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Windows Phone 8.1 |OT| Update 1

P

Paganmoon

Member
Microsoft's issue was never R&D anyway, it's marketing (and to some extent brand perception). They have had, and still have lots of cool things, they just market them horribly when the time comes, or don't market them at all. (Hey, anyone heard anything about Photosynth in the past, what... 8 years?).

And I don't think Microsoft's bank account couldn't take the Nokia buyout, don't they have something in the range of $70Bn in foreign accounts they want to bring back into the US or something?
 
M

maeh2k

Member
KageMaru said:
Didn't they also acquire a bunch of patents when buying Nokia?
Click to expand...

No. Nokia still owns those. Microsoft just licensed them for 10 years.

Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will pay EUR 3.79 billion to purchase substantially all of Nokia’s Devices & Services business, and EUR 1.65 billion to license Nokia’s patents, for a total transaction price of EUR 5.44 billion in cash.

...

Nokia will retain its patent portfolio and will grant Microsoft a 10-year license to its patents at the time of the closing.
Click to expand...
 
BeforeU

BeforeU

Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.
Its good to predict if or not Nokia buy-out was a good for MS overall but I am going to hold my judgement until the first flagship device release under MS name this year. I want to see how they handle it, the device itself will be powerful but the most important part will be how they will market it and sell it. I FUCKING GOD hope its a global launch, like a god damn iPhone, where I can just walk into any Microsoft store and buy it unlock. No country/carrier bullshit.

In Canada, last flagship device was released 3 years ago. Lumia 920. That is a fucking light years in technology. I mean, sure there was L1020, L928 but they were all variant of L920, spec wise. Right now latest and greatest we have is L830 lol. Where the fuck is L930, and L1520. I see no ad what so ever anywhere, Its like they are not even TRYING. if this is going to be the case with their next MS branded flagship, US exclusive, AT&T exclusive fucked up case. THEN FUCK YOU MS. I am still going to pay ton of money to get it shipped from US, like I have been doing from past years. But still FUCK YOU HARD. And you deserve to be in the 3rd place.
 
E

Esque7

Member
New to 8.1, my phone just got it (thanks Verizon) but is there a way to make it so apps close like they used to? I have to hold the back button now to close anything. Sorry for the noob question.
 
K

Kinky John

Member
I was going to pull the trigger on a new phone this week, but I think I'll wait until the current Fitbit Flex offer runs out at the end of March in the hope that prices drop a little. That thing is of no use to my lazy ass.

Edit: Fuck it - blue 735 let's do this!
 
H

hwalker84

Member
http://wmpoweruser.com/windows-10s-ui-windows-phones-windows-8/

So the logic here is that if Microsoft offered an Android-like experience without any of Android’s advantages, people would switch?

A: Do you like Android?

B: Yes!

A: Do you like how it looks?

B: Sure

A: How would you like to buy a phone that looks like Android but doesn’t have any of its advantages?

B: Like what?

A: Apps, official apps, Google services, customizablity, skins, themes, custom keyboards, set default browser, app piracy, 60fps video, custom lockscreens, custom passwords, accessories, choice of hardware from 20+ companies, multitasking,

B: What? Why would I do that?

A: You said you liked the way it looked!

B: ….

A: Now I have a 2-year old Lumia 920 for you… or a spanking brand new phone… yeah, let’s go with the new one.. How do you feel about Snapdragon 200? Would you like it in dual-core or quad-core?”
Click to expand...

LOL.....
It's true though :(
 
H

hadareud

The Translator
It's bullshit imo. W10 looks nothing like Android. Not to me anyway. Having three lines instead of three dots makes no difference.

The "hamburger" is everywhere, on all the major websites. It's universally used. Why hang on to something that isn't.

As for the overall UI, it's day and night.

WMP have too much time on their hands. If they like a good whine and a discussion about the intricacies of fuck all, they should join the gaming side.
 
H

hwalker84

Member
hadareud said:
It's bullshit imo. W10 looks nothing like Android. Not to me anyway. Having three lines instead of three dots makes no difference.

The "hamburger" is everywhere, on all the major websites. It's universally used. Why hang on to something that isn't.

As for the overall UI, it's day and night.

WMP have too much time on their hands. If they like a good whine and a discussion about the intricacies of fuck all, they should join the gaming side.
Click to expand...
Personally I was referring only to the last line.
 
T

TheBryanJZX90

Member
hadareud said:
It's bullshit imo. W10 looks nothing like Android. Not to me anyway. Having three lines instead of three dots makes no difference.

The "hamburger" is everywhere, on all the major websites. It's universally used. Why hang on to something that isn't.

As for the overall UI, it's day and night.

WMP have too much time on their hands. If they like a good whine and a discussion about the intricacies of fuck all, they should join the gaming side.
Click to expand...

Three dots takes up less vertical space to convey the same amount of information
 
A

antiquegamer

Member
PseudoKirby said:
meh I just bought another used 820 to tide me over until I can really afford an 830.

I mean I already have all the accessories for it or something.
Click to expand...
You could just fix the screen. Unless you find used 820 for cheaper than the cost of fixing it. I personally would have take the cost of replacing 820 and put it toward 830 unless you find 820 for real cheap like under $80.00. Only thing I remember about that 820 is that it was really heavy.
 
P

PseudoKirby

Banned
antiquegamer said:
You could just fix the screen. Unless you find used 820 for cheaper than the cost of fixing it. I personally would have take the cost of replacing 820 and put it toward 830 unless you find 820 for real cheap like under $80.00. Only thing I remember about that 820 is that it was really heavy.
Click to expand...

yea my phone is pretty heavy,

I bought it for $50.
 
J

JaggedSac

Member
hadareud said:
It's bullshit imo. W10 looks nothing like Android. Not to me anyway. Having three lines instead of three dots makes no difference.

The "hamburger" is everywhere, on all the major websites. It's universally used. Why hang on to something that isn't.

As for the overall UI, it's day and night.

WMP have too much time on their hands. If they like a good whine and a discussion about the intricacies of fuck all, they should join the gaming side.
Click to expand...

Thurrott just wrote a post about how the WP differentiators are all gone for the most part. Kind of agree too.
 
A

antiquegamer

Member
JaggedSac said:
Thurrott just wrote a post about how the WP differentiators are all gone for the most part. Kind of agree too.
Click to expand...
I have bing lock screen on my Android phone, all the Microsoft services with exception of Cortana. It's getting harder for me to come back to Windows Phone especially with all my banking apps gone and most of the app are so outdated on Windows Phone and most importantly lack of awesome hardware by Nokia.
 
H

hwalker84

Member
antiquegamer said:
I have bing lock screen on my Android phone, all the Microsoft services with exception of Cortana. It's getting harder for me to come back to Windows Phone especially with all my banking apps gone and most of the app are so outdated on Windows Phone and most importantly lack of awesome hardware by Nokia.
Click to expand...

The lack of high end hardware is extremely painful. The missing apps I need are growing (SiriusXM, Nike SNKRS, Adidas confirm, PNC).
 
V

VanMardigan

has calmed down a bit.
No amount of apps can make up for the bad day to day experience I'm having on my flagship Android phone. In less than a year, I'm ready to move on. It's a shame, because the apps are so superior in quality and quantity, and the hardware is fantastic. I tried a factory reset and I got one minor update that I was hoping would fix some of the issues I'm having, but no dice.

It's either iPhone or Windows phone for me in phones, and since I don't want to fall asleep while navigating my home screen, I think I'll go back to wp for now.
 
H

hadareud

The Translator
hwalker84 said:
Personally I was referring only to the last line.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the lack of flagship phones is ridiculous. Of course, the 930 does exist and isn't two years old and outdated (or as outdated as the 920), but still.

JaggedSac said:
Thurrott just wrote a post about how the WP differentiators are all gone for the most part. Kind of agree too.
Click to expand...

Well if Thurrottt say so.

Joking aside, I don't agree. Yes of course they are bringing their services to other platforms - exactly as they should, btw - but WP is still very different even so. I've been using an Android phone on the side for the last 3 months and it's a very different experience. Very different. And like Van says, it's not a good different.
 
A

antiquegamer

Member
VanMardigan said:
No amount of apps can make up for the bad day to day experience I'm having on my flagship Android phone. In less than a year, I'm ready to move on. It's a shame, because the apps are so superior in quality and quantity, and the hardware is fantastic. I tried a factory reset and I got one minor update that I was hoping would fix some of the issues I'm having, but no dice.

It's either iPhone or Windows phone for me in phones, and since I don't want to fall asleep while navigating my home screen, I think I'll go back to wp for now.
Click to expand...
Because you buy crappy HTC phone on contract with all the bloatwares and crappy skins. I am mostly happy with Cyanogen Android and I understand where you are coming from with skin Android. I am ready to give away this free G Pad tablet I got from AT&T, several reboot constant app closing, load with browser and email app that can not be removed.

If I go Android again it will have to something like OnePlus where I am free of all the crap yet have enough nice stuffs on top. I find pure Android also terrible to use.
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
antiquegamer said:
Because you buy crappy HTC phone on contract with all the bloatwares and crappy skins. I am mostly happy with Cyanogen Android and I understand where you are coming from with skin Android. I am ready to give away this free G Pad tablet I got from AT&T, several reboot constant app closing, load with browser and email app that can not be removed.

If I go Android again it will have to something like OnePlus where I am free of all the crap yet have enough nice stuffs on top. I find pure Android also terrible to use.
Click to expand...

I have an old nexus 4 I play with, and I can just about get it to behave how I want but it needs lots of playing with custom home screens, even tasker stuff to get notificiations to look nice on the home screen. Android has widgets which should be ideal, but lots of them go overboard with how much stuff they try and surface - almost being mini apps

still better than ios though
 
H

hadareud

The Translator
Funky Papa said:
I wish the 930 were half as innovative as the 920 was.
Click to expand...

Sure, the 920 was a different proposition. We can only hope that the next flagship has more innovation to offer.

antiquegamer said:
Because you buy crappy HTC phone on contract with all the bloatwares and crappy skins. I am mostly happy with Cyanogen Android and I understand where you are coming from with skin Android. I am ready to give away this free G Pad tablet I got from AT&T, several reboot constant app closing, load with browser and email app that can not be removed.

If I go Android again it will have to something like OnePlus where I am free of all the crap yet have enough nice stuffs on top. I find pure Android also terrible to use.
Click to expand...

I have a low end Android without any bloatware (Moto E), and honestly, the experience is really not very good. The interface has become a lot nicer since my last Android phone (Desire HD), but the overall usability has barely improved.

You have all those great apps, but then you're stuttering along in half of them. Twitter and Facebook are, well, not unusable, but a chore to use. So much so that I'd rather not use them at all.

Chrome isn't much better.

When I compare that to my 620, I'd rather use the 620 every day of the week, despite the apps being a bit poo and outdated.
 
B

brotkasten

Member
Android is not a good experience with less than 2 GB RAM.

I like the OS and entire user experience on my N5, but it was the worst thing ever on my Galaxy Nexus.
 
N

Nero3000

Member
I agree that W10 is a step backwards in many regards:

Pivots and controls on the bottom are the biggest ones that made windows phone, windows phone.

I can accept the loss of hubs/panoramas - but the hamburger menu is just awful and in the wrong place. (and Spartan url bar at the top).

One example that really annoys me is the the listen to music button is at the top of the screen, vs the bottom where its easier to just hit after pressing the search button.

W10 is an inconsistent mess in its current preview state, and the worst thing is that the new stuff is terrible.

The things which were positive that have stayed are the lock screen and start screen.
 
D

derFeef

Member
Nero3000 said:
I agree that W10 is a step backwards in many regards:

Pivots and controls on the bottom are the biggest ones that made windows phone, windows phone.

I can accept the loss of hubs/panoramas - but the hamburger menu is just awful and in the wrong place. (and Spartan url bar at the top).

One example that really annoys me is the the listen to music button is at the top of the screen, vs the bottom where its easier to just hit after pressing the search button.

W10 is an inconsistent mess in its current preview state, and the worst thing is that the new stuff is terrible.

The things which were positive that have stayed are the lock screen and start screen.
Click to expand...

Yup. My SO also commented on how ugly and "techy" it looks compared to what it does currently on her 8.1 device. It lacks personality, simply put.
 
T

TheBryanJZX90

Member
Nero3000 said:
I agree that W10 is a step backwards in many regards:

Pivots and controls on the bottom are the biggest ones that made windows phone, windows phone.

I can accept the loss of hubs/panoramas - but the hamburger menu is just awful and in the wrong place. (and Spartan url bar at the top).

One example that really annoys me is the the listen to music button is at the top of the screen, vs the bottom where its easier to just hit after pressing the search button.

W10 is an inconsistent mess in its current preview state, and the worst thing is that the new stuff is terrible.

The things which were positive that have stayed are the lock screen and start screen.
Click to expand...

Uh oh, this sounds like it would make using a 1520 one handed borderline impossible
 
A

antiquegamer

Member
brotkasten said:
Android is not a good experience with less than 2 GB RAM.

I like the OS and entire user experience on my N5, but it was the worst thing ever on my Galaxy Nexus.
Click to expand...
Thus is probably why I am happy with my OPO, 3gb of Ram, 64gb of fast internal storage, minimum bloatwares and customize how I want it. LG G pad make me stop thinking about getting LG G3 and Nexus 7 turn me away from pure Android.

I don't know but I WP lost the smoothness that it's famous for with 8.1. May be it's better with newer phone but 8.1 stutter quite a bit and those app resuming screen...
 
F

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
I don't generally lust after conceptual renders, but...

J14HBrN.png


WOOD.
 
J

JaggedSac

Member
hadareud said:
Well if Thurrottt say so.

Joking aside, I don't agree. Yes of course they are bringing their services to other platforms - exactly as they should, btw - but WP is still very different even so. I've been using an Android phone on the side for the last 3 months and it's a very different experience. Very different. And like Van says, it's not a good different.
Click to expand...

MS services were not what differentiated WP, at least for me. I could care less about the fact that it had Office while the others didn't. What I did care about was the design and philosophy behind it. Data aggregation in hubs, minimalism, iconography, an attempt to get app creators to follow these designs, etc. I actually decided to go to WP because I enjoyed the ZuneHD UI so much.

I could care less about apps. I don't even really care that BoA is dropping its app. I receive a check to deposit once every blue moon. What I do care about is having an OS where swiping and navigation was a unique and enjoyable experience.
 
H

hadareud

The Translator
Would be fairer to compare it to the 730. I'd pay the extra 30 quid to get the 730.

That said, MS are definitely overpricing their mid-range phones.

edit: actually, the 735 is only 15 quid more than the Moto G. Bargain.
 
K

kazinova

Member
Really glad I picked up a 635 to slap the W10TP on. It's messy right now but but since it's not my daily driver I don't have to worry. I can just jerry-rig my nano SIM into it and go and then switch back to the 1520 whenever.

Plus it'll keep me from putting the preview on the 1520 for longer since I won't have that burning desire to see new features in person.

On a related note: the 635 is a really impressive phone from a cost/value perspective. 50 dollars for a burner smartphone is awesome. Sure it's missing a lot of top tier features that I've grown used to--camera button, front facing camera, processing power--but the phone is the perfect cheap smart phone solution.

Now I have something to take with me when we go fishing, camping or to any event where I'd be likely to lose my phone (canoe-trip? ziploc bag + 635 = no worries!)
 
A

Anton Sugar

Member
Nero3000 said:
I agree that W10 is a step backwards in many regards:

Pivots and controls on the bottom are the biggest ones that made windows phone, windows phone.

I can accept the loss of hubs/panoramas - but the hamburger menu is just awful and in the wrong place. (and Spartan url bar at the top).

One example that really annoys me is the the listen to music button is at the top of the screen, vs the bottom where its easier to just hit after pressing the search button.

W10 is an inconsistent mess in its current preview state, and the worst thing is that the new stuff is terrible.

The things which were positive that have stayed are the lock screen and start screen.
Click to expand...

Agree with all of this. I don't want WP10 to be "Metro/Modern in name only". It wasn't perfect, but there was a lot to WP that"made sense" and was intuitive. Loss of pivot/panorama design is huge, IMO. Particularly because the current implementation of the alternative is so bad--lots of reaching to top of the screen when it is unnecessary, or should be, at least.
 
K

kharma45

Member
hadareud said:
Would be fairer to compare it to the 730. I'd pay the extra 30 quid to get the 730.

That said, MS are definitely overpricing their mid-range phones.

edit: actually, the 735 is only 15 quid more than the Moto G. Bargain.
Click to expand...

I paid £130 for my 735. Was quite a fair price as it included the speaker and charging plate.
 
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