Mobile phones & tablets thread

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Originally Posted by Mark

Time will tell how Windows 8 turns out. The big thing is the apps. If they can boast the same apps as iOS and Android (or better!) they will be on solid ground, if not...

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MS needs to match the commoner apps that iOS and Android have, but in order to gain market share they need to remember to focus on customer experience.

I met up with a few friends last night roughly split equally between Android and iPhone users. None of the iPhone users had noticed any drop in performance despite iOS updates. All of the Android users who had bought their phones before ICS came out had noticed a slowdown with the new OS update, and most of them had high end handsets. Given that ICS was actually finished over a year ago the phones we'd bought would have been the ones Google had worked on when writing the new OS, yet it beggars belief that those handsets can't run it smoothly.

I know Google is an engineering lead company and Android is a great OS, however they need to remember that not everyone has the latest top end phone. Most people have phones that are at least one, maybe two years old and if their new updated OS ruins their phone word is going to spread quickly. Will they learn for their next OS update? Do I want to be a guinea pig to find out?

That leaves me in a conundrum. I'm disappointed by Android but if Apple is going to charge a hefty premium for the iPhone 5 then I'm not really too interested. I might therefore take a look at the Windows phones on offer and the Nokia will be one of them especially if the camera is as good as they claim. Time for a test drive...

I think the win 8 phones will do well. Especially since i think from a user friendly point of view, it seems
like a good idea to have the same OS on "all" (phone tablet & pc) units. But i also think that a shared OS
will lead to easier integration in (home) networks.

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Originally Posted by henners88

If thats more than you want to spend, I would look at possibly the Samsung S3 as the deals now are really good value IMO.

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I refuse to buy Samsungs out of principle so the S3 is out. Will give the new HTCs and Nokias a good look though.

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Originally Posted by henners88

I don't dislike the look of them, but wouldn't buy one out of choice.

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why not?

I was sort of looking into WP phones but a couple of deal breakers surfaced, apparently I wouldn't be able to use my bluetooth heart rate belt, because the idiot box doens't allow connections outside phone-operations from non-MS software.
Another gem is the lack of real multitasking for non MS software, no point getting one if I can't use Putty in the backround.

It's back to dreaming of a Nokia N950 then. :)

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Originally Posted by janneppi

why not?

I was sort of looking into WP phones but a couple of deal breakers surfaced, apparently I wouldn't be able to use my bluetooth heart rate belt, because the idiot box doens't allow connections outside phone-operations from non-MS software.
Another gem is the lack of real multitasking for non MS software, no point getting one if I can't use Putty in the backround.

It's back to dreaming of a Nokia N950 then. :)

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Are you sure? Leaked Windows Phone 8 SDK confirms Peer to Peer Bluetooth functionality | WMPoweruser

What's putty?

Depends what you mean by real multitasking. At launch Windows Phone 7 didn't really support multitasking at all, with the Mango update (7.5) apps like LastFM now run whilst other apps are being used and under the lock screen, prior to this you had to keep it open and couldn't use anything else which was quite annoying. With Windows Phone 8, you will have real multitasking comparable to that which Android has (and iOS doesn't currently fnar fnar!).

Microsoft brings true, background multitasking to Windows Phone 8 -- Engadget

I like my WP7 handsets, but truth be told I have to admit there are some dealbreakers for people who have specific needs such as BT heart monitors, but for the average user they're fine. Windows Phone 8 however is a different story and will offer a proper set of features so suit most people out there.

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Originally Posted by Daniel

Are you sure? Leaked Windows Phone 8 SDK confirms Peer to Peer Bluetooth functionality | WMPoweruser

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That would be a good thing, especially when this has been a standard in devices I've used for five years.

Quote:

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What's putty?


Depends what you mean by real multitasking. At launch Windows Phone 7 didn't really support multitasking at all, with the Mango update (7.5) apps like LastFM now run whilst other apps are being used and under the lock screen, prior to this you had to keep it open and couldn't use anything else which was quite annoying. With Windows Phone 8, you will have real multitasking comparable to that which Android has (and iOS doesn't currently fnar fnar!).

Microsoft brings true, background multitasking to Windows Phone 8 -- Engadget

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PuTTY - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
My connection to a dedicated machine where I run a IRC server process.(Or something like that)

If W8 has proper multitasking that's not dependent of what program I want run, then good.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by janneppi

That would be a good thing, especially when this has been a standard in devices I've used for five years.


PuTTY - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
My connection to a dedicated machine where I run a IRC server process.(Or something like that)

If W8 has proper multitasking that's not dependent of what program I want run, then good.

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For some reason the wmpoweruser site is going up and down today so I've linked to a cached page. Is this what you're looking for?
Its here! The SSH client for Windows Phone 7.5! | WMPoweruser This runs under the lock screen in WP7, but in WP8 if it was written properly then it would run in the background properly :)

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Originally Posted by henners88

I suppose I don't want to gamble and be stuck for 2 years with a phone I don't like. Everyone used to have Nokia's a few years back but I don't know anybody with one anymore.

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Yeah, iphones seemed to have really taken over Nokia's for the Mondeo man's phone.

Didn't you just complain on the fitness thread you need to save money to have a kid, what are you doing switching to new expensive phone? ;)

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Originally Posted by Malbec

MS needs to match the commoner apps that iOS and Android have, but in order to gain market share they need to remember to focus on customer experience.

I met up with a few friends last night roughly split equally between Android and iPhone users. None of the iPhone users had noticed any drop in performance despite iOS updates. All of the Android users who had bought their phones before ICS came out had noticed a slowdown with the new OS update, and most of them had high end handsets. Given that ICS was actually finished over a year ago the phones we'd bought would have been the ones Google had worked on when writing the new OS, yet it beggars belief that those handsets can't run it smoothly.

I know Google is an engineering lead company and Android is a great OS, however they need to remember that not everyone has the latest top end phone. Most people have phones that are at least one, maybe two years old and if their new updated OS ruins their phone word is going to spread quickly. Will they learn for their next OS update? Do I want to be a guinea pig to find out?

That leaves me in a conundrum. I'm disappointed by Android but if Apple is going to charge a hefty premium for the iPhone 5 then I'm not really too interested. I might therefore take a look at the Windows phones on offer and the Nokia will be one of them especially if the camera is as good as they claim. Time for a test drive...

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And who is forcing people with 2 years old phones to install the latest Android version?!
It's like complaining that a 2GB laptop can not run Windows 7 smoothly.
It should be common sense dammit.

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Originally Posted by ioan

And who is forcing people with 2 years old phones to install the latest Android version?!
It's like complaining that a 2GB laptop can not run Windows 7 smoothly.
It should be common sense dammit.

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You show a level of condescension in your post that displays a lack of knowledge of how things happen in reality.

An upgrade to the latest version of Windows requires either a trip to the shops or a download and install, both voluntary acts correct?

With an android phone you are merely informed that there is an OS update available and that you are strongly recommended to download it. No more information is given.

In the past this has included small security or bug fixes and minor OS upgrades, things you wouldn't want to miss. Therefore when I received the latest upgrade recommendation earlier this year I had little reason to suspect it would be anything different especially since my phone provider had already expressed strong reservations about ICS and I didn't believe they would pass it on to the customer.

You may also want to query why some phone makers such as Sony have flat out refused to allow ICS updates onto their old models as they believe it to be substandard as an overall customer experience. Has that happened with Windows?