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WP7 and my lost iPhone 4

X

xploit

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 2, 2007
199
0
I wanted to share this with you all.

About a week ago I made the common mistake of leaving my iPhone 4 in a Chicago cab. I was in a hurry to a first date that I was already late to and in my rush I left it behind. I tried calling it. I tried leaving a desperate text message saying where to return it to but I got nothing. This really hurt after finally tweaking it to perfection. It was JB and running lock info with a live weather home screen.

My initial thoughts were that I could wait the three months till a new iPhone would be available which I would of upgraded to anyway and in the meantime I would use my dad's old blackberry bold. I got the berry activated and began use. I honestly can't even understand how anyone could use this device these days. It is filled with menus that not only fail to make sense but also hard to navigate through. Despite my unhappiness I couldn't justify spending cash to buy a phone contract free to use for only 3 months. Then I started to hear rumors about a delay on the next iPhone release.

Waiting three months is one thing but this rumor spoke of a September release. I decided I definitely couldn't wait that long and continue to use the blackberry. My options were to either buy a new iPhone 4 out of contract or maybe give android or a wp7 phone a try (also contract free). I decided on buying a Samsung Focus on ebay.

I really don't understand why the WP7 hasn't taken off. It is fresh, snappy and makes good use of all the things most people use smartphones for. I have been using an iPhone since the original and it definitely is much better than android. Is it much better than WP7? I don't know that it is. It is completely different to be sure but while the iPhone 4 takes much better photos and has an amazing screen, the WP7 has those tiles that make good sense and the display of information is solid. The notifications are also better.

I am not trashing the iPhone at all and I will most probably go back when the next one is released provided they improve notifications. Would I go back to the iPhone 4? I can honestly say at this time that I don't think so. For me the smartphone has always been about phone calls, text messaging and light surfing and WP7 does all that in a very neat format. Just my two cents.

X-
 
I just gave up my 3G for a Focus as well and love it. Last night I pushed NoDo onto it and it made the phone even better (faster with added features). I think that people are skeptical on the OS because Microsoft has commitment issues. They are a little flakey in this department and it causes people to have reservations on their products. I honetly think that WP7 could be a huge contender in the phone market but time will tell. The app store is growing and Mango (next OS version) is on the horizon.

Don't get me wrong, I love iOS and Apple, but I am open to new devices and I also program in C# so I have an interest in playing with the dev side of it. :)
 
iphone3gs16gb said:
You'll be back, I can smell it...
Click to expand...

You are probably right. Actually I am hoping you are right cause I love apple AND I am a stock holder. I am also someone who values great design as are lot's of apple users. The things that brought me to iPhone are very similar to what I find so intriguing about WP7. Also I am boggled that more people haven't embraced it.

X-
 
wpotere said:
I just gave up my 3G for a Focus as well and love it. Last night I pushed NoDo onto it and it made the phone even better (faster with added features). I think that people are skeptical on the OS because Microsoft has commitment issues. They are a little flakey in this department and it causes people to have reservations on their products. I honetly think that WP7 could be a huge contender in the phone market but time will tell. The app store is growing and Mango (next OS version) is on the horizon.

Don't get me wrong, I love iOS and Apple, but I am open to new devices and I also program in C# so I have an interest in playing with the dev side of it. :)
Click to expand...

Can you tell me how you got the upgrade?
 
Because Microsoft has not shown any committment in supporting its mobile products.

Plays for Sure platform: killed
Plays for Sure DRM: killed
Danger / sidekick: killed
Windows Mobile: killed
Windows phone Kin: killed / revived on life support
Zune: about to be killed (as others mentioned later in the thread)
Zune DRM to follow PlaysForSure soon?

Windows 7 big button phone? That's so 90s.
 
Last edited:
xploit said:
Can you tell me how you got the upgrade?
Click to expand...

There is a thread on xda-developers on how to do it. Very simple and it does work for AT&T users.

As for the commitment part, I do agree. However, we are actually seeing them change. They are communicating with the devs openly and it looks like they are really trying to make this work. As long as they keep it up I'll keep supporting them.
 
WP7 is basically iOS with a different UI. Microsoft is emulating Apple's core iOS functions (closed system, lack of true multitasking).

That said, I do like WP7 - it feels faster than iPhone in scrolling/typing. I like the Metro UI.

It's definitely a nice OS, however it is still in its infancy. WP7 should be good after it's next big update. It's got a lot of potential for people who don't like iPhones, but hate the unpolished Android phones.
 
FSMBP said:
WP7 is basically iOS with a different UI. Microsoft is emulating Apple's core iOS functions (closed system, lack of true multitasking).

That said, I do like WP7 - it feels faster than iPhone in scrolling/typing. I like the Metro UI.

It's definitely a nice OS, however it is still in its infancy. WP7 should be good after it's next big update. It's got a lot of potential for people who don't like iPhones, but hate the unpolished Android phones.
Click to expand...

Completely agree with you. The keyboard is also very smooth. Overall if I could get WP7 with the iPhone browsing characteristics and the camera quality I would be sold!
 
It hasn't taken off because it's only 4 months old. Android didn't really take off until last year. Also, Microsoft can have a stigma thanks to their WinMo days and alot of us are already stuck on contracts.

I think that is great news you are enjoying your Samsung Focus. It sucks losing an iPhone when we have it customized to perfection. But the Focus seems like a nice alternative even if WP7 lacks customization. I am not a Samsung fan, but I always check it out when I am in the AT&T Store.

It seems plasticky and light, but it looks very sleek and offers plenty of value at the price. Hubs eliminates the app clutter that plagues iOS and Android right now. The S-AMOLED compliments WP7 very well. Has the 4-inch screen with large icons (tiles). And considering WP7 is mostly used at portrait mode, Sammy did the Focus a favor by not adding a slide-out keyboard. It seems like a really, really nice phone and I would probably own one if I didn't have an iPhone 4 already. Plus, I may go to Android next only because of PlayStation Suite. If it didn't have it, QNX (BlackBerry) or WP7 would be my next choices.

IDC is predicting WP7 will be #2 behind Android by 2015. I study horse racing since I was 15 (half my life) and my intuition and logical evaluation is usually right. I think IDC will be correct since Nokia is a popular brand outside the U.S. Both BlackBerry and iOS will lose ground. IDC has the same "superfecta" I have -

By 2015
1) Android
2) WP7
3) iOS
4) BlackBerry

Based on volume sales Android and WP7 with their multiple OEMs. Based on profits, Apple wins because they control the entire ecosystem. Sales don't always equal quality either.

Just wait when WP7 does take off. By 2012 when a number of Nokia phones have it, WP7 should really skyrocket to the global masses. It was back in early 2009 when a 4-month old Android was still niche.
 
I've been using a Samsung Focus as my primary phone since mid December. To be blunt, I'm totally sick of it. Here's a brief history of my primary devices:

- WM6.5 - HTC Diamond Touch (custom ROMs)
- WebOS - Palm Pre (patched and OC’d)
- Android - HTC Hero (running 2.2 CM6)
- WP7 - Samsung Focus (without even a custom ringtone, ugh)

Out of all those platforms WP7 has ended up being the most frustrating to use for me.

As a happy Zune HD owner I really enjoy the UI and Zune integration. Unfortunately the Focus in particular can experience annoying bugs with the music player. Including bad skipping at the end of songs and outright crashes requiring a phone restart.

The marketplace is also filled with bugs causing it to crash requiring a phone restart.

I'd also argue with whether notifications are actually better than the current iOS method. You'll get a brief popup at the top of the screen... and that's it. Then it's gone with no way to address it without going to the corresponding app. Yes you can tap the notification while it’s there, but that often doesn’t mesh with what I’m doing.

Third party app quality is also IMHO poor overall. There are certainly some that look good and perform pretty well. But the overall standard is pretty low. Also worth noting is that regardless of the Xbox Live integration this is not a good platform to get into if you like gaming. Microsoft shot too low with its minimum hardware requirements resulting in some pretty underwhelming results on the gaming front.

In the end the biggest issue for me is the lack of multitasking. I told myself that I could live with the hubs concept instead, but for my particular use case this hasn't panned out. Having to constantly re-open applications just because I want to respond to a text is maddening for me. And while MS seems to have a pretty good solution coming down the pipe (in the form of their "Mango" update) who knows when they'll actually update current phones with Mango if ever.

I just received my iPad 2 last Thursday. As a new iOS user I gotta say that I’m really impressed. This OS certainly isn’t perfect, but aside from the notification system I think it’s really well polished. The plethora of excellent applications to choose from is also a breath of fresh air.
 
Don't forget Zune is also in the Killed section of MS products no longer supported.

Active Sync has some security exploits that has halted some corporations from adopting WP7 at this time. I know my company is one of them not supporting WP7.

Aside from that I don't like the GUI of WP7 with the text being cut off. When the icons are that large and take up so much screen real estate the whole word should be there.

IMHO Droid and iOS are the only mobile operating systems that are worth using. Google still needs to do a better job at policing their Market store as they have already had a few malicious apps show up.
 
WP7 is very nice. A bit immature though - it has very few third-party apps that are worth paying for and lacks a lot of basic functionality (VPN, hidden WiFi, copy/paste, multitasking, etc.) but MS is working to remedy some of those. There are plenty of things it lacks but it has a great UI and it's very pretty to look at. I couldn't see it replacing my iPhone as a daily phone, but it's fun to play with. The hardware is also subpar - nothing outstanding about any of the WP7 phones out there. Android has it absolutely destroyed in terms of hardware quality.
 
alan7467 said:
As a happy Zune HD owner I really enjoy the UI and Zune integration. Unfortunately the Focus in particular can experience annoying bugs with the music player. Including bad skipping at the end of songs and outright crashes requiring a phone restart.

The marketplace is also filled with bugs causing it to crash requiring a phone restart.
Click to expand...

Most of these are addressed with NoDo and you can actually turn on a basic multi tasking feature that will let you resume the last thing you were doing. It works well but you will have to hack to do this.

I'm looking forward to see what new things they do in the future.
 
Zune, Happy, and own in the same sentance doesn't that go. "I am happy I no longer own a Zune." Or "I am happy i own an [inset media player here] and not a zune.
 
Personally, I am really liking WP7 and look forward to the improvements that will be coming to the platform.
 
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