Windows Phone 8

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#727788 6-Dec-2012 02:01

dafman: Ex-android owners - what's your verdict? WP8 doesn't match up? About the same? Is better than android, glad you made the change?

Few points:
1. If you like benchmark/customize/ROMing - windows phone is not for you.
2. App availability is tiny (prob 5% of what android store has at this point of time)
3. Dropbox is not supported but skydrive is well integrated.
4. Transferring your contact/calendar to winpho from google is easy.
5. I use gtalk extensively between family - not supported on winpho.
6. The UI is fast n smooth as android 4.1.

Winpho is good if you are new to smartphone scene or a current apple/iphone user (easy to learn/use) but can be few steps backward if you are an android power user.

azzaj

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#727803 6-Dec-2012 07:05

dafman: Ex-android owners - what's your verdict? WP8 doesn't match up? About the same? Is better than android, glad you made the change?

I still own a gnex so comparing jellybeans to winpho8:

W8 has excellent integration with exchange (hence it being first choice for a work phone) and other real world things that you might want to do occasionally if you cant get to a computer.

I'm surprised that they don't add a 'beta' tag to WP8 tho as it appears to have a number of minor niggly bugs (forgetting my corporate email details a few times per day).

A lot of options appear to be non existant (wifi sleep policies etc).

Angry birds appears to run a bit stuttery compared to even android phones of lesser hardware but this could be a bad port. I haven't tried any other games as yet so it could be a one off.

Maps/navigation is somewhat lacking (certainly better than apples attempt but still not up to google standards.

Apps have already been covered, I concur.

If it comes down to searching for something or navigation its the nexus no contest that gets pulled out of a pocket but as my personal life is based around google accounts it seems only natural.

WP8 shows a hell of a lot of promise and it's integration with microsoft services is outstanding, when they fix some more of the bugs, unlock some options and the apps come up to speed it will be a force to reckon with but for now if it was a single phone choice and i do like to tweak it has to be android as choice number one.

Specific to the 920, the camera obviously although the lens naturally gets swiped with a greasy finger when i hold my phone so point and shoot is always prefixed by wipe.

The 920 looks, weighs and lasts about the same as a car battery in comparison to a slim high end googlephone. Motorola maxx's and things with mugen batteries which make any phone look 2 months overdue with quintuplets aside i don't think android can compare in battery life but this is just my subjective opinion based on ownership of 3 googlephones and a 920 nokia.

I'm glad i got this for work instead of another bloody iphone.

smgoverno

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#727820 6-Dec-2012 08:12

nathan:
smgoverno:
nathan: It would be helpful to detail some app updates you notice this on please

Nokia City Lens came through the day I purchased the phone (Thu 22nd Nov)
All other apps that are part of the Nokia Collection in the Store that had updates (Maps, Creative Studio, etc) came through today as did others not available in the app list such as Network+, Extras+info and Feedback to Nokia

Thanks for the info, its been useful

One more question, what is your phone doing at midnight? Is it switched off? Is the flight mode on or WiFi or Telco data turned off at midnight night ever or midnight the first night you got it at all?

Yes, most nights phone gets put on Flight Mode from around 11pm till around 6.30am. The updates that came through as per above, arrived around 8am, as did the Display+Touch update I just received this morning. So that would be 2x set of updates around the 8am mark.

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#727821 6-Dec-2012 08:13

nakedmolerat:
dafman: Ex-android owners - what's your verdict? WP8 doesn't match up? About the same? Is better than android, glad you made the change?

Few points:
1. If you like benchmark/customize/ROMing - windows phone is not for you.
2. App availability is tiny (prob 5% of what android store has at this point of time)
3. Dropbox is not supported but skydrive is well integrated.
4. Transferring your contact/calendar to winpho from google is easy.
5. I use gtalk extensively between family - not supported on winpho.
6. The UI is fast n smooth as android 4.1.

In case of ROMs, reality is that Android is so bad at keeping pace with each version that people need to do it just to get some features. Benchmarks? Real life usage is the best benchmark...

App availability is a bit more than 5% of Android, as it seems there's 120,000 apps available now, so I would say something around 15% is more realistic.

I understand missing Dropbox, and that's one of the reasons I don't use Dropbox on my PC - this and the fact I got 25GB on SkyDrive so at the end of the day, one or another - Dropbox, SkyDrive, Google Drive, Box, Cubby...

nakedmolerat: Winpho is good if you are new to smartphone scene or a current apple/iphone user (easy to learn/use) but can be few steps backward if you are an android power user.

Interesting. I always thought Android was the step backward when it came to things *I* care about - email and calendaring. I haven't seen one single Android version on any OEM that actually works well with Exchange. Tried Samsung, LG, Huwaei models and even on the same OS version each have different options, even missing options, others won't sync calendar unless you manually start it, most won't do email folders consistently and even things like moving between folders don't work.

Basically, people use the best tool for their needs.

dafman

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#727865 6-Dec-2012 09:37

I am seriously considering a switch to WP8 next year. The Android UI has always bothered me - they have never quite achieved the seamless experience Apple have. I am amazed at the number of friends who only struggle consistently getting to grips with the android UI. I'm not interested in customising my phone, so this is not an issue for me. I also really like the new Microsoft look - the new web-based Outlook.com, for example, is streets ahead of gmail. And I really like the idea of having a seamless experience across my PC and phone - so, again, this is the appeal. So why don't I jump now? Of course, there is the large elephant in the room which I can't ignore is the current lack of apps. As much as I love the look of WP8, I'm not yet ready to live without the following apps
- Kiwibank mobile app
- Beyond Pod (podcasts)
- My movies (I love this android app ? I own 300+ dvd's and this is a brilliant tool to manage my collection)
- Our groceries (simple, synchronised shopping lists on my and my partner's phone)
- Anydo
- Dropbox
- Instapaper
- Stuff
- BBC news (the official version).

Ps. Freitasm - interesting, my Galaxy S2 works flawlessly with MS exchange calendar or email (via my Office 365 account).

lueyyou

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#727934 6-Dec-2012 10:52

I believe that there are many apps on the Windows Phone marketplace already that do what you have described. For instance I did a quick search online for the apps/sites that I know about and found the following:

Dropbox app (there's a free version now) http://www.wpcentral.com/unofficial-dropbox-app-windows-phone-now-allows-automatic-camera-uploads

Onenote takes care of shared shopping lists, so no need to get an app for that http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/onenote

The Stuff app has been available for some time on Windows Phone http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/stuff/42059870-bb0a-49c8-b542-5884d09ca89a NZHerald is also available and that app has a great interface

I've actually asked Kiwibank on their Facebook page before when they are going to release a Windows Phone app and they said they didn't have any plans yet but I think after the popularity of the ASB app they would be stupid not to consider it. Having said that I use Kiwibank on my Windows Phone perfectly fine just by going on the mobile site. Not the most ideal but still works perfectly fine.

So yeah my point is I don't think you should worry about app availability, the market is growing at an enormous rate and not with crap like iOS and Android markets now. There are many many useful apps being released as Windows Phone begins to hit critical mass and if they aren't available yet I'm sure they will be soon/have alternatives already

Technofreak

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#728035 6-Dec-2012 13:52

azzaj:
dafman: Ex-android owners - what's your verdict? WP8 doesn't match up? About the same? Is better than android, glad you made the change?

Maps/navigation is somewhat lacking (certainly better than apples attempt but still not up to google standards.

I'm surprised by your comment about the Maps. I must admit I've only briefly played with Maps on a Nokia Winodws 7.5 phone, my experience is really with the Symbian version which I expect is similar to the Windows version. IMO the maps and navigation works brilliantly and integrates well with other features on the phone. The turn by turn navigation is excellent.

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azzaj

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#728074 6-Dec-2012 14:15

Technofreak: I'm surprised by your comment about the Maps. I must admit I've only briefly played with Maps on a Nokia Winodws 7.5 phone, my experience is really with the Symbian version which I expect is similar to the Windows version. IMO the maps and navigation works brilliantly and integrates well with other features on the phone. The turn by turn navigation is excellent.

Traffic data appears non existent, satellite resolution seems lower and the ability to use traffic view whilst doing turn by turn nav pushes my preference for google maps ahead.

Still like i said, better than apple....

Technofreak

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#728312 6-Dec-2012 22:57

azzaj:

Traffic data appears non existent, satellite resolution seems lower and the ability to use traffic view whilst doing turn by turn nav pushes my preference for google maps ahead.

Still like i said, better than apple....

Well there you have it, I don't use traffic data nor use the satellite view so those issues don't crop up for me. Very much a case of differing priorities/uses bringing out differing opinions. I can see your point.

One of the biggies for me has been the on board maps in Nokia Maps, negating the need to be online for them to work though I understand Google now has the function to download the local area you need.

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
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#728417 7-Dec-2012 10:33

If you folks haven't noticed, the Windows Phone keyboard is very accurate and way easier to use than other touchscreen keyboards.

This blog post "The secrets of Windows Phone 8 keyboard" explains why. Worth reading it...

bspain

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#728423 7-Dec-2012 10:46

freitasm: If you folks haven't noticed, the Windows Phone keyboard is very accurate and way easier to use than other touchscreen keyboards.

This blog post "The secrets of Windows Phone 8 keyboard" explains why. Worth reading it...

I always wondered why typing on my Windows Phone was soo much better than any other phone. I just struggle to use the OSK's on my Androids and iPhone's.

robax

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#728465 7-Dec-2012 11:48

dafman:
- Kiwibank mobile app

The Kiwibank mobile site is good enough for balances and payments/transfers until they provide an app.
Rob

paulspain

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#728467 7-Dec-2012 11:53

Nokia's Lumia 820 was just announced by Vodafone NZ. Available from 14 December at $799.

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Founder: Gorilla Technology, NZ Tech Podcast

berrys

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#728476 7-Dec-2012 12:09

paulspain: Nokia's Lumia 820 was just announced by Vodafone NZ. Available from 14 December at $799.

I was considering this handset for wifey, but ended up importing the 8X for same price. Luckily I didn't get stung with gst.

bspain

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#728477 7-Dec-2012 12:11

paulspain: Nokia's Lumia 820 was just announced by Vodafone NZ. Available from 14 December at $799.

Great Price.... maybe I shoulda waited for this, but I didnt think it was coming this quickly.

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