Microsoft says you should switch from Galaxy S III to Lumia 920. Delusional?

No matter what you think about it, Microsoft sure knows how to make a splash with "Meet Your Match". Just as the campaign was slowly fading away in our memories, Windows Phone evangelist Ben Rudolph brings it back to public attention by pitting the Nokia Lumia 920 against Android heavyweight Samsung Galaxy S III. Talk about being bold.

Unlike the previous challenges where Windows Phone 8 won against some older devices, this time around a handset running Microsoft's latest smartphone operating system -- the Lumia 920 -- finds itself in a pickle with the Galaxy S III. Trying to sway "real people" and "not actors" from their beloved green droids, Ben Rudolph proposes a challenge of finding "a good Mexican place". If he loses, he gives the folks $100.

I'm going to spoil the surprise right now -- he won. Rudolph takes advantage of the built-in Local Scout feature in Windows Phone 8 to find the designated location (it can also show "see+do", "shop" and "for you" places), whereas Galaxy S III owners resort to using the built-in search functionality.

Microsoft, obviously, wants to portray Windows Phone 8 as delivering results faster than any other smartphone operating system and, judging by my own experience with it, if configured right (as in having the necessary tiles pinned on the homescreen) it's perfectly reasonable to trust the outcome.

However I'm inclined to believe that an Android evangelist, Rudolph's counterpart if you will, can beat a Windows Phone 8 device in a similar scenario. Heading out prepared gives a great advantage over the "opposition". I can only imagine the outcome of a Galaxy S III user challenging Rudolph to post on Google+ or use voice search to pull up local places on the Nokia Lumia 920, or any other Windows Phone 8 device for that matter.

In fact, I have used Google Now to pull up search results for local carrier shops and it delivered them, alongside the option to use Google Maps for directions. And, I can only assume (since Local Scout brings up zero entries in my location) that it's just as fast.