The Write Up
Windows Phone 8 has now been out about two weeks and with its eye-catching hardware, beautiful UI, and plethora of new features; has captured the hearts of more people than even I expected. Nokia's Lumia line has been consistently sold out all over the world and is still in high demand while HTC is certainly pulling out all of the stops in bringing their most beautiful device to date into the Windows Phone market. Huaweii seems to be ready to innovate for the first time in quite some time and Samsung is bringing up the rear with the same ol' stuff they've been putting out since the Samsung Behold days but there's a market for everything.
As a student developer, I try to keep a very clear mind about phones as a whole. At present I own a Tegra HTC One X, an AT&T Galaxy Note II, an iPhone 4s, and the AT&T Nokia Lumia 920. It could simply be a honeymoon period but for the past two weeks the Lumia has been my daily driver. I have also been frequenting the forums of numerous tech blogs and news articles, scouring the web for any complaints and praise for both the Note and the Lumia. As it stands, the Lumia seems to be the more sought after of the two with the Note being slightly underwhelming compared to its predecessor. The Lumia is not without its flaws though, the battery life has been subpar on a number of the devices, there is a bug in the NFC usage that causes immense battery drain, and the photos could be slightly sharper. However, for every shortcoming, most of which Nokia says will be repaired with a software update, there are more than enough selling points to justify it. After two weeks, I finally felt it was just to do a review comparing Windows Phone, iOS, and Android.
User Interface
First, I'll start with what you see upon powering on, the UI. The common complaint with Windows Phone, is the lack of a dedicated notification center like the ones you would see on Android or now, iOS. I was truly concerned on coming from using the One X as my daily driver and HTC's amazing Friendstream that the Lumia's activity simply would not be enough. Let me be the first to tell you that not only does the live tile system work, it's removed so many swypes and taps from my typical use that I'm probably saving an hour of battery life a day on that alone. Unlock the screen, swype down, check anything I want, done. It's very simple and very straightforward. I believe Windows Phone's initial marketing statement was, "Get in, get out, get on with your life." It's simple to do just that however it's also easy to get immersed in the live tiles. The customization available despite the lack of backgrounds is quite amazing and sometimes I'll spend half an hour deciding on a particular tile layout that suits me and my present color scheme. The OS is simply aesthetically pleasing, plain and simple. You might be able to download a dozen apps to kick your android UI into gear or Dreamboard your phone but in terms of usability I would have to give the cake to Windows Phone. That said, Android's notification system is right on par with Windows Phone and is certainly no slacker. iOS simply lags behind.
User Interface:
Android: 6
iOS: 7
Windows Phone: 9
Notifications:
Android: 9
iOS: 4
Windows Phone: 8
Camera
With our phones being an extension of our arms, it's only viable that it replace that big clunky camera on a laniard that we were once forced to tote around if we wanted to capture the moment. Now, it's as easy as pulling your phone out and snapping a picture. Windows Phone tried simplifying this further by allowing access to the camera directly from a sleeping phone, a feature imitated and executed well by the competition but born of Windows Phone and the original still seems to execute it best. Each OS aside from iOS has a variation of cameras on a variation of different phones and each have their strengths and weaknesses. My personal preference, hardware aside, is Windows Phone strictly because of the requirement of a hardware camera button. Each OS has it's own photo editing options as well, iOS being the birthing place of instagram, a photo-social network. Android having a ton of applications with filters and editors, and at least Nokia's Windows Phones implementing lenses with work amazingly well. If you haven't gotten to toy around with cinemagraphs then you simply haven't gotten to enjoy a camera on a phone. Overall, I'd say it's safe to give tens across the board on software alone as the hardware preference is just that, a preference.
Camera
Android: 10
iOS: 10
Windows Phone: 10
Hardware Choices
Your general consumer has an idea of what they want but will not be particularly picky. It has to be eye-catching but practical, it has to have screen real-estate but be pocketable. Your phone has to fit you better than you fit it. iOS in this area, is awful. You get one device that most recently has rendered a lot of games ugly due to the screen's aspect ratio shifting drastically. Overall, the iPhone 5 may be the worst in the series despite slightly improved hardware. Android of course has the broadest range of specs, 600 mhz processors making up the low-end of the spectrum and pushing into the quad-core monsters at the higher end. Until Android's most recent iteration, it suffered from a discernible lag that, while not a deal breaker, certainly offered a bit of a low-end feel. However, android is now about up to par with the competition and is finally, "Buttery smooth." on all different kinds of hardware.
Windows Phone devices are also found on a variety of hardware, however what sets it apart and really makes it pull ahead is the availability of many color options. No other OS before it has offered such an array of high end devices in such a wide variety of colors. The Lumia 920 alone comes in five different colors, 3 of which are rare to find on any other quality device. Due to the color variations, I'd have to give this one to Windows Phone as it's proven time and again that it doesn't need the ridiculous hardware to run as fluid as the competition.
Hardware
Android: 9
iOS: 2
Windows Phone: 10
Social
What are our phones for if not communication? Sure, they all make calls with varying quality, they all connect to Facebook, they all send texts and picture messages, they all get the job done. However, who gets it done best? For this comparison, I'm using stock Android. Had I chosen to use HTC's Sense then it likely would've been more favorable for Android but, spoiler alert, stock android doesn't fare too well.
iOS basicaly reinvented the smartphone and have thus created an immeasurable ecosystem spanning across millions of users. Due to this, they are able to have their own video chat that doesn't work with other devices, their own messenger client that only works on their devices, even their own social networks of sorts. They have an ecosystem, but what about the rest of us? Both iOS and Android sync your facebook contacts as well as contacts from other email clients and social networks without much fail and with the installation of third party applications have no issue notifying you of your facebook notifications. However, this isn't about the applications, just the OS itself and aside from what's mentioned, neither have a whole lot to offer. With Windows Phone, I have felt no need to install a facebook application as everything I need is built into the OS. I have facebook chat that sends me all my messages through the same messaging system that my texts come through, I can update my status from my Me tile on a number of different social networks simutaneously, I can take a picture and have it on facebook faster than any other OS, shown clearly in the Smoked by Windows Phone videos and I can do it all without installing anything additional. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn being baked into the OS has accelerated my social networking to a whole new degree.
The most important aspect of a social network though, the keyboard. I mean sure you can Speech to Text everything but that seldom works out as well as you want it to. android has an excellent keyboard layout by default but the response time on it is notably slower than either other and the predicted text never quite gets me to where I want. It seems as though it doesn't know higher English and any bigger words I use are quickly transformed into two or more little words. iOS is again, a joke. The keyboard layout forces you to go to a separate page to use a period, the auto-correct has spawned numerous sites about how terrible it is, and it's very ill responsive. The first thing you notice about using a Windows Phone is the tactile responsiveness, it seems as though the button is hit maybe even a millisecond before you touch the screen it's so fast and the words are only corrected when it's actually needed. Overall, in terms of the general social networking, I have to give it to Windows Phone here as everything is so deliciously baked in. I should mention though that Android has a plethora of keyboards better than the default at your disposal.
Networking
Android: 5
iOS: 6
Windows Phone: 10
Keyboard
Android: 6
iOS: 4
Windows Phone: 8
Apps and Software and Features, Oh My!
Well, it's not all rainbows and butterflies in the Windows Phone world. The application store isn't 1/10th of the competition yet and the games we do get are often crippled versions of their Android and iOS counterparts. Not only that, we often pay more strictly for the fact that we can get Xbox Live gamer points. However, Xbox live on the phone is amazing and a selling point in itself, it still doesn't justify the sometimes ridiculous price of our games and apps.
iOS is the clear winner as far as games and apps go. Sure, Android has more games and applications but they are never as polished as those on iOS and oftentimes won't work on a good portion of the devices due to fragmentation. Both trump Windows Phone with their high def, 3D games and form fitting applications.
Android and Windows Phone now utilize NFC, iOS's only real shortcoming in this area. Windows Phone has pushed it a step further offering wireless charging on most of their higher end devices which, while gimmicky, is one hell of a gimmick. If you pick up the JBL Charging Speakers then your Nokia will absolutely blow you away.
I would like to clarify, of the 40 or so apps that are must haves on my phones, I can easily find an alternative to 36-38 of them on Windows Phone but those 2-4 apps I can't find really do seem to jump out at me a lot of the time and are a thorn in the side of WP8. That said, with access to native code this will hopefully change.
Goodies
Android: 8
iOS: 9
Windows Phone: 5
Wrap-up
Well, after owning my first long term Windows Phone device I can say that this is as unbiased as I can get aside from a possible honeymoon phase with this pretty little device. This is of course from a basic user standpoint and not a developer standpoint as so many of us like to brag about having. The final score tallied up is:
Android: 53/70
iOS: 42/70
Windows Phone: 60/70
None of the OS's are bad and each could certainly suit you and will vary with your needs. As far as the most generic needs go, Windows Phone pulled out just ahead of Android with iOS trailing behind, left in the dust. If you haven't picked up a Windows Phone and have only gone off of the rumors, I suggest you at least give it a try. Thank you for reading and I hope you all have a happy Turkey Day.
-Poecifer
Thanks for sharing! One thing that interests me about the Windows Phone is editing Microsoft Office files on the go. Currently I have many formatting and compatibility issues trying to do this with my Android device. Have you experimented much with this yet?
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buffjam9011 said:
Thanks for sharing! One thing that interests me about the Windows Phone is editing Microsoft Office files on the go. Currently I have many formatting and compatibility issues trying to do this with my Android device. Have you experimented much with this yet?
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Mainly just wordpad documents, I'll look more into the others and get back to you afterwards. Word files are epic though.
Strangely enough I agree with almost quite everything you say, but your scoring seems to be a little wonky. Your user interface scores were as follows:
Android: 6
iOS: 7
Windows Phone: 9
Very subjective if you ask me. You could ask ten different people what they believe that order should proceed in, and I'm willing to bet their answers will vary greatly. I don't understand how IOS could possibly have a higher interface score than Android if its simply a grid of icons with a horrendous notification system. If you wanted to replicate that on Android you very well could with a launcher, MIUI, etc. Android essentially IS iOS with flexibility; customizable grids on the homescreen, widgets, more intuitive lockscreens, etc. Giving iOS a higher score doesn't seem to make sense to me.
Hardware
Android: 9
iOS: 2
Windows Phone: 10
I'd like to think the massive range of Android phones would overcome the simple fact that Windows phones come in several new colors. I think it's fair to say Android should hold top dog in this regard.
Android: 5
iOS: 6
Windows Phone: 10
Above are the scores for social networking on each mobile OS. Again, if Android by default has every third party application installed automatically integrated, how can you justify giving it not only that low of a score, but below iOS? (While iOS only has facebook/twitter integration).
Also, I'm curious as to which keyboard you used for Android.
But great write up, honestly I don't mean to try and dismantle everything you said, I just don't entirely agree with the scoring. But good work, I gave ya a thanks )
MultiLockOn said:
Strangely enough I agree with almost quite everything you say, but your scoring seems to be a little wonky. Your user interface scores were as follows:
Android: 6
iOS: 7
Windows Phone: 9
Very subjective if you ask me. You could ask ten different people what they believe that order should proceed in, and I'm willing to bet their answers will vary greatly. I don't understand how IOS could possibly have a higher interface score than Android if its simply a grid of icons with a horrendous notification system. If you wanted to replicate that on Android you very well could with a launcher, MIUI, etc. Android essentially IS iOS with flexibility; customizable grids on the homescreen, widgets, more intuitive lockscreens, etc. Giving iOS a higher score doesn't seem to make sense to me.
Hardware
Android: 9
iOS: 2
Windows Phone: 10
I'd like to think the massive range of Android phones would overcome the simple fact that Windows phones come in several new colors. I think it's fair to say Android should hold top dog in this regard.
Android: 5
iOS: 6
Windows Phone: 10
Above are the scores for social networking on each mobile OS. Again, if Android by default has every third party application installed automatically integrated, how can you justify giving it not only that low of a score, but below iOS? (While iOS only has facebook/twitter integration).
Also, I'm curious as to which keyboard you used for Android.
But great write up, honestly I don't mean to try and dismantle everything you said, I just don't entirely agree with the scoring. But good work, I gave ya a thanks )
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Not a problem at all, friend. I love criticism regardless and constructive is my favorite flavor. I gave UI to iOS over android because I'm trying to use vanilla android opposed to sense or touchwiz and sadly it still suffers from minute hickups. Had I been reviewing Sense, android and Windows Phone would have certainly been neck and neck.
As far as my hardware statement, as much as the hardware for android differentiates under the hood, they do little to differentiate themselves cosmetically and that seldom makes for a beautiful device even when the power under the hood is insane. It's often left looking like a bunch of generic Samsung phones.
In social networking, I ignored the existence of third party applications and only gave the bonus point to iOS for the ease of setup as both are essentially the same in that regard.
When I use android, I've been using swype since the HTC Dream days and don't feel a need to switch. Swiftkey isn't terrible though.
Again, there may be some bias as I'm still in the honeymoon phase but I made an attempt to be unbiased that at least beats out what you'll get at cNet.
Poecifer said:
Not a problem at all, friend. I love criticism regardless and constructive is my favorite flavor. I gave UI to iOS over android because I'm trying to use vanilla android opposed to sense or touchwiz and sadly it still suffers from minute hickups. Had I been reviewing Sense, android and Windows Phone would have certainly been neck and neck.
As far as my hardware statement, as much as the hardware for android differentiates under the hood, they do little to differentiate themselves cosmetically and that seldom makes for a beautiful device even when the power under the hood is insane. It's often left looking like a bunch of generic Samsung phones.
In social networking, I ignored the existence of third party applications and only gave the bonus point to iOS for the ease of setup as both are essentially the same in that regard.
When I use android, I've been using swype since the HTC Dream days and don't feel a need to switch. Swiftkey isn't terrible though.
Again, there may be some bias as I'm still in the honeymoon phase but I made an attempt to be unbiased that at least beats out what you'll get at cNet.
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Most definitely ahaha, cnet is one of the most Apple centric tech sites I've ever seen. And I really do appreciate this write up, I always told myself if I had to move to a locked down OS Windows 8 looked like a viable choice, and now it seems I have a third party to back it up reasonably. It's sad really, most people glance at Windows phone and ate immediately turned away because of how strange the ui is initially. I think it's a beautiful design personally, and they're innovating in their own way.
One thing however. Do you really find sense more appealing then stock android? I've found the last three versions on android (4.0 - 4.2) to be wonderful. Honestly, everything from the notification bar to gapps with the blue tint looks great. I always thought sense was overrated, but more now than ever it seems to be riding on the tailcoat of its gb days. Maybe then I might've thought it sleek and edgy but lately sense hasn't seem to have changed at all, it looks dated. Everything from the app drawer to the notification panel is rather stale looking, I'd go as far to say that the touchwiz nature ux is much preferable, but that's just me.
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MultiLockOn said:
Most definitely ahaha, cnet is one of the most Apple centric tech sites I've ever seen. And I really do appreciate this write up, I always told myself if I had to move to a locked down OS Windows 8 looked like a viable choice, and now it seems I have a third party to back it up reasonably. It's sad really, most people glance at Windows phone and ate immediately turned away because of how strange the ui is initially. I think it's a beautiful design personally, and they're innovating in their own way.
One thing however. Do you really find sense more appealing then stock android? I've found the last three versions on android (4.0 - 4.2) to be wonderful. Honestly, everything from the notification bar to gapps with the blue tint looks great. I always thought sense was overrated, but more now than ever it seems to be riding on the tailcoat of its gb days. Maybe then I might've thought it sleek and edgy but lately sense hasn't seem to have changed at all, it looks dated. Everything from the app drawer to the notification panel is rather stale looking, I'd go as far to say that the touchwiz nature ux is much preferable, but that's just me.
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From a purely aesthetic perspective, I completely agree. Sense looks stale. However, it brings to the table a plethora of built in apps and widgets that I find more useful than anyone else's offerings and for that I will choose Sense over Touchwiz or stock any day. I liked the way Sony was going, too bad they can't quite get their software right.
I think you overreacted when you said iphone has score 2 as far as hardware is concerned. Just because they do not take the route android does (make up for poor software with overkill hardware) doesn't mean their hardware ain't good. They basically do just like Windows Phone: pick up a nice platform, then base everything on that so it can be optimized.
mcosmin222 said:
I think you overreacted when you said iphone has score 2 as far as hardware is concerned. Just because they do not take the route android does (make up for poor software with overkill hardware) doesn't mean their hardware ain't good. They basically do just like Windows Phone: pick up a nice platform, then base everything on that so it can be optimized.
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They still only release one device a year with severely dated hardware and ridiculous fragility. They often have next to no real selling point aside from habit. I'd say it was justified.
dont agree with you about the keyboard. check out swiftkey.... i miss it so hard on wp8 :S
Love the write up, and I agree with most of what was said. I can support the lower hardware score for iOS because it is a gradual improvement of an existing design, as opposed to every year the hardware is cutting edge. That does have something to do with the fact that the OS doesn't require such boundary pushing hardware...
That's why I gave up on iOS. After a while you really get tired of the apps as the only attraction. Heck, jail breaking took off merely for the fact that it was a way to unlock the phone for usage on other carriers. Based on the hardware limitations, once you started to add the custom add-ons to change the looks and performance of the phone, iOS starts to lag. I'm sure things have improved with the iPhone 5, but I've got no interest in trying Apple.
It still boils down to taste. I do enjoy using WP7, and so far WP8 is a nice upgrade. As far as Android goes, I prefer stock over any other skin other there. Yes, stock used to be atrocious and not as friendly visually, but 4.0 has changed much of that. Still, I like Sense as the best skin out there, even though it has gotten bloated. sense 4 is a right step, but I won't use anything HTC Android wise until Sense gets much lighter (that's why my Galaxy Nexus will back up my Lumia 810 for the foreseeable future).
I like the WP idea of letting some customization in the form of apps and amps and hardware tweaks. But the consistent UI is my biggest draw to the platform. Now, if only MSFT can make Windowsphone.com easier to use and add a few more apps and tweaks...
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Poecifer said:
They still only release one device a year with severely dated hardware and ridiculous fragility. They often have next to no real selling point aside from habit. I'd say it was justified.
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You're not talking about Apple are you? If so, this just ruins everything you typed Severely dated hardware? Seriously ?
Don't get me wrong, everyone is entitled to their opinion; but dated hardware? ?
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vetvito said:
You're not talking about Apple are you? If so, this just ruins everything you typed Severely dated hardware? Seriously ?
Don't get me wrong, everyone is entitled to their opinion; but dated hardware? ?
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1.3 GHz processor, underwhelming screen, no NFC, no wireless charging, nothing that sets them apart hardware-wise. At what point as of late have they innovated?
Poecifer said:
1.3 GHz processor, underwhelming screen, no NFC, no wireless charging, nothing that sets them apart hardware-wise. At what point as of late have they innovated?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You said severely dated hardware, didn't you? Name one phone that beats the iPhone 5 in graphics and performance? Underwhelming screen? Do people even legitimately know what the iPhone is clocked at?
NFC? Seriously, what is windows phone doing with it now besides pairing speakers?
Wireless charging, now thats palm pre innovation. Wow.
I know you can come with something better than that.
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vetvito said:
You said severely dated hardware, didn't you? Name one phone that beats the iPhone 5 in graphics and performance? Underwhelming screen? Do people even legitimately know what the iPhone is clocked at?
NFC? Seriously, what is windows phone doing with it now besides pairing speakers?
Wireless charging, now thats palm pre innovation. Wow.
I know you can come with something better than that.
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Graphics is a matter of the software and developer interest, neither of which have been called into question. The screen was cool when it was introduced 2-3 years ago, now it's certainly not top tier. The iPhone 5 is clocked at 1.3 GHz which does prove we don't need ridiculous specs with optimized software. It simply hasn't been top of the line in a long while.
^ but no other chip is beating the iPhone 5 in graphics or performance right now. Not even the S4 Pro(quad core). If that isn't top of the line, then I don't know what is.
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Poecifer said:
Graphics is a matter of the software and developer interest, neither of which have been called into question. The screen was cool when it was introduced 2-3 years ago, now it's certainly not top tier. The iPhone 5 is clocked at 1.3 GHz which does prove we don't need ridiculous specs with optimized software. It simply hasn't been top of the line in a long while.
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Genuine question, where do you find a graphics test that ignores the OS software as a whole? I want to know for personal testing.
Poecifer said:
Genuine question, where do you find a graphics test that ignores the OS software as a whole? I want to know for personal testing.
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Click to collapse
You don't really. Every test in SOME way is going to be more optimized for one gpu then another; you can't say "well this game runs smother on this phone thus making this gpu better". Benchmarking isn't realistic at all. To be honest I'm not sure of a great way to judge graphics card performance other then a long term
Overview of how it handles games. I could be wrong though, if someone wants to correct me feel free
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"hardware choices"
you gave more credit to one _software_platform_ (your definitions of competitors) for choice of colors....
yes, that makes sense.
ohgood said:
"hardware choices"
you gave more credit to one _software_platform_ (your definitions of competitors) for choice of colors....
yes, that makes sense.
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Click to collapse
Average consumer perspective. How much do cores matter to your mom or dad?
Related
You don't have to read this, you can just vote.
Ok, we have all heard about OS 3.0.
Faster, multi - tasking, A2DP, other bluetooth improvements such as file transfer, MMS, video capture, onboard video editing software included, etc..
The new iPhone to be released end of June is also going to have a few hardware changes. Have heard that it is 16 to 32 gb, that there is a 5mp autofocus camera with a quality lens on back, and a 3mp on the front (compared to our VGA), thinner (of course, pretty much a guarantee), possible bigger and sharper screen, etc...
It seems to me as if Apple has really (unlike MS) done what a company should...analyze the competition (primarily Android but also webOS and RIM), and redesign and improve their product accordingly. They have gotten rid of pretty muh all of the stupid annoyances, made it faster and smaller, and given developers much more access to different system level things for their apps, along with about a million other changes and improvements that you can and probably have read about. I am also really thinking that they will have good integration with things such as facebook, gmail, and outlook.
I really think there will be no question and that it truly will be the #1 device really without any competition. The only competition I can see is maybe something such as the HTC Magic that is thinner, has a larger, higher res screen, and comes stock with unbranded Android 1.5 (such as some of the HTC line up we have seen).
I just DESPERATELY hope that Apple isn't so stupid and naiive as to not put on MORE BUTTONS! Buttons are always better...always having to quit what you're doing and go back to the home screen to do ANYTHING would drive me insane...I love texting on my HD, then pulling up the phone and calling someone, sticking it on speaker, then going back to texting...that's not too much to ask I don't think.
So vote!
As for what I'm doing. I am jumping ship to the new iPhone. If I find it doesn't satisfy me, I will sell it and get the best Android handset I can find. Hopefully something like the Magic, but thinner, having a bigger, more high res screen, and comes stock with unbranded Android 1.5. If no new non - keyboard Anroid handsets are out by that time...Magic it is! (if it is ever released)
im gonna have to see the official specs and the actual device before i decide anything,if what is mentioned is true then perhaps. but im looking more at the Palm Pre than the iPhone, we will see
Ok, firstly MS is doing something about it, they are working on two new OSs at the moment, secondly its not MS that makes the phone, this is the problem and the holy grail with WM phones, firstly its a problem because MS has no say what hardware is used with its OS, this means like its desktop cousin it needs to support many things well and i believe to an extent it achieves this, but it doesnt excel at any of them. Its the holy grail because with the Iphone, you get 1 phone, 1 set of gear, 1 design for every possible usage, with WM devices you get exactly what you want because you have the choice to choose different phones, different specs and design for your needs.
Im leaving out Android here for 1 reason, it sucks, no no hear me out, apple has a HUGH following with its iPods which translate in to potential iPhone sales, android has a "bunch of Hippies" style of following, they are not classy, they are not even that good but its an alternative to the evil of Microsoft and ties of Apple which makes then appeal to others and thats fair enough, its a market as good as any.
But here is the reason ill be sticking with my Microsoft Windows Mobile based PDA, it works, it works fairly quick, it looks as good as an iPhone and i can install pretty much anything i want on it. Weres Tomtom for android or the Iphone? where is memory Map? where is the ease of use when syncing with Outlook? wheres Igo8? core player? world card mobile? the various language programs? all my security and tracking programs, the million and 1 apps available on the net, free or paid that have a propper support base if it all goes wrong, data retrivel?
some of those i use every day, i use many others every day, and yes there may be alternatives for some, but unless i can get them ALL working on one of the other two devices ill not change because i need them all and thats as simple as it gets.
With a desktop OS you can dual boot or virtual PC it, an thats fine if thats your thng, but you cant do that at the moment on the PDA and even if you could i doubt i would because its a hassle i can do without, WM works and works well enough and im sure its only going to get better.
And what will be the screen resolution of new iPhone?
Current iPhone is a no go for me - with such low screen resolution reading eBooks and surfing the internet is really, really bad.
Waiting eagerly for the new iPhone so definitely jumping ship...
I've got a Mac and syncing is nearly impossible. I've tried all sort of apps but none worked perfectly. I really need to sync address book and calendar and I've had enough of transferring mp3 files one by one, artwork not working etc etc.
the mp3 function is very important for me and the iPhone is perfect for that.
only problem I've got is I don't like the iPhone's current design. It's so 2 years ago. Hopefully they'll come up with a nice sleek design.
Why are Windows Mobile Apps falling behind IPhone ones?
One of the things that has always interest me when making such a decision is: What do developers think? How do they view developing for iPhone versus for winmo platform?
To gain insight into the thinking of developers, including some rather big names in winmo application development, you guys might want to read these extremely interesting threads:
http://www.4winmobile.com/forums/ed...s-mobile-apps-falling-behind-iphone-ones.html
and
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=6481405#post6481405
dazza9075 said:
Ok, firstly MS is doing something about it, they are working on two new OSs at the moment, secondly its not MS that makes the phone, this is the problem and the holy grail with WM phones, firstly its a problem because MS has no say what hardware is used with its OS, this means like its desktop cousin it needs to support many things well and i believe to an extent it achieves this, but it doesnt excel at any of them. Its the holy grail because with the Iphone, you get 1 phone, 1 set of gear, 1 design for every possible usage, with WM devices you get exactly what you want because you have the choice to choose different phones, different specs and design for your needs.
Im leaving out Android here for 1 reason, it sucks, no no hear me out, apple has a HUGH following with its iPods which translate in to potential iPhone sales, android has a "bunch of Hippies" style of following, they are not classy, they are not even that good but its an alternative to the evil of Microsoft and ties of Apple which makes then appeal to others and thats fair enough, its a market as good as any.
But here is the reason ill be sticking with my Microsoft Windows Mobile based PDA, it works, it works fairly quick, it looks as good as an iPhone and i can install pretty much anything i want on it. Weres Tomtom for android or the Iphone? where is memory Map? where is the ease of use when syncing with Outlook? wheres Igo8? core player? world card mobile? the various language programs? all my security and tracking programs, the million and 1 apps available on the net, free or paid that have a propper support base if it all goes wrong, data retrivel?
some of those i use every day, i use many others every day, and yes there may be alternatives for some, but unless i can get them ALL working on one of the other two devices ill not change because i need them all and thats as simple as it gets.
With a desktop OS you can dual boot or virtual PC it, an thats fine if thats your thng, but you cant do that at the moment on the PDA and even if you could i doubt i would because its a hassle i can do without, WM works and works well enough and im sure its only going to get better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. We all know MS is doing something about it. But we also all know that virtually all MS products suck. We also all know that MS is SLOOOW...therefore (like I said), by the time winmo 7 is released, it will already be behind. It will be released around 3rd quarter 2010...that's ridiculous. Another year from now Android will no longer be so new, and Apple will have put out something entirely new as they know ppl will be getting tired of iPhone by then. Not to mention what RIM and Nokia will be doing.
2. Where is the basis that Android sucks? It is faster than WM, that much is for sure. It is also more customizable. It is more modern. 3rd party app support does not make an OS good or bad....your argument that they suck cuz they don't have apps is no good to me. Sure it can make or break the success of the OS but...that's got nothing to do with the OS itself. Android has a LOT on WM and WM has...virtually nothing on Android. It looks ancient, it runs ancient, and it's that simple. I think we can all agree on that last line there.
3. "android has a "bunch of Hippies" style of following, they are not classy, they are not even that good"
- Gotta admit that you really lost me there.
4. Windows Mobile is in fact rather slow, even on good hardware with good drivers.
5. Windows Mobile crashes all the time even fresh after a hard reset, no apps installed, on an official ROM (just like the desktop Windows!)
6. iPhone has better syncing solutions that ActiveSync and Outlook.
7. Just FYI to all reading this...I am a Windows user and have been for years (all my life). I am not an outsider looking in and criticizing Windows w/o due reason and experience. I recently installed OSX86 on my PC however and...it truly is really nice. MS sucks. Bottom line, and there is really no avoiding it.
8. All OS's have pro's and cons. There are just as many if not more arguments against all your arguments for Windows Mobile. My point is simply that the new iPhone truly is a lot better than any Windows Mobile device running the latest WM 6.5.
MrYdude said:
And what will be the screen resolution of new iPhone?
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No kidding. Couldn't agree more. Coming from a Touch HD and having looked at a lot of friends iPhones...their screens look terrible when reading text (altho they do have 16 million colors compared to our 65,000. Side note: Android also has 16 million colors).
Sadly though I have read that they plan not to change the resolution in order to keep all apps usable. I reallly hope not.
It's true, MS does not have any influence on the phone hardware.
However, an operating system's success is not about hardware potential or software potential or about a combination of both: it's about a tangible offer of potentially attractive software which can be easily obtained via a single entry point, i.e. an APP STORE. That's currently the BIGGEST drawback of the WM platform. I love the customization part of WM but it took me ages to get there. Many users won't take that road and therefore go for the iphone.
There's also a lock-in effect to this -> More users to an OS platform means that developing for that platform gets attractive, thus attracting developers and making the apps offer even more powerful. That in turn increases the chances of attracting new users to the platform, etc.
Honestly, considering all this, do you really a 50 megapixel camera or a nVidia Geforce 8800 GTX in your phone ?? What about all the already hidden potential in your phones which never gets explored because developers and users do not get a realistic chance to discover all of its limitations ?
I'm pretty sure that the new iPhone does not support multi-tasking, you're still stuck to doing one thing at a time. I believe Apples official unofficial stand on it is that they spent way too much time and money on their failed push notifications, and they're not going to allow multi-tasking. (Apple does not like to say it's wrong...and if they would release multi-tasking, I'm sure they'll call it something else, and put a patent on it for no reason).
You know what...
I just love the WM and WM based devices.
They have ALL i need
They are fully customizable and have fully multitasking support.
With iPhone, you will get what it is, and you will get stucked with iTunes and online store
Many iPhone apps (though looks amazing) are not so usable
I just need functionality much more then a great user interface
Peace all
Well i won't go for the Iphone i have my HD and i'm stuck on it to change something that good you need to buy something "special" and from the looks of it the new Iphone will be a bit better than the last one so why do i give a great amount of money to switch to something "a bit" better.Let's see Palm Pre and other Android devices now the market will be devided not only for WM an Iphone but Android and Palm OS also so i won't hurry to go for the new stuff as you can never know which one is better until you try them for at lesat 4-6 months maybe even more....so let's wait and see "newer" is not the same as "better" .
andes83 said:
Well i won't go for the Iphone i have my HD and i'm stuck on it to change something that good you need to buy something "special" and from the looks of it the new Iphone will be a bit better than the last one so why do i give a great amount of money to switch to something "a bit" better.Let's see Palm Pre and other Android devices now the market will be devided not only for WM an Iphone but Android and Palm OS also so i won't hurry to go for the new stuff as you can never know which one is better until you try them for at lesat 4-6 months maybe even more....so let's wait and see "newer" is not the same as "better" .
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Click to collapse
I really think it is going to be more than "a bit better".
As you saw there are hundreds of features and fixes in the new OS, plus new hardware changes such has considerably better CPU, double the RAM, better camera, thinner etc..
iori said:
You know what...
I just love the WM and WM based devices.
They have ALL i need
They are fully customizable and have fully multitasking support.
With iPhone, you will get what it is, and you will get stucked with iTunes and online store
Many iPhone apps (though looks amazing) are not so usable
I just need functionality much more then a great user interface
Peace all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
iori,
There are lots of misconceptions about iPhone, so I don't blame you for having incomplete or wrong information.
iPhone is extremley customizable too, and you too can have multitasking once jailbroken. Therefore, you do not get what it is - you get what you want it to be. You don't get stucked with iTunes and online store. You get the benefit but you can also get things outside iTune and online store.
Whoever gives you the idea that the iPhone aplls are not useable does not know what he is talking about. When app store was first available, many low quality applications did get listed. Not anymore. Whether you're an advanced IT network adminstrator, sales executives, finance director, web site marketer, shipping agent, there are really nice applications for you. Trust me on this one. Don't just anyhow believe people who tells you that iPhone is just a toy and winmo is for corporate use. iPhone can be as corporate as you want it to be.
Cheers.
Anyway, iPhone is still quite poor on the GPS domain.
6 or 7 apps (park lane, radar, around me, traffic, etc) to do all that my iGO can natively do... and still no turn-by-turn soft buyable on the iPhone.
I want a real all in one, and neither the actual iPhone or the next one won't be a real one. My friends who own an iphone have all get a specific GPS, and well, everything's said...
Roupette said:
Anyway, iPhone is still quite poor on the GPS domain.
6 or 7 apps (park lane, radar, around me, traffic, etc) to do all that my iGO can natively do... and still no turn-by-turn soft buyable on the iPhone.
I want a real all in one, and neither the actual iPhone or the next one won't be a real one. My friends who own an iphone have all get a specific GPS, and well, everything's said...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's tue still. If you're in US, there is an application called G-Map, which on the surface looks quite decent, but nothing outside US yet. However, this is expected to change with Firmware 3.0. The reason why there was none in the past was because Apple did not allow any such application, thanks to their stupid policy. Respectable company like Tom Tom would of course refuse to release it into the "underground" cydia store. With the policy change by Apple, TomTom is expected there soon.
I'm all for having everything in one device too, and GPS has been a sore point for me. The other sore point is the fixed battery, but that I can accept because iPHone's battery life is not bad.
1, im sorry but your statment about everything MS produces are rubbish, is in fact rubbish, i cant comment what you do with your PC / Mobile but i rarely have system crashes, on my mobile i cant even remember the last time i was forced to do a hard reset, on my desktop im using one of the most stable OSs ive ever used and its BETA! I do agree it takes them time to produce the software and i do agree that in the past SOME of their projects are flakey but not all.
"2. Where is the basis that Android sucks?"
You miss the point of an OS here, if nothing good works on an OS NO ONE will use it, its that simple, If i cant use the programs i need then that OS is useless to me, it may have a place in the linux following groups who challenge everything MS and claim to be better than everything else but in the real world if i cant use what i want to use its useless. MS also has a massive software base including various distribution sites, some free some not, everything is cated for. Android looks no better than my WM device with Touch flo, its no quicker, i know this because i have both of them sitting in front of me.
Because something is more modern doesnt make it good, take the Pentium 4 over Pentium 3 as an example. but i agree android IS more customizable
"Android has a LOT on WM and WM has...virtually nothing on Android"
Really? a LOT is a big statement that i bet you cant quantify with factual information and not hand back subjective reviews and "feelings" about things.
"It looks ancient,"
The core OS does yes, but tell me, is android not a Shell over a command line? i believe it is, So technically the core OS on android looks crap too but thats just nit picking!
"it runs ancient"
that makes no sence, only and new programs work on it fine, quick and responsive so what makes an OS ancient?
3. "android has a "bunch of Hippies" style of following, they are not classy, they are not even that good"
- Gotta admit that you really lost me there.
Ah yes i was refering to Linux and its intresting cult of followers but i retract that statement as it was below the belt.
"4. Windows Mobile is in fact rather slow, even on good hardware with good drivers."
nope, it isnt to me, graphics wise its slow compared to hardware excelerated devices, whats bizzar is that the phone can still pump out ok graphics on its CPU and still multi task, if qualcomm released graphics drivers for many of the 7xxx based chipsets i think you will find a near perfect device. but even without that it works....just!
"5. Windows Mobile crashes all the time even fresh after a hard reset, no apps installed, on an official ROM (just like the desktop Windows!)"
I really cant comment, since WM2002 ive not had that on a multitude of different devices. and Windows doesnt do that either, perhaps the common denominator here is the user.
"6. iPhone has better syncing solutions that ActiveSync and Outlook."
quantify please?
"7. Just FYI to all reading this...I am a Windows user and have been for years (all my life). I am not an outsider looking in and criticizing Windows w/o due reason and experience. I recently installed OSX86 on my PC however and...it truly is really nice"
I too have used Linux, OSX and all the different versions of Windows and they have there places i do agree that in different markets different OS's suit different people. but tell me which one of those is the best for all markets all be it perhaps not as good as the other OS's designed for those markets?
"MS sucks. "
you lose all credibility with that statment attact a spacific product if you choose but to say Apple sucks or MS sucks is crazy and wrong.
"Bottom line, and there is really no avoiding it.
8. All OS's have pro's and cons. There are just as many if not more arguments against all your arguments for Windows Mobile. My point is simply that the new iPhone truly is a lot better than any Windows Mobile device running the latest WM 6.5."
You started off well there, but lost it at the end, PROVE to me that the new OS is better on the Iphone? without using speculation and subjective views an opinions.
I believe MS will be increasing the colour depth on the new devices but i doubt it will make any significate difference, except in its speed. what the WM based devices need is some new tech that uses resistive screens without the 70% (about that) loss of light, that in turn would increase battery life. Dont say capacitive screens, a stylus can be very useful, but definitely a combination of the two somehow.
there are 3 killers for me with the iphone
1. no gps (it has a chip but nothing other than gimmickey apps for it)
2. resolution too small
3. no multi tasking - if I can't listen to mp3's while driving on my bluetooth stereo whilst having TomTom tell me where to go its no good.
Now we know that the new iPhone is gonna ship with TomTom but unless they sort the other 2 issues I wont even be looking at it, let alone ditching my beloved HD.
lancemate said:
there are 3 killers for me with the iphone
1. no gps (it has a chip but nothing other than gimmickey apps for it)
2. resolution too small
3. no multi tasking - if I can't listen to mp3's while driving on my bluetooth stereo whilst having TomTom tell me where to go its no good.
Now we know that the new iPhone is gonna ship with TomTom but unless they sort the other 2 issues I wont even be looking at it, let alone ditching my beloved HD.
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Click to collapse
Hi Lancemate,
How do we know that the new iPhone is gonna ship with Tom Tom? I must have missed that information somewhere.
I'm too disappointed with Steve Jobs for not providing multitasking. So, looks like we still have to jailbreak to get that.
HD's resolution is very nice. No doubt about it. Although vast majority of the applications (phone, weather, music player for example) would not really miss this. Web surfing is in my mind a leading exception, as it would be nice to be able to clearly read the font without zooming in. It is for me a compromise, although an acceptable one for myself. I guess one has to take everything into account (multitouch vs resistive, number of applications available, speed, smoothness, stability, user interface, etc) and decide for oneself if such a compromise is worth it.
its all over the internet mate and has been for a while
example
http://www.appleinsider.com/article..._0_app_highlights_tomtom_gps_line_6_more.html
lancemate said:
its all over the internet mate and has been for a while
example
http://www.appleinsider.com/article..._0_app_highlights_tomtom_gps_line_6_more.html
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Click to collapse
I'm aware Tom Tom and Navigon will be available, but as separate purchase rather than being shipped with the phone. Guess I misunderstood what you said. Thanks anyway.
hello
im looking to buy a new phone in about a month and im deciding between the nexus one and the iphone. i currently have a HTC Touch Diamond and i have suffered quite a bit with this phone and im doubting the quality of the products that htc makes. i have read all the reviews and the specs and im still finding it hard to choose so i want to find out from u guys here if it is actually the perfect phone or it comes with glitches, and the occasional freezing.
dragonoflight said:
hello
im looking to buy a new phone in about a month and im deciding between the nexus one and the iphone. i currently have a HTC Touch Diamond and i have suffered quite a bit with this phone and im doubting the quality of the products that htc makes. i have read all the reviews and the specs and im still finding it hard to choose so i want to find out from u guys here if it is actually the perfect phone or it comes with glitches, and the occasional freezing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you do want a phone with 3G glitches, faulty software and occasional freezes / reboots then be sure to buy the iPhone. Ask my wife about her wonderful iPhone
Seriously though, just about every modern phone has some flaws and requires a restart every now and again ... its progress
iPhone simple and capable with loads of apps and support, sort of a "Tomy - My First Phone"
Android edgy and capable with loads of apps but not as many as iphone (most companies will release to the iPhone first due to the huge base of customers who will buy).
If you are happy having a simple interface with no options of customisation and are happy never being able to do anything your own way or take shortcuts then the iPhone is for you.
If you are happy to do a bit of tinkering and customise your phone then the Android is for you.
Both are amazing phones and look good and are easy to use. Specs wise Nexus one wins hands down.
If you love google and use Gmail, contacts, etc. And if you dont like iTunes and stuff then Nexus One is definetly the way to go.
But if you like all the crazy apps thats out on the iphone seems quite good for that, however Nexus One has got some really good apps aswell! A lot of people say iPhone is still easier to use. But I would say nexus one is just as easy and highly customizable which is cool.
All comes down to personal preference...
iPhone is obviously more stable seeing as OS 4 is going to come out whereas Android is 2.1, iPhone has less bugs and stuff im guessing..But Nexus one should be no trouble as your everyday phone and internet device!
I always fund iPhone really boring, with out jailbreak there isn't much in it.
Lots of apps and what else? I never had able to figur it out . If you coming from windos mobile i think you should get Nexus. You would love it.
I've been using WM since 1997 (PPC).
I've got my Nexus One yeasterday its my first Android device, i like it.
as far i saw iphone is mostly problem free and i want a phone with causes a little problems a possible but i have been with xda for more than 1 year and have gotten into the habit of customising so a phone with a little change in interface would be nice. the quality of the apps u get in the iphone is extremely good, u always get a nice colour full, smooth and simple interface. i personaly dont know about android apps but my experience of windows mobile apps is that they are ****. they come with 1980 style buttons and some times they don't even fit on ur screen cos thy were build with the developers looking at a different phone and the apps are expensive. so you see i don't want to go through that again.
I'm not sure there is anything such as the perfect phone since everyone has some different interpretation of what that is. I just received my Nexus One yesterday and I'm switching from the iphone, although I have extensive experience with winmo, palm and symbian. A few observations:
Build Quality: this is the best built phone I've seen in a long time. It has the exceptionally solid feel of the iphone, but still gives you the removable battery feature and expandable storage. In addition, it just feels great in the hand, nicely rounded with great build materials. Just overall top notch build and feel.
Software: I spent yesterday evening looking at the applications on my iphone and trying to find comparable ones on Android. I was successful for about 90% of what I use. The applications may look a little different, but the functionality is essentially the same and I haven't had any issues so far. There are a couple that I couldn't yet replace like the kindle app, cnn and the NY times, but I expect they'll be there eventually. A few others like ewallet have equivalent products on android such as splashid.
Useability: The iphone is dead simply which is both a strength and a weakness. I've always found it to be a little too easy and the lack of customization was frustrating as well as the lack of multitasking. I've always found the multitasking issue rather humorous since so much of the tech industry used to point this out as a weakness in the palm os and now the iphone has the same weakness years later and it's not an issue for the writers...go figure. The N1 is not quite as simple as the iphone and you'll probably spend a little more time getting used to it and setup the way you want, but you'll end up with a phone that meets your personal needs as opposed to someone else's view of your needs.
Overall I'm finding it to be a top notch phone that I expect will only get better as the OS continues to evolve. Google seems to be on a pretty regular update cycle and it continues to evolve. As the os attracts more users the applications will continue to grow as well.
One final word. I wouldn't equate the winmo htc experience with what you'll have with an android htc device. Winmo definitely contributes to issues with some of the htc phones. This device is in a whole different league.
here is few questions if you guys could answer it would be really helpful
does it freeze or have problems when running multiple apps?
do the apps have nice interface and are thy smooth?
does it lag alot?
and i herd mutitouch is coming to the google phone does anyone know when?
does it freeze or have problems when running multiple apps? - Nope for me its been pretty smooth, no stuttering at all, Apps open very quickly.
do the apps have nice interface and are thy smooth? - yes most do, there are one or two that do not scale well to the larger screen, these will be fixed with updates, just waiting on the devs to resolve.
does it lag alot? - no lag for me what so ever.
and i herd mutitouch is coming to the google phone does anyone know when?
- no one knows, its been demo'd on the European version of the Nexus One. However you can have multitouch browsing using either a custom ROM (soon to be released) or the Dolphin Browser (free download from the market place).
I know exactly what you're going through with your WinMo and HTC. I had multiple problems with the two just barely working at all. Android is so different but so much easier to find things in. I've played with iPhones and yeah they're fun for a bit but I have a friend with one that has had it for a couple months and is already starting to get bored with it. He says he's jealous of my Android and how much more I can do with it. It always looks different each time he looks at it.
I can tell youre trying to compare the Nexus One to your diamond because Ive used that phone and know what youre talking about with the lag and freezing and theres simply no comparison between the N1 and diamond, if you do get it you will be simply amazed.
I own a nexus, g1, iPhone 2g, and a touch pro 2. I can easily say in terms of speed, battery life, and overall enjoyment, the nexus is easily king. The keyboard is on par with the iPhone as far as usibility, which I could never say about the g1's onscreen. You can still sync your iTunes library with the correct software, it's the best mobile web browsing experiance I've had to date.
Simply put, nexus one ftw!
i think il wait to see how the muti touch on the nexus one turns out. thanks for all ur help!!!
bigger screen, higher resolution, brighter, prettier, easier to unlock and root... none of this cat and mouse crap with apple and the dev team...
I'm sure there are other things to compare..
oh yeah!!! the N! has bluetooth stereo stream and the iphone doesnt...
but, apple is gonna announce a new iphone this feb... so... up to you if you want to wait or not.
The N1 has a 1 Ghz proc, vs iPhone's 600 Mhz,
an 800x480 screen vs iphone's 480x320 (There are as many pixels shoved in the short side of the N1's screen as there are on the entire tall side of the iphone's screen, it's been widely cited as the best looking screen right now, with bright whites and colors and blacks like velvet. It can play full 720p HD video in this resolution.),
512 mb RAM vs. the iPhone's 256 mb, though of course you probably don't need it on the iPhone as you can't even run more than one app at a time (clearly, the iPhone is not a computer)
However, the nexus one doesn't have as many apps. The apps it does have are incredible, though, and you can emulate SNES, download torrents, Remote-desktop to your PC from anywhere with 3G/wifi, run a wireless tether without much trouble. Generally, the kind of stuff Apple would never let you get away with. While Apple has some cooler games, their utilities simply don't stack up.
I know EAXCTLY what you're talking about in terms of HTC and WinMo. I just upgraded from the HTC Touch to the Nexus One. There simply is no comparison, Android is an entirely different animal than WinMo.
As for iPhone vs the N1, the N1 beats it by far in terms of raw specs. In terms of OS vs OS the difference is that with the iPhone you're forced to play in Apple's little sandbox. Highly regulated app store, no "real" customization to speak of. This has the benefit of being an extremely stable and polished OS but if you're used to making things "your own" like I am, it's just not fun.
This is the first Android phone I've had, been using it for almost a week now and I will never look back. I LOVE it. Some of the apps aren't quite as good as they are on the iPhone in no small part due to the nature of Android itself. Developers have to worry about supporting multiple phone specifications and networks. It's very comparable to the Mac vs PC argument. PCs require a bit more maintenance and attention while giving you TONS of options while Macs give you stability and TONS of polish with a bit more limited options.
*Edit*
You mentioned multi-touch, the phone fully supports it at the hardware level. The only "problem" is that it's not supported natively in Google's own apps (everyone assumes this has to do with some legal concern of Google's). Developers can use the API in their apps to fully take advantage of this support and many already do. I use the Dolphin Browser over the one that comes pre-loaded and the multi-touch in it is FANTASTIC. Best part is that unlike the iPhone it auto re-scales things for you to keep them readable.
I hoping to get multi touch as soon as N1 Euro out via custom roms.
Nexus could be superior all around if our apps would mature a bit more. Yes we're growing in apps, but they lack polish. You can look at many of our apps and go "Yeah thats clearly made by an engineer". They work great, but one reason the IPhone sells is because it is pure sexy in just about all forms.
The iPhone and the Nexus One are two different beasts, multi touch is something you dont use that often as you think when you are on the iPhone. When I had the iPhone(1st gen) multi touch was on, the kb, the browser, the photo viewer, and later on gimmicky apps that just came out.
I think of the iPhone more like a PS3 whereas android phones are more like a computer
iphone or android?
its how tech savy you are, ad how much you want to learn ot use something.
the iphone is simple. you hit a button, it responds instantely and it does exactly what it said it was going to do.
andriod is more advanced. alot more ways to customize it but it comes with a learning curve. this curve isnt as bad as the winmo one but it does exsist.
so it comes down to power vs simplicity. id go for power
A little off-topic guys.
Christmas is coming and telephone operators are throwing really very "nasty" offers. I have a choice to get Samsung Galaxy S2 or Nokia Lumia 800 for 0€. Inspite of really nice SG2 phone I'm so tempted to get to Microsoft camp and get a taste of Mango. Damn it's hard to decide.
The only big drawback of Nokia phone I find is missing option of usb mass storage. So dumb! What they were thinking off?
SG2 only drawback is that it's already getting old, and yeah, it's Android
Nokia Lumia 800
Samsung Galaxy S2
Your choice?
Keep the Hero
If I need to choose betwein those 2, the android one, but I would not pick either.
Thanks for your opinion. I would pick Galaxy Nexus, but unfortunately it is out of my budget.
whitealien said:
Thanks for your opinion. I would pick Galaxy Nexus, but unfortunately it is out of my budget.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is the one I want, not that any pocket in any pants I got is big enough for it. The hero hardly fits and no not really a handbag person... And yes I am tiny.. so I got tiny pants
---------- Post added at 09:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:52 PM ----------
Just want to add something. How I think on getting new stuff. If I want something new. I want to make sure it is the thing that I want. And not a thing that is maybe cheaper but not the thing that I want. In this case that is an android phone that runs 2.3 I do not want that. I want to start with 4.0. But some say the GPS on the Nexus is crap. Not that I know of. but I will see what I will get in like 4 months or so. Happy with this device.
I would pick android. Think of what has made ur hero last this long. It is because you can tweak and customize it and upgrade to newer os versions even though it's old.
sent with love from me to you
LOL you shouldn't have to think about that really IMHO.. The lumia is plainly UGLY and windows phone is CRAP.. the sgs2 all the way. Android hands down mate, plus the sgs2 beats the lumia specs wise too. It's a win win situation.
Tenpin said:
LOL you shouldn't have to think about that really IMHO.. The lumia is plainly UGLY and windows phone is CRAP.. the sgs2 all the way. Android hands down mate, plus the sgs2 beats the lumia specs wise too. It's a win win situation.
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Click to collapse
dude the lumia is absolutely GORGEOUS! It's so pretty I am genuinely considering dealing with all the poor specs just to wrap my unworthy hands around it.
I just can't give a serieus answer, isn't it obvious which one to choose? SGS II is better in every way and believe me when windows phone 8.0 comes out you are going to be so sorry for choosing the lumia instead of the SGS II, in the future you can update the SGS II with and without a custom rom to android 4.0 and up. There aint much to think about just saying..
Lumia is a nice phone and Mango has sorted much of the issues with wp 7, though on long run (2 yrs) i'm considering if i'd be happy with it. kinda in the same spot looking what to get, but i'm between Sensation and incredible S (affordable) on the android front and Lumia and Titan on the wp7 front.
I would pick Samsung Galaxy S2 ... just because i don't like the interface of a Windows Phone . The OS is ugly as hell, I was in a store last week looking at some phones and I almost puked after 30 seconds of looking at Windows Phones but I recovered while looking at the Home Screen of my HTC Hero. Android's interface is great and by far the best... but that's my opinion and everyone likes different things.
Stick to Android alot more customizable
Even though m getting a sensation still wanna learn more abt Android, n my hero is probably the best testing ground
Sent from my Hero using xda premium
The sgs2 is an awesome phone, but have you considered the new Sony erricson? The arc s.. it's in your budget and with a whopping 1.4ghz processor and impressive looks in comparison to the sgs2 you can't go wrong
Sent from my Hero using xda premium
I would go for SGS2 as it is still among the best android phone available atm.
Plus, there is plenty of development interest going on for SGS2, with lot's of flashing around so you won't be bored for a long time.
It still has got the best available specs for hardwarewise.
It does not have the Arc's dreaded housing crack problem.
It does not have the HTC's Sensation and like models of dust under the screen as faced by some users.
The only thing you may miss is there's no Sense.
Or..if not
Just grab the one that has got the highest resale value.
Sell it off when it's new to finance your purchase of your dream phone (a Galaxy Nexus perhaps?).
Don't dismiss WP7 until you've tried it. I think windows phone has got a bad reputation from previous versions but after using WP7 on a HTC Mozart I think that it is incredible. It is so unique and I only know one other person who has one. For me, I think I'm going towards WP7
There is serious reason I want to quit Android camp.
The problem with android is that it is too open. There is a limit with providing good SDK and allowing to make apps based only on it or allowing to do whatever you want and making crapload of ****. Android programmer base is so dumb, they don't know anything about performance or battery optimization or background task handling. Android market is blunt loaded with web page scrappers, wrappers and xml parsers. To make a some mobile web page wrapper takes me 5 min and some don't even have any shame to ask money for that. Majority of Android app devs are just amateurs, weekend java programmers or ex web developers with no any clue what mobile platform is and that there is some limit in available RAM, processing power, storage and etc.
Android market maybe is a lot bigger than windows market, but when you look at quality then we come down to the same number or even worse.
Sorry for rant, but 2 years ago I put big fate in Android and Google which totally failed me by providing competitive mobile platform. Android, even with ICS 4.0 today is still 2 years behind iOS and now also WM7. They need 2 dual core most powerful CPUs in a world to accomplish the same task what WM7 can do with single core and half RAM and even then they fail.
Oh well .....
iOS vs Android vs Window Phone
This is a major problem these days. I was thinking to get a new phone these days to...so i spent a lot of time in reading about the new features the platforms have to offer and it seems that there are lot of tiny parts in every os that make every day use to be more exciting and easy.
I will start to make a comparison on every os on what is has or what's missing
1.Windows Phone
-it's snappy
-interesting interface
-facebook and tweeter integrated
-easy to use
-microsoft servers with 30 GB space to store media
-no OTA updates
-no usb storage (you need a program to do that)
-limited hardware (this is because microsoft made a decision on this part)
-multitasking is not in real time
-the number of app is limited (~35k)
-not open sourced...so if your phone gets old, it's harder to make some custom roms
2.Android
-snappy but sometimes laggy
-usb storage
-full customization of the screens
-real time multitasking
-since 4.0 we have a better browsing experience
-lot's of app
-easy to make a rom or flash one
-Google apps (Maps + navigation = damn i'm in love )
-the new gen of phones get big screens and that's very stupid (as lira said...it can't fit in the pocket and i fully agree)
-i hate the part when a new version of android appears and it takes months to get an updated phone
-in some roms we have to much apps from the developer (take htc for example)
-i think the system needs better and better hardware so you can get a better experience
3.iOs
-snappy
-the os with the biggets number of apps
-very easy to use
-every new version can be installed after it appears (if your phone can handle it)
-since we talk about iOs we talk about iphone and on thing that i like is that is has a 3.5 screen
-it has siri and it's fun and useful
-good browsing
-no usb storage...but i heard that you don't need iTunes if you need to transfer a document or things like that (not sure there)
-no customization on the screen, just icons of the programs that you have
-no OTA updates
-can't make a custom rom
@ every rom - maybe i missed some stuff
@whitealien -> not into nokia (WP7.5) since it has stupid limitation and to much social stuff (i don't use facebook or things like that)
-SGS II is a good phone, lot's of people use it and want it and since i know some friends that had an iPhone and now have a SGS II and are more pleased with it
-sometimes i think why buy a phone and not a tablet, that's better thank a phone from more points : starting from gaming and finishing with watching movies.
The choice is your...i'm tempted to get a new phone and change the platform to see new things but i realize that android gets new and new features every day.
I think that it's better to wait for the release of the SGS III and the new qualcomm S4 chips or tegra III on phones [but why need these chips when you can do your every day use with a dual core phone without any problems??]
@ all: - Why not a HTC phone?
Stefan
stefpaul said:
@ all: - Why not a HTC phone?
Stefan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
always a HTC phone if android,i've dropped my hero from the first floor of my house it was fine,it went tumbling down the stairs twice n still survived,it was thrown against a wall by a friend when we were drunk n it survived damn this thing has been hardcore,i manhandle my phone like **** n it survives xD my frnds galaxy s2 fell from his pocket while sitting on a chair and display got fked xD
Thanks Steff for your opinion.
-no OTA updates
-no usb storage (you need a program to do that)
-limited hardware (this is because microsoft made a decision on this part)
-multitasking is not in real time
-the number of app is limited (~35k)
-not open sourced...so if your phone gets old, it's harder to make some custom roms
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will a little argue with this. No OTA updates - there is updates and Nokia is taking it very serious. They just rolled one out on 7 dec.
- limited HW, you mean a little outdated? Thats true, only single core and 512RAM, but seems to be enough
- multitasking is not in real time - not entirely true, it depends how apps are programmed. They can work in bg if they are programmed to
- the number of app is limited (~35k) - are you serious , I never had more than 50 apps installed
- my very 1st smartphone was HTC Touch Polaris with WM6.5 so I know what closed source is
I found 5 major flaws in Lumia 800
1. only 16Gb integrated storage
2. no usb mass storage
3. no front camera (really, these days?)
4. no notification LEDS, not even one single led, lol.
5. Pentile Amoled display
And yeah SG2 is not perfect too. Build quality is so poor. Back cover is cheap and fragile. Have seen broken ones. Also whole construction is fragile, including big screen. Don't ever put it in your jeans back pocket or you will regret
@ all: - Why not a HTC phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, if they were not obsessed with huge phones, enormous screens, poor battery life, sad build style (all gray or black) and somehow over blunted Sense (comon, why there is weather animation everywhere, even in lockscreen) maybe I would go HTC. My 1st idea was to take HTC Radar, but at closer look I find it kinda too big for offered screen size (the bottom part is so long). White is cool so.
bharat_goku said:
always a HTC phone if android,i've dropped my hero from the first floor of my house it was fine,it went tumbling down the stairs twice n still survived,it was thrown against a wall by a friend when we were drunk n it survived damn this thing has been hardcore,i manhandle my phone like **** n it survives xD my frnds galaxy s2 fell from his pocket while sitting on a chair and display got fked xD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm htc for the reason that the android experience is more fun and not so common to most of the android phones:d, and it has some feature that make using android a special one
whitealien said:
Thanks Steff for your opinion.
I will a little argue with this. No OTA updates - there is updates and Nokia is taking it very serious. They just rolled one out on 7 dec.
- limited HW, you mean a little outdated? Thats true, only single core and 512RAM, but seems to be enough
- multitasking is not in real time - not entirely true, it depends how apps are programmed. They can work in bg if they are programmed to
- the number of app is limited (~35k) - are you serious , I never had more than 50 apps installed
- my very 1st smartphone was HTC Touch Polaris with WM6.5 so I know what closed source is
I found 5 major flaws in Lumia 800
1. only 16Gb integrated storage
2. no usb mass storage
3. no front camera (really, these days?)
4. no notification LEDS, not even one single led, lol.
5. Pentile Amoled display
And yeah SG2 is not perfect too. Build quality is so poor. Back cover is cheap and fragile. Have seen broken ones. Also whole construction is fragile, including big screen. Don't ever put it in your jeans back pocket or you will regret
Well, if they were not obsessed with huge phones, enormous screens, poor battery life, sad build style (all gray or black) and somehow over blunted Sense (comon, why there is weather animation everywhere, even in lockscreen) maybe I would go HTC. My 1st idea was to take HTC Radar, but at closer look I find it kinda too big for offered screen size (the bottom part is so long). White is cool so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
will argue to you because on the apps: the most important apps in the market are missing if you look close the first apps will appear on iOS first and after that on android and last WP... but it seems that they are starting to get in the same time on android with iOS...
I was thinking on a a HTC radar too but it's not so speedy... and from the part that hardware is old, this isn't a problem, it's a thing made by microsoft and it seems that apps work very well:d
I have a big problem with phones these days...the app that don't make me use them: HTC HUB, HTC LIKES, FACEBOOK INTEGRATION and stupid app that most people don't use))
And there comes a part in life when you don't want a custom rum, just a rom that is fast and responsive...
So the big question is: if i change from android to iOS or WP7...will i be happy than i was with android?
Stefan
stefpaul said:
Hmm htc for the reason that the android experience is more fun and not so common to most of the android phones:d, and it has some feature that make using android a special one
will argue to you because on the apps: the most important apps in the market are missing if you look close the first apps will appear on iOS first and after that on android and last WP... but it seems that they are starting to get in the same time on android with iOS...
I was thinking on a a HTC radar too but it's not so speedy... and from the part that hardware is old, this isn't a problem, it's a thing made by microsoft and it seems that apps work very well:d
I have a big problem with phones these days...the app that don't make me use them: HTC HUB, HTC LIKES, FACEBOOK INTEGRATION and stupid app that most people don't use))
And there comes a part in life when you don't want a custom rum, just a rom that is fast and responsive...
So the big question is: if i change from android to iOS or WP7...will i be happy than i was with android?
Stefan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
<rant>
you will not be as happy if you leave android imho.
I'm surprised this is even a serious discussion.
Here are my personal reasons why I say that, after using ios and android devices full time professionally for a while and briefly dabbling in winphone7:
It's becoming increasingly accepted by unpartial reviewer and testers...
(except by:
those who have never used android for a useful length of time
or for those who are looking for very simple user experience without any interest in customization or for "power user" features
)
... that iOS is quite inferior to Android in many ways.
Apple notifications were almost useless until ios 5 and even now are only scratching the surface of what android notifications provide.
ios gives you app icons on your home screen. that's it. no widgets or spaces or custom layouts or sources of useful dynamic information (other htan completely USELESS counters on each icon showing outstanding notification events that have passed wihtout your knowledge because of how crappy iOS's notifications are).
ios gives you no customization other than crappy ordering control which is forgetful
I work wtih an ipad daily and it is a PAIN IN THE ASS - I have learned to hate iOS, specially for tablets or power users, but even for a phone os it is truly annoying and very limited.
windows phone is cool but also limiting, very very limiting, and has rather poor app support at the moment compared to either of the big ones.
there are several reasons why android has become the most popular mobile phone OS - and it isn't just because google gives it away for free.
It's also because Android is the only one that is fully customizable. windows phone is SORT of but not nearly as truly customizable as android.
IMHO the windows phone launcher fake app for android (in the market) is actually superior to the real windows phone device I was playing with because it supported android widgets. But if you want to try out windows phone 7, get that launcher - it truly does give you the winphone7 experience with all it's boring limitations.
the thing that's great about apple devices is the huge and still superior application/game support (if you spend the bucks or jailbreak it then install installous and cydia).
I used to say that iOS was better for little kids. but my little kids (2 and 5 at the time) used android tablets without ANY trouble at all. my little kids (now 3 and 6) use an iPAD without many issues either but do get confused when holding a finger too long on an icon and then out of hte blue they all start wiggling and next thing I know apps are being deleted by little fingers. Android turns out to be far more intuitive in this regard compared to iOS. sometimes dumbing down the OS can be taken to the point of making it more complex to understand. It's an either or situation here, but typically in other ways I do think iOS is easier for very very simplistic minds to accept. This should not be a benefit for anyone here however LoL.
the thing that makes android superior for adults is it's ability to be completely and easily customized for everyone who uses it. it's YOUR phone, use it how you like. don't let apple tell you that you can't sync on this computer wtih this itunes on this day in this weather - I swear to god it is nearly that flaky and limiting to use iOS devices. you have music on your phone and want to copy it to your friend's phone? nope. you want your frien'ds music? nope. not unless you're lugging your laptop around so you can copy the files to/from your itunes folder, NOT directly to/from the device.
also android has a free terminal emulator app in the market. it works perfectly and runs bash as well as my desktop. iOS runs somehting similar but makes it incredibly hard to get that sort of control, even after jailbreaking and installing tons of underground apps it is still a kludgy and unreliable bash prompt control system you get in ios which requires a separate terminal emulator to control it (even a term app on your same device will get you there, but that alone is pretty annoying to have to deal with since you first have to actually get your low level underlying linux type system working on the iOS device....)
maybe some of my iOS negative points are improved in ios 5 but it is still light years behind the flexibility that we are all imho owed by buying the device and buying a license to use the operating system in the first place. I OWN my files. I can put them on my phone or my friend's phone if I choose to.
I buy a mac or a windows computer and I can get at all parts of the OS and mess around with it completely. why can't I do that on an iPAD that costs 2 to 3 times as much as a similar android tablet which is a full linux-based computer right from the get go?
I have a lot of inside info and have watched the devices and OSes grow and change over the years. Historically, in many ways, the best os for smart phones was palm webOS. but the hardware/company were slow/moronic respectively (which is why my brother quit as VP of Engineering of PalmSource... check this link for an interview with him back when things were still early and exciting at palm's mobile operating system dev company: http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/...w-Michael-Kelley-and-John-Cook-of-PalmSource/ )
Anyway - android is quite literally the only way to go for a mobile OS at this time if you dont' want to be tied down to a specific vendor/company of hardware and don't want to be given one user interface with one way to operate the phone.
Ever noticed now winphone7 uses only about 60% of your display for it's main UI? annoying, at best.
yes, they're quick, iOS and winmo7 devices. and yes every brand has good hardware (and bad in some cases). however htc android devices do reign supreme in popularity and market share for a good reason (as outlined above by me and others). but even stock android devices are way cool.
having worked with android tables/phones and ios tablets/phones I have decided very definitely that I will never buy an ios device. having worked with winphone7 for a short time I found it quite acceptable, like iOS. but extremely uninspiring and it's customizability is even worse than iOS's.
</rant>
My contract is over soon, and it is a great time to get a new phone because I have so many choices being a Verizon owner. When I saw the HTC 8X i fell in love with the design. It apparently fits great in the hand, feels thin, and is silky smooth in terms of hardware.
However, I knew i needed more options, so, being a current Android user and loving its software, I started to anticipate the HTC DROID DNA, a 5' 1080p beast of a phone supposedly coming out around the same time as the 8X (end of November). I continued to do research on both and found out that I like the WP8 Start Screen a lot more than I like Android's homescreens.
But I am afraid of the software of WP8. It's great and all, but I may miss the PhotoSphere, live widgets, quick settings, apps (!!), and outstanding developer support that Android offered. I'm afraid I will need those features down the line and not be able to use them with my WP8 device. I have a Surface and a Zune and want integration. However, Android has SkyDrive and Xbox Music available in Google Play.
So I'm kind of in a pickle right now. I want integration and functionality, but Android has everything and then some. Help guys! What do you suggest I do? Stay on Android or switch to WP8? Personal experiences would be helpful; however, blanket statements/generalizations will not be tolerated because I hate them very much. Also because there are always two sides to those statements, and I want this to be a friendly thread, not one that I am going to regret posting. Thanks in advance for your help, guys!
I suggest you start using paragraphs.
You have a lot of apps in the windows phone marketplace. Probably not with the same name, but if you need something, you usually find that something.
IMO, Windows Phone is vastly superior to android in many, many ways. They give you a lot more control over your devices (apps can't do things behind your back without your approval unlike on android), the system is a lot more stable, the battery life is usually better due to hardware optimizations, and much more smooth. I suggest you pick a nokia instead though, they have great apps in there, including free music downloads through nokia music.
mcosmin222 said:
I suggest you start using paragraphs.
You have a lot of apps in the windows phone marketplace. Probably not with the same name, but if you need something, you usually find that something.
IMO, Windows Phone is vastly superior to android in many, many ways. They give you a lot more control over your devices (apps can't do things behind your back without your approval unlike on android), the system is a lot more stable, the battery life is usually better due to hardware optimizations, and much more smooth. I suggest you pick a nokia instead though, they have great apps in there, including free music downloads through nokia music.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would've wanted the L920, but I'm not waiting 6 months for it to come to Verizon. Nokia apps aren't necessary for me; I don't drive and don't really use Maps too often.
Drive and maps aren't the only things nokia has. In fact, these two are available to all windows phones 8.
I don't need them, tbh. However, I'd be happy to take them if a high-end Nokia phone came out on Verizon. Anyway, off-topic. What about Xbox Music and SkyDrive? They are on both Android and WP8.
i really like the new devices. im sure once microsoft sees how they sell apps and such will be growing. im on the same boat although im not ready for an upgrade for another year and a half these new phones will be plenty caught up with development and should be pretty similar to all these new phones coming out within the next few months.
I'm due for an upgrade with Verizon in December. I was looking at Nokia 920. Too bad it's not Available Until 6 months.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using xda premium
So you guys are saying that i won't miss out on all the features of Android?
Sent from my PIMPED OUT MIUI 4.1.1 Fascinate
You physically cannot tell the difference between 720p and 1080p on a small screen that is found on a phone (think like 26 to 32 inches is where you can start seeing it)
Just so the screen resolution isn't what sways your final choice.
However I find myself missing my WP a lot ever since it broke and I got stuck with the GS3. For me WP is just better. Specifically the keyboard is way better in WP.
As for applications WP has all the ones I use anyways. Fun fact I find I use my android less than I used my WP. I think its because for me it seems to take longer to get to the application I want to use and it feels that android has less smooth scrolling than WP. Of course I'm on stock which is probably why its slow, but my WP was stock too.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Dadstar said:
I don't need them, tbh. However, I'd be happy to take them if a high-end Nokia phone came out on Verizon. Anyway, off-topic. What about Xbox Music and SkyDrive? They are on both Android and WP8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both of them will obviously be on WP, since they are microsoft's creation. You will also like Nokia Music -> free unlimited music.
PhotoSphere seems to me to be very similar to Microsoft's Photosynth which has been available for iOS and Windows Phone for a long time.
Concerning Apps I would suggest you ask around the forums for particular Apps that you need, so people can tell you wether they exist or if there is a viable Alternative. XBox Music will be coming to additional platforms but as far as I know it currently isn't available and following Microsoft's track record with those things you will have it available on iOS months before it arrives on Android.
SkyDrive is available as an App on Android. The difference in usage is in the integration. SkyDrive Images show up in the Pictures Hub pretty much the same as if they were on the device itself. I just drop an Image into the according folder on my PC and it shows up where all my pictures show up. It's the same with office documents (if you use those).
So while the functionality itself is there on Android the experience of using it is superior on Windows Phone. But this works the other way round as well. While GMail works reasonably well on WP it simply works better with the GMail App on Android.
Wow. I'm getting really excited for my 8X now. Thanks guys!
Sent from my PIMPED OUT MIUI 4.1.1 Fascinate
I'm kinda in the same boat as OP. Currently enjoying my Galaxy Nexus but I'm mad that it's got VZW's taint all over it. Does Microsoft handle the updates for WP8 and doesn't take BS carriers when it comes to pushing them out? I like constant security updates, and Android just can't seem to handle that.
I want a Nokia because I've heard they're great but the 822's display won't cut it with it's resolution for me if it's anything like PenTile. I'm thinking about ditching VZW when my contract is up if it doesn't get the Nexus 4 (doubtful it will) so I don't know if I'd use my upgrade on any of VZW's WP8 lineup. The Nexus 4 still has these beat when it comes to unsubsidized pricing.
The only other thing keeping me from WP8 is that I heard there was a lack of a good turn-by-turn app and no notification center. Both of these are kind of turn-offs. But the UX, fluidity, Start, and Microsoft-handled updates are quite enticing.
Same dilemmas for me guys. I'm working at Nokia and have tested both new Lumia devices and they really are awesome. While I like the design of the 820 and how it feels in the hand, the display of the 920 is far superior. The 820 has just an average display imo, it is bright but not very sharp, given the low res and poor pixel density (217 lol..). Other than that it is quite the smooth operator and really a pleasure to handle. The thing about it's big brother is that it is kind of uncomfortable to hold and I don't like the rather sharp edges.
I am now debating with myself if I should go for a WP8 device since the OS is just awesome or get one of these http://android-sale.com/xiaomi-phone-2.html as soon as it becomes available. You cannot deny the bang for your buck with these, though I am a bit afraid when it comes to warranty and customer support + you cannot really play with the device beforehand. I was waiting for the new Nexus but I think it is disappointing and especially fragile with that glass backcover. I was even considering an iphone because of the smoothness since I've really grown to hate the android lag which is present even on latest quad cores....But after using a 4S for a whole evening I cannot imagine myself doing this daily, it is just too limiting and I fail to see how people say it is so 'easy' and it 'just works' - well it just works with more steps than android or wp...But that is another topic of course.
As for the apps, I am currently using around 40-50 apps on my droid and all of them (EXCEPT DROPBOX, mind you..) are available on WP. The development frameworks for WP8 and the support for DirectX, and also the shared core with windows 8 will surely attract alot of devs and app number will grow in the coming year. I have to say that the windows phone store might not have so many offerings, but the design, fluidity and and general look is just stunning. So is the whole WP8 ui. For example, I think the so much praised iOS app store looks terrible and is a pain to navigate throug. Play Store on the other hand is very functional and easy to use but looks plain and boring.
Well well, this is my pov, I think I will be getting a WP after all but let's see. Maybe I will buy the xiaomi device if it is possible, simply because of the price/spec ratio + I love MIUI, since it is as if you are not using android.
You don't need dropbox, you have skydrive.
mcosmin222 said:
You don't need dropbox, you have skydrive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to disagree with you, dropbox is very light and useful, also a lot of users have quite some storage space on dropbox and would like to have it available. Not to mention that I know a friend of mine has a small company where they run 100Gb+ shared dropbox folders full of working data. They sure cannot force all employees to go windows phone because of skydrive or the other way around. So yeah, lack of dropbox IS a big minus.
You still have dropbox on WP. just checked xD
mcosmin222 said:
You still have dropbox on WP. just checked xD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't it some 3rd party app? Btw I think I'm fully converted now, just played around with the city lens app and tried some offline maps. **** is ca$h
Dadstar said:
Wow. I'm getting really excited for my 8X now. Thanks guys!
Sent from my PIMPED OUT MIUI 4.1.1 Fascinate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Dadstar, I recently switched from a Lumina 710 (Windows 7.8) to a Samsung Galaxy Note II (Android-Jelly Bean) and I will give you some of my perceptions.
1. Note II is a remarkable phone, unbelievable screen, and some really cool apps.
2. Lumina 710 was a solid phone, but after the screen size of the Note II, I could never go back and settle for a small screen.
That being said, the Lumina 710 is way ahead of the Note II in voice dialing over bluetooth. I would never have to get my Lumina out of my pocket to make a call (I have about 1200 contacts in Outlook with multiple listings for each), but with the Note II, it is a constant battle of it being slow to decide who it thinks I want to call and then gives me multiple choices on the screen. So it really defeats the role of voice dialing over bluetooth and that is a deal breaker for me and I am sending the Note II back within the 14 day trial period. Hopefully, Tmobile will come out with a new Windows 8 phone soon. Ken B.
Google announced Nexus 4 for 350$! Thats a steal..but as the dust settled, and the picture became clearer, it is for anything but that price..So, I am with the OP on this one too...
8X or N4??
On one side, you have a large display, quad core processor et all...and on the other you have a dual core, with the same sized screen as I have now. Also, with Android, there are tons of apps and games I can get (sometimes for free).
SO, Will i sacrifice a smoother OS for an OS that may not be that smooth but has tons of other features...?
Holy $#!^ don't do it! I had some issues with the WP8 upgrade that upset me enough to try out the competition. I left the Lumia 920 for the HTC One 4 months ago. I will say that having apps for everything and the ability to flash Rom's is cool, but that's about it. The OS sucks. I have jotted down some of my personal grievances in case anyone who thinks like me is thinking of switching. This will hopefully prevent a ton of wasted time and money.
• Overall OS is buggy and a total resource hog. It requires premium hardware specs to deliver an experience close to the smoothness and fluidity found in Windows Phone and iOS, but still doesn’t achieve that. And don’t even think about matching performance of budget Android phones vs. budget Windows Phones, not even in the same league.
• It requires almost daily reboot’s to keep performance from suffering or the OS from completely crashing. This usually depends on how many apps I use on any given day but is still far, far lower in performance reliability than Windows Phone.
• It is the most virus prone mobile OS available. This is pretty huge. In addition, Google data mines every account you set up on the phone. As soon as I set up my company IMAP account, and I mean, next day, I started receiving junk for the first time in 4 years. Absolutely unforgivable.
• Touch responsiveness is a joke. The delay on the keyboard response, for example, when you’re used to iOS or WP is unbearable for me and feels super low quality
• The graphics and icons are kind of toy which requires a launcher and icon pack to remedy. Even then, most packs I tried only covered half the apps I needed and the remaining app icons looked stupid. So I had to individually edit icons to get something acceptable to me.
• Communication apps are horrible. Mail, Contacts, Messaging and Dialer apps can all be replaced by better alternatives, but you run into issues when using one Dev’s dialer, another’s contacts app because the contacts app has a dialer that sucks and vice versa but when both are installed...... Forget it. It’s all a confusing mess that forced me back to the stock applications experience, which sucks.
• Most Android users and developers will tell you that the only way to get the best performance out of Android is to flash a custom ROM. In other words, Google has done such a rookie job on this OS that a community of non-paid hobbyists (Who are incredibly talented and people who help others to seemingly no end) are the go to guys when you want to achieve today’s standards in smartphone performance! Only, not all ROM’s are created equally and aside from the pains of flashing until you find something you like, you risk bricking your phone and voiding the warranty. Google should hire these Dev's and release something quality from the gate!
• Music library management is so painful for me. I, like many people have used iTunes for years and also used Zune and Xbox Music. Apple is the obvious winner here as iTunes works seamlessly with iOS. Windows Phone has a clean little desktop app that syncs my iTunes playlists and songs, but it’s an extra step. Android requires a desktop app and Android app combo. There are a bunch and the one I found the least annoying was TuneSync but I couldn’t get it to work via USB so it took an eternity to sync a few playlists. And, the stock music player is ****.
Honestly, I don't understand how Android has the explosive market share it's enjoying today, I hate it. When I compare it to Windows Phone or iOS, it's like a cheap knock off of what a smartphone OS is supposed to feel like. They have apps, lots of apps and some of which I will really miss. But the OS? When comparing straight up performance, integration of services, stability and reliability, polish, fluidity and built in communication suite, for me it's no contest and I can't wait to get back to Windows Phone!
Hope this helps someone!
You just dun get ride in Android OS for my opinion...lol
For me Android is great, not so like Windows Mobile, iOS still ok if for daily use.
Of course if in smoothness Windows phone and iOS are more smooth than Android, but that's got something Android can found but other OS can't found one; and also in Android 4.3 this problem is finally solve (by using my Nexus 7 2nd gen)
For my opinion, Android is more to those engineering ppl, Windows phone is more to business ppl
nahh, its just you.
1) I dont have to reboot my phone. my uptime is like 100 hrs, and no lag or bugs or anything like tat.
2) what are you doing.. seriously? two questions. did you install porn? -virus+spam and how many instant messaging apps do you have? -lag
3) icons are smth i complain about as well. android and iOS is the same type of icons. windows give a sense of class.
4) itunes, seriously?? i stop using my ipod coz of itunes, i threw away my iphone coz of itunes. music syncing is a piece of crap, especially on a home computer.
5) touch responsiveness? i tink you got to send ur unit to the service centre, probably got a faulty unit
6) custom roms are there for a reason. Google provide a vanilla rom: smooth and minimal. All the other manufacturers are making their own rom=lag/useless. So custom rom are made for ppl to give variety, like PA having hybrid prop, and aokp having lots of stuff to customise.
7) Communication app problem? its coz ur used to ur WP. when i use WP, i feel like throwing it away too.
8) music app really kinda sucks tho, i just stream.
Windows phone really look classy, and i like the feel. but with the limitation, it obviously show why the market share keeps dropping.
iOS-getting outdated. iOS 7 looks cool, but usability is so last decade
WP- classy, for non-tech people who is so lazy to make their phone look special
Android- too much customization, but everyone's device is unique. well except those non-techie again.
Ubuntu- cool, but still buggy.
Wp class for no tech people ok but no file manager, no manual network setting....nooo
sss2sssss said:
You just dun get ride in Android OS for my opinion...lol
For me Android is great, not so like Windows Mobile, iOS still ok if for daily use.
Of course if in smoothness Windows phone and iOS are more smooth than Android, but that's got something Android can found but other OS can't found one; and also in Android 4.3 this problem is finally solve (by using my Nexus 7 2nd gen)
For my opinion, Android is more to those engineering ppl, Windows phone is more to business ppl
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android for engineer people? What exactly has android that helps "engineer" people?
jacktay94 said:
nahh, its just you.
Windows phone really look classy, and i like the feel. but with the limitation, it obviously show why the market share keeps dropping.
Ubuntu- cool, but still buggy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually Windows Phone's market share is increasing... Blackberry is the one that's slowly dwindling.
Agree with you on Ubuntu... I'm interested to see the "final product".
Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk 4
I made the mistake of getting a WP8 phone after being an Android fan for some time. I currently own a Nokia Lumia WP8, an iPhone 5 for work and the Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 in a drawer at the house.
No phone is perfect, Android has it's share of issues, as does iOS as does WP8. It's just that Android and iPhone can at least do the things they do and do it well. WP8 still doesn't have a decent facebook app or decent map app, the data speeds are significantly slower than other android/ios phones that are on the same network, push notifications sometimes don't come through until far after the notification was originally pushed. Battery life is sub-par, little customization of the OS, even the larger and more popular applications that actually do manage to make it to WP8 end up having their gui re-written and tailored to look like the rest of WP8 which actually becomes pretty boring and mundane after a while, you can't even get any decent browser options like Chrome, Firefox or even Opera for that matter. Instead, what you end up finding are a bunch of knock-off applications written by little-known dev companies or freelance programmers with all sorts of Chinese, Indian or Russian sounding names that are garbage and do who-knows-what in the background.
I could go on, but suffice it to say, this will likely be my last Windows Phone purchase. The WP8 gui looks decent and is snappy and smooth but beyond that, it doesn't do a whole lot.
really i am in the other site i dont like the sandbox of windows mobile 8 i came to windows mobile from somewhat more easily customized oses symbian and android.
as of now i am going back to android
i ve had a nexus 4 and i had no lag
also an os that doesnt let you do anything with it is not really working as a smartphone at least ios has been jailbroken for a while and some things can be used as they should have been used .
in my opinion windows mobile must rid of locks on it.it is sure that if it doesnt let you do anything it would be lag free but what is the gain then?.
and by that i say that i may come back when a jailbreak is near my phone (ascend w1)....
ericdude said:
I made the mistake of getting a WP8 phone after being an Android fan for some time. I currently own a Nokia Lumia WP8, an iPhone 5 for work and the Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 in a drawer at the house.
No phone is perfect, Android has it's share of issues, as does iOS as does WP8. It's just that Android and iPhone can at least do the things they do and do it well. WP8 still doesn't have a decent facebook app or decent map app, the data speeds are significantly slower than other android/ios phones that are on the same network....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would disagree with most of this except push notifications . I have done a few data speed tests because I was suspicious that the One was actually slower but apps like speedtest reflected comparable results for my wife's Lumia 920 vs. my One. Nokia's Maps are really nice, better experience than Apples but I do like Google's offering the best. More points:
Battery: My phone is off the charger at 7 a.m. and back on at 10 p.m. I operate a small business so tons of talk time tons of navigation, I notice no difference in battery performance from my 920 to the One
OS Customizing: Don't really care about this but its true. I have tried 10 to 15 launchers and God knows how many Rom's trying to customize an experience that Android can't deliver. I like the WP OS and really have no desire to make any changes to it with the exception of a few features I would like MS to add.
Apps - I think I already addressed this
Browser - I would go heads up with any browser vs. IE 10 mobile. To say its not decent is just old school MS bash talk to me. Its fast & fluid like everything built in to the OS
But, I defend Windows Phone because I like it and feel like the experience it offers is superior to what I get from Android. You obviously feel the same about Android. I'm only writing this because I think people can tell when someone thinks the way they do, so for people who think like I do and love the Windows Phone OS, my advice is that you stay put unless you can afford to play around with competing devices.
BTW I bashed Android without pointing out what I love about Windows Phone:
People Hub – deep social integration with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Skype and offers superior groups and room’s options
Search – Instant results for local eating, shopping and events. Integrated music DNA search, integrated vision search supporting barcodes, QR, MS Tags, CD, DVD and book covers.
Groups – Offers users the ability to share group calendar, group OneNote notebook, group pictures and group chatting
Messaging – Facebook chat integration and integrated location sharing etc.
Dynamic Icons – Instead of a static image Live Tiles provide live updates and can be pinned in 3 different sizes
Deep App Pinning – Instead of just an eBay icon, users can pin an eBay item tile to the Start screen and view updated information right from that tile. Or, pin an actual TuneIn station.
Microsoft Office – Free and complete Microsoft Office mobile suite
Kid’s Corner – Cool to keep the kids in a sandbox
Online Backup – SkyDrive integration offers backup features for photos, instant photo upload, music, documents, phone app list and phone settings. The SkyDrive capabilities on Windows OS makes sharing and using data across smartphone and tablet or PC seamless and better than any competing option
jacktay94 said:
nahh, its just you.
Windows phone really look classy, and i like the feel. but with the limitation, it obviously show why the market share keeps dropping.
iOS-getting outdated. iOS 7 looks cool, but usability is so last decade
WP- classy, for non-tech people who is so lazy to make their phone look special
Android- too much customization, but everyone's device is unique. well except those non-techie again.
Ubuntu- cool, but still buggy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nah, it's not just me bud:
1) "my uptime is like 100 hrs, and no lag or bugs or anything like that" - Seriously!? You can keep your phone on for 4 whole days without bugs or anything! Bravo, thanks for making my point.
2) "what are you doing.. seriously? two questions. did you install porn? " I'm operating a small business. No porn and I didn't say I personally got a virus. I said the Android is the most susceptible and that I DID get data mined to a private work email that was never spammed in the 4 years since I created it. Until Android
3) I obviously agree.
4) "iTunes, seriously??" Yes seriously. For starters I purchase all of my music and iTunes has a massive catalogue. Also, this music is for me and my family. I have to send it to multiple devices (PC's and mobile devices) and multiple OS's. Android is the biggest problem child in that mix.
5) "touch responsiveness?" I have had 3 HTC Ones actually. Press a key on the keyboard and watch how long it takes the keyboard to respond. Then try it on a Windows Phone. Pretty clear
6) "custom roms are there for a reason" your reasons are nonsense. Here is a quote from the about of my favorite ROM "a stock ROM experience with the ability to choose the features and functions they want, demand performance and expect stability!" NOTE THE STABILITY AND PERFORMANCE PART
7) "Communication app problem? its coz ur used to ur WP." No it's not. I think the iOS communications suite is superior as well.
8) "music app really kinda sucks tho, i just stream." I do that too but I have a massive music collection I love to listen too
Bottom line is that I just don't like Android. I know that there are a lot of people who Android works well for I mean them no disrespect. I am not trying to talk them in to moving to my favorite OS and would never do that. I am sharing my experience for people who like the same kinds of thins I do and thought about trying the competition, even though they like Windows Phone. Many would be disappointed and for them, I say don't waste your time or money
TechJunkiesCA said:
Nah, it's not just me bud:
1) "my uptime is like 100 hrs, and no lag or bugs or anything like that" - Seriously!? You can keep your phone on for 4 whole days without bugs or anything! Bravo, thanks for making my point.
2) "what are you doing.. seriously? two questions. did you install porn? " I'm operating a small business. No porn and I didn't say I personally got a virus. I said the Android is the most susceptible and that I DID get data mined to a private work email that was never spammed in the 4 years since I created it. Until Android
3) I obviously agree.
4) "iTunes, seriously??" Yes seriously. For starters I purchase all of my music and iTunes has a massive catalogue. Also, this music is for me and my family. I have to send it to multiple devices (PC's and mobile devices) and multiple OS's. Android is the biggest problem child in that mix.
5) "touch responsiveness?" I have had 3 HTC Ones actually. Press a key on the keyboard and watch how long it takes the keyboard to respond. Then try it on a Windows Phone. Pretty clear
6) "custom roms are there for a reason" your reasons are nonsense. Here is a quote from the about of my favorite ROM "a stock ROM experience with the ability to choose the features and functions they want, demand performance and expect stability!" NOTE THE STABILITY AND PERFORMANCE PART
7) "Communication app problem? its coz ur used to ur WP." No it's not. I think the iOS communications suite is superior as well.
8) "music app really kinda sucks tho, i just stream." I do that too but I have a massive music collection I love to listen too
Bottom line is that I just don't like Android. I know that there are a lot of people who Android works well for I mean them no disrespect. I am not trying to talk them in to moving to my favorite OS and would never do that. I am sharing my experience for people who like the same kinds of thins I do and thought about trying the competition, even though they like Windows Phone. Many would be disappointed and for them, I say don't waste your time or money
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) yupp, i just switched my phone off ystd, coz i changed the battery. after like one whole week of being on.
2)You probably registered your email in some website tho. Android didn't give me spam
3) yeahh
4) dont you find it a hassle when you sync ur family members playlist when u just wanna charge your ipod? your from the states, so i understand, coz we in malaysia dun buy much music, especially on itunes. hehe wat i do is just copy+paste, no need to complicate things, back to basics.
5) hmmm, i probably need to post a video of me typing then. hahaha! but really, was it on custom rom?
6) the most stable rom: vanilla, pure android is most stable man. performance is overclocking, google wont endorse that.
7) coz both are simple. too simple. hahaha!
8) like play music app, whole library free for a month, wat other collection do you want?
nahh, just making conversation. planning to get a lumnia 600+ series as a for fun phone, just wanna check out the real feel of using WP, when i get the budget. hehe
I have both Android and WP. What I like in Android is that I can do pretty much anything with it like on a PC, but that's where it stops. I have a Samsung Galaxy S which is a pretty old phone and I have a custom rom with Android 4.2 on it. The phone came with android 2.3 and Samsung just decided it did not have enough RAM to run 4.x well and stopped updating it. Well, it is much less laggy on the custom ROM with 4.x than the stock ROM with 2.x. I would never trust an Android device as a phone, it just is too crashy and buggy OS to do anything important. With the stock ROM it rebooted many times when I tried to answer a call etc, and web browsing exprience just sucks. This has to do with the low memory but 512MB should be enough for a phone. When I browse the web on Android, other apps that run in the background get killed and eventually the browser stops working too (Just like on good old Symbian ). My WP7 (Samsung Omnia 7) has nearly identical specs and I have no memory problems, I have several hundred megabytes of free RAM no matter what I do and browsing is very smooth. Also it's annoying when you need to take a quick pic of something important and the Camera app crashes on Android... One thing Android does better than WP is scrolling long lists - it takes ages to scroll a long list on WP, but on Android the scrolling accelerates when you scroll..
OP keeping WP circlejerk alive as always
Taurenking said:
OP keeping WP circlejerk alive as always
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seriously? Grow up
Edit - and go away. This is a WP thread. Why droid people are here making negative comments never ceases to amaze me. I don't read your threads let alone comment in them.
ericdude said:
I made the mistake of getting a WP8 phone after being an Android fan for some time. I currently own a Nokia Lumia WP8, an iPhone 5 for work and the Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 in a drawer at the house.
No phone is perfect, Android has it's share of issues, as does iOS as does WP8. It's just that Android and iPhone can at least do the things they do and do it well. WP8 still doesn't have a decent facebook app or decent map app, the data speeds are significantly slower than other android/ios phones that are on the same network, push notifications sometimes don't come through until far after the notification was originally pushed. Battery life is sub-par, little customization of the OS, even the larger and more popular applications that actually do manage to make it to WP8 end up having their gui re-written and tailored to look like the rest of WP8 which actually becomes pretty boring and mundane after a while, you can't even get any decent browser options like Chrome, Firefox or even Opera for that matter. Instead, what you end up finding are a bunch of knock-off applications written by little-known dev companies or freelance programmers with all sorts of Chinese, Indian or Russian sounding names that are garbage and do who-knows-what in the background.
I could go on, but suffice it to say, this will likely be my last Windows Phone purchase. The WP8 gui looks decent and is snappy and smooth but beyond that, it doesn't do a whole lot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't really care about a "decent" FB app so I'll give you that one. But if you think that Google Maps is anywhere as good as Here, you have no idea what a good map app is. Or maybe you don't have a Lumia. Nokia's mapping software is going to be the industry standard soon now that it's available for iOS. You know those fanboys are having a hard time without a usable map app.
MS Office + SkyDrive - 'nuff said.
People Hub - only webOS Synergy was better
Nokia Cinemagraph - best stock animation and GIF creator
The fact that WP8 can be as fluid and lag-free as any other OS without needing 20 cores and 4 GB of RAM speaks volumes about the OS itself. PalmOS was probably the only other OS that was as resource-friendly as WP, Symbian a close second.
I don't dislike Android, or iOS for that matter, I just find WP8 to be the best all-around combination of phone and OS. MS has stringent rules about how their OS is to be presented and that might not be such a bad thing.
Windows phone 8 isn't windows mobile. They're two different os.
Sent from my Nokia 521 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Taurenking said:
OP keeping WP circlejerk alive as always
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahh look I'm blushing! Hey, trolling forums of devices or operating systems you don't use speaks volumes of how engaging your platform must be, not to mention your personal life. Hope things pick up for you!
I'm considering getting a lumia 925 or 1020 to replace my HTC One. I've become bored with android and ios. What're everyone's thoughts and anything I should know before making the switch?
Sent from my HTC_PN071 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Amrut223 said:
I'm considering getting a lumia 925 or 1020 to replace my HTC One. I've become bored with android and ios. What're everyone's thoughts and anything I should know before making the switch?
Sent from my HTC_PN071 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wait for the snapdragon 800 nokia phone if you can; if you're gonna buy an old phone instead of a new one, make sure you don't have a not for resale phone(demo unit).
Many apps won't work, you'll have to make do for a while... what is your typical phone use?
Why wait for the new soc. From what I've been reading wp runs smooth on almost anything. I have no interest in benchmark scores. I simply want to get decent battery life.
Speaking of which. How does the lumia 925 hold up in that respect?? Reviews seem to have mixed feelings about it.
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