Nokia Lumia 900 reviews are out. A look at why Nokia and Microsoft have a problem with the device and the platform when it comes to reviews and reviewers. Perception is reality, right? The Problem with Reviewing the Nokia Lumia 900
Plex, the “media center” software application built for a multitude of devices, has a Windows Phone app now. They wrote up a blog post about it and while I am excited that there is a WP7 app now, it was heartening to see the praise they had for WP7 both from a user’s perspective as well as from a developer’s perspective.
There are so many gems in that post, I felt compelled to not only write this blog post, but highlight a bunch of the gems from the post:
Android phones never managed to capture my interest. They just looked and felt like bad photocopies of the iPhone, and didn’t offer anything new I was interested in, like the ability to install a custom theme that looked even uglier than the default, or download torrents on my phone, or play a Matrix animation in the background, or remove my battery, or spend time killing random processes, or over-clock my CPU, or any other beardy sort of thing.
Fast-forward to this January, I ordered a second hand Samsung device to help with development, and promptly fell in love with it.
As much as Android felt like (poorly) recycled ideas and bad new ones, Windows Phone felt original, well designed, and fun to use.
The performance was great, really smooth in a way iOS is and Android isn’t even in ICS.[Ice Cream Sandwich, or Android 4.0, from a Windows Phone User's Perspective (my Techie Buzz post from earlier)]
The “pivot” and “panorama” UI concepts were fresh and a great way of making good use of a small screen in portrait mode. The typography was clean and brazen.
The integration of Facebook and Twitter made them feel like first class citizens, not an afterthought.
The live tiles on the home screen were a great way to make the phone feel alive.
But the iPhone felt staid, for lack of a better word. I wanted to be able to pin a few email folders to my home screen and watch them update live. I wanted to see all my social updates in a more integrated way. I missed being able to go to a contact (which I could also pin to my home screen), and easily see the conversations (Facebook, or SMS) I was having with them, and recent photos they’d uploaded.
The iOS development environment is quite good, with the weakest link being Objective-C, which has a steep learning curve and feels like it stepped out of the 80s with a cocaine hangover.
Android, oh, Android, I don’t mean to pick on you once again, but your edit-build-deploy cycle is long enough to make a grown man cry, and then stab himself in the eyeballs, and then cry some more. Java is fine, but the surrounding environment and piss-poor emulator makes it much harder to develop for than it should be.
So how is the Windows Phone development environment? It’s scary good. C# is a great language, .NET is a solid framework, XAML is a really nice way to design user interfaces, and the edit-build-deploy cycle is fast.
We were able to write the [WP7] app from start to finish in two months, between two engineers working part time, which is almost an order of magnitude faster than it took for the iOS and Android app.Related (linked to from the blog post):
58 minutes later an a new wp7 Instagram client is born. I think that's a record for me (but #nuget helped me along the way)— Bil Simser (@bsimser) January 13, 2012
My last thought on Windows Phone is that it’s got all the ingredients it needs to be successful: It’s a fun, useful, well-designed platform, with sexy (Nokia) hardware, and it’s as good for developers as it is for users. It deserves much more marketshare than it has, and Microsoft seems to be making most of the right moves (about time).Since I use WP7 all day and follow a bunch of WP7 developers on twitter, I am very well aware of all these benefits. I am glad the folks at Plex thought of putting all these thoughts on their blog.
Hope to see many others release their WP7 apps. Are you listening, Instagram?
Does Tango restrict developer capability so apps can target lower-end (256MB) devices? Per Justin Angel, Principal Engr at Nokia, not really.
Since Windows 8 Consumer Preview was released, there has been a lot of noise about usability. Is it justified?
Windows Live now allows you to connect to Google to keep contacts in sync. Is this is prepration for native support of Google services in WP7/W8?
Windows Live Now Connects to Google Contacts: Google Talk Coming to Windows Phone and Windows 8?
Microsoft announces major upgrades to SkyDrive coming with Windows 8, making personal cloud and device cloud a reality.
A Truckload of Wholesome Updates Confirmed Coming to SkyDrive
Microsoft has built the environment and the OS. Will OEMs and developers complete their bit and make Windows 8 tablets succeed?
Windows 8 is a tremendous opportunity for developers. Smart developers would be building for Windows 8 already. Are you one of them?
Windows Store Games revealed ahead of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview (Beta).
wrapping up the week with three thoughts based on news from yesterday.
— Frank X. Shaw (@fxshaw) January 21, 2012
1. If you write a novel in Word, we promise not to take a 30% cut zd.net/zVXyuC
— Frank X. Shaw (@fxshaw) January 21, 2012
2. Likewise, if you deliver a speech in PowerPoint, we promise not to take 30% of your speaking fees bit.ly/ycGugt
— Frank X. Shaw (@fxshaw) January 21, 2012
heading into the weekend, just three thoughts spurred by news from yesterday.
— Frank X. Shaw (@fxshaw) January 21, 2012
3. if you manage your finances in Excel, we promise not to take 30% of your income bit.ly/yvAyay
— Frank X. Shaw (@fxshaw) January 21, 2012
My interview with Ben Rudolph who architected the #smokedbywindowsphone campaign at CES 2012 in Las Vegas.
Interview with Ben Rudolph, the Architect of #smokedbywindowsphone
Hands on with Nokia Drive and Nokia Transport, two location-based apps which come with Nokia Windows Phone devices.
Video of the ESPN app for Nokia Windows Phones.
I was able to get some pictures of the Nokia Lumia 900 at the Nokia booth at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
Microsoft’s Ben Rudolph runs yet another awesome campaign to show non-Windows Phone users how they phone is slower than Windows Phone. Puts $100 on it!
After a blog post created large-scale uproar, Microsoft clarifies the state of Windows Phone updates. It’s business as usual.
Windows Phone Executive: It’s “Business as Usual” with Windows Phone Updates
Windows Phone engineering team did a fantastic job after NoDo update fiasco - increased transparency and forced carriers/OEMs to synchronize. Sadly, that story seems to be ending.
My wish list for Windows Phone for 2012.
Wow. The #droidrage promo that Ben Rudolph ran a couple of days back, got 3,200 tweets in about 30 hours! That's 2 tweets per minute!
I guess Android owners are not too satisfied with their phones, eh? Must be the low-class nature of their existence? (I keeeeed, I keeeeeed!)
Wow, lots of #droidrage out there. 3,200+ people shared Android horror stories with @BenThePCGuy with hopes for a #windowsphone.
— Bill Cox (@billcox) December 15, 2011
BTW, those 3,200+ #droidrage horror stories all came in just 30 hours... nearly two responses every minute.
— Bill Cox (@billcox) December 15, 2011
Steve Ballmer moves Andy Lees out of his position as President of Windows Phone. Terry Myerson takes over for Andy Lees, who moves to an interesting role.
Windows Phone Executive Shakeup: Andy Lees Out, Terry Myerson In
Windows Phone social champion Ben Rudolph (@BenThePCGuy on twitter) runs a promotion to offer Windows Phone for angry Android users.
Got #droidrage? Tweet to Get Your Android Replaced with a Windows Phone
Verizon Wireless wants Microsoft to include LTE in Windows Phone. Microsoft will need to react or else risk being cut off from the largest US network.
Verizon Wireless, Windows Phone, LTE and Microsoft’s Mobile Strategy Problem
The Valley Fair Microsoft Store opened last week. I intended to go for the opening, but saw the long lines being reported, and decided not to bother.
So finally, today I went to check the store out. It is almost exactly opposite the Apple Store in Valley Fair, but I didn't care about that too much. My idea was the check out the Microsoft Store and see if there is anything to like, and then compare the experience to that of being in an Apple Store.
The store is big, and has a lot of open space. The first thing you see from the outside is a bunch of people playing Dance Central on the Kinect. That is clearly the crowd-puller, both to get the people to come in, and also to get people to gather around.
As you enter, you notice the red color like the new Windows Phone theme across the entire store. You also notice video running on the giant screen that wraps the store. It has videos of Windows Phone, Xbox games, PCs, etc. showing in a loop.
Another thing I immediately noticed was the familiar fonts from Windows Phone and elsewhere, identifying the various sections in the store, like Windows Phone, Xbox and accessories, Service, Business, Cloud Services, etc. The middle of the store had a few tables with various laptops. The all-in-one PCs and tower desktops were lined up along the side. Xbox games and accessories were on the back and so was boxed software on the other side at the back.
The Windows ecosystem has a huge benefit in terms of choice it offers customers when it comes to buying a PC. I saw several laptops, from the regular and boring types to ultrabooks/ultralights and large-screen, gaming type of machines. I saw slates running Windows 7 from multiple providers, all-in-one PCs of different sizes and desktop PCs with large monitors set up for gaming and high-end graphics work.
I saw the new Windows Phones (and in fact, witnessed a regular guy buying a Windows Phone!), many custom Xbox consoles including a Stanford themed box and of course the "Service" desk which imitates the Genius bar from Apple Store. I saw a lady who had brought what seemed like at least a 5 year old laptop, trying to get something addressed there.
The very back of the store had a giant (~70 inches easily) screen hooked up to Xbox (I think). Since I went so early (almost at the time of store opening), I didn't see that area being used.
I settled down at the Samsung slate and was playing with it when Foo (seriously, his name tag said that!) came by, introduced himself and started a casual conversation about tablets, technology, etc. No sales pressure, mostly consulting/advice and product stuff ("yes, all these PCs are upgradeable to Windows 8"). After a few minutes of discussion I went over to see the other PCs. I was actually impressed with the various ultrabooks on display. I liked them a lot and can't wait for one of my PCs to die so I can replace it with an ultrabook.
The other PCs I liked included an HP laptop with red accents (seemed like a gaming machine?) and the Samsung Series 9 laptop, which I saw for the first time. After seeing those ultrabooks, the Series 9 seemed just-ok.
Finally, the had Windows Phone placed in multiple places and I especially liked the HTC Radar and the Samsung Focus S. The Focus Flash, which looks chunky (to me) in pictures, is actually quite cute. Speaking of the Focus Flash, as I entered the store, I overheard one of those consultants talk to a customer and the thing I heard was the customer saying "what? it's only $50??". Later, I saw him buying the phone. I guess the hard cost of the phone is in fact important sales factor, never mind that the cost of the phone with the 2-year contract includes a $15 data plan for 24 months.
Finally, the "Service" area, aka Genius Bar for the Microsoft Store. I did not actually interact with them but while I was waiting for closing out my transaction I saw a lady who had got her old (seemed VERY old) laptop with keyboard, extra battery, power, etc. and was talking to the consultant about the problem. Compared to the Apple Store, these "geniuses" have to understand/handle such a large variety of software and hardware combinations. Wonder what kind of quality of service they provide.
I ended up buying a Nyko Kinect accessory (to reduce the distance requirements in my house) and the 320GB Xbox hard drive.
I typically don't go to Apple Store, and I don't see myself going to the Microsoft Store much either. However, I do see that the store becomes a place where Microsoft can show off their consumer-related stuff like Windows Phones, Xbox, Kinect and also a place where they can aggressively sell "pure" PCs with the Signature image. In my limited experience with the Apple Store in the same mall, I felt the Microsoft Store was more cheerful, happier, colorful and generally, more fun.
These things will not be making money for Microsoft anytime soon, but will definitely help in increasing awareness among the non-tech crowd, brand recognition, and hopefully for them, therefore, sales.
Windows Phone enthusiasts now have a way to unlock their devices to sideload applications.
An interview with Chris Sainty, the developer of gReadie, a Google Reader client for Windows Phone 7.
