All Things Windows Phone - Apps, Phones, and Discussion

I had one for my BlackBerry Bold 9700. The bundled screen protector was very good, lasting 2 years of hard use without peeling. The case itself was average; the paint began wearing at the corners first and then at other areas well before one year was up. I have the Incipio NGP for my Galaxy S3 right now, and that's shaping up to be a very nice case. The bundled Incipio screen protector was quite atrocious, though. Ended up getting a much higher-quality Rearth one.

 

If someone dislikes the tile UI, are there third party options to make it look more android/ios-like? One of my family members picked up a windows phone and really dislikes the tile UI, that's why I ask.

 

As far as I know, nothing can nor would be able to, why would you get a phone and then not like the UI?

 

A family member took a plunge because the rep at the kiosk convinced him it was the right phone for him - it isn't. He can't return it now because he used over 30 minutes of talktime on it which voids returns, so he's either going to have to live with it or sell + buy an android.

Seems the rep pushed the windows phone on him due to his age (60's) and lacks knowledge with tech - it seems to be the most simplistic UI of them all. I let him try my android and he likes it much more than his windows phone. The rep should of demo'd windows/android/ios, not just windows, but it's too late for that.

 

What doesn't he like about it? Often, it's just a matter of a bit of time to get used to something that's different. WP7 has an interface that's rather different from traditional phone UIs, so it'll probably take a few days to get a good workflow. Moving from BB to Android took me quite some time (actually, I'm still adjusting now).

 

Android is quite a bit more complicated than WP7 is once you start finding your way through it and you need to get things done. I've let my grandparents try to mess with my Arrive for a few minutes and they could figure out how to do things like look up people, make calls, and browse the internet whereas on an android phone (which was my uncles) I watched them mess around with it for an hour just to get those same things done, but I'll leave that alone because my grandparents already know how to use Windows s that might be why.

 

The difference between iOS and WP7 is more aesthetic than functional. In both, there's a home screen that displays a bunch of things you can tap to go into voice calling, text messaging, email, web browser, music player, etc. It's just in one, they're 3d images on a clear background; on the other, they're 2d images on a solid-color background.

And at least some WP7 tiles also function as Android widgets (calendar being a notable example, most weather apps being another).

And yes, it's a simplistic interface. So is iOS--that's partly why iOS succeeded with consumers where Blackberry and Windows Mobile had not. Some might say that a simplistic interface on a phone is a good thing. Are there specific things he wants to be able to do that he can't do on the phone, or does he just want the feeling of complexity?

 

He likes the way the android interface/UI looks - specifically the icons, but since there's no way to replace the tiles with icons, then he's SOL. I'll give it a few more days to see if he adjusts to it as MidnightSun suggested - if not, I'll help him sell it and find an android for him. He didn't tell me he was going to buy a phone or else I would of went to the store with him and unlike the rep, I would of went through all of the platforms with him.

 

There's a WP7 thread but no WP8 thread, so I thought with the formal release of the first WP8 hardware (from Samsung) and with a major Nokia event set for September 5th, one might be warranted.

For those who haven't heard, meet the Samsung Ativ S. Samsung appears to be using "Ativ" for all of its Windows RT tablets and Windows Phones, just like it uses Galaxy for Android tablets and phones. And the Ativ S basically appears to be a US-market (dual-core) Galaxy S3 with a redesigned case and WP8. I've never been a Samsung guy before, but having felt the Galaxy S3 (sooooooo light for the screen size), I could totally see myself owning this.

The physical home button is an unusual choice...not sure how I feel about it.





First Windows Phone 8 Device Officially Announced: The Samsung ATIV S

 

A second flagship device has been leaked, the Nokia Lumia 920. Looks nice, and if the PureView camera tech is indeed implemented, that'll be quite the phone. If it ends up having 1280x720 resolution in a 4.5" screen, that'll be fantastic: I do wish my Galaxy S3 screen were a tad bit smaller, but with the same resolution.

Windows Phone has some much better hardware the second time around: instead of having only budget-phones, there's high-end, well-specced devices. Hope it's not too late. I really, really like the WP interface, even more than Android.

EDIT: And a more budget-friendly model, the Nokia Lumia 820, also seems to be leaked.

 

That doesn't look at all like the large Pureview camera hardware from the 808 Pureview. It looks waaaaaay too small for it to be the same fantastic camera. I worry that they're going to dilute the Pureview name by putting it on nearly everything they sell, instead of just the "camera as good as a dedicated camera"-type phones like the 808.

EDIT: the 808 Pureview's hardware, for comparison:

 

The PureView is indeed a GREAT camera for a phone, but it still has an incredibly narrow dynamic range. They've probably reduced the lens elements for the WP8 device, meaning a thinner overall profile.

 

The two Windows Phone threads have been combined, as much of the discussion will carry over, and Windows Phone 7.8 will bring some of Windows Phone 8's goodies to current WP smartphones.

 

Teaser video released by Nokia and Karl Zeiss, presumably filmed with a WP8 Pureview phone:

Things are about to change - YouTube

Setting aside the fact that I keep waiting for her to ride right into a pole and shatter her unprotected skull, looks good to me.

 

That's a gorgeous phone. If I weren't so heavily invested in the Google/Android ecosystem, I would seriously consider WP for my next phone. Tbh, I really like the Metro interface for a phone or tablet. Elegant simplicity and a coherent aesthetic.

 

Jump on in, the water's fine.

Seriously, Windows Phone plays very nicely with Gmail, Google contacts, and Google calendar.

 

The 920 looks great, but I don't like the huge amount of space for the buttons on the bottom

 

I've got a year or so to mull it over. Very tempted at this point.

 

Nokia's designs, while aesthetically excellent, have been very inefficient in terms of screen size to case size. For example, the Lumia 900's case was just as large as the HTC Titan II's case, even though the Lumia 900 sported a 4.3" screen and the Titan sported a 4.7". This is just another example of a poor screen-size-to-case-size design.

I wonder if there's an engineering reason for it, something about the polycarbonate unibody case.

 

That's also been a consistent problem with Android devices... that damn chin. On most devices that I've taken apart that have the "chin" it's either mostly hollow with an antenna there, or like the GS2 has a speaker there and uses the space as a resonating chamber.

The speaker on the L-800/900, is it on the bottom?

 

If only the carriers were announced; in either case getting off sprint regardless, will probably jump into TMobile.

 

That's the other thing about Windows Phone 8. It's going to need to have a good flagship presence on all the major carriers to gain momentum: I'd count on AT&T and T-Mobile, and we'll see what happens with Verizon and Sprint.

 

That's why the Ativ S is so exciting. It's basically the same hardware as the Galaxy S3. And which carriers carry the S3?

AT&T
Verizon
Sprint
T-Mobile
US Cellular

All but Sprint have said they're backing WP8, so I'm betting those four will have the Ativ S.

For comparison, the Lumia 900 is available...on AT&T. Period. Nokia had better revise that policy if it wants the Lumia 920 to take a significant position in the US market.

 

Not counting on Sprint considering how much they went in for the iPhone, which might or might not have been a good idea. Surprises happen though.

 

The iPhone is like a $5 hooker... it's a sure thing. Sprint is already making quite a bit of money off it, even though they put down a crap ton to land it.

Sprint would have to put out a decent amount of money on ad-campaigns and such to launch new Windows Phone devices. I'm just not sure they're that flush with cash yet.

 

If they had a big investment in some flagship WP8 devices, that'd be the case...but with Microsoft and other carriers pushing WP8, couldn't they just stock a couple midrange WP8 devices for people who were already interested in WP8, no big ad campaign necessary?

Doesn't matter to me personally...US Cellular has announced it's throwing a ton of weight behind WP8. They have to, because they used to be Android-and-Blackberry, and BB is all but dead, and they still don't have the iPhone. WP8 is their only real option for any US Cellular customer who doesn't want the Galaxy S3 (their only top-tier phone right now).

 

They could, I'm sure... but I doubt it.

Meanwhile:

Don

That just sounds dirty. I'm all for security, but can can we say OVERKILL? I mean damn! TPM 2.0 with key validation on boot? Sounds like RIM. That's exactly how the PlayBook boots. If you do the whole "root" thing for the PlayBook and push anything into the system partition, every change you make will be erased on boot-up because it validates keys and checksums.

 

Remember that Windows Phone 8, in addition to trying to make a bigger impact in the consumer market than WP7 could, is trying to dominate the enterprise market. With MS Office baked into the OS, Blackberry-quality security, and far more user-friendly experience than BB7 can deliver, I don't doubt that WP8 will end up being the one and only smartphone OS that any company that issues you a smartphone uses.

 

Any enterprise IT department worth it's salt will deploy iPhones. Apple's app deployment and device management is second to none, by a LONG shot.

So, WP maybe getting some hardcore security but it's all for naught if they don't have the other pieces of the puzzle.

 

The Nokia Lumia 920 is one good-looking device. Official launch of the 920 and 820 was today, and there's a lot of other WP8 news abound. Skype for WP8 has a real slick interface as well.

Thinking I may just possibly kick myself for going Android instead of WP8. I think it's going to be a real tough decision

 

Lots of hullabaloo about Nokia possibly having faked its "optical image stabilization" demo video:

Lumia 920 demo reel is faked? - Windows Phone Forums at wpcentral.com

In other news, Nokia stock has fallen 15% today. Not good for the debut day of your next-gen products.

 

wow, that's seriously poor. derpkia.

no really, you should have known better.

-----

how about this wireless charging business though? obviously been out for awhile in various forms/stages. anybody have any personal experience with it or a nutshell version of how it works?

 

Nothing new. Palm was doing inductive charging a while back... convenience wise, it's 50/50. It's nice to just be able to drop it on a base and have it charge. But then the negative is that you can't really use the device with it on the charging base.

 

ah, inductive charging to be more precise. googled/wikipedia'ed it and stumbled upon this fairly recent article. do we think that we might see this in the iPhone 5? (appropriate thread to ask such a question, i know.)

 

I'm pretty sure we won't, since Apple is changing the connector for the iPhone 5, and if they were going wireless, I doubt there'd be such a fuss about the new connector.

That said, I really don't care about inductive charging. (1) It'll never be available in public areas where I live (i.e., not Manhattan), and (2) for home use, it's not really more convenient than just using Micro-USB charging. I have a charger plugged in all the time and just plug random devices into it from time to time, from my phone to my Kindle, etc. Standardization is awesome!

 

I've always felt that the people who don't see the advantages of wireless charging are simply failing to see the bigger picture.

The Qi charging standard that Nokia have chosen was updated recently to allow the effective distance to be increased from a couple of mm to more than an inch.
This means the charging pads could be integrated into furniture or attached to the under-side of a normal desk - at which point, you could start having wireless mice and keyboards that charge from it, speakers maybe, tablets. Provided the transmitter were large enough, you could have it so that anything that was placed anywhere on your desk, table, shelf, whatever would start charging. And that's before you get on to all these companies like Virgin Atlantic who are going to integrate it into their products/premises.

Wi-fi has revolutionised the world in it's way, wireless charging has the potential to have just as big an impact on the way the world works.

 

I could see things working that well far down the line. But I keep cell phones for about two years. Am I likely to encounter a single wireless charging pad anywhere in Oregon, besides a pad I buy and set on my own desk, during the duration of my next smartphone? No. And I live in Oregon, not Manhattan or Tokyo. The airplanes I fly on are Canadair Regional Jets operated by United and Delta's regional divisions...not international jetliners with the latest technology. The biggest in-flight perk I get is a bag of peanuts. And I'm allergic to peanuts.

I see the potential for some people in the future if this becomes a standard for mobile electronics. I don't see any incentive to buy a phone in 2012 or 2013 that has the technology.

 

Quoted for awesomeness.

 

As hardcore Androider I am, I agree with you. I've been watching some L920 videos, and I have to say, it's a must have in any way. Design is just gorgeous, camera is very good, WP8 seems to be amazing (going to reserve final judgement until I try it out for myself) and it's Nokia. Was thinking about getting a Note 2, but I may have to re think that.

 

Indeed. If there were any WP device I would get, it would without a doubt be a Lumia device. They have design that is second to none.

The only thing I don't like is that WP8 home screen. I think they could have done a bit more than just resizable tiles.

 

It's interesting to me how the Android folks are primarily focusing on the Lumia 920...I would have thought that the Samsung Ativ S would appeal to Android folks and the Lumia 920 would poach from the iOS side of the fence.

Anyway, what would you like from the home screen? Widgets? That's up to the app developers--a well-designed app with a double-size live tile can form a very effective widget. It all depends on how much care and thought the app designer puts into the live tile functionality. I've got a weather app that gives me an up-to-date satellite weather map of my area on the live tile, for example.

 

That's still not really a widget - widgets are more interactive, like a music player or something like that.

 

I speak for myself, but although I LOVE the aluminium build on the Ativ S (note : by that I mean it promises to be much better than plastic), I believe it's better to go with the Lumia 920, not only because of it's groundbreakingly good camera, but also because the design is actually new and innovative. The Ativ s is what a Galaxy S 2 should have been, and the Lumia just attracts a bit more attention because it's unique, even though I am, as I said, a hardcore Android/Samsung fanboy.

Nokia did it just right. Right things at the right time. Finally there's an option OTHER than the Android counterpart. There's finally competiton and a limbo of "what should I buy damn it?" which was much less existent before.

 

The Ativ S case isn't really much different than the Galaxy S3's...it just has a metallic finish on it, but it's still made of pliable plastic (for better or for worse): Russian review shows the Samsung ATIV S can indeed 'bend it like Beckham' | wpcentral | Windows Phone News, Forums, and Reviews

About Nokia...yeah, I can see that.

 

The only thing that bothers me about the Lumia 920 is that physically, it's just about the same size as the GS3 and One X (and the Ativ S), even though it houses a smaller screen. The high resolution, high DPI (higher than that of the iPhone 4S and the rumored iPhone 5) screen itself looks great, though.

Nokia's going to have an uphill battle, though. Their name has been missing from high-end phones in the US for many, many years now. Building up brand recognition and loyalty in the US amongst high-profile competitors like Samsung and Apple will be tough. Everything's going to have to go right: marketing, carrier distribution (and selection), the Windows Phone 8 experience, etc, etc.

 

Like the iPhone, it emphasizes a "solid feel" over the best screen-size-to-physical-size ratio. The screen is also pretty well protected, with a very solid unibody case and a substantial bezel that will take the impact (instead of the screen itself) if you drop it. That said, the featherweight design of the Galaxy S3/Ativ S is pretty appealing too. I think both approaches have merit.

Agreed. Carrier availability is a big part of this. They threw a huge Times Square release party (featuring Nicki Minaj) for the Lumia 900, and then...only offered it on AT&T? What? The iPhone and the Galaxy S3 are available on every major US carrier. The Lumia 900 and the One X were AT&T exclusives. Guess which two failed?

I think the best thing the Lumia 920 has going for it is that it has selling points that no other phone of any OS has. You can use the touchscreen with fingernails or gloves instead of the pad of your finger. The optical image stabilization, despite the initial ad snafu, is groundbreaking in a smartphone. I think the inductive charging will capture people's attention the same way that Apple's MagSafe power adaptors do, even though I don't think either is a huge objective benefit over traditional charger plugs.

 

Post-processing or not, the Lumia 920's optical image stabilization yields some impressive low-light image results.

 

If my carrier offers it, i'll probably get a Lumia 920, the only reason i've been holding out on the 900 is because WP8 was around the corner. I have a feeling that Rogers will be the only ones offering it first in Canada just like always and the only carrier that gets decent reception at my uni (and more remote regions of Canada for that matter) is Bell. That is of course provided that WP8 is decent.

I've been sticking with my sturdy dumbphone for a while now and it's time for a change.

 

HTC released its WP8 lineup today. Specs lagging behind Samsung's and Nokia's. But not only that...people say Samsung styling is derivative, but what the hell is this?!

 

^Actually, IMHO, the 8X is a clear evolution of the One X's design.

Also, Nokia really needs to shut their mouths or get their P*ublic R*elations guy under control. HTC has sold more Windows based devices than Nokia probably will for the foreseeable future. HTC has just as much right as anyone to make a WP handset exactly how they see fit to do so.

EDIT: WHY DOES THIS FORUM REFORMAT P*R into "Google Page Ranking"? That needs to end. Now.