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Android, iOS, WP8 phone debate thread

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Is this phone comparison thread or camera wars?

Yes, the 920 can take a good picture.

When you're friends are asking you to play the latest game or showing you how to extend the functionally of their phone with a cool app you'll be able to take a nice picture in the dark.

Game changer

Actually, it's phone debate thread.
 
Is this phone comparison thread or camera wars?

Yes, the 920 can take a good picture.

When you're friends are asking you to play the latest game or showing you how to extend the functionally of their phone with a cool app you'll be able to take a nice picture in the dark.

Game changer

I mean, what's the value of this post?

"Herp derp, my favorite phone didn't win the competition...in fact, it got shit on...so I'll attack the 3rd party software selection of the winning phone to make myself feel better about this disquieting new reality."

Class: some people are still learning it.


No it doesn't. I would never have shot something in those conditions without night mode on. So that's still pretty useless.

Look the verge already did this comparison and included both non night mode shots and night mode shots. It wasn't that hard and is the most helpful. I don't see why it couldn't or shouldn't have been done the same way here.
oh Verge did a proper comparison with the night mode on? I'll have to check that out.
 
I mean, what's the value of this post?

"Herp derp, my favorite phone didn't win the competition...in fact, it got shit on...so I'll attack the 3rd party software selection to make myself feel better about this disquieting new reality."

Class: some people are still learning it.

I just assumed that was a joke post.
 
Good points, all. Best we can hope for is a thorough comparison...but that probably won't come from engadget.

Can you adjust the ISO on the iPhone? My Lumia 900 can, I can't remember if my Focus could...I'm assuming it's possible on Android phones.

Is this phone comparison thread or camera wars?

Yes, the 920 can take a good picture.

When you're friends are asking you to play the latest game or showing you how to extend the functionally of their phone with a cool app you'll be able to take a nice picture in the dark.

Game changer

As a matter of fact, my friends would probably be more interested in a camera that is a generation or two ahead of the competition vs. games. I don't play any games.

Extending the functionality of the phone? What, exactly, are you talking about? It's not like WP or Android are incapable of this.
 
The value of the post is that the only news I ever see posted about the 920 are about its camera capability.

To me that doesn't make it a good phone. It makes it a great camera.
 
Is this phone comparison thread or camera wars?

Yes, the 920 can take a good picture.

When you're friends are asking you to play the latest game or showing you how to extend the functionally of their phone with a cool app you'll be able to take a nice picture in the dark.

Game changer

It will also be nice, to have a screen that is bigger and has a higher dpi compared to iphone 5.

or a screen that can be used with whatever you want.

or have the screen with the highest refresh rate and best sunlight readability.

or have a phone with the best sound recordings thanks to rich recording tech

or have the best navigation on any device thanks to nokia maps

or have the best integration of voice-over-ip services in any device thanks to the apis for WP8 developers

and lets not forget about the best video experience of any phone camera. or the integrated "Lenses" functionality.

Not to forget about the wireless charging and nfc support, but those are just gimmicks.


Well I guess if you want to add functionality to your phone, you can download one of the over 100,000 apps already in the marketplace. Sure some are still missing, but I'll take the best out of the box experience with features I actually use day to day (and photo/videos or "using the screen" is definitely a part of it) than the best "app" support.
 
The value of the post is that the only news I ever see posted about the 920 are about its camera capability.

To me that doesn't make it a good phone. It makes it a great camera.

Nokia's fault for fucking up the marketing and switching all the attention towards it. The screen is also magnificent and the rest of the specs are really nice (I dig the integrated wireless charge).
 
It will also be nice, to have a screen that is bigger and has a higher dpi compared to iphone 5.

or a screen that can be used with whatever you want.

or have the screen with the highest refresh rate and best sunlight readability.

or have a phone with the best sound recordings thanks to rich recording tech

or have the best navigation on any device thanks to nokia maps

or have the best integration of voice-over-ip services in any device thanks to the apis for WP8 developers

and lets not forget about the best video experience of any phone camera. or the integrated "Lenses" functionality.

Not to forget about the wireless charging and nfc support, but those are just gimmicks.
and here you go again sounding bitter as fuck.

Well I guess if you want to add functionality to your phone, you can download one of the over 100,000 apps already in the marketplace. Sure some are still missing, but I'll take the best out of the box experience with features I actually use day to day (and photo/videos or "using the screen" is definitely a part of it) than the best "app" support.

that mentality is part of the problem. WP needs to improve its app selection; not have fanboys try to convince people who are used to having amazing app and 3rd party hardware support that having a limited selection of those things abundant on other platforms is somehow "okay" because the default software and hardware is good. fuck that noise.

yea the default software is good *today*, but tomorrow it will be the new, fancy 3rd party software that people want and need. Then again, I don't think you've used anything other than WP, right? So you'll never miss what you've never had. for the rest of us thinking about coming over from Android/iOS devices, weak 3rd party sofware support fucking matters...and you belittling that doesn't help your cause or case, nor does it help Microsoft or Nokia.
 
yea the default software is good *today*, but tomorrow it will be the new, fancy 3rd party software that people want and need. but I don't think you've used anything other than WP, right? so you'll never miss what you've never had. for the rest of us, weak 3rd party sofware support fucking matters...and you belittling that doesn't help your cause or case.

I agree, and really hope MS continues pushing for or moneyhatting devs to get important apps. On the other hand, a common misconception is that WP doesn't have ANY apps, where I feel it has enough for most users.

Wasn't there some stat that, even with a lot of users who download a lot of apps, they only use a fraction of them daily? Either way, I agree with you, the WP marketplace needs to improve, but it's not abysmal.
 
Well I guess if you want to add functionality to your phone, you can download one of the over 100,000 apps already in the marketplace. Sure some are still missing, but I'll take the best out of the box experience with features I actually use day to day (and photo/videos or "using the screen" is definitely a part of it) than the best "app" support.

Heh, that's really easy to say if you've never had it.
 
This is just as bad an argument. I moved from iOS to WP (at launch) and while I missed some apps initially, the marketplace filled up with everything I need. Not everyone with a WP is a sheltered smartphone user.

I never said someone who doesn't want great app support is a "sheltered smartphone user"

Regardless of whether or not one cares about great app support, it's still an easy statement to make if that person isn't used to it.
 
and here you go again sounding bitter as fuck.



that mentality is part of the problem. WP needs to improve its app selection; not have fanboys try to convince people who are used to having amazing app and 3rd party hardware support that having a limited selection of those things abundant on other platforms is somehow "okay" because the default software and hardware is good. fuck that noise.

yea the default software is good *today*, but tomorrow it will be the new, fancy 3rd party software that people want and need. Then again, I don't think you've used anything other than WP, right? So you'll never miss what you've never had. for the rest of us thinking about coming over from Android/iOS devices, weak 3rd party sofware support fucking matters...and you belittling that doesn't help your cause or case, nor does it help Microsoft or Nokia.

woot, i am not bitter. This thread is fanboy-wars and I embrace that. Of course you need to make some direct and strong arguments to get the discussion going.

And of course, I know that the app selection is not the best and needs improvement. But to be honest, most people I know do have a billion apps, but how many of those are actually used? When I ask them to tell me their 5 most used apps, most say "facebook, instagram, twitter" and then they have to think about other apps they use far less than these. my point is: Apps are great, but I think their importance is overestimated.

And of course I used other phones. In fact I was on the android Bandwagon from the start, using an HTC Magic even flashed different roms etc. I also had my sister's S2 for over half a month as a subsitute phone, when I misplaced my Windows Phone.

And speaking of other OSs, as most of my friends use iPhones, I regularly use them, so I know exactly how they work.

And as I used those phones, I sure know, what I liked about them and what not. I am a big fan of Metro, of Live Tiles and, to be honest, of supporting the underdog product. And I truly believe that the Nokia Lumia 920 does have what it takes to become the best phone this year, even without some apps - The hardware is pushing boundaries, like people thought apple would be.


But as you asked me, if I used other phones I might ask you: What Windows Phone did you use - and how long to be able to judge how bad the ecosystem is?
 
This is just as bad an argument. I moved from iOS to WP (at launch) and while I missed some apps initially, the marketplace filled up with everything I need. Not everyone with a WP is a sheltered smartphone user.

I hear ya.

I just know what apps I'm looking for and I know what they mean for the user experience when leveraged. I'm not sure if there are reasonable alternatives to them. I've asked but received no reply, which leads me to believe the options don't exist. idk.

the lack of games don't bother me since I rarely play more games on my smarphone for longer than 15 minutes a month...but there are certain applications that I use daily like:

  • Air Video (allows me to stream my HD video collection from my home computer to my phone anywhere I have a 3G or better connection. converts the video to the proper format in real time and streams)
  • StreamToMe (allows me to stream audio/video/photos from my home computer to my phone anywhere in the world that I have an Edge or better connection)
  • iCabMobile (superior web browser that allows for default saving to Dropbox, hundreds of filters, add-ons, etc.)
  • Flipboard - a brilliant RSS aggregator.
  • NPR Radio - the only version I'm aware of is a paid app. Free for iOS and Android, but $2 for WP? C'mon, son!
  • Twitch.tv - an app for the dedicated gaming streaming site Twitch.tv
  • HBO Go - Streaming all HBO content. Simply a must for all HBO subscribers.
  • NPR Music - one of the best music radio apps in any marketplace, anywhere. Amazing selection of music.
  • Guitar Toolkit - allows me to tune my guitar and do a number of other things. Amazing. It's one of those things that when you have it, it blows your mind at what just an app can do for expanding the value of your smart device.
  • Instagram - What's the value of having such a nice camera when new, culturally significant apps aren't available to share them with? Apparently, it's not coming anytime soon.

...and forget about the special dedicated apps that allow my iPhone to run/control my home stereo receiver (Yamaha RX-A3010) and music player on my computer (Fidelia). These aren't obscure applications either. They're all well known, very popular and a list of my most recently used apps. I searched for all of the above and didn't find them in the Windows Marketplace.

I was happy to find some apps I have like Battle.net authenticator, ESPN, Epicurious and my bank available, so there's that I suppose. And if there are alternatives to the apps I've listed above on Windows Phone right now, I'd love to read more about them. I'd assume Anton and Damon would be the sources if they exist, as it seems they have been using WP for awhile now.

My thing is pretty simple: most of the apps I listed are apps I use on a regular basis if not several times a day. They are what made the ownership experience on my chosen device so valuable: they extended what the device does beyond the default feature set into places I never guessed it could go. Streaming an entire movie or any song in my 200GB music collection over 3G from my home computer while riding across states? Tuning my guitar for the first time with my fucking phone? Saving downloads in the browser right to dropbox? Using Flipboard for the first time? Changed my world in many ways. lol.

Again, if you've never had the luxury of enjoying these kinds of system-defining apps with any regularity it's easy to understand why they would not be appreciated. If you've never eaten anything but hamburgers your whole life, you'd never miss what lobster and steak taste like either. But once you've tasted them and been told you too can have them all the time, it's hard to go back to hamburgers, if you know what I mean. As delicious as hamburgers are.

(and I didn't even mention a game. I have 22 of which only 4 are available. :-/)
 
When I ask them to tell me their 5 most used apps, most say "facebook, instagram, twitter" and then they have to think about other apps they use far less than these. my point is: Apps are great, but I think their importance is overestimated.

I agree. There are only a handful of essential apps. Problem is, even the essential apps are missing on WP.

Dropbox, banking (outside of US), Instagram, hell even Urbanspoon, non-existent. I've had no problems at all moving from my 4S to S3. WP would be a different story, lol.
 
Again, if you've never had the luxury of enjoying these kinds of system-defining apps with any regularity it's easy to understand why they would not be appreciated. If you've never eaten anything but hamburgers your whole life, you'd never miss what lobster and steak taste like either. But once you've tasted them and been told you too can have them all the time, it's hard to go back to hamburgers, if you know what I mean. As delicious as hamburgers are.

this is exactly how i feel when i talk about being able to IRC on my phone. IRC has been a part of my life since 1996. it's just one of the things i do. my old HTC WinMo phone managed to do it properly. how can i go back to hamburgers?
 
this is exactly how i feel when i talk about being able to IRC on my phone. IRC has been a part of my life since 1996. it's just one of the things i do. my old HTC WinMo phone managed to do it properly. how can i go back to hamburgers?

WinMo doesn't currently support IRC? I admit, I use IRC very sparingly these days (much more a few years ago).

Also, I know Android has a good portion of those apps I appreciate from my iOS experience...but the 920 is the phone that put a little twinkle in my eye. If I have to rule the 920 out for some reason, then it'll be between the SGS3 and i5. I'm pretty apathetic as to which, so long as the apps I'm looking for are available, more or less. or...well be in the foreseeable future.


Now people in here are hating on hamburgers? You people are monsters!
they are delicious. :(

I just...I don't know how to analogize it other than to say that once you've enjoyed a richer experience (and iOS and Android both offer a decidedly richer app experience), you get used to it and not having those things is like...having Apple maps instead of Google maps. That reaction is how I'd feel without the apps I listed (or apps that replicate their functionality) were suddenly not available to me. You're just not as happy because the experience you now expect from your phone has been diminished.
 
WinMo doesn't currently support IRC? I admit, I use IRC very sparingly these days (much more a few years ago).

Also, I know Android has a good portion of those apps I appreciate from my iOS experience...but the 920 is the phone that put a little twinkle in my eye. If I have to rule the 920 out for some reason, then it'll be between the SGS3 and i5. I'm pretty apathetic as to which, so long as the apps I'm looking for are available, more or less. or...well be in the foreseeable future.



they are delicious. :(

I just...I don't know how to analogize it other than to say that once you've enjoyed a richer experience (and iOS and Android both offer a decidedly richer app experience), you get used to it and not having those things is like...having Apple maps instead of Google maps. That reaction is how I'd feel without the apps I listed (or apps that replicate their functionality) were suddenly not available to me. You're just not as happy because the experience you now expect from your phone has been diminished.

Windows Phone is not for you.
 
Windows Phone is not for you.

Maybe apps of a similar nature?

They don't have to be those specific apps...just apps that do the same things with a reasonable level of reliability (as I've said a few times now). That's what I was looking for but don't know if such apps exist, so if a WP owner can shed light, I'd appreciate it.

To summarize: apps that allow me to stream my music/movies/photos from to my phone anywhere in the world, good RSS apps, NPR for free (lol), a web browser that will allow me to save right to dropbox (maybe the default can?), something that will give me access to twitch.tv's live streams, etc. I know I'm SOL on HBO Go and Instagram...but maybe the others have alternative apps that can do what I want with similar ease, consistency and convenience.

Plex is a great way to stream pictures, music, and videos to various devices from your desktop. There is a WP app for it.

I'll look into Plex . The name is familiar (I think I have it installed on my Mac) but I never got into using it. I can use that to access my stuff away from home, or is it an intranet kinda thing?
 
Plex is a great way to stream pictures, music, and videos to various devices from your desktop. There is a WP app for it.

I'm sure there are probably 235 guitar tunings apps available.

But yeah, WP probably ain't for you.
 
Maybe apps of a similar nature?

They don't have to be those specific apps...just apps that do the same things with a reasonable level of reliability (as I've said a few times now). That's what I was looking for but don't know if such apps exist, so if a WP owner can shed light, I'd appreciate it.

To summarize: apps that allow me to stream my music/movies/photos from to my phone anywhere in the world, good RSS apps, NPR for free (lol), a web browser that will allow me to save right to dropbox (maybe the default can?), something that will give me access to twitch.tv's live streams, etc. I know I'm SOL on HBO Go and Instagram...but maybe the others have alternative apps that can do what I want with similar ease, consistency and convenience.



I'll look into Plex . The name is familiar (I think I have it installed on my Mac) but I never got into using it. I can use that to access my stuff away from home, or is it an intranet kinda thing?

I don't give a shit about apps. I switched from WP to Android and I'm missing some OS elements on Android far more than apps on WP. But I don't dismiss the importance of apps.

dLMN8R, known as Microsoft employee who worked on Windows 8, wrote something about this in the WP OT and I completely agree with it.


The apps which are there tend to be poor. Facebook, Twitter, Mint, various banking apps, and others are either lacking features now or way behind in getting new features, on top of being shoddy implementations as-is.

The games story is basically pathetic.

The most important thing though is whenever something new comes out. It happens countless times per year - some unexpected fast rising app hits cultural zeitgeist and takes the world by storm. Whether it's Instagram or Draw Something or Angry Birds Space or something else. Whether it sticks around for a week or a month or years. Windows Phone never has it, or gets it late after no one cares anymore.

It doesn't matter for everyone, but it's undoubtedly important to millions for those apps to be there at launch or close. Microsoft's making a big deal out of getting some Zynga games and Angry Birds at the launch of Windows Phone 8 (or whatever it is), but by that time few will care anymore and the world will have moved onto something else.


It's very important to prospective buyers, and the situation absolutely sucks right now. What I'm hoping is that the enablement of native development and popular engines like Unreal (probably) and Unity (confirmed) will make it much more likely for more apps to come to Windows Phone, and faster, and the Silverlight platform won't make them suck anymore.

And that's why, my dear dream, Windows Phone isn't for you.

The things you listed and want are probably there (I could look into it, as I plan to switch back to my 1st gen WP for a while), but you probably can't compare them to high quality iOS apps.

I just got into Pocket (read it later) few days ago and really wondered how I'll get that on Windows Phone ...

e: Also, multi tasking for non-media apps is a joke on WP
 
There are only a handful of essential apps. Problem is, even the essential apps are missing on WP.
There's also the issue of apps not being updated on a regular base. Meaning that you're stuck with outdated versions that only offer half the features you'll get on iOS/Android. Yelp is a prime example of this.
 
To summarize: apps that allow me to stream my music/movies/photos from to my phone anywhere in the world, good RSS apps, NPR for free (lol), a web browser that will allow me to save right to dropbox (maybe the default can?), something that will give me access to twitch.tv's live streams, etc. I know I'm SOL on HBO Go and Instagram...but maybe the others have alternative apps that can do what I want with similar ease, consistency and convenience.
There are apps on Windows Phone that can accomplish most of these things. There are apps like Plex that can let you stream most of your media from anywhere to Windows Phone, and SkyDrive works well for that too.

For RSS, you're not going to get something amazing like Flipboard on WP 7.5 because it's simply too intense of an app to work on the Silverlight platform. But with WP8 and native app development being enabled, I expect Flipboard to come to it relatively quickly.

For a more straight-up RSS reader, NextGen Reader is an excellent reader with tons of capabilities and customization. It just doesn't have an awesome presentation like Flipboard. There are other RSS readers with cool presentations, but they're pretty slow.

Not sure the platform supports saving to DropBox - what do you mean, wanting to save to dropbox, meaning saving links to sites? There's probably apps that can do that, but built-in IE definitely can't.
 
Yes, plex will stream from your desktop to outside of the network. It can even stream Netflix, Hulu, etc to your device through your desktop.
 
Is this phone comparison thread or camera wars?

Yes, the 920 can take a good picture.

When you're friends are asking you to play the latest game or showing you how to extend the functionally of their phone with a cool app you'll be able to take a nice picture in the dark.

This could be changing in the future.

I don't think it is fair to assume because Windows CE (WP7) with silverlight and XNA didn't get the best games and apps that this will automatically extend to Windows NT (WP8). WP8 now supports native code, C++, DirectX, etc. and things like Havok, Unity 3D and other game engines have already been announced for WP8. Also worth considering that WP8 is getting much better hardware (dual-core snapdragon, 1GB RAM, Adreno 225).

Nokia seems to have also convinced companies like Rovio, Zynga, and EA to take Windows Phone development serious.

Nokia and Windows Phone has had it's own fair share of cool apps that aren't on other platforms as well.

Instagram is coming to Windows Phone 8, although I believe the lens integration of the app is being done by Microsoft itself.
 
I hear ya.

I just know what apps I'm looking for and I know what they mean for the user experience when leveraged. I'm not sure if there are reasonable alternatives to them. I've asked but received no reply, which leads me to believe the options don't exist. idk.

the lack of games don't bother me since I rarely play more games on my smarphone for longer than 15 minutes a month...but there are certain applications that I use daily like:

  • Air Video (allows me to stream my HD video collection from my home computer to my phone anywhere I have a 3G or better connection. converts the video to the proper format in real time and streams)
  • StreamToMe (allows me to stream audio/video/photos from my home computer to my phone anywhere in the world that I have an Edge or better connection)
  • iCabMobile (superior web browser that allows for default saving to Dropbox, hundreds of filters, add-ons, etc.)
  • Flipboard - a brilliant RSS aggregator.
  • NPR Radio - the only version I'm aware of is a paid app. Free for iOS and Android, but $2 for WP? C'mon, son!
  • Twitch.tv - an app for the dedicated gaming streaming site Twitch.tv
  • HBO Go - Streaming all HBO content. Simply a must for all HBO subscribers.
  • NPR Music - one of the best music radio apps in any marketplace, anywhere. Amazing selection of music.
  • Guitar Toolkit - allows me to tune my guitar and do a number of other things. Amazing. It's one of those things that when you have it, it blows your mind at what just an app can do for expanding the value of your smart device.
  • Instagram - What's the value of having such a nice camera when new, culturally significant apps aren't available to share them with? Apparently, it's not coming anytime soon.

...and forget about the special dedicated apps that allow my iPhone to run/control my home stereo receiver (Yamaha RX-A3010) and music player on my computer (Fidelia). These aren't obscure applications either. They're all well known, very popular and a list of my most recently used apps. I searched for all of the above and didn't find them in the Windows Marketplace.

I was happy to find some apps I have like Battle.net authenticator, ESPN, Epicurious and my bank available, so there's that I suppose. And if there are alternatives to the apps I've listed above on Windows Phone right now, I'd love to read more about them. I'd assume Anton and Damon would be the sources if they exist, as it seems they have been using WP for awhile now.

My thing is pretty simple: most of the apps I listed are apps I use on a regular basis if not several times a day. They are what made the ownership experience on my chosen device so valuable: they extended what the device does beyond the default feature set into places I never guessed it could go. Streaming an entire movie or any song in my 200GB music collection over 3G from my home computer while riding across states? Tuning my guitar for the first time with my fucking phone? Saving downloads in the browser right to dropbox? Using Flipboard for the first time? Changed my world in many ways. lol.

Again, if you've never had the luxury of enjoying these kinds of system-defining apps with any regularity it's easy to understand why they would not be appreciated. If you've never eaten anything but hamburgers your whole life, you'd never miss what lobster and steak taste like either. But once you've tasted them and been told you too can have them all the time, it's hard to go back to hamburgers, if you know what I mean. As delicious as hamburgers are.

(and I didn't even mention a game. I have 22 of which only 4 are available. :-/)

Dreams, try this site to look for alts. alternativeTo

Found a ton of apps or alternatives to apps I was used to when I moved from iOS. For Urban Spoon, you'll use Local Scout, which is built into the OS, one of the reasons lots of phones got "smoked" because its pretty easy to use. I know you'll definitely find some decent alts for a guitar tuner, instagram (tons of photo filtering apps in Marketplace, Apict, Fhotoroom. EyeEm), tons of RSS aggregators, Weave is my favorite, but there's a ton of I've used, Fuse, Flud, Pulse, Zen News Reader) I've seen more than a few media streaming apps, but never really used any. HBO you're SOL for now. And as for music options, uh, Zune Pass or XBOX Music will serve 30 million tracks. I've used the Pass for 5 years or so now, nothing beats it, and its integrated into the OS as well, hear a song you want, hit search, bing music it, hit your marketplace link, and download/stream. Also you'll have Nokia Music as a free option, don't know if it's good, don't have a Lumia yet, but there ya go. Options.
 
Also: Skulls of the Shogun is coming to WP.

I can't wait to play it async with my friends, be it in the gym between sets on my phone, at home on the 360 or in bed on my surface.

That shit sounds awesome to me.
 
I just got into Pocket (read it later) few days ago and really wondered how I'll get that on Windows Phone ...
Late Reader

It's a little sparse on features, but it works well enough.


Put me in the group that's asking for better 3rd party developer support for WP, the ecosystem is a huge part of keeping the a smartphone OS fresh. It doesn't matter if the 920 has the monster camera it does, mainstream acceptance of WP8 is never going to take off if app parity isn't there with Android/iOS.

WP deserves to do well, it's slick, well designed, and integrates particularly well with social media. It's a little lacking in functionality but the user experience is so good I'm fine with MS patching in improvements later (as they've shown in WP8 with stuff like lock screen notifications). This is a complete reversal of my Android experience where OS functionality is miles ahead of the other OSes but the entire OS just looks and feels kludgy. To have potential users turned away from it because of weak 3rd party support is just a goddamn shame.

FWIW I think Win8 will improve WP8's chances, millions of users will be exposed to the Metro interface and they'll feel a little bit more familiar with WP8 phones. Once people start buying into WP8, you'll see dev support take off and with any luck WP's woeful dev support should be a thing of the past. Just wild conjecture on my part, of course.
 
...
FWIW I think Win8 will improve WP8's chances, millions of users will be exposed to the Metro interface and they'll feel a little bit more familiar with WP8 phones. Once people start buying into WP8, you'll see dev support take off and with any luck WP's woeful dev support should be a thing of the past. Just wild conjecture on my part, of course.

You say that is if MS has experience in injecting themselves into a new market with established dominant players and over a couple of iterations engineered an extremely successful and innovative marketplace presence with great dev support.
 
You say that is if MS has experience in injecting themselves into a new market with established dominant players and over a couple of iterations engineered an extremely successful and innovative marketplace presence with great dev support.

sneaky reference to Xbox360?
 
sneaky reference to Xbox360?

well yea... :)

I mean WP is what? 21 mos old? now moving to a new OS and integrated W8 and W8 tablet strategy with outlook.com, office 15, Bing, Xbox Live, Xbox Music, Nokia maps, skydrive, better dev tools and current hardware specs? I see a trend.

Once again behind the curve at the outset, but Redmond knows what the hell they are doing.
 
been pudging around both iOS 6 on ip5 and WP7 Lumia 900 for several hours at a ATT store today.

Just to get a feel for the "Other side of this equation"


hero.jpg


one thing that puzzled me about iOS is the lack of

a dedicated back and settings button it's hard just to get around the OS
does real multitasking exist on the ip5/ ios6 ? meaning skype call/IM and downloading a file thru dropbox, while browsing the web, while pandora ? and having everything run seamlessly in real time ?
it's still as locked down as ever in terms of UI, unless you JB it

Siri is still a gimmick ?

a pro would be nothing much has changed in the home screen (zombie mode) a complete tech illiterate person would be able to do most things just fine
but it's been that way since 2007


granted I had a ipod touch back in 2009 but not much has changed at all


logo_windows_phone_v.jpg

oh boy where to even start
- there were almost no apps in the store ? jesus....
- no real notifications system/bar besides the live tiles, while unified in there UI still feel like bastardized widgets
- why are there so many bold faced WORDS all over the screen ?
- email app looked terrible to me, screwy fonts and spacing
- nothing made sense, how the hell do you even multi-task ?
- the app drawer is a frigging list ?
- why do I have to scroll so much ?

I hope they make it a more win 7 - 8 experience in the future, less scrolling, and further improvements, it feels like a beta mobile OS for now (sry WP7 folks)


jb-new-logo.png

has had it's fair share of short comings, and you have to take the time to harness and realize it's power and potential, installing roms, tweaking apps, settings, installing the right apps, choosing a theme, etc I mean with the right mixture I bet you can get both the iOS and WP7 UI to be your main android UI ( should you chose it), it's all up to you

but I believe it is the most well rounded OS of the three and offers the most in terms of "features" and UI

in summary the following

iOS - everything is perfect just the way it is (at least according to apple) and most people don't seem to mind... either so kudos to them

WP7- Mr. Fancy Pants Metro (I have no idea what the hell they are trying to do here it looks slick but at what cost ? it's hard to navigate around the OS just in general)

Android - if you like to tinker with stuff and make nearly everything how you want it, when you want it ( theres no substitute ) at least not for now

but also in short I just find it tremendously faster and easier just to do every day simple shit and do it with multiple things and apps running at once
such as watching a youtube video or local video while browsing the web then switching to email at the same time.

I guess it's the most "traditional computer" like experience of all 3 and I like having most of the flexibility of that computing power in my pocket.

what I really want and would love in the future ? just give me full on windows 8 Pro x86 on my phones please ? and let me run EXEs I will drop android like a bad habit (ok maybe I'll dual boot it)

maybe a windows surface pro phone 8 would be fucking awesome with x86 and full Desktop OS capabilities I mean I bet the next "Note phone" will be 7 inches.

if all mobile devices are becoming more and more powerful, some even rivaling laptops
it should be able to run desktop level "apps" AHEM PROGRAMS
 
In order to get a good grasp of an OS, you should really use it as a daily driver for more than a couple of hours at an AT&T store....just saying.
 
oh boy where to even start

The experience you are looking for puts you in the minority of smartphone users. That's why there are other choices but to write one of the two off as useless because they do not have what you are comfortable with is shortsighted of the marketplace (and the true OS experience)
 
well yea... :)

I mean WP is what? 21 mos old? now moving to a new OS and integrated W8 and W8 tablet strategy with outlook.com, office 15, Bing, Xbox Live, Xbox Music, Nokia maps, skydrive, better dev tools and current hardware specs? I see a trend.

Once again behind the curve at the outset, but Redmond knows what the hell they are doing.

Windows Phone as a general strategy at MS is a lot older than 21 months. I had a windows mobile (WinCE-based) phone back in like 2003. It actually wasn't that bad, mostly hampered by bad touch screen tech. Had a version of IE that was in some ways better than the terribly stagnated at the time IE5 even.

But doubting MS' persistence is definitely not something anyone should do, least of all Google or Apple. The current truce between Apple and MS is basically the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact of the tech industry.
 
Is this phone comparison thread or camera wars?

Yes, the 920 can take a good picture.

When you're friends are asking you to play the latest game or showing you how to extend the functionally of their phone with a cool app you'll be able to take a nice picture in the dark.

I'm confused, are you trying to say apps cannot be written for the 920, because I sure as shit know if your phones camera is shit there's fuck all you can do about it...
 
been pudging around both iOS 6 on ip5 and WP7 Lumia 900 for several hours at a ATT store today.

Just to get a feel for the "Other side of this equation"


hero.jpg


one thing that puzzled me about iOS is the lack of

a dedicated back and settings button it's hard just to get around the OS
does real multitasking exist on the ip5/ ios6 ? meaning skype call/IM and downloading a file thru dropbox, while browsing the web, while pandora ? and having everything run seamlessly in real time ?
it's still as locked down as ever in terms of UI, unless you JB it

Siri is still a gimmick ?

a pro would be nothing much has changed in the home screen (zombie mode) a complete tech illiterate person would be able to do most things just fine
but it's been that way since 2007


granted I had a ipod touch back in 2009 but not much has changed at all


logo_windows_phone_v.jpg

oh boy where to even start
- there were almost no apps in the store ? jesus....
- no real notifications system/bar besides the live tiles, while unified in there UI still feel like bastardized widgets
- why are there so many bold faced WORDS all over the screen ?
- email app looked terrible to me, screwy fonts and spacing
- nothing made sense, how the hell do you even multi-task ?
- the app drawer is a frigging list ?
- why do I have to scroll so much ?

I hope they make it a more win 7 - 8 experience in the future, less scrolling, and further improvements, it feels like a beta mobile OS for now (sry WP7 folks)


jb-new-logo.png

has had it's fair share of short comings, and you have to take the time to harness and realize it's power and potential, installing roms, tweaking apps, settings, installing the right apps, choosing a theme, etc I mean with the right mixture I bet you can get both the iOS and WP7 UI to be your main android UI ( should you chose it), it's all up to you

but I believe it is the most well rounded OS of the three and offers the most in terms of "features" and UI

in summary the following

iOS - everything is perfect just the way it is (at least according to apple) and most people don't seem to mind... either so kudos to them

WP7- Mr. Fancy Pants Metro (I have no idea what the hell they are trying to do here it looks slick but at what cost ? it's hard to navigate around the OS just in general)

Android - if you like to tinker with stuff and make nearly everything how you want it, when you want it ( theres no substitute ) at least not for now

but also in short I just find it tremendously faster and easier just to do every day simple shit and do it with multiple things and apps running at once
such as watching a youtube video or local video while browsing the web then switching to email at the same time.

I guess it's the most "traditional computer" like experience of all 3 and I like having most of the flexibility of that computing power in my pocket.

what I really want and would love in the future ? just give me full on windows 8 Pro x86 on my phones please ? and let me run EXEs I will drop android like a bad habit (ok maybe I'll dual boot it)

maybe a windows surface pro phone 8 would be fucking awesome with x86 and full Desktop OS capabilities I mean I bet the next "Note phone" will be 7 inches.

if all mobile devices are becoming more and more powerful, some even rivaling laptops
it should be able to run desktop level "apps" AHEM PROGRAMS

So in other words, you are used to iOS and Android but you have never used WP before?
 
Windows Phone as a general strategy at MS is a lot older than 21 months. I had a windows mobile (WinCE-based) phone back in like 2003. It actually wasn't that bad, mostly hampered by bad touch screen tech. Had a version of IE that was in some ways better than the terribly stagnated at the time IE5 even.

true but I see Windows mobile as xbox1, WP7.5 as x360 and WP8 as xbox infiniti. ;)

But doubting MS' persistence is definitely not something anyone should do, least of all Google or Apple. The current truce between Apple and MS is basically the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact of the tech industry.

haha, war is coming. Must survive Google first
 
been pudging around both iOS 6 on ip5 and WP7 Lumia 900 for several hours at a ATT store today.

Just to get a feel for the "Other side of this equation"


hero.jpg


one thing that puzzled me about iOS is the lack of

a dedicated back and settings button it's hard just to get around the OS
does real multitasking exist on the ip5/ ios6 ? meaning skype call/IM and downloading a file thru dropbox, while browsing the web, while pandora ? and having everything run seamlessly in real time ?
it's still as locked down as ever in terms of UI, unless you JB it

Siri is still a gimmick ?

a pro would be nothing much has changed in the home screen (zombie mode) a complete tech illiterate person would be able to do most things just fine
but it's been that way since 2007


granted I had a ipod touch back in 2009 but not much has changed at all
I can answer some of these as a 5-year iPhone vet:

1.) In most appliactions, "back" is always in the top-left hand corner of the screen. In fact, I don't think I've used an app that required back/forth movement that didn't have back in the top-left. As such, it basically does have a dedicated back button. If an app needs it, it will always be in that very predictable location. Getting back to the main screen is always the Home button.

2.) Yes, you can really multitask in iOS. You can listen to pandora while copying something from Dropbox while browsing the web while on a Phone call (if on AT&T). Apps that run video (Facetime, Skype) will be paused if you switch to another app, however (I do think you can play music while on a phone call, but I can't remember atm). Music playing in Pandora will always pause if you open something else that plays audio (say, a youtube video). But yes, most programs that you'd expect to run in the background (music/radio apps, etc.) continue to do so when minimized. As long as they're in the task tray or whatever it's called, you can usually pick up right where you left off.

3.) Siri is not a gimmick, but you can't always ask it anything. Like the Google solution, it can provide answers to specific questions, set calendar dates, reminders, send text messages and e-mails, make phone calls, etc. If your diction is clear, you'll rarely have issues with it. That being said, whether it is a gimmick or not IMO is a function of whether or not you have any interest in talking to your phone. If you never use it, it mine as well be a gimmick, you know? But it works well enough in my experiences. Sometimes Apple's servers get loaded down and Siri's response time slows. Otherwise, it's pretty decent these days.

4.) I think most of us who have had iPhones for awhile would like to see some sort of evolution of the home and lock screens. Until then, jailbreaking provides all of the customization people could want. Widgets, folders in folders, custom icons, video wallpaper, lockscreen widgets, default browser selections, fake locations, etc.


Dreams, try this site to look for alts. alternativeTo

Found a ton of apps or alternatives to apps I was used to when I moved from iOS. For Urban Spoon, you'll use Local Scout, which is built into the OS, one of the reasons lots of phones got "smoked" because its pretty easy to use. I know you'll definitely find some decent alts for a guitar tuner, instagram (tons of photo filtering apps in Marketplace, Apict, Fhotoroom. EyeEm), tons of RSS aggregators, Weave is my favorite, but there's a ton of I've used, Fuse, Flud, Pulse, Zen News Reader) I've seen more than a few media streaming apps, but never really used any. HBO you're SOL for now. And as for music options, uh, Zune Pass or XBOX Music will serve 30 million tracks. I've used the Pass for 5 years or so now, nothing beats it, and its integrated into the OS as well, hear a song you want, hit search, bing music it, hit your marketplace link, and download/stream. Also you'll have Nokia Music as a free option, don't know if it's good, don't have a Lumia yet, but there ya go. Options.
cool thanks I'll check it out in the morning.

oh and yea I use Pulse on my Android tablet, so it's good to see at least that's available. Not my favorite, but certainly sufficient.
 
Uh... that kinda spins itself there. Half of people who are going to buy a smartphone in the next 6 months are buying an android? Android buyers are extremely likely to see themselves as brand leaders (and thus probably also evangelists)?

That seems rather designed to give everyone something to cheer about, actually.
 
Uh... that kinda spins itself there. Half of people who are going to buy a smartphone in the next 6 months are buying an android? Android buyers are extremely likely to see themselves as brand leaders (and thus probably also evangelists)?

That seems rather designed to give everyone something to cheer about, actually.

Hahaha, yeah I actually saw it on droiddog and they had shown the top part only (i.e. that it's 2.4x times more likely for Android to switch to iPhone than vice versa), but then when I looked for the source I saw there was much more stuff.

Droiddog argues (and I somewhat agree) that the reason for the above is that people in the next six months are coming from a 2 year contract, when the market was flooded with cheap Wildfire-like phones, probably running FroYo and forgotten by the manufacturer which would give their owners a bitter taste of Android.
 
Well, depending on when the survey was taken it probably also just has to do with the product cycles themselves. The iPhone5 just came out but the next 'hot' Android phone is a ways away. The S3's lustre has worn off, the next Nexus is as yet unannounced, the S4 is a little under a year away, I don't think the next RAZR has a street date, etc.
 
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6334/iphone-5-screen-performance

""Wrapping up, the iPhone 5 display is a whole quantum leap better than the display on the iPhone 4. Contrast levels and light output have both been increased, and color performance is astonishing. The full sRGB gamut is present here, and color errors are remarkably low for a even a high end desktop display. While many were hoping for a move to OLED or some other screen innovation, this really is a huge step up that is very easy to quantify. To put this in perspective, in the past few years I've reviewed probably 30-40 different displays, from PC monitors, to TVs to projectors. Not a single one, out of the box, can put up the Gretag Macbeth dE numbers that the iPhone can, and perhaps one projector (which listed for $20,000) can approach the grayscale and color accuracy out of the box.

Apple obviously has very high control over what parts they use and what comes off their assembly lines. I don't know if they are having the displays individually adjusted after they are assembled, or if the quality control is very strict, or if I just got a really remarkably lucky sample. I do know that if TV and PC Monitor vendors were able to provide displays that looked like this out of the box, professional calibrators would lose a good amount of business potentially. The new panel in the iPhone 5 is simply remarkable in quality and if it were a PC monitor, I'd give it a Gold Award on the basis of it's performance..""
 
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