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First Impression from WP7
- Thread starter MotionxxUSxx
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I forgot to mention that the web browser doesn't come close to the iPhones in terms of the pixelation. I don't know if I made that word up lol but without zooming in everything seemed very pixelated on the focus.
This image is the number 1 reason why I just do NOT like WP7. I understand it's "fancy" and "flash," but iOS clearly, in my opinion, gives the clearest access to the apps you need. And when it comes down to it, that really is what you need.
HTC Sense is horrible. The phone app has the dial keypad, recent contacts AND the complete phonebook all displayed at once. Awful and a pain to use. This is just one example of the poorly designed Sense UI. TouchWiz is much better in my opinion. The phone app is pretty much the same as the phone app on the iPhone, which means that it's very good.
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The only thing the iphone has better is the number of apps. When you use WP7 it is easy to see that IOS is outdated and constrained. Anyone want to buy an iphone 4?
That was kind of why I bought a Focus after 2 1/2 years of iPhones. Maybe I'm ready for something new, maybe I'm not, but I'm not so close-minded that I'm not going at least try something new since there's really nothing to lose and no other reason not too. I tried Android and thought it was trying to hard to be direct competition to the iPhone so why not just an iPhone. WP is completely different to the point where I can't reasonably compare them yet. As a developer, I know for a fact that Microsoft has always been a magnitude more laissez faire than Apple has ever been and most likely ever will be. It'll be interesting to see if Microsoft's marketplace ends up being the same cluttered slopfest that Apple's app store became.
Per the browser, I still haven't seen any problems with text rendering at various scales but I'm still playing with it. The only real critique I have at the moment is that the camera should have been recessed so as to not get so greasy and whatnot so quickly.
Gotta laugh at some of these posts. Used to be people had issues with all these os's copying Apple and here were have MS who completely did something different from Apple and it's to big of change and looks like a 2 year old did it.
iPhone is simplistic and easy to use but WP7 may have made using a phone a little simpler. I do say "may have" because I haven't played with one yet. They even take away the need to "stress" over your signal and battery life by hiding those away in a hidden tray. Out of sight, out of mind and another way to "free" us from our phones until the phone just dies I suppose. For me I will most likely use an iPhone for the un-foreseen future because I am so engrossed in itunes...plus I will admit to being a small Apple fan boy and the iPhone4 is just a gorgeous device to hold and use. But I hope to get a WP7 device as my work phone when they are finally released on Sprint or we move our corporate lines to AT&T. I really want to go check out a Samsung Focus.
iPhone is simplistic and easy to use but WP7 may have made using a phone a little simpler. I do say "may have" because I haven't played with one yet. They even take away the need to "stress" over your signal and battery life by hiding those away in a hidden tray. Out of sight, out of mind and another way to "free" us from our phones until the phone just dies I suppose. For me I will most likely use an iPhone for the un-foreseen future because I am so engrossed in itunes...plus I will admit to being a small Apple fan boy and the iPhone4 is just a gorgeous device to hold and use. But I hope to get a WP7 device as my work phone when they are finally released on Sprint or we move our corporate lines to AT&T. I really want to go check out a Samsung Focus.
FOCUS USERS!!!
need some info before MAYBE pulling the trigger tonight.
not a big fan of the design (from the vids/pics i saw) does it look better in person. the main thing that looks kind of ugly imo is the back battery door.
second, was the downgrade in build quality DRASTIC or something you can leave with? i would be pretty irked to order a focus and than get in the mail a phone thats 99% plastic and creaks everywhere. so compared to the build quality of the iphone 4, hows it stack up?
and lastly, is the screen gorilla glass? is it glass in general or is it plastic?
skdfkl;sdnzg;klfdg. don't know if i should buy the phone. if i do, def over the surround.
edit:
2 more things, does the chrome surrounding give it a cheesy look?
and do you guys think MS will release a fix for the vid cam bug? i would hate to buy it than return it 30 days later and pay the restocking fee because MS won't release software updates to fix these bugs (and maybe a fix for the poor vid quality. not sure if thats something you can fix over software)
need some info before MAYBE pulling the trigger tonight.
not a big fan of the design (from the vids/pics i saw) does it look better in person. the main thing that looks kind of ugly imo is the back battery door.
second, was the downgrade in build quality DRASTIC or something you can leave with? i would be pretty irked to order a focus and than get in the mail a phone thats 99% plastic and creaks everywhere. so compared to the build quality of the iphone 4, hows it stack up?
and lastly, is the screen gorilla glass? is it glass in general or is it plastic?
skdfkl;sdnzg;klfdg. don't know if i should buy the phone. if i do, def over the surround.
edit:
2 more things, does the chrome surrounding give it a cheesy look?
and do you guys think MS will release a fix for the vid cam bug? i would hate to buy it than return it 30 days later and pay the restocking fee because MS won't release software updates to fix these bugs (and maybe a fix for the poor vid quality. not sure if thats something you can fix over software)
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WM7 looks like it was created for the legally blind. Not a fan of big blocks and huge words. They should have just kept that style for multimedia only.
I had the same misgivings about the design but I haven't noticed any creaks and the back snaps on pretty easily and seems tight enough that I'm not worried about it. The silver band looks fine, I don't have any problems with it and I gripped the s**t out of it earlier and didn't lose a single bar of reception.
I couldn't tell you what the screen is made of but it's pretty rigid, sounds and feels a lot like the iPhone so it might be Gorilla Glass. There's probably a real answer to that question on a spec site somewhere, tho. The iPhone weighs a ton compared to the Focus so it feels a lot more substantial, but the Focus feels solid, just light.Microsoft said something about a system update coming in January and it looks like it can do incremental over the air updates. Between that and how that camera bug is all over the web, I'd imagine they'll fix that pretty quickly.
Keep in mind that, at least with AT&T, you get 30 days to try it and return it if you don't like it. I've gotten several phones over the past couple of years and returned them all except for the iPhone 4, so far, and I've never had a problem returning them. The guy I generally deal with at AT&T asks me what I didn't like about it but it's so he can be a more knowledgable salesman. Which is why I deal with him.
I love it when people come to an iPhone forum to talk about other phones. Makes me proud of our public school systems.
Was I the only one briefly wondering where MacBook Airs came into this discussion? Lol.
We have purchased 5 iPhones since they were first released and have one of each type.
Today I purchased the HTC Surround. Overall it is not at the level the iPhone 4 as far as features.
The one feature it does have which I think is the best is Voice Search. There is a little microphone icon next to the search bar (being that there is always a search icon displayed it is just one touch away). The voice to text matching for about 10 searches I did matched nearly 100% of the time. Got one miss on a small city in Pennsylvania.
With the voice search it cuts down the amount of typing you need to do so a passenger need not try to type while the car is moving, for example.
An example you could say "Hotels in Los Angles" and it will come back with a list of them. The distance to them from where you are, telephone number, step by step driving directions and probably more.
Nice phone and a worthy competitor to the iPhone.
Today I purchased the HTC Surround. Overall it is not at the level the iPhone 4 as far as features.
The one feature it does have which I think is the best is Voice Search. There is a little microphone icon next to the search bar (being that there is always a search icon displayed it is just one touch away). The voice to text matching for about 10 searches I did matched nearly 100% of the time. Got one miss on a small city in Pennsylvania.
With the voice search it cuts down the amount of typing you need to do so a passenger need not try to type while the car is moving, for example.
An example you could say "Hotels in Los Angles" and it will come back with a list of them. The distance to them from where you are, telephone number, step by step driving directions and probably more.
Nice phone and a worthy competitor to the iPhone.
Here's my take on WP7, after having just 40 min. to try it at my AT&T store.
1) It's an excellent first effort & a clear (but not total) departure from the phone + apps model of smartphones.
2) It's very well sorted out for a somewhat radically new device.
3) It will most definitely be competition for iOS, Android and the rest, if given the chance. Initial public acceptance can make or break any new product if rejected before it has a fair chance.
4) It's clearly different which I welcome, because nothing is better for the market and consumers, than choices and competition.
5) It's nice to see Microsoft wake up, take notice, do their homework, and respond.
Will it be enough? Or is it too late?
Will MS operate at an appropriate pace in today's market?
Will smartphone enthusiasts and the general public give it a chance?
I'm buying one for sure, not as a replacement, but as an additional smartphone to use and evaluate.
Despite my outspoken opinions of Apples CEO, my distaste for the arrogant, typical Apple hype and attitude of superiority, I do like and own (many of) their products. In addition they have a massive head start. Their brilliant vision and creation of the golden cash cow known as iTunes, has set the tone, left an indelible impression on the public, and will continue to fund the success of the once little company from Cupertino known as Apple.
Stay Tuned, this will be one very interesting movie.
1) It's an excellent first effort & a clear (but not total) departure from the phone + apps model of smartphones.
2) It's very well sorted out for a somewhat radically new device.
3) It will most definitely be competition for iOS, Android and the rest, if given the chance. Initial public acceptance can make or break any new product if rejected before it has a fair chance.
4) It's clearly different which I welcome, because nothing is better for the market and consumers, than choices and competition.
5) It's nice to see Microsoft wake up, take notice, do their homework, and respond.
Will it be enough? Or is it too late?
Will MS operate at an appropriate pace in today's market?
Will smartphone enthusiasts and the general public give it a chance?
I'm buying one for sure, not as a replacement, but as an additional smartphone to use and evaluate.
Despite my outspoken opinions of Apples CEO, my distaste for the arrogant, typical Apple hype and attitude of superiority, I do like and own (many of) their products. In addition they have a massive head start. Their brilliant vision and creation of the golden cash cow known as iTunes, has set the tone, left an indelible impression on the public, and will continue to fund the success of the once little company from Cupertino known as Apple.
Stay Tuned, this will be one very interesting movie.
You do realize Android has voice to text input for ages, right?
But I agree with you it is very useful. I don't even text and drive anymore. I just yell
hmmm, i've not really being following phones that much lately, not much point since i'm not in the market for one for some time now. care to share your experiences of WP7's notifications? how do those work? they are the only thing i hate about iOS but it's a pretty big part of a phone's OS since a phones primary use is for communication, be it calls, texts, emails, IM or an app. whats the notification system like?
I played with a Samsung Focus for 20 min. Yes I'm impressed, but I'm sticking with the iPhone 4 for now, and heres why:
-The Marketplace isn't up to snuff
-No copy and paste
-Backgrounding of 3rd party apps, not there.
Uh oh, only 3 thing?! I was very impressed and it was very customizable in terms of accessing programs.
I gotta admit, I liked the bigger screen, it was beautiful. Zune interface and sound quality was amazing.
Internet Explorer was made relevant again. I didn't mind the weird text adjustment, cause once the zoom was done, it rendered.
Here is something that got me, the call quality was a lot better than the iPhone 4. I also held the phone in multiple standard ways, didn't drop the signal.
Navigation took a minute, but it just works, and Google better be afraid, and iOS needs to contemplate a change as well (especially in the notifications area, as msgs are revealed at the top of the screen in 7).
What excites me is, will Windows 8 be this awesome? (I like 7 as well)
-The Marketplace isn't up to snuff
-No copy and paste
-Backgrounding of 3rd party apps, not there.
Uh oh, only 3 thing?! I was very impressed and it was very customizable in terms of accessing programs.
I gotta admit, I liked the bigger screen, it was beautiful. Zune interface and sound quality was amazing.
Internet Explorer was made relevant again. I didn't mind the weird text adjustment, cause once the zoom was done, it rendered.
Here is something that got me, the call quality was a lot better than the iPhone 4. I also held the phone in multiple standard ways, didn't drop the signal.
Navigation took a minute, but it just works, and Google better be afraid, and iOS needs to contemplate a change as well (especially in the notifications area, as msgs are revealed at the top of the screen in 7).
What excites me is, will Windows 8 be this awesome? (I like 7 as well)
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It may be hard for you to believe that not everybody puts the iphone up on a pedestal like you guys do. Some people think the iphone 4 feels cheap and ios is in need of a complete overhual.
You do realize Android has voice to text input for ages, right?
But I agree with you it is very useful. I don't even text and drive anymore. I just yell
When I get a chance I'll try the Android phone. Voice search could be the killer app. If the Android is as good as the wp7 then Apple will have to provide a similar capability native to the phone.