Nokia Lumia 920 and HTC Windows Phone 8X Are Great, and Yet - NYTimes.com

Bought an HTC 8X for one of my kids yesterday (at her request); she is very impressed with it so far.  After several days of "We have no idea when they'll be available," the Windows Phone 8 devices (along with a Surface-based wall display) suddenly and prominently appeared at a local Verizon store Tuesday (although Verizon doesn't sell the Surface).  Two of the Verizon salespeople seemed sincerely impressed, and had requested Windows Phone 8 devices for their own next smartphones.  This was a major improvement relative to a year ago, when I visited the same Verizon store with another one of my kids, who had decided she wanted a Windows Phone (7) smartphone; at that point, when we told the Verizon salesperson we wanted to look at a Windows Phone device, we were flatly told "No you don't.  You want an iPhone or an Android phone..."  (My daughter then selected the HTC Windows Phone 7 device anyway -- the only Windows Phone Verizon offered at that time -- and has been very happy with it.)

"Unfortunately, as a Microsoft product manager told me understatedly, “We have an awareness problem.” Translation: Nobody is buying Windows phones. And since nobody’s buying them, nobody’s writing apps for them. And since nobody’s writing apps — well, you can see where this is going.
Still, Microsoft isn’t giving up. This month, Windows Phone 8 arrives aboard two fascinating new phones: the Nokia Lumia 920 ($100 with a new AT&T contract) and the HTC Windows Phone 8X ($200 from AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile)."

Nokia Lumia 920 and HTC Windows Phone 8X Are Great, and Yet - NYTimes.com