very interesting read, +1 to you sir.thnx
I'm interested to see how this develops. This could just be the thing to restore confidence in the windows mobile computing space.
Of course its going to take another year or so for it to pick up steam.
No caveats now: Windows Phone 7 is a waste of time and money. It's a platform that no carrier, device maker, developer, or user should bother with. Microsoft should kill it before it ships and admit that it's out of the mobile game for good. It is supposed to ship around Christmas 2010, but anyone who gets one will prefer a lump of coal. I really mean that.
The bottom line is this: Windows Phone 7 is a pale imitation of the 2007-era iPhone.
The developers at Mobile Beat quickly recognized the labor-intensity of this UI method and one asked the Microsoft rep if anyone had bothered to test it with users. The answer was essentially "no" -- a scary thought indeed.
Inexcusably old technology limits Windows Phone 7
But under the hood, Windows Phone 7 gets worse. The core problem is its backward set of technologies, which will fundamentally limit IT, developers, and users alike. Here are some of the more egregious examples of Windows Phone 7's time warp:
* Its browser is Internet Explorer 7, with some IE8 capabilities added -- that means it does not support HTML5, as the iPhone, Android, WebOS, and Nokia Symbian all do. Didn't anyone on the Windows Phone 7 team know about IE9 and its embrace of HTML5? Why isn't Windows Phone 7 using IE9?
* It does not support multitasking except for Microsoft's own first-party apps, meaning the browser, email client, SMS client, and other such preinstalled applications. When you switch applications, they shut down -- just like the iPhone did until iOS 4 was released this spring. Android and WebOS, of course, supported multitasking more than a year ago, and Google and Palm mercilessly attacked Apple for not supporting it as well. Yet Microsoft didn't build multitasking into Windows Phone 7 at the outset?
* This lack of multitasking also means there's no such concept as interapplication communication for third-party apps, not even for a primitive work-around such as the iPhone OS 3.2's "Open In" feature. Thus, apps can't work together à la in WebOS -- even though the UI that Microsoft has shown off seemed designed to do just that. The only thing that Windows Phone 7 will do is let third-party apps call first-party apps, so clicking a URL in a text message will launch the first-party IE browser to show the URL. Of course, doing so closes the app that had the text link in it. (First-party apps can call other first-party apps, and these would all continue to run in parallel.)
* It doesn't support copy and paste. Here again Apple was a much-criticized laggard, supporting the capability only in summer 2009. Microsoft says it didn't have time to get this feature in for the first release (!) but will have it in a future version. Too bad there's not likely to be a future for it. And how could Microsoft not have copy and paste working in Windows Phone 7? After all, it had copy and paste in Windows Mobile 6.1.
I'm still shocked that Microsoft isn't showing any smarts or competitiveness behind its mobile OS. When the iPhone first came out, a wait-and-see attitude made sense. But more than three years later, it's crystal-clear that the iPhone is no fluke and that it has in fact redefined the mobile market. During this sea change, what has Microsoft done? It wasted a couple years screwing around with Windows Mobile 6.5. When everyone ignored that faux effort, Microsoft made a lot of noise around Windows Phone 7 yet also diverted resources to an array of mobile OSes -- seemingly as insurance policies against Windows Phone 7's failure. Windows Phone 7 should have been Microsoft's "man on the moon" project, but now it's clear that the Windows Phone 7 was Redmond's equivalent of the bungled Hurricane Katrina response effort.
and as capt said the optimist in me wants to believe wm7 will kick a$$ it certainly looks so :sassy:
Once you check in you can never leave
By Lawrence Latif
Mon Nov 15 2010, 11:25
GOOD ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH when it comes to microSD cards for Microsoft's special Windows Phone 7 (WP7) smartphone operating system.
Those WP7 devices that have removable storage - and there aren't many - not only need special microSD cards but once in the smartphone, the card cannot be used with any other device, not even to format it. The news comes after US mobile operator AT&T told customers who had purchased Samsung's Focus WP7 smartphone to hold off on microSD card purchases.
Typically microSD cards are characterised on a "class" scale, used to simplify the marketing of read and write speeds. While the basic read/write speed specification is fine for just about every other device out there, it doesn't cut the mustard with the Vole. No, it cares about random access speed, something that isn't really taken into account in the SD Association's classification.
^^ Hence the reason i never buy brand new tech always bugs to be worked out .....
I'll give it a 6 months - year then jump in .......
We wait and see.
Some of us seem to forget that Maemo was never targeted at the 'casual user'
Wow, I hope they get that fixed soon. This fragile platform does not need black marks like this to further hinder its uptake.
Microsoft has provided more detail into the number of phones that are having problems with a software update it began to roll out at the beginning of the week.
Speaking to ZDNet about reports that some phones were becoming unusable after the update, a Microsoft representative said the company had seen a 90-percent success rate by customers who were attempting to install the update.
"Of the remaining 10 percent, the top two issues encountered are the result of customer Internet connectivity issues and inadequate storage space on the phone or PC," the company representative said. "These account for over half of the reported issues with this update."
Reports of problems with the update, which had been pushed out to phones to help prepare them for the first of two updates that will add new features, began appearing shortly after the update began to make its way into the hands of users. Microsoft had sent out notifications about the update to users in waves, letting some grab the updated software before others.
Users with Samsung devices appear to have captured the brunt of the problems. Microsoft responded by temporarily pulling the update for Samsung Windows Phone users. For some updaters, the process hung just past the halfway point, leaving them with a non-functioning device. Microsoft yesterday told news site WinRumors that it had identified the cause of the problem, but had pulled the update as a precaution until a fixed version could be sent out.
Microsoft is urging those users with phones that had been left unusable after the update to contact their mobile operator or device manufacturer for repair options. In the meantime, the Hardware 2.0 blog over at ZDNet has instructions for doing a full restore of the phone for users who may have gotten stuck during the update process.
This update had been a precursor to the long-awaited first update to the Windows Phone 7 platform that will bring new features like copy and paste, an improved Marketplace search tool, and faster load times for some games and applications. This update had been sent out to ease the installation of that update package, much like Microsoft does ahead of major service packs for its Windows operating system.
copy and paste :S i dont give ah shit bout dat, never used it on any phone.
never needed to on dis,
and not going to now lolol.
I upgrade for d speed increase papi, so d already faster dan android wp7 has become even faster, JUHH!!!!
Hmmm, I guess he's right. No way Nokia is going to go on Android and beat google at their own map game so whats the alternative? Go to a platform where Nokia's product is superior of course.
Apart from maps though, I see no way he is REALLY going to differentiate from the other oems on wm7 because while good, Nokia does not corner the market on build quality alone. Most could give them a good run for their money.
At least with android they would have been able to innovate UI like all android oem's do.
Then again, nokia isnt exactly known for their ui design prowess so that point is moot. wp7 WAS their only choice.
Nielsen have published some market research which shows that Windows Phone (which includes Windows Mobile and Windows Phone 7, but surely WM sales are miniscule now) has hit 7% of new smartphones sales in March 2011. An NDP survey in Q4 2011 had shown Windows Phone had only 2% market share in that period.
At 7% it is around half the 15% market share of RIM in USA, with Windows Phone 7 only available on AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. The numbers will likely see a significant surge when Windows phones become available on Verizon and opens up the possibility of Windows Phone overtaking RIM sales soon.
That's 675 shipped to trini eh lol. Final price.What link you have with customs dread?
Leaked Windows Phone 8 vid: Windows 8 kernel and integration, multiple cores
By Peter Bright | Published about 4 hours ago
Windows Phone 8 will be based on the same kernel as Windows 8, and will support multicore processors, NFC, and full device encryption according to a leaked video seen by PocketNow. This in turn inspired Paul Thurrott to reveal a little more about the software too. In the video intended only for internal consumption by Microsoft and its partners, Joe Belfiore, director of the Windows Phone program, describes the extensive features that Windows Phone 8, codenamed "Apollo," will contain.
Addressing widespread concerns about Windows Phone's mid-range hardware specification, Apollo will support processors with up to four cores, four different (and unspecified) screen resolutions, NFC for contactless payment, and removable microSD storage.
In a move that will make Windows Phone a better option for enterprise users, Windows Phone 8 will include full device encryption, based on the same technology as desktop Windows' BitLocker encryption. Apollo will sport richer support for Exchange ActiveSync policies, and Systems Center inventorying and management. There will also be greater support for private deployment of custom line-of-business applications.
Under the hood, the operating system will be built on the same foundation as Windows 8. Belfiore mentions that the kernel, networking stacks, security subsystems, and multimedia support will heavily overlap between the two.
The Web browser, too, will be in common, with Internet Explorer 10 making its way to the phone. Microsoft also plans to follow in Amazon and Opera's footsteps, using server-side compression and proxying to reduce the amount of data needed to load webpages by a claimed 30 percent.
Full compatibility with current Windows Phone applications—expected to number 100,000 by the time Windows Phone 8 is launched—is assured, and there will be added support for native code development in addition to the current Silverlight-based model. Belfiore promises that "most" code will be portable between the desktop and the phone. We would expect this to mean that Metro-style applications written using Windows 8's WinRT will be readily portable.
Windows Phone 7 applications are currently completely isolated from one another. Windows 8 will include a system called "contracts" that enables applications to communicate with each other in certain standard ways: for example, a Twitter client might implement the "sharing" contact, so that links in the Web browser or photos in the photo gallery can be shared over Twitter. This same contract system will be included in Windows Phone 8.
Windows 8 includes smarter tracking of metered and unmetered Internet connections, and a similar capability, dubbed "Data Smart" will also be a part of the phone operating system. This may go further than the desktop feature, for example making phones preferentially using carrier-affiliated Wi-Fi hotspots when available. The Live Scout local search feature will also show the location of nearby hotspots.
Skype will be built-in, and hook directly into the phone's dialer, allowing VoIP calls to be made as if they were regular calls over the phone network. Hardware vendors will have more control over the camera application, enabling features such as smile detection and burst shooting.
Desktop integration is going to receive a substantial upgrade, too, with SkyDrive becoming a central part of the Microsoft's sync strategy. Windows Phone currently uses the desktop Zune client to sync music and video; this will be scrapped in favor of a broader sync feature between Windows Phone and the desktop via SkyDrive. In the video, Belfiore describes being able to listen to your music collection on a new Windows Phone 8 handset without ever having to pair it to the PC. This syncing will also extend to the Xbox.
In addition to using NFC for contactless payment, Microsoft will also implement a "tap to share" capability, to enable easy sharing of content between phones, desktops, laptops, and tablets.
We wrote that 2012 would be the year that many of Microsoft's long-standing goals come to fruition. The common Metro interface, coupled with the tight cross-device integration, unifying the "three screens" (desktop/tablet, phone, TV) with (and via) "the cloud" (using SkyDrive) is going to be a key part of the value of Microsoft's ecosystem in coming years.
Definitely a step in the right direction. Will probably be buying a win 8 phone alongside my HTC Edge to play with myself.
Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio using Tapatalk
Could you rephrase that capn... O_o
Look out for the app that i'm working on in the next 2 months or so :D
Sorry, i can't.
NDA :(
But u guys will get a heads up as soon as I can release info
edit:
It's related to services you can use in Trinidad. (tied to a bigger, web/desktop application which will be launched with it)
| Feature | HTC Titan (7.5 Mango) | Samsung Galaxy S 2 (Android 2.3.6) |
| UI & Usability | Win : + Easy + Intuitive + User Friendly + Fast & Fluid + Optimized for speed of use. + Superior auto-correct when typing. + Superior typing speed and experience | Loss : - Complicated - Confusing + Heavily customizable + Pretty when customized |
| Build Quality | Win | Loss: - Brittle & Flimsy - Poor hardware button layout. (Opposing Volume and Power buttons lends to accidental volume change when turning on/off phone.) |
| Battery Life | Win: + Unplugged @ 6am and lasts till 12pm the following day on average use (3hrs music playback, Frequent checks of news reader, frequent checks of emails, multiple im conversations, multiple phone calls, onenote and cloud access, various app use) Heavy use makes it to 12am the same day. (Gaming / Lengthy phone calls) | Loss - Unplugged @ 6am, sim card inserted at 9am and usage started. Battery warning @ 3pm same day on low use. (No music playback, minimal checks of email, average im conversations, multiple phone calls, various app use) - OS takes control of brightness settings when battery is low and cannot be overridden to use phone normally. |
| Unlock Screen | Win : + Fast + Fluid + Unlocks and goes to msg if notification was tapped then screen unlocked. | Loss: - Slow - Laggy - Ugly + Unlock and go-to new message. |
| Win: + Separate Mailbox Shortcut Notification (Extremely important for my needs) + When open inbox, unread indicator on live tile is removed. (Helpful when you receive tons of emails, and you only want to read a few, but also want to quickly be visually notified of new emails without having to remember how much new emails u had the last time u viewed them.) .. Only shows new mail count since the last time you've opened the inbox. (Extremely important for my needs) | Loss: - Poor Layout - Sluggish pinch-to-zoom - Poor readability - Ugly - Cant setup non-google accounts without sim inserted. - Extremely slow loading of mails when your inbox is huge. | |
| Stability | Win: + Rock solid, on for weeks | Loss: - Email app crash on day 1 - Various app crashes. - Contact widgets were randomly emptied on multiple occasions, having to add each contact back to homescreen manually. VERY FRUSTRATING! (Happened 6-7 times over the period of 2 days) - Phone randomly unjoins merged contacts. |
| Multitasking | Loss: - True multitasking of 1st party apps only. - Third party apps are suspended or utilizes background agents for audio, notifications and live tiles | Win: + True multitasking of all apps. |
| Messaging | Win: + Integrated WLM/FBChat + Fast fluid and reliable + Linked consolidated threaded messaging with fast msg service switching within the same thread. | Loss: + Integrated gtalk - Unreliable FBChat - WLM does not support multi presence sign on. (Signs out all other msn locations when in use) |
| Cloud Storage | Loss : + Skydrive | Win: + Better DropBox Support |
| Document Management | Win : + Native Office Suite + Better document editing and viewing | Loss |
| Picture viewing | Win: + Pictures hub = Complete Pwnage | Loss |
| Cam / Share | Win : + Superior UI + Faster view of snapped pics (slide left to cycle pics taken). + Superior focus and image quality. + Dedicated hardware button | Loss : + More sharing options : ability to share to installed apps, skype, whatsapp, etc. - Horrible default focus on small text. (Essential in my field to quickly take pictures of Service Tags/Serial Numbers/ mobo-chipset, etc) |
| Contact Management | Win : + Automatic contact linking + Social network integration on contact card (view fb updates, albums etc via contact). + Pin contact groups to start and get aggregated live updates on missed calls/emails/im/social/etc for group members only. + Quickly call pinned contacts using a 2 tap process. | Loss : - Manual linking of contacts required. - Too many steps to quickly call contacts via widget, dedicated call to number widget can be used, but makes for duplicate contact widgets on homescreen, not efficient. + Some communication apps installed on phone are accessible via contact widget. Call skype via contact widget. Launch fb and go to contact page via widget. |
| Notifications | Win : + Configurable aggregated notifications for specific contacts + Live tiles offer dynamic per app notification + Message preview of incoming instant messages which can be easily dismissed to view other incoming im messages without the need to open IM app / Messaging Hub. | Loss : + Notification center allows viewing of all notifications in 1 place. |
| Gaming | Win: + Xbox Live | Loss |
| Music Management | Win : + Automatic and wireless syncing of music via managed software (zune) + Playback controls accessible from volume keys. | Loss : - Playback controls not accessible when notification tray is full. - Problems getting phone to connect to PC to add music. |
| Social Integration | Win: + Social networks (fb,twitter, etc) fully integrated into the core of the operating system providing fast fluid access to important and frequently accessed information. (Social Apps used to extend functionality for powerusers that require more features than provided by core integration) | Loss: - Limited social network integration |
| Apps: | + Superior UI, Faster, Polished, Live Tile Integration, User Friendly, Better All-Round Quality | Better 1st Party support of won apps. |
| IDMB Aamazon TeamViewer SoundHound MusicSearch Skype Youtube Kindle Manga Reader Sonos & Homeseer News Reader Podcasts Voice Recording | Win Win Win Tie Loss (No App) Tie Win (Bing Music Search) Loss (Beta App) Tie Win Win Loss Win Win Win | Loss Loss Loss Tie Win Tie Loss (SoundHound) Win Tie Loss Loss Win Loss Loss Loss |
I think the iPhone should fair better, but we won't know till you do it.
Retarded @ 3.5" screen is ur pov, personally I don't want a phone with a 'large' screen' I detest a LARGE phone that buldges out of my pocket, or that I have to use a clip on for, or that I have to buy ANY kind of external accessory to carry. I believe that tho you will undoutedly use it as a -ve in ur possible review, that not everyone will share that sentiment and thus appreciate if the review is not too biased because of such.
That sliding keyboard would be a must buy for me. I would prefer having the option of installing another os, guess it is the tweaker in me hehe.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note using Tapatalk
Wow thought you were within your return window.Dread is a long story, but to abbreviate, the workers in the Price Plaza branch of Let's Talk Ltd. ARE IDIOTS. The UWI branch is MOST helpful. Well put it this way woody, if not for the INCOMPETENCE of said ppl, I would not have an android phone atm.
Wow thought you were within your return window.Dread is a long story, but to abbreviate, the workers in the Price Plaza branch of Let's Talk Ltd. ARE IDIOTS. The UWI branch is MOST helpful. Well put it this way woody, if not for the INCOMPETENCE of said ppl, I would not have an android phone atm.
European carriers: Lumia phones are 'not good enough' to compete with iPhone and Android
They say everyone's a critic these days, but here's a group whose critique matters: European carriers. Reuters has been asking questions at four major European telecom operators and reports that they're all dissatisfied with the company's current range of Lumia handsets. Describing the Windows Phone devices as overpriced due to their lack of real innovation, glitchy due to early battery life issues, and inadequately supported by Nokia's own marketing, the carriers seem to be in consensus about the new phones' failure to put up real competition to iOS and Android. Put in starker terms, they don't believe that Nokia's Lumia phones are "good enough" to compete. An executive in charge of mobile phones at one of the big Euro carriers is cited as saying, "no one comes into the store and asks for a Windows Phone," placing at least some of the blame for the tepid start to Nokia's reboot on Microsoft's shoulders.
"IF THE LUMIA WITH THE SAME HARDWARE CAME WITH ANDROID IN IT AND NOT WINDOWS, IT WOULD BE MUCH EASIER TO SELL."
Credit rating agency Moody's has also been piling on, following Nokia's recent warning about lower-than-expected Q1 earnings, downgrading the Finnish company to a Baa3 rating and its outlook to "negative." Still, in Moody's more detailed assessment, Nokia is expected to be "accepted in the market in 2012," with Windows Phone becoming the third leading mobile platform behind iOS and Android.
Lumia 900 won't be sold by T-Mobile in Germany due to lack of WP8 upgrade path
Putting another obstacle in Nokia's path to selling its Lumia range as widely as possible, T-Mobile's German arm has decided that it won't stock the Lumia 900 Windows Phone handset. This comes on the heels of multiple European carriers expressing discontent with the quality of the Windows Phone user experience, but seems to have been motivated by an additional factor. A member of T-Mobile's support team in Germany has revealed, after asking around inside the company, that the reason the Lumia 900 won't be making an appearance on the company's shelves has to do with Windows Phone 8 — specifically, the fact that this new phone won't be upgradeable to the upcoming OS version. As she tells it, T-Mobile opted not to incur the wrath of its users by selling them a new Lumia 900 today and denying them an upgrade to the very latest Microsoft mobile operating system a few months down the line.
That's an admirably frank position for the carrier to take, although when we enquired for comment, the official Deutsche Telekom response was that the rejection of the Lumia 900 is just one of the carrier's many "portfolio decisions" that have to be made and "unfortunately we cannot offer each new device." So the public mouthpiece of the company isn't quite yet willing to affirm that the lack of an upgrade path is at fault, but the fact remains that one of Europe's biggest operators is giving Nokia's flagship device a skip and we sincerely doubt that has anything to do with the hardware on offer.
Come on stop troling. You know as well as I do that crashing is heavily dependent on Use Case.
If that guy is getting crashing on apps that everyone else uses without issue, clearly its a problem on his end and not the OS or app by itself.
So can I also get you to concede that MS and Nokia should now eat their words on their absolutely no fragmentation stance? Also acknowledge that making users buy a flagship device that will have no hope of running a new os to be released 5 months down the road is horse$hit?
Also, this may be pushing it, but can you concede that android is indeed 'the bomb' if a man getting problems and still find is the best thing out? Clearly, android is doing something right that others arent!
The Lumia 920 is wonderful. It's smooth and fast and sleek and has a ton of future-is-here features. But the question for Nokia—and for you—is, will it be enough?
The first thing you notice about the 920 is the curved glass screen—the same as the old Lumia 800. It's a relatively small detail, but it makes all the difference in holding the phone. And for a phone as visceral as the design-centric Lumia, with its in-your-face Windows Phone 8 start screen, that's a big deal. It's a huge improvement over the Lumia 900's screen on first impressions alone.
Then you notice the rest of it. It's gorgeous. It's bright and defined and photos look incredible on it. The start screen looks great, but photos especially look amazing. We couldn't use the PureView camera, which looked so amazing in the demos, but the onboard photos were displayed tack sharp. The phone's PPI is dead even with the iPhone's 326 PPI retina screen, and in the real world, it looks just as good.
We've already seen the best Android has to offer, and the Lumia 920 is just as responsive and fast as the Galaxy S III and HTC One X. We're waiting on the next iPhone, but from what we know so far, this phone will be able to go toe to toe with Apple as well. If you already want to switch, it's a no brainer. But if you aren't quite sure, yet, it's probably worth waiting around for next Wednesday before making up your mind. Especially since we don't have official pricing or a release date yet. But! Things do look rather promising.
Download the Trinidad Map for Nokia Drive
Free and Accurate turn by turn navigation (so she will never get lost)
Download the Trinidad Map for Nokia Drive
Free and Accurate turn by turn navigation (so she will never get lost)
Is there such a thing for Droid?
I vaguely recall arcman mentioning one. Google's Navigation app doesn't work in Trinidad last I checked.
Offer something that's not just as good as, but far better than anything else out there. Unfortunately, that's way easier said than done.