Roundup: Windows Phone 8 Reviews
Now that the Embargo on Windows Phone 8 has been lifted blogs are free to post their reviews of the OS itself, since we don’t have any WP8 devices to share with you read what TheVerge, Engadget, Pocketnow and Slashgear have to say:
PocketNow:
Score: 9/10
http://pocketnow.com/2012/10/29/windows-phone-8-review
While there are many new features that have been added to Windows Phone 8, some of the most interesting and potentially life-changing features are still up to 3rd party developers to integrate. Windows Phone 8 has made 3rd party app and content integration much easier than previous versions. Now, developers can integrate with the global speech user interface. That’s a huge deal and really hasn’t been done before. Being able to press one button on a Bluetooth headset and having voice command access to any number of third party application functions really opens the door to a huge number of possibilities while maintaining a high level of consistency and cohesiveness. The new “real” speech UI isn’t the only place where integrated app extensions could get interesting. The lock screen for Windows Phone 8 is now highly customizable, as is the Camera (via “Lenses”), the phone service (any VoIP service can be fully integrated now), and automatic content uploads (auto uploads to whatever you want is an app install away).
If all of that wasn’t enough, Windows Phone 8′s rebuild on top of the Windows 8 core means its hardware support is as scalable as the full desktop operating system. We just need some one to make a phone with 64 processor cores and 192Gb of RAM now. We had to take a couple of points off of the score for the lack of Xbox Video cloud collection support and removal of the awesome Zune sync capabilities of the older Windows Phones, but as the cloud connections become more immersive, those frustrations should subside.
Just as the Apollo space program of the 1960′s was the third human spaceflight program carried out by NASA, Windows Phone 8 is Microsoft’s third attempt at re-launching its smartphone operating system. Whether or not it will be successful remains to be seen, but it certainly is gaining some significant propulsion power.
SlashGear:
(No Score)
http://www.slashgear.com/windows-phone-8-review-29254356/
In the end Windows Phone 8 is a much improved beast from what we’re used to using from Microsoft. Everything is brighter, bigger, faster, and of course available in HD. The platform as a whole has been improved in ways that current Windows Phone fans, and new smartphone buyers can all enjoy. We just aren’t sure if these alone will attract customers by themselves over the competition. Is this the best Windows Phone we’ve ever seen? Absolutely! Is it fast, efficient, user friendly, and easy to use? Of course. Are these small changes enough to compete with Android and the iPhone’s growing market share? We don’t know.
Before Windows Phone 8 the platform needed hardware, software, and developers to improve in order for this ecosystem to thrive and succeed. Microsoft now allows for the hardware to be high-end, and they’ve improved the software tremendously. WP8 can attract customers based on the personal and social experience, not to mention Kid’s Corner, but we still need developers to truly make Windows Phone 8 shine. As we’ve said before, the future of the platform relies on developers to build apps and games to make this a viable option in the mobile world.
Windows Phone 8 fans, get excited for what’s coming. Now that developers have access to powerful processors, better graphics, larger HD displays and more the quality apps and games we all love from competing platforms will continue to grow on Windows Phone. Get excited and prepare to get your own Windows Phone 8 smartphone starting in November!
Engadget:
(No score)
http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/29/windows-phone-8-review/
With the exception of a few new features, Windows Phone hadn’t changed much in the last two years. The new version of its OS, however, definitely makes the platform feel more refined and even brings back some of the freshness we originally felt when we first laid eyes on the firmware. We demanded support for hardware that’s relevant to today’s market, and Microsoft brought it; we wanted more app integration and customization, and it’s now much improved over WP7. Indeed, Windows Phone 8 is precisely what we wanted to see come out of Redmond in the first place.
There’s only one major question mark still looming over its head now; how will developers respond to it? In 2012, an OS is only as strong as its ecosystem, and regardless of Microsoft’s best efforts to sell the platform to big-name developers (and even amassing over 100,000 apps to date), it’s been an ongoing struggle for Windows Phone to appear relevant enough to attract popular titles. What the new firmware has, however, is much more potential than WP7 ever had; Microsoft has finally laid the proper framework to make the platform desirable to developers. We’ll also likely see a large number of Windows 8 customers eventually drawn to Microsoft’s phone OS as they begin investing time and money in the desktop or tablet versions.
Let there be no doubt — Windows Phone 8 is a definite improvement over its predecessor, and it’s long overdue. In general, we like what we see, and users and developers have been eagerly awaiting this update ever since the Windows Phone platform first launched. It’s still far from perfect, but Microsoft has finally caught up in many ways to its competitors (and come up with some clever new features in the process), and by doing so, the momentum is now in its court. If Microsoft loses that momentum in the near future, however, we have a hard time seeing its OS recovering from it.
The Verge:
Score (7.9/10)
http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/29/3570494/windows-phone-8-review
With each new generation of Windows Phone, Microsoft not only closes the gap with iOS and Android in important ways, but it also differentiates in important ways — and that might be more true in version 8 than ever before. But at the risk of sounding like a broken record, there are still countless annoyances that trace back to 7.5 or even 7: the status bar that only occasionally appears (who doesn’t want to see time, battery, and signal strength at all times?). The attractive animations and screen transitions that can turn into annoyances and time-wasters after you’ve seen them 50 times. The lack of a unified notifications tray. The fact that the hardware search button isn’t contextual (and often appears alongside an on-screen search button that is contextual). The “Resuming…” animation when loading an app back up. And speaking of apps, just today, I pined for Uber, United, and a real first-party Starbucks app. There’s still a big app gap between Windows Phone and its competitors — don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t give Windows Phone 8 a serious look going into the holiday shopping season. Nokia’s troubles aside, Microsoft is showing as much commitment to making Windows Phone work as ever. Between Office and Xbox alone, Redmond is presenting one of the most compelling ecosystem stories in the business right now, and the 8X and Lumia 920 are both lining up to be formidable flagship phones over the next several months. For the moment, though, buy into Windows Phone because you want to try something different, not because you want the flat-out best and most complete mobile experience you can possibly have.
Interesting side note, the embargo on Nokia devices doesn’t seem to have been lifted, as the reviews for HTC’s and Samsung’s devices are up, but not Nokia’s
Category: Windows Phone
About the Author (Author Profile)
Heyyo, names Ali- Currently a fourth year Dental Student from Chicago; studying in Jordan. I love all sorts of gadgets almost as much as I love my cookies! (Have: Green Nokia N8, Cyan Lumia 800, Black N9, Stormtrooper White Lumia 900, Black 808 PureView, Red Lumia 920). Follow my twitter handle '@AliQudsi' - no pressure. Thanks.Subscribe
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Although I understand the apps argument, i think it’s overplayed. The UI, performance and hardware matter to me so I’m pleased that Windows Phone 8 has improved the first two. If the 920′s hardware is up to the task then it’s the phone for me.
I’m sure more apps will come anyway.
I believe Steve Litchfield wrote a few words about apps and smartphones back in the days of Symbian. Back then he turned the story in such a way that a lot of apps are useless and you are better off using the web instead.
And frankly…
He was right even back then, a lot of app functionality can be compensated for by a good and powerfull browser. One example is WPCentral and their app, used it for a while but the actual site is way easier to read and it is even faster to use. Same goes for a lot of news related websites. If news outlets would just focus on creating a good mobile version of their site they would hit all platforms and at fraction of the cost. Updates and approval processes are no longer needed because it would al reside on your own server.
With mobile phones, networks and web standards becoming more powerful every day, mobile website versions would and should work far better than any app can. After all, a lot of news apps don’t exist for Windows XP/Vista/7 either they are all accessed via a browser of you choice.
The problem with mobile versions of websites is this: The only reason I ended up buying the Lumia 710 is because my Curve 9300 would crash on a lot of sites. Incidentally the Lumia 710 is starting to choke on some SBNation sites (which have supposedly been redone to work well on mobile), which suggests that 512MB RAM is showing up as a serious limitation.
With Apps, even 256MB is enough most of the time, because if you give devs limits to work with, they’ll figure out how to do it, but for HTML5, there’s technically no limits, so they’ll just throw the site up.
Yes, that is why i put the last few sentences there. ‘..becoming more powerful every day…’
It does depend on what type of device your on, but all flagship devices on any platform out today should be able to handle the web decently if their browser is any good and they have the hardware specs needed to run the web properly.
In that light, I still believe HTML5 or HTML in general has a brighter future than any app ecosystem out there today, only because of the incompatibility issues we are already seeing now. HTML can be used on any platform as long as it has a decent enough browser.
(Admittedly, there will still be apps, since HTML isn’t some wonderous thing that can do everything. But a lot apps would become redundant, ie. news apps and such which are basically repackaged websites.)
Yeah, Flagship devices will always be fine, but that’s also something of a problem. For all the flak IE6 gets for holding the web back, it was actually a good thing because your 4 year old computer could display every web page just fine.
I was quite frankly stunned when IE6 had eventually fallen away that I actually needed to upgrade my laptop not to play a new game that I was excited about but just so I could visit certain websites.
BTW; SBNation has one of the worst selection of websites out there. The Verge is probably the worst, even on a quad-core 3Ghz Intel rig with a fast broadband connection it takes ages to load.
However, I do feel a lot sites today are seeing increased tablet traffic and are adjusting their sites accordingly. Use of better Javascript code, deleting unneccesary element on their site and making naviagtion easier and more friendly to touch interfaces. Maybe we are just at the beginning of a new Web 3.0 movement (back to the basics, in stead of overstyled gradients and Apple-esque faux leather and stitching)
Valid point!
Only Zite is the news app that I use with Iphone 4S. All other news sites I use with browser.
MS is very clever when they said that they have 46 of 50 top apps ported to WP8.
For me and many, WP8 with Zite + browser covers 100% of app needs that I have.
Can I watch live broadcasts from tinychat, blogtv.com, ustream.tv on WP8? Is there Instagram for WP8?
It depends on the app and the functionality. The lack of a call blocking app (or built in functionality, which would have been even better for MS to do) was a huge pain in the ass. The lack of Google Maps given that Bing Maps inexplicably didn’t have transit directions was also a huge pain in the ass. It made finding transit directions with a Windows Phone a real kludge.
Other people might not care so much (although I suspect call blocking would be a boon for everyone) but they’ll have one or two key apps and capabilities that WP7.x was missing.
OCTOBER 30, 2012 7:24 A.M.
caleb23 wrote:
Morningstar today about Nokia:
Share price assumption at this moment: 2.40 euro (Nokia share is in Helsinki right now 2.06 euro, in New York 2.56 dollar)
Best scenario (if WP8 phones go well): the stock price will go to about 7.70 euro per share)
Worst scenario: no bankruptcy, because Nokia would be sold in parts before that.
Estimated price for this: intellectual properties over 1 euro per share;
other business parts (smartphones, featurephones, NSN) at least over 1.50 euro per share.
And NAVTEQ´s price not included (Nokia bought NAVTEQ with about 7 billion euro). All in all even in this case, Nokia share price would be at least over 2.5 euro. Pretty much like my thoughts and analysis.
google is acting like a bitch. Released android 4.2 . They are making some desperate efforts.
I think tonight google pissed in their pants.
They do seem to be rather immature. Just like the old dotcoms. Where is the adult supervision?
i agree that 4.2 could have simply been 4.1.3 – but regardless an update is and update for their user base, so i don’t see what the harm of that is for mobile users.
as for releasing the nexus 4 today and keeping it at the 299/349 price point is ridiculous. that is an amazing value price for a new unlocked phone – although no 4g.
yup, must be heavily subsidized by Google.
Which is way better than being subsidized by a carrier.
Yep, regardless of where your preferences lie, the Nexus 4 is a good deal, and there’s no catch.
True. Not sure what the other OEMs (including Moto
) think of it though. But, it is another disruptive move by Google, we’ll see how it pans out for them and whether they will continue to do that with their Nexus line in the future.
It’s a disruptive move. It won’t affect OEMs since Nexus 4 does not have LTE and limited to Tmobile network in US. It could be a disruptive move in other countries possibly, where LTE isn’t big yet. The hardware and design of Nexus 4 is top notch for the price.
“desperate efforts”
How does 1.3 million activation a day sound to you? It’s really appropriate to say WP 8 is desperate effort.
In other words no miracle, no revolution, just evolution over failed WP7. The destruction of Nokia can now proceed, as expected.
I can hear you fapping in your room while typing…
on the other hand gsmarena is also being really annoying. They are trying to cover only android news. And hate windows.
Microsoft is really all-in with the race against Android and IOS.
MS wins the families with Kid’s corner.
MS wins enterprises with so many windows PCs, excels, words…
Nokia wins all people who want the best camera.
Nokia wins all those who want the best screen that works in strong sunlight and in winter when cloves are on.
MS and Nokia looses those who want to have newest and best apps.
But… the SDK will be available tomorrow. Finally all developers get the SDK that makes sense. You develop the app and run it on newest mobile phones and PCs.
Given that the app store has plenty of room to grow, I would think that motivated developers would dive in now to sell sell sell, before the store gets saturated…
it certainly wont get saturated by users
What does that mean? That the site would fall over when too many people try to connect at the same time? You are still stuck in symbian land!
Even if that’s true (it’s not), the WP Marketplace and BB App World make devs more money in total than Google Play, which means given less devs total on either two, more money for each dev.
If you develop for Android, you might not get anything out of it. If you develop for Windows Phone, you’ll make some money.
what’s up with all sites reviewing only the HTC 8X?
Guess HTC provided plenty of em prior to event today.
Hopefully it was HTC and not Microsoft…
Microsoft offered the HTC phones at the event. That is the reason to use it in the reviews. It was MS event and the devices were handed out by MS.
http://www.wpcentral.com/att-nokia-lumia-920-video-unboxing
Some Nokias were given also…
They are calling the 8x “the windows phone” so its safe to say that the lumia 920 is playing secondary role.. at least for Microsoft’s marketing.
Same OS, same UI and same apps in a slightly different package. Who cares which OEM made it. Just buy the one with best spec/price ratio.
I think the Bluetooth share and NFC share functions are exclusive to lumia phones. These features were rumored to be in windows phone 8 and they weren’t discussed today. I just hope Nokia has extra features and advertise it and brag about it
Also, LOL@The Verge (let me guess, Topolsky?) for whining about the lack of a Starbucks app.
I don’t think he was whining about lack of starbucks app, he was whining that bing maps only showed him 8 starbucks in all of manhattan.
Big difference.
The names of the writers are listed at the top of the article, not Topolsky.
as I see it benefits only MS . for nokia benefits will take years (if nokia is still alive ) . this benefits HTC and Samsung as well, because they are not with a single operating system , if WP8 fails or is slow to take off, guess what will happen with Nokia ? Yes , you already know (which is most likely) . wp offers nothing new , even offers unless existing operating systems and with the arrival of new operating systems WP not think it will be a success . WP had to offer something other than iOS because iOS clients are already well defined . there is not room for another iOS on planet
From the moment they announced the “deal” .. it was clear that Microsoft will be the clear winner here. I still don’t understand how people went along in lala land thinking that Microsoft actually gives a fuk about Nokia.. all they want is someone to make the hardware, so the platform can gain some traction, they really don’t care who that is. Its great for them that Nokia is the major one.. that way they can get advantage of the name and the good hardware.
We are all acting like the desktop PC industry doesn’t exist…
microsoft can make the phone , the proof is in surface, microsoft can do what he wants , has too much money for that. what they wanted , is to remove the competition , instead of fighting three operating systems ( Android , iOS , MeeGo ) better to kill one and continue the battle against two . Now tell me what has been the advantage that nokia had whit this new WP8 ? NOTHING ! instead Microsoft sucked to Nokia all major applications nokia entire ecosystem. this windows phone 8 is notting more than a 7.5 with better processor. i have left disapointed as always does nokia. is time to change to andoird
We still dont know exactly the details on how win phone 8 performs in certain areas like multi-tasking , file manager , USB-OTG , support for emails protocols , etc. All I seen from this launch event from various websites is focusing on less important features than talk about real feature . My brother has lumia 710 , its nothing but a dumbphone with glorified UI . A lot of features are missing compared to other systems when I played with it. My brother got frustrated when he found out there is only one emulator for gba in the whole wp7 store and it cant even play the games properly(sound issues , code) cz wp7 kernel is limited ( doesn’t have feature to support emulator ). what is worse that its being sold at $1 where in comparison my android (currently owning) has a lot of free gba emulator in store. my brother swore he will not buy any wp phone again when I showed him how much I have gba apps on android store , lol. So how do Microsoft expect to compete to ecosystem OSes phones Andriod , linux ( Meego , soon RIM) that has equivalent or close features to their own desktop os windows compared to limited wp ?
unfortunately, GBA emulators are not at the top of OS owners, OEMs or even developers list of priorities…
Yes that is true , what I am saying is just emphasizing on how wp is limited because of Microsoft , they wanted to follow apple route when in fact they had to pave their on route in able to differentiate . Now in 2012, we are times where phone hardware allow us to take all feature like any desktop os has . Os ans hardware are evolving , we are not gonna limit our os capablities just because of its “phone” , in fact it should be opposite . What Microsoft sholud have done is port all feature had Winmobile had to wp with metro ui and it could have been the best os , if you ever seen the winmobile functionalities.
You might want to explain this nes emulator I have here…
So all this waiting and this is what the release: kids corner, data sense. LMAO
The multitasking hasnt even been mentioned so we can assume nothing has changed
I have a sneaking suspicion this reboot will do marginally better then before but seriously, how can this even compete with android and iOS.
BTW, Google announced the nexus 4 for $350 unlocked today. Nokia hardware alone is not worth the extra money considering the OS.
Good luck all u nokia fans
PS. past nokia fan
Hey, you left out Jessica Alba :S
Well, finally, after buying Nokia phones for most of my life, and still enjoying my N9, I decided to buy the Nexus 4 for my wife.
Nokia has nothing to offer to me anymore, it is a sad day.
I hope my N9 will last for another 1 – 2 years, maybe Nokia get’s its act together again and they actually offer a phone I am interested in. Tiles? If I wanna see tiles I go to my bathroom …
You are not the only one.. its really sad for them, but they messed up, so now they have to live with it.
Android sucks btw.. once you use WP, every other (expect the N9) UX feels dated.
let me re-phrase that for you; once you use the N9 every other UX feels meh incl. WP…
True, especially when coming from a 6700 Slide in my case, but the one thing that turned me off from the N9 was how cluttered the App menu looks. Gave me a headache just looking at it when I was playing around with the demo unit late last year.
Till Nokia gets its house in order, and stop serving MS overlord, Nexus 4 is the way to go. May be some day Nokia will make a good phone with decent open OS like meego. Nokia was known for it’[s open OS. Sadly, nothing is open is open in MS/WP land. They are as close to Apple walled garden as anyone can be.
Nexus 4 at $350 is really a tempting offer… Shame it runs what it runs…
I am amazed at the price, i.e. how much Google is willing to subsidize it – I assume they do as does LG as a loss leader, presumably. The price point seems way under a reasonable price with a device with those specs. One would think they would have no need to do so given the massive Android userbase, and also given that one would think they would not want to piss off other OEMs, including their own.
Or am I missing something on that front (pricing)?
They want to win every possible people from those who can afford expensive phone to low expensive phone by creating premuim phone with acceptable price unlike what we used to see premium phones = > $500 . I think this is the new trend , apple ,amazon , is following because this is the way to stay in the lead by winning people at great price.
I don’t really think Google subsidized it all that much, if any. Given that it won’t have a massive ad campaign, huge giveaways, carrier deals (rebates, etc.) and such – at least none of the Nexuses before didn’t, nor would Google want to step on toes of other OEMs – the hardware itself is less than $350 never mind the impressive specs. I don’t think anyone is at lost here. The price is set at ‘manufacturing level’ primarily because Google wants to prove to other OEMs that even tho they bought Motorola, they don’t want to become direct competition to the others depending on their OS; and LG is willing to forgo profits for some market goodwill and better brand recognition as they certainly need that more than some short cash influx – i.e. they’d rather sell two things one dollar each, than one thing for two dollars. As a consumer (albeit not their target audience) I approve of that, I’d like for all to follow their lead
Either way, now when the news settled, I’m waiting for somebody to personally check how ‘closed’ the system is – e.g. the bootloader state and such – and if it’s sufficiently open I’d get for the hardware alone. Then I’ll see if I can get Mer/Nemo to run on it, and then eagerly await for what Jolla has to offer – if the rumors are true, they will be doing a mid-range device, but if the core on which Sailfish is built could run on the Nexus 4, then I see no reason why the rest shouldn’t, so that would be one of the ways to get a useful OS (for me) on some killer hardware, Google be damned
Were the earlier Nexuses this cheap?
Nope, but LG is in a dire need for a breakthrough so selling without making profits is acceptable in exchange for brand recognition.
Either way, the point is – killer hardware for silly prices, customers can only benefit from that. Now, if it wasn’t running Android…
Stock Android is very nice, not the Samsung or Moto build. I have a Galaxy Nexus and it’s fluid. The Nexus 4 hardware is way better than Galaxy nexus though.
My problems with Android run far deeper than the mere launcher skin and gimmicky widgets… First one being its core idea of running a virtual machine on a low-powered, battery-dependent device which is plain ludicrous even by today’s HW standards. Then the kernel bastardization, insane power management, mandatory Google account…
As I have said many times before – While I hate WP for what it represents, I hate Android equally for what it is.
You hater you!
I don’t think they are discounting it. The BOM will be well within $200, may be around $175. They are not making much profit for sure.
Can anyone confirm if BT file transfer is there in WP8.
As per GSM Arena:
-> No system-wide file manager
-> No Bluetooth file transfers
-> No music player equalizers
-> No lockscreen shortcuts
-> New ringtones available only through the Marketplace
I guess these innovative features will be implemented in WP9..!!
oh just found out the features that I wanted to consider wp8 looks like its no go for me. Nexsus 3 is is selling for $350 with best hardware on the market . guess will be my next device
Done by LG. Caveat emptor. Not exactly trusting of LG phones (though they make nifty TVs).
Good choice. I am also thinking it’s time to say good bye to Nokia. I am feeling bad but Nexus 4 is the next big thing.
exactly what i wanted to know if WP8 really dont’ have Bluetooth file transfer? Really?
-No Equalizers!
- “Another missing feature is the ability to scrub through a song – you have to press and hold on the FF/rewind buttons to simply jump back and forth”
-still the same old shitty camera interface!
-still no mkv support, don’t know if marketplace has any video players that support mkv. but at least WP8 support better codecs now
-no file manager
-no usb on the go
-no hdmi out
-no fm transmitter
Damn I was really looking forward to try the lumia 920 but now I’m really second guessing the move to WP because I’m so used to all these features on Symbian
Really disappointed in the WP event
check the Nexus-4 once.
GSMarena failed to turn BT on, thus not showing it as share option. lol.
We need to write Java code to turn BT on or what…lol:)
No, they just didn’t turn BT on in settings. Fail on their part.
Really? Lol.
so wp8 won’t ask to activate bt by itself if you try to send a file via bt? Really? Other systems like Android, Symbian and Maemo can do that, so why a fluid and easy to use os like wp should not be able to do it?
By opening up what one can use to develop for Windows 8 and WP 8/RT, it makes it very easy to make a lot of apps for different things. Android has thw issue of a lot of the same apps, sometimes stolen from one another. Apple has a lot of real quality apps that are actyally useful from real companies like Roland/Boss Moog, and games developed by real game developers like Cave Interactive. They develop and sell on iOS because THATS WHAT EVERYONE HAS or Had.
If people just take the chance, try and buy WP8/RT and Windows 8, and it becomes popular, THERE WILL BE APPS. Like Field of Dreams, “Build it, and they will come.”
I’ll use Cave Interactive as an example again. These guys write games for arcade cabinets primarily. To port their games to Delvik or Debian, or to the Playstation OSs, it takes many months to recode to work proper and it cost an insane amount of money for the dev kits and man hours. For a team of like 5 guys, this is hardly cost effective.
On XBLA and Windows, they can port with an extremely high vode retention and knock it out in a few days. Matter of fact, the Windows Phone exclusive DoDonPachi Maximum is already in the Microsoft Marketplace. And it is AWESOME!
So buy thr damn Lumias, and the apps will flow like wine.
Good quality ones, not 5 versions of that Talking Teddy crap.
BUILD is tomorrow so we’ll be able to get a clearer picture of what’s available system wide.
I just got back from the London event, and there’s so much more to Microsoft’s future than WP8.
The ecosystem as a whole is really vibrant and it makes you see the competition has nothing that comes close. At the event they had an XBox and Surface set up as well as a phone. You watch a film on the XBox, and Smartglass on the phone or tablet shows the actor on screen at that given moment (so they appear and disappear on screen) and if you tap their ’tile’ you get their info, filmography etc, basically their IMDB page. The page also tells you about the film. So again, it’s like going to IMDB without going to the site or app, but from Smartglass, where you can also control the film. You can say ‘play on tablet’ or ‘play on xbox’ and it resumes where you left off. When you download a film or music from XBox, there’s no DRM, it’s just straight up YOUR content. Not like iTunes, where you can only play it on an Apple device. And when you need ridiculous Apple TV to watch content on your phone on the TV.
Microsoft has put a lot of thought into this ecosystem and it is amazing to behold.
I played with the 820 and 920 and they are really, really great. Easy to hold, great to use. The camera features on the 920 are incredible, i took a friend who uses a Desire S and isn’t much into tech, and he was blown away by the screen clarity, the camera features, City Lens, Drive. We got to use woollen gloves and massive ski gloves on the 820 and 920, and they are so accurate. I always thought the screen would register the touch but you’d hit the wrong thing – not so, i was amazed at how well it worked. The refresh rate is visible to see too. The wireless charging and NFC and wireless music playback was demonstrated and is so easy to use.
HTC was there too. I said “i’ve just seen the Lumia 920, what’s going to make me buy this?” “well it has an 8mp camera, the same as from the One X, and HTC stuff like flip to silence”. Er, really? That’s the selling point? A feature the Lumia has, and a weaker camera. Nicely done. Samsung was even worse. “It’s the same screen as the SGS3, cos if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”
My point is that WP8 isn’t just about phones, it’s a whole ecosystem. Windows Phone is unlikely to crash out now, because it’s so integrated into that ecosystem. Don’t forget how popular PCs and Xboxes are. Knowing there’s a phone that seamlessly integrates and controls the XBox and so on, is a big boost. Plus, Microsoft has overnight transformed how a computer can look. Engadget and blogs aside, the vast, vast majority of users use PCs, and they use Windows. They tend to just go with whatever Microsoft releases. All of a sudden they’re seeing a phone and a tablet that looks just like their PC, and interacts great with it. This is worlds apart from Apple’s “plug into iTunes and sync” half-assed bullcrap.
Microsoft’s whole thing is very immersive and visually appealing. The iPhones looked so dated tonight when put by the WPs. People hating without using these things and seeing it all in action, you don’t know what you’re missing.
(by the way, there’s a ton of new stuff in the Settings menu, including kill all apps. I forget what else but i took photos, i’ll put them up on my site http://www.thedailyopinion.co.uk Oh there’s also a Drive + Alpha, i saw it on the Nokia team’s personal Lumias. No word on how it differs yet though)
A lot of people don’t see that… everyone is stuck in “Feature” land and the big pictures is overlooked.. thanks for posting!
A lot of people do not care because they have no XBox or plans of obtaining one. Features that lack in the OS on the other hand means something for some of us. It’s the doubters that needs to be converted not the WP8 fans.
There’s nothing lacking for most people. I came from Symbian and Maemo and Android to Windows Phone and i never pine for anything – i would like better multitasking, but it isn’t a deal breaker.
WP is a system that has to be used to be appreciated. If you haven’t used it, you really have no idea how good it is. It’s the reverse Android – that’s feature packed and specced out, but a nightmare to use.
You don’t *need* an Xbox, i was just pointing out how Microsoft’s offerings are not like Android in that it’s just a phone. The phone is just one component of a broader picture, similar to Apple’s but handled in a much better way.
The “look” is key to Windows 8. Metro or Modern UI or Windows 8-style whatever UI is consistent across all platforms, unlike iOS or Android. I find it to be a lovely interface paradigm and it really comes to life when used on touchscreens.
Most definitely. And i’ve noticed that other systems are also using tiles – Google Play adopted it after WP came out, Netflix/LoveFilm use it, it’s becoming very popular. That can only help Windows Phone
Great to hear the “Kill all apps” is there – presumably something you can pin to the homescreen.
No i think it’s just a setting
Can I watch live broadcasts from tinychat, blogtv.com, ustream.tv on WP8?
Instagram for WP8?
Ecosystem is pretty important for sure. Probably for the majority of uses out there.
For me, I only care about the bare minimum apps, that most people cannot go without from day to day. Most of which belong to Nokia.
If the UI experience is as polished as previous versions, which it looks to be and then some, I’m a happy camper.
Everything else from WP8 side is just a bonus. The 920 hardware plays more on my expectations than MS & WP8…
no bluetooth file transfer but nfc file transfer is there.wtf microsoft??
A file manager which can access sd card or mass memory also should have included
no track bar for music player
No equiliser
Ability to set wallpaper as background
Why did they skipped on simple things like this hope they will implement it rather than waiting till wp9 or wp8.5
I believe BT file transfer is there. Why do you think it is not?
Luckily Nokia Music has an equalizer. Perhaps 3rd party apps can now also do it, who knows.
By file manager you mean on the phone? I think the philosophy, right or wrong, is that you access files through the relevant apps and/or in e.g. email as attachements. Not through a separate file manager app. AFAIK know you can access it that way if you connect to a PC, though.
gsm arena mentioned it on cons no bluetooth ftp,look like they are wrong.
Apple got the consumer ecosystem right, by offering seamless media sync across all Apple devices. You’re locked in forever to the Cupertino virtual prison but who cares, otherwise Apple wouldn’t be the most valuable company in the world
MS can do it better by focusing on enterprise features. Most companies run Win7 or Win8, so stuff like Office integration is essential for people to use their smartphones and tablets as work tools, not just as portable screens for couch potatoes. All your data across the entire Windows lineup – desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone – is accessible with one account and hopefully without Apple’s despotic walled garden nonsense.
For me, I’m very much tempted by the new Lumias but I’m still hopeful the little guys like Jolla can come up with a more open ecosystem. I would rather share my data on Owncloud, Ubuntu One or any other open source-based cloud than entrust it to Cupertino, Redmond or wherever Google happens to be
Convenience is one thing, data privacy is another…
Microsoft’s media offerings are much better than Apple’s (i wrote a long reply to this post about it, you can scroll up for it if you want). Apple promote better.
Fairly good review on CNET:
http://reviews.cnet.com/windows/windows-phone-8/4505-3672_7-35516448.html
this is the reason y nokia is going lose against android in china.
compare this phone for 160usd to the Lumia 510 or 610. Those specs are insane. If i go to a store no one could convince me to take even the lumia 900 over this phone. Android prices are racing to the bottom faster the wp can keep up
http://www.phonearena.com/news/And-here-is-a-160-quad-core-Android-smartphone-from-ZTE_id36100
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