This is now the second time this has happened. Marketplace has otherwise been a pleasant experience.

Fortunately unlike Nokia/Ovi Stire, there is no download limit. You can download as many times as you like. Over and over.

Unfortunately, the phone app, you CANNOT see what you have bought and what you haven’t.

Well, not easily. If you’ve paid for an app, you will be presented with the usual ‘buy’ (perhaps also ‘try’) options. Only when you click on ‘buy’ again will it say

“You’ve already purchased this application. Would you like to install it again”

Now a couple of weeks ago I demoed an app. It had a bug that I didn’t encounter during reviewing and decided to reinstall. But when I went to marketplace, it decided to not just let me download. It let me buy the app again! (receipt to confirm).

Today I was checking out App Highlights and decided to try a recommended app. No trial version, I just downloaded it (it was only £0.79) but it didn’t install. I tried this over and over again going through ‘BUY’ and nothing happening. Maybe marketplace was down.

Now I tried downloading over WiFi. Perhaps my 3G was too slow (though it shouldn’t have a problem as the app is only 14mb). The app finally starts to download and I get another receipt to confirm I paid TWICE for the same app. I checked my bank and yes it did come out.

I don’t care so much about the price for me (the game was really good and I don’t mind the developer getting paid extra). What if it happens to someone else? The principle of being charged twice is rather annoying, no? What if the app cost more? It’s even more frustrating to know that this isn’t a one off. This is the second time you have charged me twice.

Please fix this. Please don’t show the ‘buy’ button if we’ve already paid for an app. At leas even when searching and showing the list of apps, isn’t there anyway you could show things you’ve already downloaded/bought?

Now I’m wasting time going through chat support from a link that @winphonesupport previously game me the first time I brought up this issue. I would not have called up about it as I’d be wasting more money through customer phone support.

Update from chat:

Yeah it happen sometimes, some apps doesn’t recognize that they already have been purchase, it have to be report to the publisher app for they correct it, anyway i’m going to refund you the duplicate charge.

They have to ring me back for security reasons.

Update 2: Refund done.

On the upside, customer service was not a hassle at all. I wonder how a normal customer would find @winphonesupport in the first place to get that chat link? Hopefully they would end up somewhere on Microsoft support pages:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

Customer service is really important to me and it irks me when some companies just fob off customers. Today I felt CS was rather speedy, helpful and they got things sorted in minutes. I liked how it could be conducted without charge my end (sometimes you’re on call for customer service to get a refund and end up paying more on their call charges). Call back reminds me of Amazon – just some of the best customer service I’ve ever experienced.

Have any of you encountered similar problems at marketplace? I’m told it’s ‘rare’ but it’s still recognised as something that does happen. If you do have problems at all, it’s good to know there’s some very good (and FREE) customer service available.

BTW, Microsoft/Windows Phone peeps. I still want you to change the button so that it shows me I’ve already bought the app and DOES NOT show the buy button if I have – regardless if it’s meant to say ‘install’ after clicking.

Just a quick suggestion before I go to bed. Nokia, why not bring the Nokia 808 PureView everywhere? I completely understand your direction to go with Lumia. PureView is groundbreaking mobile imaging. Right now it’s on the Nokia 808. Based on current information, there is no possibility of PureView or anything remotely close reaching Lumia until 2013.

Why not treat the world to PureView on the 808 until then? Belle FP1 is certainly nice enough in demoes to handle everyday usage – in all areas perhaps except apps but it covers the major bases. Make it clear if you have to that this is NOT Lumia. Consumers seem excited about the PureView. Some are hesitant due to Symbian but at least let them try. If they need to criticise that portion, let them. Perhaps they might find redeeming qualities there too. Certainly one thing I have no doubt everyone will fall in love with is the camera.

Isn’t this what you want to drive to future products, including the Lumia range? Why not give a taster of that. Show off how good your PureView really is by getting it into people’s hands. Like CBD. Let it be known by getting it in the hands of more consumers the merits of your work.

Could it cannibalise Lumia sales? Perhaps. So what? If the sales inevitably go to Nokia and reputation build on both Nokia and PureView. It might make some marketing direction difficult as you seem all about tiles, but so what? Marketing people need to think up of something creative. In the long term, sales to Nokia gives more breathing room for Nokia to execute their Lumia strategy (as well as the other things they have lined up for us but can’t don’t talk about).

I can understand that it might seem more difficult to keep people in the Nokia system long term – after 808, nothing ties these people to your ‘ecosystem’ unlike the Lumia’s one. Well PureView might. Once you’re used to that level of mobile photography, you just can’t go back to using anything less, and anytime you do you feel pangs of regret and shame for your crappy non-PureView photos. The non-PureView photo might actually be potato level crappy or perhaps decent but the 808 makes it look like a potato took the shot. Let consumers experience this.

I really don’t want to hear news that Nokia 808 PureView not coming to such and such. Perhaps even in the US they should see PureView too? Both the Lumia range and 808 PureView have DISTINCT redeeming qualities.

Would there be some major logistics problem? Would you lose money in the long run? What is the rationale for not bringing PureView in the shape of the 808 to consumers when PureView on your other platforms is too far away? Can you get the carriers to approve of the 808 too? Unless there’s still some deep rooted Symbian problem that would be detrimental to the users experience of the Nokia 808 (and hence why you might want to limit its availability) I can’t quite see why users shouldn’t have the option. At the very least, be transparent about the shortcomings so consumers make a full informed decision when buying it.

808 everywhere gives time for the other Nokia strategies to mature properly, and in time when Lumia gets many of the features users have been wanting from Symbian, then perhaps they would actively choose the Lumia instead of being forced it as the only option.  Clearly we’re still having difficulty bringing Lumia everywhere. Either way, sales go to Nokia.

I read the following stories on several other sites; but wasn’t sure it warranted a mention due to the fact that not a single solid name/source was mentioned in them- all that’s listed is “un-named source, Mobile executive, Carrier company…) so of course it could be a load of bull..

I’ll start with the obviously ridiculous one; and if this is indeed a true quote then this mysterious “Carrier Executive” really has no idea how business works:

Four of the major cellphone carriers in Europe say Nokia’s Windows Phone-powered Lumia smartphones would be “would be much easier to sell” if it ran the Android operating system

Say Whaaatttt??? Seriously? I’d like to know what went through this guys mind before he came up with that, maybe it was dinner time, maybe this quote was taken during happy hour at a pub..  To be clear I DO NOT have a business major or any sort of economic degree; but I’m pretty sure that offering the same OS that’s being offered with over a 150 different phone models, by over 20 different OEMs doesn’t really help your chances of selling. Sure the OS gets alot of publicity but the main thing going for Nokia right now is how it stands out amongst other WP; slap on Android and what do you have? a single core phone that can barely run Froyo- is this guy serious?

Everyone knows that Nokia aren’t exactly the best at making the Latest high-end spec phones- which is why WP is the way to go, and as At&t have proven if you really want to sell WP you can, if they complain that it’s not selling I’m pretty sure that’s just lazy marketing from their part- Microsoft has been pushing WP all over the place and I’m sure if a carrier really wanted to try and sell WP they would have no problems. The main issue is that they’re just too lazy to bother pushing a new OS which isn’t the Lumias/WPs fault it’s the carriers own fault.

And besides don’t both the Lumia 800 & the 710 top most of the selling charts for carries in Europe?

Ridiculous claim Number two:

“no one comes into the store and asks for a Windows smartphone.”

Which once again is because no carrier has bothered to try and market it (list one of the multiple stories where phone stores have guided people AWAY from WP devices towards an iPhone or a Droid).

Once again it’s not a fact that WP Can’t sell it all comes down to the fact that Carriers DON’T want to bother selling it- and then apparently complain that nobody wants the OS- Direct point:

Another problem it seems is that stores aren’t keen to sell the handsets to consumers. According to the report, Lumia handsets weren’t prominently displayed at a France Telecom store in Paris, with the sales clerk offering shoppers iPhones first, then Android handsets.

And the grand finale that really just proves that whoever this “carrier Representative” is has no idea what the hell he’s talking about (similar to point #1):

“If the Lumia with the same hardware came with Android in it and not Windows, it would be much easier to sell,” he added.

Should I even bother? 512 Ram and 1.4 GHZ processor with a wVGA (217 ppi)screen running Android..Hmmmmmm let’s put that in perspective the HTC one S (not the top of the line X- but the S) which is priced close to the same range (a bit higher depending where you look) has a dual core 1.5ghz processor with 1 GB ram  and a similar 4.3inch screen but with 256ppi; and that’s not the flagship device while the Lumia is…Imagine pitting it against the One X on the same table Quad-core 720p screen; I can practically see the Android Lumias flying off the shelves.

So all in all what on earth was this “Source” smoking?

Sources 1, 2, 3 - thanks to everyone who tipped this.

In the last few weeks, you may have noticed that I have been referring back to an old blogpost where Stephen Fry talked about Nokia, in particular the N97. Stephen Fry is a celebrity particularly famous in the UK for his acting, comedy, presenting, and an all around likeable, intellectual Brit that loves a latest and greatest of technology. He’s a long time user of Nokia, having sent possibly the first few mobile emails in 1996 with a communicator.

“It distresses me more than I can say therefore to announce that the N97 is a crushing disappointment…But the Symbian S60 operating system that drives the device is achingly old-fashioned, sluggish and unfriendly.It really pains me that I can’t rave about this device.”

http://mynokiablog.com/2009/06/20/stephen-frys-review-of-the-nokia-n97-and-also-iphone-3g-s-and-awfully-long-rant/

In that post, we saw Stephen’s concerns about how the device was lacking, and I shared my own worries and frustrations about what Nokia was doing with Symbian and what they could do with their next OS (unknown at the time to be the Maemo 5 N900). I also mentioned how, even if it was to complain, I missed Stephen Fry’s commentary on Nokia, “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about..

My response at the time. Rather chilling to still see the same Nokia mistakes year after year :S. This was written in June 2009 and it was not the first post of mine  to share frustration in Symbian. It’s also frustrating to see that they let things slip so much and let iPhone grow so strong – allowing the app market to dominate people’s choices. We took too long to get rid of the rot. I’d just thought it was good to look back on this post for those who like to accuse us of needlessly and suddenly disliking Symbian just because of WP’s arrival. I’ve long been concerned about improving it, and obviously Nokia was too. But they just couldn’t do it quickly enough!

A lot of of the ground achieved by the hardware of the N97 is absolutely mauled by the pathetic looking Symbian S60 5th Edition UI. Although S60 OS is very mature and has been able to do a lot of things Apple’s iPhone is taking years to put in, the UI for the most part appears to be old S60 3rd edition with a touch screen just slapped on. Very few things are optimised for finger friendly gestures. A lot of things are buried in a labyrinth of menus.

Don’t get me wrong. I love S60. But as I may have mentioned before – right now, to Nokia, S60 is a limb gone gangrene that just absolutely needs to be amputated. It does not have the slickness that people (er iPhone users) have become accustomed to.

Maemo Harmattan?

I am very doubtful that S60 will ever receive an overhaul overwhelming enough to rival iPhone’s UI, and hoping that the rumoured Maemo Harmattan (or any other New OS built from scratch) will be the “salvation” Nokia so desperately needs .

OS and UI aside, I really do hope that Nokia will resolve the issue of just making one badass device with the best hardware (just having capacitive would have appeased some of the anger of having to add a tad bit more force when poking the screen). Nokia  – until you make a phone all other manufacturers can look up to:

• Please, save the whole sifting and separating of devices to meet different markets when it comes to your bloody flagship. We know Nokia’s capable of making the ultimate convergence smartphone. Do it!
• Don’t make a half-assed flagship phone that’s just “good” in the knowledge that in 6 months you’ll announce a better one which is what the predecessor should have been. Focus all your attention on getting one phone right and be totally amazing, than have several “just good/great” phones. [See rumoured N900/Rover]

Hopefully, Nokia can do this before Apple’s grip with their App Store becomes too great. Apple could, right now, release a pile of sh_t and call it iPhone 4, but it will still be extremely desirable to many, simply due to its bountiful library of Apps. It’s a bit sad that Nokia used to appeal to customers that way – you bought a Symbian S60 phone because of it’s Apps, even if another handset may have superior hardware. A bit like as Fry said, Apps go beyond what the phone could do (as set by the manufacturer), instead flourishing and evolving with the ingenuity and creativity of the new applications. The problem with Nokia is that really, only people “in the know” could actually find and install those applications.

Now, with Ovi Store, Nokia is trying to reclaim what little presence they had in terms of apps, (and also with ringtones and wallpaper -_- ). But it’s doing it with a fragmented base (different phones/different OS), and spearheading it with S60. Yes it’s good, in that there are a lot of S60 devices. It allows Ovi Store to somehow grow some roots with people, and establish an awareness of Nokia’s services. But being S60, it also embeds a rot. A rot that will continue to harm Nokia’s position in the high end smartphone war if S60 UI remains prehistoric. To get rid of the rot:

• Nokia needs to relegate S60 to lower end devices, focusing resources on maybe a new OS for higher end handsets (with emulation capabilities to run S60 library of apps)
• S60 UI needs to get a bigger face lift than Joan Rivers and Michael Jackson combined. Either be up to date with current expectations in UI or totally blow us out of the water by exceeding the expectations on how intuitively users can interact with their devices (instead of hopelessly attempting to catch up and cringe-worthily failing).
• (Deserves own post, but the implimentation of Ovi Store – yes it’s in its infancy and desperately needs guidance to maturity)

Maybe the answer will not come from Maemo Harmattan, but what ever the Symbian Foundation is cooking up?

We can just wait; in hope that Nokia will pleasantly surprise us.

Although, with all the wait and hope for an improved/revamped/brand new Nokia OS, I’d sooner just love to see a Nokia Smartphone with WebOS/Android or even iPhone OS. But that is but a dream.

Yup. Wishing for a Nokia hardware with a decent alternative OS that would come and rival iPhone so Nokia’s strengths can shine. I did not know how amazing Maemo 5 would be, and clearly, Nokia didn’t either otherwise they would not have let Symbian strangle its development. I’m somewhat happy that I underestimated the brilliance of what Nokia achieved in Maemo 5, which did deliver beyond expectations. But I also anguish in the thought that the potential saviour to Nokia’s problems did not get the support it deserved.

How long were we supposed to wait for Symbian to improve it’s UI huh? And then how much longer do we wait when the competition improves again? Nokia threw away the opportunity to snuff out iPhone, and then again, missed the chance to prevent the rise of Android.

Stephen Fry has spoken up again about Nokia who also looks back into Nokia’s history. In a huge blog post about everything in technology in general, four and a half years on (looking younger than he did in 2007…crickey, was that so long ago )

Fry looks back at Nokia:

Nokia, Nokia – Who’s There-ia?

Nokia, then undisputed number one in mobile phones were, back in 2007, producing low and medium end phones of great usability and huge global popularity. Using power efficient flavours of Symbian and a reliable and simple menu driven interface, hundreds and hundreds of millions were sold and That Ringtone was heard in every corner of the land. Restaurants kept Nokia chargers by the front desk on the off-chance that a diner might need a top up in the evening.

At the higher end, they chugged out silvery plastic oblongs so ugly that it gave one diverticulitis and the squits just to look at them. No one seemed to mind as high end phones weren’t their ‘core business’. But what they didn’t seem to be able to see was that smart phones would soon be the onlybusiness to be in. Which is strange because they can be regarded as the pioneers of the smartphone every bit as much as Palm or Handspring.

As I say in that damned blog, I owned just about every model of Nokia Communicator through the Nineties and Noughties. I was sending emails from my phone in 1996 using the first communicator model, the 9000. To put things in perspective, this was five years before the iPod came into being, a longer period of time than exists between now and the first iPhone. Since Nokia knew what smartphones could do, it can only have been a misreading of the road ahead not to see how quickly the future would slam into their windscreen.

http://www.stephenfry.com/2012/04/03/four-and-half-years-on/5/

It wasn’t for the lack of trying. Nokia knew what they had to do to change Symbian. They just could not deliver quick enough. Just look at Maemo 5 in 2009 and then N8 in 2010 and X7 in 2011. What on earth is that about? Symbian was always meant to be replaced, with Maemo at the top. But because of management, all Nokia’s resources was spent misplaced trying to fix Symbian instead of nurturing the brilliant Maemo. In all that time, iOS ensured they stole the limelight, with Android as the alternative. As you all know, Maemo became MeeGo and for what ever reason, it was decided that that project was too late.. Fast forward to now and we have Windows Phone as our main platform.

The blogosphere has been, on the whole, rather positive about Nokia’s WP devices

And now it seems, rather surprisingly, even Fry is looking forward to the Lumia too.

The lumbering, slumbering giant awakes…

The redoubtable Finnish giant, which started life in lumber and loo-rolls has rebooted itself as a manufacturer now of Windows Phone devices, while still producing the cheap and affordable handsets that, through M-PESA, more or less power the Kenyan and other African economies. I own a Lumia 800 and am very pleased with it, although for my taste it’s a little too small and I can’t wait for their up-coming larger 900. It’s pleasing and, I am sure a huge relief for Nokia and Microsoft, to see such enthusiastic pre-ordering and buzz for this device, running an operating system on which the futures of CEOs Ballmer and Ollila may well depend.

http://www.stephenfry.com/2012/04/03/four-and-half-years-on/5/

Ollila has long been NOT CEO of Nokia (even when he reviewed N97 it was already OPK). We have had OPK and Elop since Ollila. Perhaps he knows something we don’t and Ollila is coming back :p.

Apparently, out of the wealth of devices available to him, amazingly, the Lumia 800 is one he carries with him. no doubt the prominent appearances of the 800 in UK adverts (and its intrinsic likeablity) make it a desirable device that you wouldn’t mind being in your pocket.

As a matter of course, the iPhone goes in one pocket; the Lumio or HTC HD7 Windows Phone into another

http://www.stephenfry.com/2012/04/03/four-and-half-years-on/10/

Lumio? Perhaps a typo or Fry’s affectionate, more masculine name for his Lumia .

Fry has been using a Lumia 800 for a while it seems. And actually wrote about Nokia previously, it’s just I don’t think I noticed.

For some weeks now my jacket pockets have been bulging in an unsightly manner as I have gone about the world with a BlackBerry Bold 9900,  two HTC Android handsets, the “Rhyme” and the “Sensation XL with Beats Audio” and the all new Nokia Lumia 800 running Windows for Mobiles 7.5 “Mango”.

http://www.stephenfry.com/2011/12/01/smartphones-arms-race/

https://twitter.com/#!/stephenfry/statuses/134934741882376192

Good to see that since November, the Nokia Lumia has earned a place in Stephen’s pocket.

As Fry sees it, 4.5 years later…

Nokia and Microsoft are making a recovery after a very, very rocky few years in this sector.

http://www.stephenfry.com/2012/04/03/four-and-half-years-on/10/

Fry does not claim to be an analyst, though he does seem to know a good thing when he sees it.

http://mynokiablog.com/2012/04/02/forbes-nokia-on-the-road-to-recovery/

Q2/Q3 are the quarters to look out for. It is now Crunch Time, make or break for Nokia who must survive long enough to deliver WP8 Lumias (Q4). The the future of Nokia and the Lumia line rests delivering consistently good experiences with the 610, 710, 800 and 900, which should hopefully translate into good sales for Nokia. The 808 and other smartphone projects are different entities altogether – Nokia’s focus right now is to execute and deliver the core strategy but that doesn’t mean they should be forgotten.

The road to recovery is a long one (unnecessarily longer due to many unavoidable detours by Nokia) but at least we do seem to be on one. Belle FP1 is looking great. Nokia 808 looks to destroy cameras, with other camera phones probably not even worth its time (if only to let them bask in its glory, and later humiliate them). Meltemi might not be seen for a while. Lumia is entering more markets, an important one recently being China. 610 is also an excellent value handset which is expected to help Lumia sales take off this summer.  There’s a lot of exposure for the 900 in US. The reviews for the Nokia Lumia 900 are out and we can only hope that a great user experience at a great price will be enough to please and delight consumers, like the 800 did for Stephen who’s already anticipating the 900.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2012/04/04/five-reasons-the-nokia-lumia-900-windows-phone-will-sell/ (cheers prashant)

Whilst a man of technology, Stephen’s also quite down to earth and more representative of the common man and what is important to them regarding smartphones.

In the next four and a half years, I hope Nokia would have recovered. Maybe not as high and back to the very top as those early analyst predictions about WP and Nokia (remember by 2015 they believed WP would some how rocket past iOS and Android :S), but at least one that isn’t riddled with uncertainty. It might not even be WP anymore. Elop has hinted that when Nokia’s ready, they’ll might have something that would render everything they’re doing (even WP) irrelevant. Either way, I just want Nokia to be successul. Be it with WP and/or their own offerings. Here’s to a Nokia that will consistently deliver on time, awesome and desirable devices to all (geek and common person).

Source: StephenFry

update: via AAS

Thanks npo4 for the tip!

Just a quick heads up. AAWP has been tracking the app numbers for Marketplace and it has apparently reached the 80,000 mark. 82,234 published in total to marketplace. As is common place, the numbers available to each country varies. Marketplace availability has increased, doubling from last year though still not fully global yet. Rafe predicts that based on the current rate, the 100,000 milestone will be reached by late May.

http://allaboutwindowsphone.com/news/item/14554_Windows_Phone_Marketplace_pass.php

My thoughts on the significance of this is pretty much the same as when we reached 70,000 mark. We’re not after numbers at all. I’m much more interested in quality. I’d actually prefer it if the numbers were a little less and MS was a little tighter by preventing crappy apps appearing. I’m happy to see more great apps, but not happy that I’m having to wade through more crappy apps. There should be a way to just vote those apps into oblivion. I know it’s a problem in every application store and ‘crappiness’ might be subjective. Any time I see an app that looks like the poorer ones from S60V5 days, I shudder. Fortunately, I’m able to avoid 99.9% before even downloading.

http://mynokiablog.com/2012/02/26/marketplace-passes-70000-apps/

But people are so fixated on numbers without actually checking whether the marketplace has apps that they need. Similarly for folks that might easily dismiss either Symbian or N9. It might not have as much apps as Android or iOS, but what are those apps that you need? The app stores for all are open for anyone to check out

Speaking of marketplaces, why oh why is every related apps near to games the same stupid list of Xbox Live apps? Well they’re not stupid, but I’m tired of having the related section being totally unrelated. What’s Angry Birds got to do with NFS? Please sort it out. App discovery is very important in a marketplace. Fortunately, the Applications (non games) related section is not so static. Apart from that, I’ve found it to be a better store experience than Nokia Store.

Source: allaboutwindowsphone

Thanks Keith for the tip!

Something bad went down today regarding the Smoked by Windows Phone campaign. If you’re not familiar with that campaign, that was where a Windows Phone would challenge another phone to do a certain task. If that was completed faster than the Windows Phone, you win money/prize. If not, you can get your phone swapped for a Windows Phone.

Ali actually tried this challenge at MWC with a Nokia 808 and beat a WP, subsequently getting money which he used to get a Nokia N9 .

It’s been working quite well. WP hasn’t been winning all and has been awarding prizes to winners. Most of the time, it has won, because the challenges are set to show off Windows Phone’s strengths. e.g. facebook integration so quick snap of a picture and upload.

That’s really the aim of this campaign (at least how I perceived it) rather than a whiny my phone is better than yours thing.

It’s just for fun. But apparenly Microsoft had got a little carried away, raised the stakes where challengers were a little bit more prepared than normal. One such had disabled the lock screen from appearing on his Android, such that in a test to show weather in two cities, the Android had won.  Let’s not get into whether disabling the lock screen is a normal activity. That’s what the guy had set up. If MS didn’t think of that ahead and prevent in the rules, it’s their own fault. The test in itself was rather silly. I had hoped it would be one of the more realistic tests, real life tests we’ve seen before.

Official Rules:

http://content.microsoftstore.com/store/smokedbywindowsphone/rules

This is a skill-based Contest. The object of this Contest is for You to come into the Microsoft Store and try to beat the Microsoft Windows Phone in a series of five (5) “Smoked by Windows Phone” challenge scenarios selected by Microsoft at its sole discretion including: (1) Pocket-to-Picture-to-Post, (2) Real-Time Information with Live Tiles, (3) Using the People Hub to Stay in Touch with the People You Care About Most, (4) Updating Your Status Across Multiple Social Networks, and (5) Local Scout (“Challenge”). For purposes of this Contest, each entrant who participates in the Challenge with their own personal smartphone will be called an “entry.” All eligible entries received will be judged using the criteria described below to determine the winners of the prizes described below.

Stupidly, rather than give the prize of a laptop and congratulate the guy, the MS retail staff at the store decided not to award the guy. Oh come on now guys! You’re giving away a Windows laptop. It’s better that it’s out there in the hands of a user than in your store (even if he does go on to sell it, it will be out there eventually in use).

It doesn’t matter if the score sheet isn’t 100% in your favour. It never was. That’s what I liked about it. We could also see where WP could improve. No, not in features it doesn’t actually have as that’s silly.

This could have been so easily swept under the carpet. But no. This blew up across the blogosphere and you know it’s gone bad when it’s on Reddit’s front page!

http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/rdgtz/i_won_the_windows_phone_challenge_but_lost_just/

.

A win is a win and loss is a loss. Rules should all be clear BEFORE the test to make sure no party backs out or cheats. At the very least, it’s getting people to walk into MS stores or even see a WP phone, which to most people, doesn’t even exist.

A rematch was offered quite late (it should have been at the time if at all) but that has thankfully been dismissed.

Fortunately since the time this was first reported, this has been sorted out.

Ben the PC guy wants to make it right with a laptop, a phone and an apology. Some nice swag, eh? I also read from Reddit that a few people there are purposely coming in with crappy Androids to lose and get a Windows Phone. That is actually a pretty good idea. It’s a win either way and they can go sell the phone if they don’t actually want it (though I hope at least they give it a try).

It’s blunders like this we don’t really want to hear about. So much hard work can be made to build up a campaign or even a brand to be wrecked by something so petty as this.

This could have simply been a ‘I won a Windows laptop!” blog post to which no one would really have cared that much, congrats to the guy. Some folks might have been envious at that HP laptop. Perhaps some might have goaded but it would never have exploded into such a crud storm as this. Either way, it would be an overall positive outcome for all. But no. A mistake happened and one that won’t be forgotten.

I hope this teaches Microsoft to be more careful about overstepping their mark. Consistency is absolutely paramount. Don’t make a campaign bigger than what you can handle.

You can’t just have great results from some challenges (wins and loses doesn’t matter) and then something terrible like this coming out! It sort of reminds me of the Amazing Everyday thing and the inconsistency by those silly promos by Nokia Australia. That of course was not to the same level of ‘zomg they didn’t’ fails, but the point remains the same that good consistent marketing is mandatory.

[Look at this awful video. It's out of focus. It doesn't really make sense. And what's worse is that they kept uploading random out of focus videos again and again!

http://mynokiablog.com/2012/03/16/videos-the-amazing-everyday-lame-try-again-nokia-australia/]

Hopefully it also makes MS and Nokia pull their finger out and work faster to continue making WP Lumia a better experience for everyone. At the same time, perhaps they should focus LESS on what other products are doing, focus LESS on giving other phones more air time than they already have and actually just show their devices as being great for doing X, Y, Z etc. Hopefully XYZ will be features they know consumers care about the most and can leave a strong, positive impression upon them that if that’s what they’re looking for, a that Lumia could be something they should go for. The moment you introduce another competitor into the mix, it complicates things.

Just focus on being good.

Ah well. Let’s thing of some positive out of this, I don’t want to leave it on a complete downer.

As Oscar Wilde said, “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.”. I kind of miss it that our the likes of Stephen Fry doesn’t even mention Nokia any more after his time with the N97. Meh.

_________________

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Oh looking at that last link again shocks me.

http://mynokiablog.com/2009/06/20/stephen-frys-review-of-the-nokia-n97-and-also-iphone-3g-s-and-awfully-long-rant/

Oh man, I just started reading that and my blood began to boil at how long it was taking them to fix Symbian (and still didn’t by the time the N8 appeared in 2010!). For those of you that accuse me of instantly changing my mind on S60 once WP came out, well no that wasn’t the case. I’ve always been looking out for what Nokia needed and I knew that crud clearly wasn’t it.

This was before we had seen N900, which I had hoped it would be our saviour and it could have been were it not strangled by Nokia themselves in Symbian’s favour. Karma has a way of sadly going back to sort that out to the detriment of us all.

Last year we heard that Nokia would reduce the delay between the times phones are announced to the times they are available.

products shipping in volume. The pressure is on all of us, myself included, to have those first devices this year but we haven’t announced a specific date yet. Our pattern now is to announce launch dates of products very close to availability. In the past, there have been longer lead times and that hasn’t always worked out. It is possible [that we'll] see the first new phone in the last quarter of this year””]

“The year 2012 is when we’ll see a portfolio of [Windows Phone

[Image from http://mynokiablog.com/2011/04/27/nokias-windows-phone-coming-q4-oct-dec-2011-accenture-staff-to-be-retrained-for-windows-phone-after-symbian/ ]

With the Nokia Lumia 800, they announced that they were shipping already on the day of announcement, with availability when they reach the shelves. Amazing stuff, Nokia turning things around. 8 months from announcement of the partnership with availability not long after.

But now, what the hell is going on with the Nokia Lumia 900? Announced at CES in January, it is now over mid March and signs point to April. What on earth are you doing Nokia? Is this yet another part of the original Nokia strategy to self implode with silly little things like inconsistent crappy online promotions? What precisely are you doing that you would take a device, though very well received, well loved, even award winning despite being 2011 specs on paper, to delay and delay and delay until the point that well, the competition has even better devices and no one cares about our Nokia phones?

What precisely are you doing that you would need to actively disable something like internet sharing on the Nokia Lumia 800/710 at launch only to tell us they would possibly appear in some update to which has no definite date?

The trend of delays and waits is something Nokia fans (that remain) have had much practice in. Looking at the bright side, I guess at least it is still within the same half of the year, unlike before where we would have announcement and over 6 months later, the device appears in the shops. Whilst you delay, the competition does not stand still. How are we expected to catch up when we’re clearly going in reverse? (Unless of course there’s something quite significant, e.g. 41mp PureView which would take a while to compete against that camera, but even that should not be delayed).

How about creating some buzz, and then putting it on sale and then maintaining that buzz whilst your product is available for people to buy? Is something not ready in the phone? There’s only so much preparation, perfection and weeding you can do before the phone turns into a mythical Duke Nukem Forever project. Of course we don’t want rushed, botched devices, but there must be at least a certain level at which those devices can be ready and be put on sale?

Perhaps, most likely I am over simplifying and missing out key factors that are affecting this delay. But looking from the outside with a simplified view, it appears to be the usual Nokia flair of squandering opportunities.

I tweeted my frustration just before writing this post and @umopobarkan replied

@JayMontano That’s why Nokia is planning to move it’s entire production in China. It sucks, but that the right move if they want to compete

Hmm.

Ideally, we’d like to see things appear in the same month. That’s the longest anyone should wait. 2 weeks is preferable and 1 week would be amazing. No, not just shipping, actually being able to buy it in the shops.

Remember when the Nokia Ace was first rumoured? It would have been perfect if we saw that in 2011. Oh well.

http://mynokiablog.com/2012/01/14/lumiappaday-60-meme-generator-demoed-on-the-nokia-lumia-800/

We want high quality Nokia phones and soon! I know it’s not like ‘others’ which might have only one device to focus on, but there are equally plenty of other manufacturers announcing devices and releasing them close to announcement dates. Why is this a problem for you?

Normally, the joke is you just get to pick two. It seems for us, we pick one. Why can't we have them all?

Anyway, off to a wonderful 2 hour session on stats. Yay.

You probably don’t read the Daily Mail unless you’re in the UK and watch Jeremy Kyle.

Clearly however this is a mainstream newspaper for the general non techy public. It’s here in NEWS not just a special section for gadgets and tech. For a phone to be noticed on this level is somewhat amazing for Nokia and something they have to continue (as well as updating every other thing on their phone, screen res, processor etc, if at least just to please the number munchers).

You can tell it’s the Daily Mail from their headline, lol, they just had to get that “iPhone” line in the title. BTW Nokia camera phones besting iPhone isn’t new but it’s possibly only now that the public might be aware of it.

Nokia releases phone with a 41-megapixel camera…SEVEN times as powerful as iPhone 4S

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2107496/Nokia-releasing-phone-41-megapixel-camera–sale-Europe-now.html

Being mainstream media, they have no quarrels over Symbian. Folks really don’t have that much of an issue as they’re not too aware what it is. They just want things that work.

“In addition to the ground-breaking photo technology, the phone will use Dolby Digital stereo sound and will be based on a Symbian platform, which the company has used a great deal in the past.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2107496/Nokia-releasing-phone-41-megapixel-camera–sale-Europe-now.html

They have simplified PureView technology (hopefully more because they know their target audience as opposed to the actual lack of know how on what it does)

“The true selling point of the phone is the camera, which effectively takes in an unusually high amount of information about each picture and compresses it into a small enough size that it is easily sent by text or email.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2107496/Nokia-releasing-phone-41-megapixel-camera–sale-Europe-now.html

Then you have the idiots in the comment section who think they know things about cameras. They are just above the general non techy public but not quite a geek, so they recite that megapixel myth thinking they’re oh so clever knowing it’s not just megapixels. There are many factors that affect image quality, so the most important thing we can go on for definite are results, and as we have seen they are impressive. For what ever numbers or science that gets tossed out the window, pictures will paint you thousands of words in favour of the Nokia 808 PureView producing high quality images you don’t expect in phones.

“And anyone even remotely educated about cameras will know megapixel rating means almost nothing. Too bad most manufacturers and consumers are too stupid to know this. It is easier to market a big megapixel number than a quality lens and thus part of the reason Nokia is just about out of business.”

Worried about the person who upvoted this too.

Sod the quality, feel the megapixels

- T. Servo, Satellite O’ Love, High Earth

You get megapixels AND quality. -_-

What about the quality of the lens though. Surely you’re not going to achieve much with all those megapixels if it’s still only got a tiny lens

Sabin Lorkin, Montbray, France, 28/2/2012

-_-

So what is the quality of the lens used by this ‘toy’ camera??? 38mb x 3 ( as there are 3 colour channels per pixel) = 114MB uncompressed file size. If the compression used is JPEG, which is a ‘lossy’ compression, then how much compression (and, thus, loss of information) will be required to get a file size small enough to text or send by email?

- Adrian , Reading, UK., 28/2/2012 09:02

Possibly Daily Mail’s fault in over simplification

This is possibly ignorance rather than purposeful misinformation. In a way, it’s good that the printed newspaper (if this did get to print) won’t have a comment section for idiots (but then again, you have to be careful about the actual article not being up to scratch on what they say, eh). Well, not all the comments are dumb.

If this phone is no way connected to the N8 i would love this camera. the N8 has the best camera on a phone just Nokia’s software is the problem. 41mp should be good tho hope the software is a massive improvement. shame my s2 contract don’t run out now for over a year :

Passionate F1 fan who has been screwed,

Well done Manchester :p

Camera’s. It’s all about the lens. There’s a Carl Zeis on this so it may even take a respectable picture (for a phone).

- Pete, manchester, 28/2/2012 09:23

Yes, Yes it does take more than respectable pics. I hope to God Nokia shows off sample pictures of this vs point and shoots. They can’t rely on bloggers and tech media to do so (with some, you know darn well are going to put grease and out of focus shots vs their iThings like they did with the N8)

Whilst the screenshot comment is right in that 41mp sensor is good to market BUUUUUUT it’s not even just about that. The purpose was never about taking tons of pixels. The PureView is ALL ABOUT IMAGE PERFORMANCE, QUALITY AND VERSATILITY. 41MP perhaps to get it noticed, but also 41MP and PureView to actually produce some pictures to knock your socks off. There’s no deception going on there, if anything there’s quite a bit of underselling.

Quite a big part of the misunderstanding is Nokia’s own poor launch and explanation on the CRITICAL aspects of the Nokia 808 – how it’s actually not about MP at all, how it IS about their precious sensor and how it’s damn forkin bigger than the point and shoots of today. I have a rant I started up to talk about this possibly on Monday so I’ll save you from it this weekend.

Mike Perlman is a photography expert. I don’t know if you remember his video reviews of cameras for infosyncworld?  Mike is now over at TechnoBuffalo.

http://www.technobuffalo.com/mobile-devices/phones/why-the-nokia-808-pureview-is-the-first-real-threat-to-the-digital-camera/

Basically, it seems that those that respect the Nokia 808 PureView are those that well, understand what’s going on underneath beyond 41mp.

 http://mynokiablog.com/2012/02/28/nokia-808-pureview-sensor-a-look-by-dpreview-mp-war-is-over/

Those that knock it are those that may be slightly naive – thinking they know a lot more than they do, reciting the old ‘megapixel myth’ that in fact 41mp might actually be a bad thing or making no difference.

Mike said at first, he too did the palm face (of exasperation/disappointment). But then he looked into what this was actually about. Kudos.

Then I did some mining and uncovered the phone’s imaging specifications, which led me to this frightening epiphany: the Nokia 808 PureView is the first real threat to the digital camera market.

I believe I’d read some stories before from Mike and I distinctly remember him not really being aware the likes of the N8 existed, and to some extent you can feel that here, but we’ll not digress on that.

But when I read the specifications of the Nokia 808 PureView, my socks actually blew off and I did a backflip in my chair. The phone has a 1/1.2-inch sensor. To put that noble piece of hardware into perspective, the PureView’s imaging chip is larger than the 1/1.7-inch clad Canon PowerShot G12′s, Nikon P7100′s and Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5′s; three of the top point-and-shoot models on the market.

BOOM. Wow. That’s the info I wanted to know, just how much bigger was Nokia’s sensor compared to the point and shoots. It is apparently bigger than those three mentioned which are the TOP leading point and shoots. THE TOP.

It’s around the size of the 1-inch sensor found in the new Nikon 1 mirrorless cameras. It’s the first relatively large sensor to be stuffed into a phone, hence the first real threat to the digital camera market because it targets the advanced photographer.

*cough, N8 was the first, cough, larger than several point and shoots too, cough, was the BEST camera phone until 808, cough, gimme some syrup*.

Mike begins to talk about the 41mp sensor and the 38mp pics. He says quite rightly that possibly that perhaps Nokia could have done better with lower MP. “There’s no real need for 38 megapixels on a smartphone” It’s apparently “vainglorious on Nokia’s part”. I think what we see here is the lack of understanding of PureView. Big sensors and pixel quantity – that’s one thing photobuffs know. PureView is NEW.

As I ranted on this post,

http://mynokiablog.com/2012/02/28/bbc-asks-do-camera-phones-need-41mp-to-shoot-photos-as-good-as-the-nokia-808-yes-yes-yes-rant/

it seems that it’s more to do with simply just being unaware of what PureView is. That in part is Nokia’s fault. They clearly did not explain it well enough and folks at MWC who talk about more than just Nokia or even phoes will not have time to sift through that awesome story that explains PureView.

http://mynokiablog.com/2012/02/27/the-story-and-secrets-behind-the-nokia-808-pureview-everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-pureview/

The post was dated 28th Feb, and Mike says he did not see full sized pics. It seems clear that he wasn’t as eager as all of us Nokia fans (obviously :p) jumping at everything about PureView. Perhaps if Nokia actually organized their presentations better than a 6th form assembly, folks would be better equiped with all the information they needed to appreciate PureView.

http://mynokiablog.com/2012/02/27/official-untouched-nokia-808-sample-pics-zoom-in-and-enhance/

Whilst those 38MP are awesome, that is not the point of 41mp or pureview. Again, it seems a point is missed. The point is about creating superpixels combined from several others, reducing noise, improving quality. Also 41mp affords some fantastic flexibility with regards to lossless zooming. Real quality zooming but silent, no mechanical parts to jut out. The intended output is 5 or 8MP. If they think the point in of the 808 is just to take 38mp then they’ve missed the point. Nokia should have spent more time making sure there was less confusion.

It seems we’ll often need to reiterate things until we’re blue in the face, and even then we can’t guarantee Nokia will present their technologies properly to where people can connect with those features and understand how for purposes x/y/z the 808 PureView will be of unbelievable benefit. These events are very busy, there are too many things going on to rely on folks to be doing research. Most will rely either on their own basic knowledge or what you (Nokia) say so they can repeat it verbatim. But you failed at launch to fully explain PureView.

When they talked about 41MP, they should have immediately explained, like Damian Dinning and the Spokeswoman that spoke to the BBC for Nokia, that the quantum leap is what Nokia does with those pixels. Perhaps it was intentionally done by Nokia so folks might first focus on headline attracting 41MP? If so it’s a shame because they could have done that AND showed the world they know the megapixel myth, that it is in fact this product out of all of the camera phones that want you to shoot with LESS pixels, but to have perfect pixels and the ability to have real quality zoom that maintains that f/2.4 aperture at all ranges.

Alas, marketing and clear communication of their strengths is not really Nokia’s strong point. Come on, lol, WWSJD!

http://mynokiablog.com/2010/06/08/what-nokia-needs-to-learn-from-apple-keynotes-pointers-from-steve-jobs-iphone-4-announcement/

http://mynokiablog.com/2011/07/12/nokias-80-million-usd-marketing-for-windows-phone-rant-and-whats-your-favourite-nokia-advert/

BTW, Kudos to Mike for just talking about the camera in a camera centric post. No need to initially detract people with thoughts of nHD or Symbian like some other articles. Mike, for what information he had, just focused on the camera part of the offering as he was trying to understand what Nokia had achieved in terms of imaging. Shame they weren’t able to present all of the key information better.

Cheers HaugMedia for the tip.

Source: technobuffalo

The tech newbie knows not what mega pixels are

The slightly aware thinks more megapixels the better

The more tech familiar might be aware that more MP doesn’t mean better pictures. It’s a common comment of the self proclaimed photography enthusiast – the MP myth. They might even suggest it might be bad.

Those who assume more MP might not mean anything in the 808, surely don’t understand PureView.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17190117

Damian Dinning and Nokia know that more MP does not mean better pictures, but knew that to get the best picture quality and camera versatility, there are various solutions to which one required 41mp. Just like with the N8 or the N86, Nokia only ever stepped up the pixels when they knew they could do it damn well properly. Proof? The best camera phone until PureView was the N8. There are no ifs, or buts. The N8 ruled the camera phone segment longer than any other and 808 and PureViews are only set to extend Nokia’s imaging reign for a long time to come.

I think I had my last rant about that here: http://mynokiablog.com/2012/02/28/nokia-808-pureview-sensor-a-look-by-dpreview-mp-war-is-over/

Certain iSites are trying to detract away from the Nokia 808 because of what they understand of the megapixel myth. They simply don’t get it. It’s not about 41mp at all. It’s not about taking 38mp photos at all. It’s certainly the first interesting talking point but there is so much more; the 41mp is just the tip of the iceberg. This glittery gold is merely a case for the diamond inside.

It is most funny that whilst they try and accuse Nokia of not getting it, it’s they that fail to understand what Nokia is attempting with the imagery in PureView, debuted on the 808.

The BBC wrote yet another article on Nokia’s 41mp camera, provocatively titled,

“Does a cameraphone really need 41 megapixels?”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17190117

You might be right to worry that the BBC might also follow those trying to devalue Nokia’s PureView. Well, not completely. There is more of a fairer voice than some, though the conclusion is iffy.

“Photography enthusiasts have been warningabout the “megapixel myth” for some time. In the myth, more megapixels means a better camera and a better photograph.

But that’s not necessarily the case.”

Another photography buff, similarly named Damien D (Damien Demolder) calls 41mp ridiculous. 25MP is enough to produce billboards.

Again, they seem to have missed out on the numerous occasions Nokia sets out to say themselves it’s not about the megapixels! They said themselves when printing A4 5MP is more than adequate. Nokia said this. They do understand folks.

Quantum Leap is how the pixels are used!!

A spokeswoman at Nokia said it clearly,

people are missing the point.  It is the way the pixels are used that is the real “quantum leap”

More data is used than needed to provide, as dpreview said, perfect pixels. Oversample 7 or so pixels for that one super pixel.

As well as improving image quality, PureView allows lossless zooming without mechanical jutting zooms. Demolder dares to mention that camera phone sensors are tiny. Nokia in 2010 already destroyed all camera phone sensors and even those in compacts. Yesterday their sensor ate the N8′s and all those point and shoots. 3X as much as point and shoots or 5x as much as camera phones.

So:

• 41mp sensor? “Ooh more MP is not good. Actually it’s bad.”
• It’s not about the mp – tick
• It’s about having better pixels – tick
• It’s about having better sensors – tick
• It’s about having better processing – tick
• It’s about being more versatile with lossless, silent zoom – tick
• It’s about having better low light performance – tick

Downer of the party, Demolder says the 808′s unique selling point will not be in proportion to the technological leap or cost. He comes out with this pile of tosh,

“”Most people would find the zoom useful, though few will know they have it, fewer will discover how to work it and fewer again will remember to use it.”"

How much of an idiot do you have to be not to know your camera has zoom? Well perhaps Nokia can train them with better ads. Ones that show slide zoom. Dammit Nokia, do the zoom in and enhance joke. Zoom once, zoom in again, and again. Folks with point and shoots know zoom. This shouldn’t be that much more difficult. My non techy friends always try to use zoom on my DSLR when using prime lenses. They sort of expect zoom. Deliver the knowledge that you are the one to do zoom the best and right on a phone.

As for ‘need’ – that question can always be answered – what is need? As long as the camera is there, it’s a camera phone. But what differentiates Nokians is that they’re looking for perfection in imaging. If you want high quality photos with versatility in zoom, then of course you need Nokia’s PureView tech. If you want to take photos like the 808 can, then yes.

Cheers @Jaisun_acy for the tip!

Again if you have time, check out how PureView works on the 808. If in any doubt, take a look.

http://mynokiablog.com/2012/02/27/the-story-and-secrets-behind-the-nokia-808-pureview-everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-pureview/

Here’s a sample of 38mp.

http://mynokiablog.com/2012/02/27/official-untouched-nokia-808-sample-pics-zoom-in-and-enhance/

Remember, that is not what Nokia’s trying to achieve. Out of everyone, they are the ones trying to end the MP race and go back to reasonable high quality photos where it was never about fooling people with MP counts, it’s about making sure every damn pixel counts! 41mp isn’t just there for the sake of it. Folks, those that doubt should read more into what’s going on with PureView and what this technology means.

We can’t blame folks for having misconceptions. The presentation of the 808 could have been done infinitely better, so folks knew what on earth a lot of the jargon and magic was really all about – so they could connect and understand the features and see how these Nokia innovations can be beneficial in their hands. It’s not hard, but Nokia seems to like assuming people will know their products. Nokia, you must put the effort in to connect people to your product. Nokia Connecting People. Come on in and connect them. As well as helping nokia users communicate with each other, communicate better with your consumers.

Then you and consumers can echo: The world is round. The world is round.

Megapixel myths my ass. Yes, some try and exploit that, but Nokia is different. They don’t win all those imaging awards year on year for no reason. If anyone knows it’s not about mp, it’s Nokia. If anyone knows how to optimise pixels it’s Nokia. 808 PureView, 41mp is nothing compared to the real magic going on.

(Congrats though on getting into mainstream talk Nokia I’ve had random folks ask me in real life is 41mp on a phone real haha.)