the cell phone industry, the decision seemed ill-advised. Sources within the NYPD said Deputy Commissioner for Information Technology Jessica Tisch was the sole person behind the decision.

(Jessica Tisch, NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Information Technology)

“Nobody purchases 36,000 phones based on the judgment of one person,” the source told the Post. “I don’t care if you’re Jesus f- -king Christ, you get a panel of experts.”

Tisch reportedly went with Windows phones partly because the department was already using a Windows-based video surveillance system at its Security Initiative Command Center in Lower Manhattan.

The department has not said whether it would be moving to the new iPhone 8 or if it would opt for the less expensive iPhone 7. The newest flagship phone is expected to launch in September for around $1,000. If the Deputy Commissioner decides to go with the newer model, the cost will eat up another $36 million of the Mobility Initiative’s budget.

There is also the expense of re-engineering apps to consider. There are nearly a dozen custom applications that the NYPD uses on the current Windows-based phones. Officers can receive alerts, search police databases, file reports and log into the 911 system to check dispatches in real-time.

The department is looking to discuss the matter further when the Deputy Commissioner returns from vacation next week.

Top image via Dennis A. Clark, NY Post, second image via Michel Friang, The Chief-Leader

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/70754-nypd-replace-36000-windows-phones-iphones-year-end.html

 

[Uncle Al]

Sigh......I should have held that stock just a little longer .....

 

[Evernessince]

I see no reason they need the iPhone 8. That's just frivolous spending and a bad idea. Bleeding Edge tech is prone to issues, putting it in the hands of the police is just asking for trouble.

 

[EClyde]

Waste of money

 

[trparky]

Waste of money

The waste of money was going with Windows Phone. Good God man, what a *****ic move.

 

[FF222]

Spotted the zealous Microsoft-hater

 

[trparky]

I have no problem with Windows on the desktop since that's where Windows belongs. Heck, I even like Windows 10 *gasp*. But as for Windows Phone, that was an epic failure.

 

[EClyde]

The waste of money was going with Windows Phone. Good God man, what a *****ic move.

NY needs a lot. New phones ain't one of the items. Good GOD man screw it on

 

[JaredTheDragon]

The only failure regarding WinPhones was Microsoft's lack of marketing. Without the marketing, app devs had no interest financially or philosophically.

In all other ways, the WinPhones were better than iOS or Android. Anyone who hasn't used one simply doesn't know what they missed.

You guys still have icons, for crying out loud. ICONS, in 2017.

 

[cliffordcooley]

You guys still have icons, for crying out loud. ICONS, in 2017.

What do you think a tile is for crying out loud?

 

[JaredTheDragon]

What do you think a tile is for crying out loud?

The fact that you don't know the difference shows us all we need to know about your position.

 

[mcborge]

I phones are delicate.. will they be up to the job and will they have to put them in rugged cases. If so why don't they just get phones that are built rugged in the first place.... There are plenty of rugged android handsets out there that are way cheaper then the I phone.

 

[cliffordcooley]

The fact that you don't know the difference shows us all we need to know about your position.

I couldn't care less about live tiles and that is the only difference. In fact I still use tiles on my Windows Phone as icons. I don't need nor do I want that live BS.

 

[Darth Shiv]

Spotted the zealous Microsoft-hater

The only failure regarding WinPhones was Microsoft's lack of marketing. Without the marketing, app devs had no interest financially or philosophically.

In all other ways, the WinPhones were better than iOS or Android. Anyone who hasn't used one simply doesn't know what they missed.

Hahahahahahahahaha.... the other failure was being many years late to the party. Who wants to develop an app ecosystem on SFA of the market? Their failure was they had no market traction because the incumbents were already doing a decent job.

Why on earth would everyone throw their effort at a 3rd platform??? One that has no market share? The horse had bolted. Microsoft turned up after the party finished.

And Microsoft's Universal Windows Platform is an unmitigated disaster. Considering the size of the Win7 market, to not support Win7 out of the box like a .NET style platform is cutting them off at the knees from their greatest advantage - their existing market share of the desktop platform.

 

[captaincranky]

Clearly, the deputy chief gave herself a concussion when she broke through the glass ceiling....er, head first...

 

[Flebbert]

Spotted the zealous Microsoft-hater

The only failure regarding WinPhones was Microsoft's lack of marketing. Without the marketing, app devs had no interest financially or philosophically.

In all other ways, the WinPhones were better than iOS or Android. Anyone who hasn't used one simply doesn't know what they missed.

Hahahahahahahahaha.... the other failure was being many years late to the party. Who wants to develop an app ecosystem on SFA of the market? Their failure was they had no market traction because the incumbents were already doing a decent job.

Why on earth would everyone throw their effort at a 3rd platform??? One that has no market share? The horse had bolted. Microsoft turned up after the party finished.

And Microsoft's Universal Windows Platform is an unmitigated disaster. Considering the size of the Win7 market, to not support Win7 out of the box like a .NET style platform is cutting them off at the knees from their greatest advantage - their existing market share of the desktop platform.

I wouldn't be surprised if a new windows phone launch happens next year once the major update moves to a single core across all devices allowing UWP apps to be developed.

I think they wanted to avoid having lots of unsupported devices out in the wild when it dropped resulting in a divide of old and new phones.

 

[Nobina]

It was good value at the time probably. Also WP was fast and reliable compared to laggy Android. It is abandonware now.

 

[Darth Shiv]

I wouldn't be surprised if a new windows phone launch happens next year once the major update moves to a single core across all devices allowing UWP apps to be developed.

I think they wanted to avoid having lots of unsupported devices out in the wild when it dropped resulting in a divide of old and new phones.

They're just taking too long. It would be an absolute marketing miracle for any WinPhone to take off and be successful in the next decade. It's an enormous uphill challenge from here.

Remember as well UWP has no value in modern IT. Cloud/web based platforms are completely ubiquitous and the tech is developed easily well enough for company CTOs to just say safely Cloud/Web is the way to go. UWP has a fraction of that audience. There's low value proposition in that.

 

[commanderasus]

Your fingerprint scan is not in our database - remount your horse and head back to headquarters

 

[Scshadow]

I see no reason they need the iPhone 8. That's just frivolous spending and a bad idea. Bleeding Edge tech is prone to issues, putting it in the hands of the police is just asking for trouble.

I wouldn't even say it comes down to potential new tech "issues". No one needs the upgrades of the latest and greatest Android or iPhone. The minuscule leaps in real world performance don't justify the price tag. They need to be making apps that aren't shiny and flashy and they need to focus on usability and performance. Any flagship phone of the last 5 years has the processing power needed. After all, these units don't need to be powerful enough for gaming. But no doubt they'll make apps with transition animations and complex unusable GUIs in an attempt to look modernized. And if you're going with the iPhone ecosystem, the decision is undoubtedly based on the support lifecycle of the product. By choosing the iPhone 8, they are getting additional support because we all know Apple will stop supporting devices after a few years. If they go with iPhone 7, they will essentially have to trash them a whole year sooner then they will with iPhone 8. If they continue on with phones that no longer have Apple support, they become negligently liable for any breach or loss of data. Really, at the end of the day, they should go with an android system but once again, cops want to be cool...

 

[cliffordcooley]

cops want to be cool...

And the irony is that a phone (any phone) will not make them cool.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

"NYPD to replace 36,000 Windows phones with iPhones by year's end".
So now the NYPD is in cahoots with the worlds' biggest criminal empire. Not surprising.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Spotted the zealous Microsoft-hater

Where??? Where??? We all have to get into bed with at least one of these legal criminal/tech empires at some point and if he thinks M$ is one helluva butt ugly chick (and I think so too but I can't give her the marching papers yet) then he'll just have to choose another partner and believe me, none of them are drop-dead gorgeous. It's just our money they're after, nothing else.

 

[sachouba]

That's what public budget is for!
Who needs free college?

 

[alabama man]

Motorola makes good cheap robust phones that could be even used as weapons when necessary. Was it even an option or did someone just decide to want a fashion accessory?