Testing a Windows 8 Phone

[TacticalDesire]

I am disappointed a company as massive as Microsoft has been so half assed about their own product. They need to actually put some muscle behind WP, the have the resources but I just don't think they care enough to do so.

One more thing. Apps, apps, apps, apps, apps. Windows phone NEEDS more apps. Too many are missing for me to take WP seriously as a full time mobile OS. Android was 1 million+ now, iOS has 950,000, WP needs to catch up but Microsoft hasn't given developers any reason to put time and money into creating apps for WP.

 

[ichii]

I got my Lumia 1020 this week, liking it so far. I had Windows phone before so this isn't an entirely new experience. I love the camera on it, how detail it can get, but draw back is it's a little slow. Can't really pull it out and snap a quick picture like the iPhone. I plan on hanging on to this phone until the next iPhone comes out. The app selection is barely there, I wish Microsoft can throw money at developers and have them make games for them. I think the phone and OS is great, it just lacks apps. It makes me wonder if Microsoft is even trying to work on their store

 

[mlody]

I am disappointed a company as massive as Microsoft has been so half assed about their own product. They need to actually put some muscle behind WP, the have the resources but I just don't think they care enough to do so.

One more thing. Apps, apps, apps, apps, apps. Windows phone NEEDS more apps. Too many are missing for me to take WP seriously as a full time mobile OS. Android was 1 million+ now, iOS has 950,000, WP needs to catch up but Microsoft hasn't given developers any reason to put time and money into creating apps for WP.

The moment WP gets all major and most commonly used apps (let's say top 100 from iOS) and unifies the tablet and phone stores people will stop complaining about lack of apps. I am very light app user (my iPhone 5S has perhaps 15 3rd party apps, plus several others made by Apple – messing with free iWork etc.).
I do not think that a mobile OS needs 10,000 or more calculator apps, fart apps etc. is. I bet that out of those 950,000 iOS apps, only 1% really matters and is well known to 99% of iOS population. The rest is unknown garbage and irrelevant besides bragging statistics.

 

[ichii]

The moment WP gets all major and most commonly used apps (let's say top 100 from iOS) and unifies the tablet and phone stores people will stop complaining about lack of apps. I am very light app user (my iPhone 5S has perhaps 15 3rd party apps, plus several others made by Apple – messing with free iWork etc.).
I do not think that a mobile OS needs 10,000 or more calculator apps, fart apps etc. is. I bet that out of those 950,000 iOS apps, only 1% really matters and is well known to 99% of iOS population. The rest is unknown garbage and irrelevant besides bragging statistics.

I do agree with you a lot of iOS and Android app are trash, but it bothers me that when some one ask me to play a game with them, it's not usually on a windows phone. I know it would take time, that's why I'm going to try and give WP another chance, I had the 920 back in December but returned it after 2 day of use. I have been playing around with the 520 for about 2 months before getting the Lumia 1020. Do you know of a program on Windows 8 that sync like how iTunes work for iDevices?

 

[aneftp]

I use all types of phones from original G1 to nexus 4. All iPhones and blackberries.

Saying all that I've used nokia 900/920 htc 8x and nokia lumia 822 all in the past 18 months.

I don't think windows phone OS is bad. It's actually pretty solid. No lag. Fresh interface. Sure it lacks some essential (for some people) apps like epocrates for medical professionals, hbo go and watch espn.

But I don't think apps is what's holding back windows phones.

I just don't think what Microsoft is offering (even Xbox ) is enough to convince android or iOS users over. I don't think new smartphone users are interested in windows phone either.

In essence Microsoft is like blackberry. Except Microsoft has a butt load of cash in reserve to keep the windows phone project going.

What does windows phone offer that's compelling? Microsoft charges manufacters a licensing fee. $5-10 per phone? Android is essentially free. Can't compete with free. OEMs don't put a great effort to support windows phones. Now Microsoft is buying nokia hardware division. They may make a great phone but they may pis* their OEMs off.

So even with demise of blackberry. I still think windows phone will be a distant 3rd in the race. I think blackberry users will flock to android and iOS rather than windows.

 

[i%questions]

a little bet

My humble little bet is, Android will one day have engulfed WP, and reduced iOS to a relatively small market share. Time will say.

 

[macrem]

My humble little bet is, Android will one day have engulfed WP, and reduced iOS to a relatively small market share. Time will say.

I agree with the WP part. MS is pouring million$ into WP every month to cover (Nokia's) losses to keep the WP boat afloat. Recently sales of cheap Windows Phones (see aforementioned losses) has been attracting first time smartphone buyers causing WP marketshare to increase in parts of Europe and Mexico, while the platform already appears to be practically lifeless in the bulk of markets, including the US.

These recent increases are giving some people a glimmer of hope but apparently customers in this segment typically spend very little on apps (which is why Apple and Google have been kind of ignoring the low end), so it does not really attract developers to the platform (which WP needs desperately) and MS cannot keep up the predatory pricing forever (or could they?). I cannot imagine many first time buyers wanting their second smartphone to be a WP after they realize the cool apps are on other platforms.

I like competition but sorry to say I'm happy to see MS fail because they have proven over and over they will use ruthless tactics to dominate a market, then innovation grinds to a halt and we're stuck with old, buggy, over bloated software that purposefully breaks standards to try to keep innovation from others out of the equation.

 

[roadbloc]

It is really much more people centric than any other mobile system.

This is what makes it a winner for me. The People app is simply fantastic.

 

[Tiger8]

This is what makes it a winner for me. The People app is simply fantastic.

I know! It's slick and clever! it does save a lot of time when you are looking up someone; for example, I wanted to text my friend but as I was pulling her profile realized it's her birthday (from facebook), so I wished her a happy birthday too. You can't do that with iOS or Android, unless you started the Facebook app first and looked her up again.

In fact I don't even have facebook or linkedin apps on Windows phone.

 

[yjchua95]

I use a Lumia 1020 as my work phone and an iPhone 5s as my non-work phone.

Lumia's got great Office 365 and Exchange support. My company uses Microsoft's enterprise services and having my Lumia is like working with a desktop computer in my pocket.

Camera app's slow, but only if you assigned the Nokia Pro Cam to the shutter button.

My 5s is just for games and music.

Both phones sync with my Mac equally well.

PS the Lumia isn't my first WP. My first WP was a HTC 7 Mozart. I trashed it because Microsoft just wouldn't come up with a build of WP8 for single-core devices.

This isn't my first iPhone either. It started from the days of the 3GS.

Android, it's a joke. Buggy, laggy, resource hog, security vulnerabilities...

 

[Black Magic]

WP is really a waste of time. Yea, some folks buy it and like it but most avoid it. The ones that buy it will not stay with the platform and abandon ship as soon as possible. There is nothing that stands out about WP that says, you should buy me instead of the competition.

The main problems with WP that I see are:

1. Main account use is tied to XBOX Live. If you are playing a game on another platform and you used your FB account don't bother trying to invite your buddy to play with you because he won't get it since his is tied to XBOX Live.

2. Lack of Apps. No need to beat this dead horse.

3. Lack of features. It's still playing catch up to the other platforms feature wise. Why spend your hard earned money on a phone that is playing catch up hoping things get better when you can buy a phone that does it all right now?

4. Lack of accessories and many incompatibilities with accessories especially on Nokia hardware.

Microsoft as a whole is slipping further and further into the realm of irrelevance in regards to the consumer space. Dumping $100+ on a WP is like throwing money away.

 

[Jessica Lares]

Dumping $100+ on a WP is like throwing money away.

Yeah? Well, I'm perfectly fine with dumping $100 on my phone.

By the way, MOST games are not Xbox Live compatible, Only a handful are because your game has to meet the requirements to be on that program. So, Facebook is still a go, and it works fine.

The lack of apps is blown out of proportion. Sure, there's not a lot of the big stuff, but I'm fine with that. They're still very nice apps, and some are "up there" when it comes to quality.

I don't care about features. These "features" are what ruined the smartphone for me. When you have 200 apps competing in the background, it's going to run down your battery quickly, which is what happened to my Android devices, I got it perfectly setup, and then bam, 20% battery a hour later.

Accessories?! You're saying that we're wasting money on a phone that will only cost us $100, yet you're complaining that we can't blow another $100 on cases and other junk for it? All I need is a good pair of headphones and I'm fine with that.

Stop wasting your time pinning and photographing junk that nobody actually looks at but yourself. That is what Instagram and Pinterest have become, and I'm glad to be on a platform where those types of apps aren't the norm. I left both before they became the two junkyards that they are. I'm not posting on a place where companies are allowed to target me and try and sell me stuff.

 

[Black Magic]

Yeah? Well, I'm perfectly fine with dumping $100 on my phone.

By the way, MOST games are not Xbox Live compatible, Only a handful are because your game has to meet the requirements to be on that program. So, Facebook is still a go, and it works fine.

The lack of apps is blown out of proportion. Sure, there's not a lot of the big stuff, but I'm fine with that. They're still very nice apps, and some are "up there" when it comes to quality.

I don't care about features. These "features" are what ruined the smartphone for me. When you have 200 apps competing in the background, it's going to run down your battery quickly, which is what happened to my Android devices, I got it perfectly setup, and then bam, 20% battery a hour later.

Accessories?! You're saying that we're wasting money on a phone that will only cost us $100, yet you're complaining that we can't blow another $100 on cases and other junk for it? All I need is a good pair of headphones and I'm fine with that.

Stop wasting your time pinning and photographing junk that nobody actually looks at but yourself. That is what Instagram and Pinterest have become, and I'm glad to be on a platform where those types of apps aren't the norm. I left both before they became the two junkyards that they are. I'm not posting on a place where companies are allowed to target me and try and sell me stuff.

Yea, Accessories. There are some headphones that have microphones built into them that do not work properly on a Nokia phone. The power beats by Dre come to mind as one example.

Glad you are happy with your phone.

 

[Jessica Lares]

I took audio engineering. I know better than to buy headphones as overrated as Beats. But that's for another thread in another area of this forum.

But yeah, I like my phone more and more everyday. Do I miss Android? Not really. Some great phones out there, but I can't justify paying $300 for a phone upfront. So I was always going to be stuck with low-end/mid-range devices. I feel that the money saved is better spent on apps and media. I still run some iOS 2/3 games on my iPad Mini for instance, pretty cool with the better zoom in iOS 7.

 

[Black Magic]

I took audio engineering. I know better than to buy headphones as overrated as Beats. But that's for another thread in another area of this forum.

But yeah, I like my phone more and more everyday. Do I miss Android? Not really. Some great phones out there, but I can't justify paying $300 for a phone upfront. So I was always going to be stuck with low-end/mid-range devices. I feel that the money saved is better spent on apps and media. I still run some iOS 2/3 games on my iPad Mini for instance, pretty cool with the better zoom in iOS 7.

For some reason I thought you were into graphic design? Do you have any interest in grabbing a $99 iPhone 5c to compliment your Mini or are you in it for the long haul with WP?

 

[Jessica Lares]

For some reason I thought you were into graphic design? Do you have any interest in grabbing a $99 iPhone 5c to compliment your Mini or are you in it for the long haul with WP?

I multitask. I started out doing music as my major (and got bored, lol), but am now just finishing a marketable skills in 3D animation. But I've done art/coding practically all my life.

I'm staying with my 520 until it breaks. When it breaks, I'll decide then which way to go.

I can run iPhone apps on the Mini, so I'm OK. I prefer the 5S colors and would prefer a 64GB model.

 

[weespeed]

I use a Lumia 920 and currently also using the Note 3.
I switch the sim back and forth, there are pros and cons for each. You just have to decide what's more important to you.

Since the Note 3 is new, I've been using it exclusively the past week. I already miss my Lumia. I think the camera is better. The pictures I have taken with the Note just don't look as good as the Lumia to me.

On major thing I miss is the text to speech when I get in my car. With my Lumia it was automatic. As soon as it connects to bluetooth in my car, I never had to look at it when I got a text. It would read me my texts and also send out my replies all hands free.

With the Note I have to switch on drive mode and it's not consistent. I even downloaded an app to turn on drive mode when it connects to bluetooth, but no way to turn off automatically. Just little things like that are bugging me.

Windows 8 does things very elegantly. It does lack in some areas like notifications. I'm considering going back to my Lumia as my main phone.

 

[vistadude]

Hopefully at that point, wp and iphone will let you "bootcamp" into android to run those android-compatible apps.

My humble little bet is, Android will one day have engulfed WP, and reduced iOS to a relatively small market share. Time will say.