[giga]

lol

Definitely glad they hide those things away in the application bar. Don't need a bunch of icons cluttering up my screen. One of my favorite things about WP. Content is first. Also glad that battery status and signal strength and such are hidden away until wanted as well. Some people would disagree with such things though. Would rather have the url bar hidden until needed as well. Forward button functionality is there in the "Recent" option if it is needed. Not sure a dedicated button would be needed otherwise. Perhaps that is another thing I disagree with.

I like prioritizing content too, but not at the expense of efficiency for critical things like tabs and bookmarks.

Notsureifserious.png about using the history button as a forward button.

[lastflowers]

This is my main beef with the browser. There's no forward button. To get to your bookmarks or tabs, you need to tap the three dots first. These all might seem trivial, but I use those things a lot and requiring an extra tap to do access them (something Josh pointed out with Twitter integration) just isn't good enough.

From what I heard this past summer, there was a MASSIVE debate over this very issue (The History-button was the purported way to go forward). This along with the 'back button' stack within the browser, IIRC.

I personally think there should be a forward button...

[VanMardigan]

On WP7 wallpapers, the cool thing about being into photography is that you can make your own wallpapers. Currently using this as my lockscreens background... Works rather nicely too since the time and date are situated in the open space

Thanks, this is my new wallpaper.

Also, I'll agree with the verge review. The software is holding that phone back. It doesnt have a gig of ram, dual core cpu, expandable storage, and more robust multitasking because of wp7. MS needs to iterate more quickly. We should already be at Apollo, they knew how far back they were, it doesn't make sense to stick to a yearly schedule. The phone is still good enough for casual users, but it's time that MS pick up the pace. 6 month per major revision until they achieve more feature parity.

[Windu]

Also, I'll agree with the verge review. The software is holding that phone back. It doesnt have a gig of ram, dual core cpu, expandable storage, and more robust multitasking because of wp7. MS needs to iterate more quickly. We should already be at Apollo, they knew how far back they were, it doesn't make sense to stick to a yearly schedule. The phone is still good enough for casual users, but it's time that MS pick up the pace. 6 month per major revision until they achieve more feature parity.

heh i don't think they can work that fast

[Complex Shadow]

lol I like prioritizing content too, but not at the expense of efficiency for critical things like tabs and bookmarks. Notsureifserious.png about using the history button as a forward button.

el oh el.


what did he do to make people mad.

[JaggedSac]

lol I like prioritizing content too, but not at the expense of efficiency for critical things like tabs and bookmarks. Notsureifserious.png about using the history button as a forward button.

Ghastly!

No problem with a forward functionality if it were implemented in swipes as per W8. Would need to be implemented well so as to not cause false positives.

[VanMardigan]

heh i don't think they can work that fast

They better. I'll buy this phone for my wife, but if it were my upgrade, I'd pass. It's not futureproof but that's not nokia's fault. why hasn't MS updated Explorer? bing? The market? The ability to make modular updates is what has helped android transform the most pathetic app store into a better experience than ours, what keeps their browser competitive, even on older devices. What keeps gmail being the best mobile email experience. Apollo, besides bringing in new hardware flexibility, better introduce modular updates as well, it's the easiest way to do the run-around past the carriers on key software functionality.

[Brettison]

Thanks, this is my new wallpaper. Also, I'll agree with the verge review. The software is holding that phone back. It doesnt have a gig of ram, dual core cpu, expandable storage, and more robust multitasking because of wp7. MS needs to iterate more quickly. We should already be at Apollo, they knew how far back they were, it doesn't make sense to stick to a yearly schedule. The phone is still good enough for casual users, but it's time that MS pick up the pace. 6 month per major revision until they achieve more feature parity.

Wait... wait... why do you sound like me over the past IDK 2 months? Weren't you giving me shit for this opinion? Am I crazy here?!?!?!

[giga]

Wait... wait... why do you sound like me over the past IDK 2 months? Weren't you giving me shit for this opinion? Am I crazy here?!?!?!

You know you just outed yourself for having a dupe account right?

[Brettison]

You know you just outed yourself for having a dupe account right?

Huh? I am legitly confused here.

[f0lken]

if I remember correctly MS said that the browser and other things can be updated separately from the OS isn't it?

[Robobandit]

if I remember correctly MS said that the browser and other things can be updated separately from the OS isn't it?

It can be.. but they're not doing it.

[Windu]

if I remember correctly MS said that the browser and other things can be updated separately from the OS isn't it?

sure. but they have a habit of saying stuff like that and not updating it till the major OS update. Cough windows live essentials Cough

[VanMardigan]

Wait... wait... why do you sound like me over the past IDK 2 months? Weren't you giving me shit for this opinion? Am I crazy here?!?!?!

I've never been a blind fanboy of the platform. If I disagree with your complaints, I'll tell you. I love this platform and I'll be honest about my feelings, always have been. But time is part of the context in any discussion.

November was right after Mango, and I upgraded to a 7.5 device. I was happy about the rollout and the 2nd Gen devices. Almost a half year later, there has been no progress on the software front. The next major update isn't meant for high end phones, so timing is everything. I dont know what I gave you shit for, but if the platform stands still, I can certainly shift my positions.

[Sean]

heh i don't think they can work that fast

Microsoft managed just fine with Spring and Fall Xbox 360 dashboard updates. I'm sure they can pick up the pace and release more frequent software updates, but they are holding things back to make one big splash a year. That's not the right strategy imo.

[antiquegamer]

Microsoft managed just fine with Spring and Fall Xbox 360 dashboard updates. I'm sure they can pick up the pace and release more frequent software updates, but they are holding things back to make one big splash a year. That's not the right strategy imo.

Umm..they haven't done spring / fall update for Xbox for couple years now. It has been just once a year. Though they did some bug fix and update apps, which is something that was mention for Windows Phone 7 but I am thinking it's one of those thing that carrier doesn't want them to do.

Also with a big shift in platform from 7 to 8 using new kernel etc may be they just want to push on with that which is too bad. Like I said WP7 was pretty much a beta and 7.5 is the actual proper release. By now they should have another update before 8.0 but they are not because they want to concentrate on Tango for emerging market.

[SCHUEY F1]

Civilization Revolution is on the marketplace now for $2.99

[PG2G]

Maybe a multiple large update per year schedule doesn't fit in well with carrier and oem needs

[Commodore]

I've never been a blind fanboy of the platform. If I disagree with your complaints, I'll tell you. I love this platform and I'll be honest about my feelings, always have been. But time is part of the context in any discussion. November was right after Mango, and I upgraded to a 7.5 device. I was happy about the rollout and the 2nd Gen devices. Almost a half year later, there has been no progress on the software front. The next major update isn't meant for high end phones, so timing is everything. I dont know what I gave you shit for, but if the platform stands still, I can certainly shift my positions.

What's holding the higher end Apollo back so we can get to technical parity is they opted to cater and open up tons of lower end markets around the world instead of going for the high end users this year. We're feeling the heat right now when our "hero" phone is getting compared to the latest and greatest, but business wise, accessing all those new markets was a better move I think.

Hate to use the phrase, but if we want feel like we're competing with the new hotness, we're gonna have to...wait for Apollo. For now, the 900 is firmly a secure the beachhead device, and at $99, LTE, and seriously, one of the most stand out designed phones I've ever seen, I think that's exactly what it's going to do.

[Cipherr]

el oh el. what did he do to make people mad.

Reviewed the new Lumia. He isnt helping himself with those sort of tweets. I respect his opinion, but I fucking hate it when people tweet like that. Playing the "Lol fanboys" stuff. I cannot pretend to know what they are going through, Ill admit that... Im not the one getting swore at daily because someone didnt like what I wrote, but I still expect them to be above that shit enough to ignore it, and not address it like he did there.

What's holding the higher end Apollo back so we can get to technical parity is they opted to cater and open up tons of lower end markets around the world instead of going for the high end users this year.

I want to agree, but I just can't. The more I read the reviews, it seems like most of the major negative takeaways arent actually hardware related. Im not terribly sure that slapping 3 more cores, a faster GPU and a 720p screen on this thing would change the reviews all that much. Whats it going to do? Speed up the OS that already never hitches and runs a silky smooth framerate? It seems like the Application market, and the software side of things fueled alot of his complaints. Indeed he seemed to have more of a problem with OS related items rather than the device itself, save the screen and its saturation issues.

[hwalker84]

The simple fact of the matter is MS needs to move faster than the competition. iOS is once a year with multiple minor updates. Google is moving at an insane pace. ICS is now on 4.0.4 and .0.4 brought supposedly 100 new improvements. All this means is MS cannot afford to sit back and rest on what they have. WP8 needs to bring our platform up and far beyond the competition for it to truly get the recognition it deserves.

IE should've had multiple updates since Mango pulled it out of the OS and made it upgradeable like an app. The 900 would be the best phone on the market if Apollo was ready to go.

[Cipherr]

The simple fact of the matter is MS needs to move faster than the competition. iOS is once a year with multiple minor updates. Google is moving at an insane pace. ICS is now on 4.0.4 and .0.4 brought supposedly 100 new improvements. All this means is MS cannot afford to sit back and rest on what they have. WP8 needs to bring our platform up and far beyond the competition for it to truly get the recognition it deserves. IE should've had multiple updates since Mango pulled it out of the OS and made it upgradeable like an app. The 900 would be the best phone on the market if Apollo was ready to go.

MS isnt Apple. I dont know how MS updates work, maybe someone can give me some more insight, but I imagine its hard work managing to get their updates rolled out across all the devices across multiple manufacturers on day one. There is no way thats easy to do. You start doing as many .1 .2 .3 updates like the others, when you have an OS stretched across all carriers with multiple hardware manufacturers and you might run into either resource issues, or mild short lived fragmentation.

And the blogs will run with that shit so fast it would make your head spin. Even if the fragmentation only lasted a few weeks, they would be all over it. I think they should stick to how they have handled it already. They have an identity, and it works, just make the Apollo update substantial.

[dpatel304]

MY alarm clock is really quiet. I've got the HTC Surround and my alarm doesn't sound loud enough for me to wake up. Even at the loudest ringer volume it still isn't that loud. Is there anything I can do to change this?

[Commodore]

I want to agree, but I just can't. The more I read the reviews, it seems like most of the major negative takeaways arent actually hardware related. Im not terribly sure that slapping 3 more cores, a faster GPU and a 720p screen on this thing would change the reviews all that much. Whats it going to do? Speed up the OS that already never hitches and runs a silky smooth framerate? It seems like the Application market, and the software side of things fueled alot of his complaints. Indeed he seemed to have more of a problem with OS related items rather than the device itself, save the screen and its saturation issues.

Sure thing, Apollo brings a spec increase, but it will also brings features, UI improvements, etc. I feel like once Apollo finally hits, much of the glaring problems a few had will be moot. It just feels sucky that the 900 showed up to the party without its Apollo pants. Leveling complaints at the Marketplace, or specific apps that haven't updated to mango, that's valid. But as a whole, I think the 900 will win lots of users that fall right into that mid range, who don't care about the bleeding edge, that find the software to be fluid and 90% of the things they like to do, social networking etc., to do it well.

[Commodore]

MS isnt Apple. I dont know how MS updates work, maybe someone can give me some more insight, but I imagine its hard work managing to get their updates rolled out across all the devices across multiple manufacturers on day one. There is no way thats easy to do. You start doing as many .1 .2 .3 updates like the others, when you have an OS stretched across all carriers with multiple hardware manufacturers and you might run into either resource issues, or mild short lived fragmentation. And the blogs will run with that shit so fast it would make your head spin. Even if the fragmentation only lasted a few weeks, they would be all over it. I think they should stick to how they have handled it already. They have an identity, and it works, just make the Apollo update substantial.

Not only that, but carriers HATE to update incrementally as we've cringed and whined about AT&T doing for most of this year. They like the big updates. We'll always want things faster than they can provide, but its still hard to shake they are still playing catch up, and I have to wonder when Apollo does hit, as well as Apollo phones in tow, how the parity will finally match up. My bet? I think we'll finally be neck and neck at the end of 2013.

[Sean]

Umm..they haven't done spring / fall update for Xbox for couple years now. It has been just once a year. Though they did some bug fix and update apps, which is something that was mention for Windows Phone 7 but I am thinking it's one of those thing that carrier doesn't want them to do.

Sure it's slowed down a bit in recent years, but earlier in the 360's lifecycle they did fairly rapid updates with at least two major releases per year (Spring and Fall) until the platform became a bit more mature. That's what they should be doing for WP7 right now.

I just don't see how Microsoft plans on ever recovering lost ground if they enter the market years later and are on a slower update schedule than the competition. Apollo will be out later this year but it's not like the other platforms are sitting still, Android and iOS will both have major updates this year too.

[SCHUEY F1]

Nice review from ABC

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/nok...UsAPYk.twitter

[Brettison]

I've never been a blind fanboy of the platform. If I disagree with your complaints, I'll tell you. I love this platform and I'll be honest about my feelings, always have been. But time is part of the context in any discussion. November was right after Mango, and I upgraded to a 7.5 device. I was happy about the rollout and the 2nd Gen devices. Almost a half year later, there has been no progress on the software front. The next major update isn't meant for high end phones, so timing is everything. I dont know what I gave you shit for, but if the platform stands still, I can certainly shift my positions.

Well my whole point a week or so ago was about the 900 and how it's a good phone, but I kept thinking it's the wrong time to buy in. Remember I kept equating it to buying the iPhone 3G or 4S or a Gingerbread Phone now when ICS is out.

I feel like the Nokia 900 is the best WP out, but it's still like the best of the Mango variety. I kept telling people who were already on board with a WP that wanted to upgrade you'd be crazy and to keep waiting for Apollo. Not that 900 is bad, but that it's not a big upgrade from what they had. Like I said it's still a Mango phone with the same baseline specs.

I swear I said the exact things that I knew would get complained about....

1st Post

2nd Post

I basically said despite a better build quality you still are basically getting a Mango WP device that most of us all already have. The only big bump would be to get an LTE phone if you live in an LTE market.

Heck if you read the Q&A Toplosky even said when you get to the core it's a mango phone that despite the best build design ever is the same thing we've seen for a while now (outside of the few Nokia apps). Maybe I just didn't get my point across well in my previous posts.

[SCHUEY F1]

I guess what we need to know is what Apollo will be, how many of its features will come too 2nd gen and 1st gen phones. The current screen resolution is not a problem for me.

[Totakeke]

The Lumia 900 and 800 is all about the hardware design which WP hasn't been getting a piece of. Only people in the tech world cares so much about Mango being 'outdated'.

[bigtroyjon]

Positive review from Seattle Times

Calling this the companies' flagship is an understatement. This pocket-sized slab of metal and plastic showcases the best efforts of two aging but formidable tech giants sparing no expense to regain their stature in mobile computing before the smartphone phenomenon passes them by. Some think it's possible. Research firm IDC last year predicted Microsoft's alliance with Nokia will help Windows Phone overtake Apple's share of the smartphone market by 2015, putting Microsoft in second place behind Google's Andrond platform. In the meantime, the Lumia 900 finally gives Microsoft a unique device with top-shelf technology to showcase its phone software.

This made me cringe

Instead of Nokia's excellent and free navigation app, AT&T has substituted its own navigation app that costs $10 per month. You can delete the AT&T app (fine print pictured) and download Nokia Drive from the Windows Marketplace.

[ChanHuk]

So apparently a lot of people are picking up their phones from the local(s) Microsoft stores. I've read that people who went in after me picking up their phones. Then again, it is the internet. I'm gonna wait for my pickup email, hoping my patience pays off with the reward of a Lumia 900 for waiting. Long shot, but I can see Microsoft giving me a pass if I keep my mouth shut for awhile. They don't want anymore negative PR than they have.

[Robobandit]

Still waiting on AT&T to ship my 900..

Hoping it will be tomorrow..

[MechDX]

Still waiting on AT&T to ship my 900.. Hoping it will be tomorrow..

Same here. At least it was free so I cant complain too much.

[PG2G]

I just don't see how Microsoft plans on ever recovering lost ground if they enter the market years later and are on a slower update schedule than the competition. Apollo will be out later this year but it's not like the other platforms are sitting still, Android and iOS will both have major updates this year too.

One year of work is one year of work, splitting it into two chunks doesn't mean anything more is going to get done (it likely means the opposite). What Microsoft needs to do, is do more in one year than Apple and Google do in one year, and they've already shown us they can do that.

[snap0212]

Am I the only one who thinks that the lack of fast major updates aren't really the problem (anymore)? What's bothering me is that Microsoft still hasn't brought basic features outside of the US (Podcasts, damnit!!!) and that they're not moneyhatting App devs enough.

When WhatsApp works better on my old iPhone 3G than it does on my WP7 then there's something wrong. It's also not good that most new and fancy apps are usually advertised as being available on iOS and Android – no one ever seems to mention WP7. They should just throw money at these devs to make sure WP7 gets a good version of the App as well.

[derFeef]

"Death by a thousand cuts"
The Verge

[HollovVpo1nt]

Am I the only one who thinks that the lack of fast major updates aren't really the problem (anymore)? What's bothering me is that Microsoft still hasn't brought basic features outside of the US (Podcasts, damnit!!!) and that they're not moneyhatting App devs enough. When WhatsApp works better on my old iPhone 3G than it does on my WP7 then there's something wrong. It's also not good that most new and fancy apps are usually advertised as being available on iOS and Android – no one ever seems to mention WP7. They should just throw money at these devs to make sure WP7 gets a good version of the App as well.

Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Their whole company is US focussed. Comparing EU and US Xbox services is night and day. I can only imagine how different the WP services are..

[derFeef]

Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Their whole company is US focussed. Comparing EU and US Xbox services is night and day. I can only imagine how different the WP services are..

Double Yes, yes, yes. So ridiculous. No Indy games no nothing :/

[HollovVpo1nt]

I would love to see a Focus S vs. Lumia 900 comparison. Apart from the design, the focus S seems like the better phone to me.

[mescalineeyes]

Topolsky's review is spot-on.

Still doesn't change the fact that this is the perfect phone for the less tech-y crowd and at an insane price to boot.

Lack of apps hurts though.

[Sean]

One year of work is one year of work, splitting it into two chunks doesn't mean anything more is going to get done (it likely means the opposite). What Microsoft needs to do, is do more in one year than Apple and Google do in one year, and they've already shown us they can do that.

Doing multiple smaller updates means at least some bug fixes/enhancements will reach consumers faster, rather than making them wait ages for the next major release. Since a cell phone is a crucial device that most people rely on every day, that is kind of important.

I guarantee if you were to poll WP7 users, almost all of them would prefer smaller yet more frequent updates.

[Nero3000]

Topolsky's review is spot-on. Still doesn't change the fact that this is the perfect phone for the less tech-y crowd and at an insane price to boot. Lack of apps hurts though.

I wouldn't say it was spot on.

He criticized the lack of advancement in the OS since the Mango launch when iOS 5 hasn't changed since then.

He also couldn't find anything better about WP7.5 than iOS or Android, when Facebook integration, Office, Bing search and Zune Pass come to my mind straight away.

Didn't even mention Nokia Drive.

[Tomcat]

Topolsky's review is spot-on. Still doesn't change the fact that this is the perfect phone for the less tech-y crowd and at an insane price to boot. Lack of apps hurts though.

that was a very bad written review
many inaccuracies
from how the multitasking works to the twitter intergration and so on
someone who has used a windows phone more than a day would have been a better candidate to do the review

[mescalineeyes]

I wouldn't say it was spot on. He criticized the lack of advancement in the OS since the Mango launch when iOS 5 hasn't changed since then. He also couldn't find anything better about WP7.5 than iOS or Android, when Facebook integration, Office, Bing search and Zune Pass come to my mind straight away. Didn't even mention Nokia Drive.

Mango was behind iOS 5 when it launched.

Office is pretty great, no two ways about it, as is Nokia Drive but Zune Pass? Spotify nullifies that imho.

[Nero3000]

There is one line in that review that i would like to highlight which indicates a wider problem.

He says the Verge site renders incorrectly on IE9 mobile. Which is true.

It also fails to render properly in IE9 desktop and IE10. I struggle to believe that sufficient cross browser testing was done, at least with IE9. It is also not just the verge, but other sites too.

They probably just targeted Webkit, rather than HTML5 purely, which is what happened in the IE6 days. Web developes really need to start doing HTML5 feature detection rather than targeting a specific rendering engine.

[Nero3000]

Mango was behind iOS 5 when it launched. Office is pretty great, no two ways about it, as is Nokia Drive but Zune Pass? Spotify nullifies that imho.

There were certain aspects of Mango that was behind iOS (e.g. voip API's, universal search) but there were areas where mango was ahead (facebook integration, live information, text-to-speech, content aggregation, developer environment).

The one thing i use time and time again with the Zune pass, is use Bing Music search to ID a music track playing, then it will give me a marketplace link, which i can then download and listen at my leisure. It will also sync wirelessly to my PC when i get home.

[mescalineeyes]

text-to-speech, content aggregation, developer environment

1) I highly doubt it holds a candle to Siri, although I have yet to try that function.
2) not sure what you mean by that
3) developer environment means shit if there's no apps.

[VanMardigan]

Mango was behind iOS 5 when it launched. Office is pretty great, no two ways about it, as is Nokia Drive but Zune Pass? Spotify nullifies that imho.

Because Zune Pass is built in, its a much better experience than Spotify will ever be. Just watch the tech hubbub when itunes/iPhone gets an integrated music subscription service. Zune Pass is a terrific advantage that no one knows about. I dont think its available in every market, which sucks though.

[PSGames]

Received my Microsoft store email. I wonder if they'll let us pick up a Lumia instead of a Titan or focus s?