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Windows Phone |OT3| Apollo has landed

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S

Suerte

Member
I've got the Nillkin Matte Textured Super Shield Hard Shell Case - it covers the lens, adds some grip and doesn't add too much thickness to the phone.

nillkin-super-frosted-shield-hard-cover-case-w-screen-protector-for-nokia-lumia-1020-black_p20130913214010798.jpg
 
M

Milchjon

Member
Well well well, good thing I don't care tooo much about music on my phone...

And is there really no solution to automatically sync my pictures?
 
M

Milchjon

Member
NeOak said:
SkyDrive.

Or that awful POS desktop app.
Click to expand...

The desktop app is so awful, I haven't even found a "select all" function yet.

SkyDrive I'm aware of, but ahem... I currently have no Wi-Fi at home (a conscious decision that has worked well for a while but that I'll rectify ASAP) or at my university (VPN, which I haven't found a solution on WP for).

So I had hoped that I was missing something with the desktop app.
 
J

joshschw

Member
Milchjon said:
The desktop app is so awful, I haven't even found a "select all" function yet.

SkyDrive I'm aware of, but ahem... I currently have no Wi-Fi at home (a conscious decision that has worked well for a while but that I'll rectify ASAP) or at my university (VPN, which I haven't found a solution on WP for).

So I had hoped that I was missing something with the desktop app.
Click to expand...

If you have Windows 8 - that app isn't that bad... :(
 
Z

Zaraki_Kenpachi

Member
How do most people feel about windows phone? There seems to be a lot of apps missing compared to my android phone, are there good alternatives? Is the browser good enough where you don't need apps? Can the browser play flash videos at all or are there other browsers that can?
 
R

Razdek

Banned
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
How do most people feel about windows phone? There seems to be a lot of apps missing compared to my android phone, are there good alternatives? Is the browser good enough where you don't need apps? Can the browser play flash videos at all or are there other browsers that can?
Click to expand...

It's a pretty good OS but still behind IOS and Android. A lot of the official apps are missing but you can usually find a good alternative and in some cases better like 6Tag for Instagram. Browser to me is kinda meh sice a lot of mobile sites use webkit and IE doesn't and there is no flash. You pick up a $99 Nokia Lumia 520 off contract and play with one and it won't burn a hole in your wallet.
 
T

Totakeke

Member
Pretty detailed article on how Google controls it's "open source" Android.

While it might not be an official requirement, being granted a Google apps license will go a whole lot easier if you join the Open Handset Alliance. The OHA is a group of companies committed to Android—Google's Android—and members are contractually prohibited from building non-Google approved devices. That's right, joining the OHA requires a company to sign its life away and promise to not build a device that runs a competing Android fork.

Acer was bit by this requirement when it tried to build devices that ran Alibaba's Aliyun OS in China. Aliyun is an Android fork, and when Google got wind of it, Acer was told to shut the project down or lose its access to Google apps. Google even made a public blog post about it:

While Android remains free for anyone to use as they would like, only Android compatible devices benefit from the full Android ecosystem. By joining the Open Handset Alliance, each member contributes to and builds one Android platform—not a bunch of incompatible versions.
This makes life extremely difficult for the only company brazen enough to sell an Android fork in the west: Amazon. Since the Kindle OS counts as an incompatible version of Android, no major OEM is allowed to produce the Kindle Fire for Amazon. So when Amazon goes shopping for a manufacturer for its next tablet, it has to immediately cross Acer, Asus, Dell, Foxconn, Fujitsu, HTC, Huawei, Kyocera, Lenovo, LG, Motorola, NEC, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Toshiba, and ZTE off the list. Currently, Amazon contracts Kindle manufacturing out to Quanta Computer, a company primarily known for making laptops. Amazon probably doesn't have many other choices.

For OEMs, this means they aren't allowed to slowly transition from Google's Android to a fork. The second they ship one device that runs a competing fork, they are given the kiss of death and booted out of the Android family—it must be a clean break. This, by design, makes switching to forked Android a terrifying prospect to any established Android OEM. You must jump off the Google cliff, and there's no going back.

Any OEM hoping to license Google Apps will need to pass Google's "compatibility" tests in order to be eligible. Compatibility ensures that all the apps in the Play Store will run on your device. And to Google, "compatibility" is also a fluid concept that an Android engineer once internally described as "a club to make [OEMs] do what we want." While Google now has automated tools that will test your device's "compatibility," getting a Google apps license still requires a company to privately e-mail Google and "kiss the ring" so to speak. Most of this is done through backroom agreements and secret contracts, so the majority of the information we have comes from public spats and/or lawsuits between Google and potential Android deserters (see: Acer).

Another point of control is that the Google apps are all licensed as a single bundle. So if you want Gmail and Maps, you also need to take Google Play Services, Google+, and whatever else Google feels like adding to the package. A company called Skyhook found this out the hard way when it tried to develop a competing location service for Android. Switching to Skyhook's service meant Google would not be able to collect location data from users. This was bad for Google, so Skyhook was declared "incompatible." OEMs that wanted the Google Apps were not allowed to use them. Skyhook sued, and the lawsuit is still pending.
Click to expand...


http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013...ntrolling-open-source-by-any-means-necessary/

Basically Amazon is kinda screwed unless they want to go full on web services and become a direct competitor to Google. Also explains why all those smartphone makers making it big in China will have a hard time coming out to other markets.
 
Z

Zaraki_Kenpachi

Member
Razdek said:
It's a pretty good OS but still behind IOS and Android. A lot of the official apps are missing but you can usually find a good alternative and in some cases better like 6Tag for Instagram. Browser to me is kinda meh sice a lot of mobile sites use webkit and IE doesn't and there is no flash. You pick up a $99 Nokia Lumia 520 off contract and play with one and it won't burn a hole in your wallet.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've been waiting for the nexus 5 but considering one of the cheaper android or lumia 520 instead... Does it have navigation at least? I only saw third party apps for google maps navigation so is that it? Might just hold off then. I know the browser on surface is pretty awesome for a tablet so I was hoping it might be similar on their phone. Is there any splintering or lack of updates for the OS with budget phones like 520?
 
T

Totakeke

Member
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
Yeah, I've been waiting for the nexus 5 but considering one of the cheaper android or lumia 520 instead... Does it have navigation at least? I only saw third party apps for google maps navigation so is that it? Might just hold off then. I know the browser on surface is pretty awesome for a tablet so I was hoping it might be similar on their phone. Is there any splintering or lack of updates for the OS with budget phones like 520?
Click to expand...

It has Nokia HERE maps built in and also turn by turn navigation. On basic features it's pretty much on par, there's nothing big like maps missing. It's either apps or specific user preferences that makes the difference between the three OS.
 
F

f0lken

Member
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
Yeah, I've been waiting for the nexus 5 but considering one of the cheaper android or lumia 520 instead... Does it have navigation at least? I only saw third party apps for google maps navigation so is that it? Might just hold off then. I know the browser on surface is pretty awesome for a tablet so I was hoping it might be similar on their phone. Is there any splintering or lack of updates for the OS with budget phones like 520?
Click to expand...

It has offline navigation, but as always when someone ask if WP would be a good match for him/her I muswt ask you, what are the apps you use the most? That way we could tell you what is available or has good alternatives. And you can have the latest version of WP (GDR3) right now without an issue
 
Z

Zaraki_Kenpachi

Member
Totakeke said:
It has Nokia HERE maps built in and also turn by turn navigation. On basic features it's pretty much on par, there's nothing big like maps missing. It's either apps or specific user preferences that makes the difference between the three OS.
Click to expand...

Is there a good list of apps? I use things like yahoo sports and such for scores and it's not on windows phone and other apps but there might be alternatives to some but not all, I just don't know what they would be called if there is.
 
T

Totakeke

Member
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
Is there a good list of apps? I use things like yahoo sports and such for scores and it's not on windows phone and other apps but there might be alternatives to some but not all, I just don't know what they would be called if there is.
Click to expand...

The best apps that exist are very good, just that in pure numbers there's not a lot. So lists are pretty simple because it'll be the few that dominate those lists.

Try the top free apps and best rated apps on the windows phone website for a start. You can search apps there as well. No clue about yahoo sports alternatives, but there's definitely sports apps around. Someone else should be able to make you a recommendation.

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/top-rated-apps
 
Z

Zaraki_Kenpachi

Member
Totakeke said:
The best apps that exist are very good, just that in pure numbers there's not a lot. So lists are pretty simple because it'll be the few that dominate those lists.

Try the top free apps and best rated apps on the windows phone website for a start. You can search apps there as well. No clue about yahoo sports alternatives, but there's definitely sports apps around. Someone else should be able to make you a recommendation.

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/top-rated-apps
Click to expand...

Yeah, my biggest loss is the official team apps that give you live updates of the game. I'm not sure there's similar on windows phone since I can't find any team apps.
 
R

Razdek

Banned
Totakeke said:
It has Nokia HERE maps built in and also turn by turn navigation. On basic features it's pretty much on par, there's nothing big like maps missing. It's either apps or specific user preferences that makes the difference between the three OS.
Click to expand...

I hate that you have to have a sim card in the phone if you want to use HERE maps navigation at least on the 520. I had to find an old unused sim card from a friend and it was a pain in the butt as I usually throw those out.
 
S

Speedy Blue Dude

Banned
Thanks for discussing Rando on the last page. Just downloaded and started using it. I love it. :) Fantastic idea for an app, love seeing pictures from users in South Korea, New York, Toronto, and all the other places I've received picture from.

EDIT: Damn it murders battery life. :p 24% drained in 27 minutes. Hehe. :)
 
Z

Zaraki_Kenpachi

Member
woahitsreeo said:
Not sure what team or sport exactly you need, but the official NFL app allows you to set your fav. team and get push notifications for when they score and quarterly updates, etc.
Click to expand...

I watch multiple sports, football, hockey, etc. Pretty much every major sport has team apps that do push notifications and have streaming of their radio to listen to games.
 
M

MCD

Junior Member
Wonder if Nokia gonna unveil another phone that isn't 5 or 6 inch huge tomorrow.

I'd skip 1020 if they show next gen Lumia 925 with 20 MP, Quad Core and Full HD specs.
 
M

Milchjon

Member
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
How do most people feel about windows phone? There seems to be a lot of apps missing compared to my android phone, are there good alternatives? Is the browser good enough where you don't need apps? Can the browser play flash videos at all or are there other browsers that can?
Click to expand...

Zaraki!

Get a WP and be one of the cool kids.

Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
There's no way to be notified is there? The sound letting me know of a scoring play or such is what I liked.
Click to expand...

NFL Mobile has notifications that are really fast. Yesterday the score updates were quicker than my game stream.

Offline maps are really helpful too. The places info often isn't as good as on Google Maps. Everything else is pretty good though.


Overall, it depends on your needs. If you value design and integration, it will suit your needs. If you come from another OS and are already stuck in your usage ways, it might be different enough for you to be annoyed in some places. To fully appreciate it, you need to adapt to things like SkyDrive. If you are on Windows 8 @nd use Office a lot, it might be easier. If you have the $100 to spare, you should try it because it has some cool stuff.
 
I

infinityBCRT

Member
kharma45 said:
WSJ says at least 8m Lumia's sold between July and September

http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/21/4861098/nokia-q3-2013-lumia-sales-recrord-rumor

Bit disappointing if it's just around 8m or so considering it was 7.4m the period before.
Click to expand...

I don't know how you can be disappointed with an almost 3x year over year increase.

You usually don't look at month to month sales because there are other trends in place (which is similar to the way we look at console sales in the NPD threads-- people talk about year over year because some months are always going to be weaker or stronger than other months traditionally). I mean, look at the Q3 results from 2012, its lower than the month before and after. So if they INCREASED sales this time when historically they lose sales in Q3, that's really good news.
 
H

hadareud

The Translator
It's not horrible or anything, but they had 30 % quarter on quarter growth for 3 quarters, so I'm sure they'd have expected something similar this time around considering the 1020 and the 625 (really) went on sale in Q3.

In isolation the year on year growth is impressive, but when you look at other manufacturers, they don't seem to experience a big slump in Q3. Imo a 10 % growth is a bit disappointing.
 
I

infinityBCRT

Member
hadareud said:
It's not horrible or anything, but they had 30 % quarter on quarter growth for 3 quarters, so I'm sure they'd have expected something similar this time around considering the 1020 and the 625 (really) went on sale in Q3.

In isolation the year on year growth is impressive, but when you look at other manufacturers, they don't seem to experience a big slump in Q3. Imo a 10 % growth is a bit disappointing.
Click to expand...

The hardware is old now and everyone was anticipating the iPhone 5S. Just like last year when the hardware was old and everyone was anticipating the iPhone 5. They still had an amazing year over year growth, I don't think that can be downplayed in any serious way. They were able to to keep their sales up from Q2 on the strength of the 1020 and the cheaper models like the 520.

You can't just look at it month to month. That's not how financial analysts do it. And that's not how people pretending to be financial analysts on a forum do it either ;)
 
H

hadareud

The Translator
Yeah, but I'm not a financial analyst.

There's a difference between bad and disappointing - the numbers aren't bad, but compared to the growth over the last year and considering that there's still a lot of room to grow, I'm pretty sure that Nokia will be a bit disappointed.

Yes, the phones are now old, but they are also cheap.

Think of it this way - with no real flagship phone until some time in Q1 I wouldn't be surprised if they were a bit worried about what Q4 holds in store sales wise (unless they 525 goes on sale immediately). The phablet is a niche product and I'd be surprised if it moved significant numbers.

At the end of the day they need to grow faster compared to the rest of the market if they want to make real progress. They did over the last year, but not in Q3 if the 8 million figure is correct.
 
E

ElNino

Member
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
I watch multiple sports, football, hockey, etc. Pretty much every major sport has team apps that do push notifications and have streaming of their radio to listen to games.
Click to expand...
The ESPN app has notifications for your teams (scoring plays, quarter/period/halftime/end of game results, etc). I've found it to be pretty reliable, but sometimes delayed by a few minutes
 
V

VanMardigan

has calmed down a bit.
Why does the Verge have David Pierce review any Microsoft product? He reviews everything with the "why isn't this working exactly like my ipad and iPhone and macbook air" perspective.
 
R

Razdek

Banned
VanMardigan said:
Why does the Verge have David Pierce review any Microsoft product? He reviews everything with the "why isn't this working exactly like my ipad and iPhone and macbook air" perspective.
Click to expand...

You need to have different people with different perspectives review the Microsoft stuff because if you don't then you get biased reviews and Tom Warren can't review everything. If all you're looking for is positive MS reviews then you might just as well go to WM Power User or WP Central or any other MS fan site for that.
 
D

derFeef

Member
Razdek said:
You need to have different people with different perspectives review the Microsoft stuff because if you don't then you get biased reviews and Tom Warren can't review everything. If all you're looking for is positive MS reviews then you might just as well go to WM Power User or WP Central or any other MS fan site for that.
Click to expand...

So shooter guy reviews strategy game, and then complains about no iron sights.
Seems about right.
 
H

hadareud

The Translator
I can see both sides of the argument.

On the one side you'd like someone who actually knows what he's talking about to review the stuff and on the other it's also interesting to see how someone that isn't familiar with the platform is getting on with it.

I think a low 7 for the Surface 2 is very much on the low side, but then I don't really care about review scores anymore these days. Not worth getting upset over. When there's factual mistakes in reviews it is quite annoying, though.
 
V

VanMardigan

has calmed down a bit.
Razdek said:
If all you're looking for is positive MS reviews then you might just as well go to WM Power User or WP Central or any other MS fan site for that.
Click to expand...

Really? This is what you think I want? This post is a load of bullshit. Condescending, out of context, ignorant bullshit.
 
J

José Mourinho

cocknose
Milchjon said:
Well well well, good thing I don't care tooo much about music on my phone...

And is there really no solution to automatically sync my pictures?
Click to expand...
Windows 8 app works. Just plug the phone in, run the app, and it dumps everything in your pictures folder. What's wrong with your music?
 
A

antiquegamer

Member
Razdek said:
You need to have different people with different perspectives review the Microsoft stuff because if you don't then you get biased reviews and Tom Warren can't review everything. If all you're looking for is positive MS reviews then you might just as well go to WM Power User or WP Central or any other MS fan site for that.
Click to expand...

I don't know, I see where you are coming from but then you get reverse bias, like in the case with CNET. I think in the end it's better to have someone that familiar and like using certain ecosystem to review it.
 
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