Its not bad. Its amazing on phones and tablets.
Going to take some time getting used to Windows 8 on PC, but if your on this forum, chances are its won't be a challenge. Windows Blue (8.1) will make things easier.
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Never....Thought I'd do this.....moved to Windows Phone
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Its not bad. Its amazing on phones and tablets.
Going to take some time getting used to Windows 8 on PC, but if your on this forum, chances are its won't be a challenge. Windows Blue (8.1) will make things easier.
osofast240sx - you may like to take a quick watch of the first 10 seconds of this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLhCzSas07c
And your point being? Why should it bother you what I post? Seems to bother you more.
NEVER....Thought I'd do this.....
Windows 8 is horrible, i had it running on my parallels for about a week. Ended up switching back to Win7. Seems Win7 is like winXP where as Win8 is Vista.
Windows 8 is horrible, i had it running on my parallels for about a week. Ended up switching back to Win7. Seems Win7 is like winXP where as Win8 is Vista.
The phone itself is great. Solid, gorgeous display, feels good in the hand. WP* is still missing a few things IMO. Glad you are enjoying the phone. MS just might be making a comeback. They just need to working on tying WP8 in with Windows 8 and this thing could be a home run for them.
Speaking as a man who has invested so much in Apple ecosystem, what I heard is that for majority of Apple users its actually very hard to move to other systems, be it Android or Windows Phone. Casual users - maybe, those who bought hundreds of dollars of iOS apps and iPhone accessories - can't say for others, but for me its meaningless. iPhones with those apps perform so well, that an excess of 0.5 inch of display on Android phone plus all the hussle of new system (i tried once to fix wireless on wife's Android - that was a nightmare), really do not mean much to me. So, even if WP looks so nice and performs that well, for me the value of Apple ecosystem is so much higher that even nicest WP phone may not entice me. Its perfect probably for new users or whoever.
I can list a few things that Nokia added to this phone that are industry leading. Of course, this is a bit of opinion.
Overall looks: In this day and age, when everyone is ripping on one phone or the other for copying looks, the Lumia looks quite different. You see the phone, and you know what it is. Or, if you are unfamiliar with Lumia, you know that it is different from other touchscreen phones just by looking at it.
Camera: there was a bit of an issue here when the phone first launched. Video was amazing, but there was some blur after proccesing in still images. This has been fixed, and the camera is very, VERY good. Since the iPhone 4, I feel iPhone lead the pack with camera quality. I'd say the Lumia 920 is on top here.
Screen: You can use the thing with gloves on. And see it very well in any light, even in direct sunlight. Both points are a pretty big deal. I think everyone can relate to having a tough time seeing what is on their screen in the sun. People in cold climates can relate to how annoying it is answering the phone with gloves on.
Inductive Charging: I have seen people on both ends of this. It all boils down to convenience. It's a little bit like Apple's lightning cable that can be plugged in either way. It's neat. It's convenient. You either care or you don't. Either way, it's in there.
Maps/navigation: They are just good. Not as good as Google, but better than or equal to Apple's maps by most accounts. There is also a unique feature of giving you walking turn by turn directions. That is quite clever. Because when you walk someplace, especially the big city, you can often take shortcuts where you wouldn't normally be able to with automobile, or even bike. [I do believe these maps are essentially available to all WP8 users, so it's not a unique L920 feature, but there sure are some innovative twists to them.]
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Where the phone falls short is in the OS; I won't call it half-baked. Maybe 3/4-baked, or something like that. WP8 is a bit like iOS in that OEMs can't really do much to it. If Apple decided to license out iOS, this is what we would have. As a result, Nokia is a bit at the mercy of MS, in terms of adding/tweaking features. Apparently Nokia is the most influential OEM in these cases. They are also the only OEM who have embraced WP8 and only WP8, so they have the most to gain (and lose).
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I think you are right. How many of those $100's in apps do we actual use. Probably not many. But it's still really hard to get rid of that OS, isn't it? It's the reason my wife made us get rid of the Nexus 7 and we bought an iPad mini to replace it. You know what she loaded on the thing? A couple diner dash games, and some other (free) stuff. Yup... she really was worried about all of those apps we spent money on. HAHA.
I am sort of intrigued by Blackberry for this reason. They allow sideloading of Android apps. Granted, many of them seem to not work very well (lol), but if they fix that problem, they may be able to tap a bit more into the Android market.
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What was horrible about it, in your opinion?
once a phone freezes its a no can do. There is nothing innovative about WP, mabey comparable. Name some features that are just a must have on this phone. Something that android and iOS don't have.
Windows Phone is a good platform for those who never had a smartphone before - however if you had iOS or Android device before, it will be a major disappointment sooner or later.
It also has a few absolutely pig-headed limitations of "what were they thinking??" type. Plus it does not help that WP is a bastard child that does not get enough priority from Microsoft.
Being a Microsoft-platform developer with 10+ years of experience, I used WP7 device as my main phone since UK launch in October 2010 for a year. Then I had a chance to use iPhone 4 for a week, and after that the process of being sucked into Apple ecosystem has started (and it was completed last night when I chucked away my old Dell and replaced it with iMac). I still use WP as one of my phones (HTC 8X), but even the latest and the greatest models suck in comparison with iPhones and Androids.
It also has a few absolutely pig-headed limitations of "what were they thinking??" type. Plus it does not help that WP is a bastard child that does not get enough priority from Microsoft.
Being a Microsoft-platform developer with 10+ years of experience, I used WP7 device as my main phone since UK launch in October 2010 for a year. Then I had a chance to use iPhone 4 for a week, and after that the process of being sucked into Apple ecosystem has started (and it was completed last night when I chucked away my old Dell and replaced it with iMac). I still use WP as one of my phones (HTC 8X), but even the latest and the greatest models suck in comparison with iPhones and Androids.
It did have a freezing issue, which is why I originally returned mine. It was also randomly rebooting. This was fixed though, but I agree it never should have launched with these issues in the first place.
Honestly, the best feature of WP8, for me, is the live tiles. They aren't quite widgets. They aren't quite just icons. Is that a killer feature? I am guessing you would say no, which is fine. However it is a feature that neither OS really has.
Also, I mentioned a few things about the screen. At the time, I don't think any other devices/manufacturers offered a screen that could be used with a gloved hand AND had such great viewability outdoors (it really is quite remarkable how usable that thing is in direct sunlight). As I said before, Nokia can't really do a whole lot to the OS itself. They did do quite a few nifty things with the hardware though, as I've already said.
Oh, I also mentioned Nokia maps, giving you turn by turn walking directions. Again, is this a killer feature? To you, maybe not. AFAIK, nobody else offers it though.
I think WP8 is just fine. Yes it does have weak points and it isn't as evolved as android or iOS. I've used android quite a bit and I see no reason to go back from WP. I haven't used an iPhone as my personal phone other than playing with my wife's iPhone and my son's iPod, so I cant really comment on using an iPhone as a daily driver compared to WP. The biggest weaknesses WP has right now as I see it is a lack of a notification center and the app selection (and the horrible Facebook app). I expect some sort of notification center down the road and apps will come when/if market share increases. As far as Nokia I had an 822 and had many problems with it. After a couple of replacements Verizon let me switch to an 8X which has been fairly trouble free.
I really like my 920. I have experienced some of the usual problems, but none of the major ones. My only annoyance with the hardware is the dust under the front camera. The back camera is insanely good- the best I've ever seen on a phone and better than my not very old point and shoot in a lot of ways.
My main gripes with the software: No unified notification center, so if you aren't looking at the screen and if you don't have that particular app pinned, you miss the notification. The volume settings are universal which is very annoying. The home screen leaves a huge gap at the top for toast notifications, but what are the odds you will see said notification from the home screen? Chances are good you'll be in an app. Most of us don't just stare at the home screen, even with live tiles.
But in general I think it's a great phone and the WP8 marketplace is getting better by the day. I'm glad I gave WP8 a fair chance, although I probably will go to Android in the near future. If MS spent some time working on some of the bugs WP8 could be a huge deal.
My main gripes with the software: No unified notification center, so if you aren't looking at the screen and if you don't have that particular app pinned, you miss the notification. The volume settings are universal which is very annoying. The home screen leaves a huge gap at the top for toast notifications, but what are the odds you will see said notification from the home screen? Chances are good you'll be in an app. Most of us don't just stare at the home screen, even with live tiles.
But in general I think it's a great phone and the WP8 marketplace is getting better by the day. I'm glad I gave WP8 a fair chance, although I probably will go to Android in the near future. If MS spent some time working on some of the bugs WP8 could be a huge deal.
I like WP8 and don't miss my iPhone but I can understand why people returned it once the freshness went away. iOS has a level of polish WP8 doesn't have. WP8 has a lot of little annoyances. IE figuring out how to create a playlist on the device was a huge pain in the ass.
The app ecosystem isn't there yet. A lot of the apps that do exist are stripped down compared to their iOS versions. On the Yelp app I can't use my login, can't check in, can't write reviews, and the map integration sucks.
It all comes down to whether or not you value the data-centric approach of the OS enough to put up with the annoyances. I like the Live Tiles and People Hub more than I like looking at a static icon grid. Something I really like about my 8X is camera implementation. iOS's swipe the camera symbol to unlock, or use the volume knob to take a picture, or aim your finger at a little icon all suck in comparison.
There are rumors MS is eventually gonna merge WP8 and W8. MS's direction moving forward is mobile/PC convergence. Meanwhile Apple wants to keep (and needs to keep) mobile and PC separate.
The app ecosystem isn't there yet. A lot of the apps that do exist are stripped down compared to their iOS versions. On the Yelp app I can't use my login, can't check in, can't write reviews, and the map integration sucks.
It all comes down to whether or not you value the data-centric approach of the OS enough to put up with the annoyances. I like the Live Tiles and People Hub more than I like looking at a static icon grid. Something I really like about my 8X is camera implementation. iOS's swipe the camera symbol to unlock, or use the volume knob to take a picture, or aim your finger at a little icon all suck in comparison.
There are rumors MS is eventually gonna merge WP8 and W8. MS's direction moving forward is mobile/PC convergence. Meanwhile Apple wants to keep (and needs to keep) mobile and PC separate.
Google maps for Android does have turn by turn directions for walking, bicycle and car/motorbike
No one I know with a Lumia has had to get a replacement. And whether or not you can walk in and get a new phone from the shop depends where you buy it from. Get the phone from John Lewis and not only will they swap it out just like Apple does but they'll give you a brand new replacement rather than a refurb.
My iPhone 4 freezes up all the time and it's a phone Apple still sell today.
Anyway, I have a few friends with WP7 and 8 phones and I've used them a bit myself. I think the platform is very nice and the UI is highly polished. My friends with Windows Phones aren't techies but they've been very happy with their devices.
For me personally, I wouldn't buy a Windows Phone because it's just as locked down as iOS and that doesn't appeal to me, plus like BB10 (which I really like a lot) it lacks apps big time, but I can appreciate it's a very nice platform nonetheless.
Says you. A whole bunch of people, myself included, find the tile interface annoying as all hell. It's a huge cluster of chaos on my home screen, not interested. Also don't care for Nokias block designs.
Google maps for Android does have turn by turn directions for walking, bicycle and car/motorbike
You're right. Apparently have had for a while. How'd I miss that?!
Google maps for Android does have turn by turn directions for walking, bicycle and car/motorbike
Is this available offline? The last time an android was my primary phone it wasn't, but that might have changed since then.
You can cache certain areas of the map while you have a connection and use them offline later in Google Maps now.
That's how it was when I last used Google Maps extensively. Nokia Maps are downloaded to the phone, but that's not that big of a deal for me since I live in a smaller area and rarely use navigation.
looking at going from iphone 4s to either the Lumia 920, Blackberry Z10, or HTC One. Still weighing those options since I have over a month to decide which one to go with. Love what I am seeing on Windows Phone, blackberry has some cool features, and htc sense looks tight. I'm leaning towards the Lumia
if your still deciding... don't go for the windows phone. I have a HTC 8X which is very underrated in terms of design i think. I got it in november, loved it till about christmas. After that, I noticed lots of niggling issues, but the biggest issue is the app market. They may have 90% of the top 100 apps or however they put it, but lots of them are copycats, or aren't windows phone 8 compatible, or are much more expensive, or take months longer to come out.
I will try to sell mine and buy a Sony xperia Z instead, because after your excitement dies down, you get bore of not having those extra apps to play on.
Pretty sad that superior tech is getting shunned because of app markets now days. If some people could handle getting angry birds a few months late then we as consumers could enjoy more choices. Sadly, developers will continue to sleep on WP and BlackBerry because of lack of install base. If WP and BlackBerry had the rich appstores that Apple and google offer it would be a different ball game. I think eventually it will happen, but not soon.
I think microsoft are shunning it too. Many complaints regarding the lack of obvious features, like a rotation lock or separate volume levels, but they haven't released one update since I got my phone in October.