Smartphones

Nokia 920 and Windows Phone 8 Initial Thoughts – Mini Review

November 11, 2012 by Wayne Schulz

Yesterday I purchased a Nokia Lumia 920 Windows Phone 8 device (my own money – not one of those freebie loaners web sites obtain and are ~~somewhat~~ indebted to positively review the smartphone they can continue to receive free loaner phones in the future) .

My reasons for upgrading from an Android (Galaxy Nexus) were as much out of boredom over the lack of new features (no LTE??) of the just announced Nexus 4 (due 11/13) as my desire to give Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 another trial.

I know I face lack of apps and that the Nokia 920 is being knocked as being a big fatty (the phone has gathered many mentions about it being much heavier than competitors). I’m willing to see what developers in the Windows Phone Marketplace — and the weight of the Nokia 920 is not of concern to me (though you should test it by visiting your nearby AT&T store).

So far I have two big disappointments that Microsoft will need to pay attention to pretty quickly.

A. The Windows Phone 8 Facebook application is awful – not only is it the slowest loading app on the phone – the UI looks like a 1.0 attempt. Microsoft is NEVER going to attract the younger crowd with this type of shoddy application. If you are a Facebook addict this phone is probably not for you (at least not until Windows Phone gets an upgraded app which puts it on par with the apps available for iOS and Android).

Tip: Use http://touch.facebook.com for a much better Facebook experience (except for images which don’t appear to resize properly)

B. The integrated messaging (SMS/IM) works with Microsoft Live Messenger and Facebook. It’s one of my favorite Windows Phone features — however when using Facebook messaging through the WP8 messaging app it does not support group messaging nor does it provide read receipts or location info (Which both the iOS and Android apps support).

In order to use group messaging on Facebook you must open the dreadful WP8 full Facebook app and sit through it’s slow startup time. I’m also not sure whether all the notifications of new messages through the dreadful WP8 Facebook application are actually alerting me.

This area is disappointing especially since it seems easily fixable. I only hope Microsoft hasn’t left it unfixed so they can play the “use the stack of Microsoft services” game which they love to play….

If Microsoft plays the stack game — aka ecosystem game — and requires WP8 users to pony up and migrate to Microsoft applications in order to use fairly common functionality such as group messaging (which is available in Microsoft Messenger and also a confusing “Rooms” application) then I believe Windows Phone 8 has a high probability of failing (or at least not obtaining meaningful market share).

A third issue is going to be the Windows Marketplace. Microsoft will have to pay much closer attention to getting the top apps (think Instagram, Twitter) onto WP8 and to do this pronto. It’s a little odd that even though this is the third major release of Windows Phone there are still these major apps that are absent from the platform.

Navigation wise the phone is very nice and most functions are not buried too deeply in the system (although I am struggling with learning how to quickly access photos after they’ve been taken – which seems to require way too many clicks). I have not found the weight of the phone to be a problem though I’m not immediately impressed with battery life which seems to barely get me through the day. Picture seem good but not head and shoulders above my iPhone 5.

I purchased the phone for $99 (included free charging base which was out of stock and they are shipping directly to my home) at my Glastonbury CT AT&T store and though I usually shun the retail stores due to bad experiences I have to admit that the salesperson was extremely knowledgeable and helpful

I’ve found that it takes at least a full week before the newness of a new device wears off and you can see the missing features that you overlooked upon the initial use. I’ll use the link below to provide some more in-depth observations as my usage progresses past the honeymoon period.

Nokia 920 Pros, Cons, Observations

Deal of The Day: Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ – $349 – No Contract, No Crapware, No Kidding

June 28, 2012 by Wayne Schulz

If you’re in the market for a new cell phone – either for yourself or someone in your family – you can’t go wrong with the Galaxy Nexus.

This Android based phone is an official “Nexus” device from Google which means it obtains the latest operating upgrades (such as Jelly Bean – aka Android 4.1) much faster than other Android devices which are often loaded with bloat and “skins” to tailor the phone to be more of a unique experience.

The downside of buying a heavily skinned Android phone from a manufacturer such as Samsung or HTC is that you often wait forever to obtain the latest Android updates.

The Galaxy Nexus is a GSM phone. It supports both AT&T and T-Mobile’s high speed HSPA+ frequencies in America. For $349 you are receiving the phone WITHOUT any contract.

Pair this smartphone up with a no-contrat plan from Straight Talk – http://www.straighttalksim.com – and for $45/mo you’ll have unlimited everything including data (Tip: The unlimited really seems to mean 2 GB / mo and/or about 100 MB per day).

Galaxy Nexus Price Cut – $349

Prepaid iPhone Might Save You $1,000 Despite Higher Initial Cost

June 8, 2012 by Wayne Schulz

Here’s a nice comparison chart from Cult of Mac showing that you can save about $700 over the 2 year cost of an iPhone 4S by choosing prepaid. The cost savings would rise to $1,000 if you go with Virgin’s lowest cost $30/mo for 300 minute plan.

One caveat – prepaid phones typically don’t roam. We often take cell service for granted and due to roaming agreements aren’t even aware of some occasions when our service is being provided by a roaming partner.

Another option not listed is Straight Talk which provides for $45/mo unlimited voice, text, data although you’d have to bring your own unlocked iPhone and the data is strictly capped at about 2 GB per month or 100 mb per day.

Source

T-Mobile Data Roaming Changes April 2012 Create Opportunity To Leave Without ETF

February 24, 2012 by Wayne Schulz

On April 5, 2012 T-Mobile will change the amount of data that a subscriber may consume while roaming off the parent network. Users on a standard data plan allowing for 5 GB of use will only be able to roam with up to 100 MB of data. This change can have a more severe impact than you might imagine because if T-Mobile does not have coverage in your town you may be roaming to another carrier and in that case you could find starting 4/5/12 that your data limits are sharply curtailed.

Some eager eyed deal hunters spotted this change (which T-Mobile have also posted online here) and have been calling T-Mobile asking to be released from their contracts ETF (Early Termination Fee) free.

In most cases if your cell phone provider materially changes the terms of your contract you will have a chance to exit the contract – even if you are in the middle or beginning of its term.

If this change applies to you – and you want to exit your contract early – then call T-Mobile to request the termination without fees due to this change. Depending upon the representative who answers the phone this process may be easy — or it may require several calls. In the past with similar changes those who called early in the process (before word spreads on the Internet) seem to have an easier time.

You are likely to encounter resistance if you have not used data roaming on your account in the past – though sometimes this can be overcome by calling repeatedly or also filing a Better Business Bureau complaint.

Fatwallet via Wayne Schulz

Stop Tedious Business Card Data Entry – Use QR Codes Instead

June 22, 2011 by Wayne Schulz

Does this sound familiar?

You rush around at conferences collecting business cards from exhibitors and your peers. In the back of your mind you promise that just as soon as you get back to the office you’ll key in all those contacts to your computer.

Did you know there’s an easier way to enter in that contact information?

Some business cards and advertisements now contain a tiny bar code symbol called a QR code. This is Quick Response code. They bar codes can embed more than what they’ve been traditionally used for — either inventory item numbers or tracking numbers.

Using a free web site like ZXing you can input your own contact data and create a free bar code.

Here’s my contact information that I’ve created using the site above.

Now all you need is free scanning software for your smartphone. On Android I use Bar Code Scanner and on iPhone Red Laser is good (both are free).

Once you start the scanning application on your smartphone you simply hold it over the QR image and within seconds if the QR code contains address and contact information that data will display on your phone.

There are obviously some challenges to this concept of doing away with re-keying business cards – mainly that people need to use the QR codes on their cards and your smartphone (assuming you have one) needs free third party scanner software.

Gradually we (hopefully?) ‘ll see more widespread adoption of QR codes – and less re-keying.

Via: Sage Summit 2011 Diary

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