The end of the Windows Phone 30 day challenge.

So the 30 day challenge has come to an end just a few days early and here is the verdict.  I took the Nokia Lumia 900 back to AT&T yesterday.  I really really wanted to love this phone.  It had so much promise and so does the Windows Phone OS.  But the fact that this phone will not be upgradable to Windows Phone 8 and some of the minor software issues I was having, I decided that Windows Phone has some growing up to do, before I delve back into using a Windows Phone again.

The one feature which I thought I would miss the most was the voice to text in the car usage.  However, I found out that there are many apps out there for android phones that do the exact same thing if not better than the windows phone did.  Live tiles are great, but I want a standard notification center where I can see all updates for everything and not have to scroll down my start page to look at each individual tile to see if there is anything new and for that matter I don't want to have to put all my apps on the start page just to see what is new with them.  Also for this to be the first non "beta" phone as the commercials go, it sure did have a lot of hang ups and freezes.
But don't get me wrong this is still a great phone and the platform as a whole has a lot of promise and I hope it really catches on and catches up to iOS and Android.  This phone though, is not for a power user.  There aren't enough apps out there and for those that are out there, the developers seem to neglect them and do not seem to update the apps in a timely fashion like you get on the other platforms.  Microsoft really needs to get on the ball with these developers.

All in all I can say the Nokia Lumia would be a great smartphone for those who do not currently have a smartphone and for those who do not need thousands of apps or the ability to customize everything.

So, I know you are asking, what phone did I get in it;s place?  Did I go back to iPhone or did I delve into Android?  Well the answer may surprise some of you that know me.  I have been known to be a bit of an Apple fanboy but in this instance I went with one of the nicest looking big phones out there.  The New Samsung Galaxy S III.


Don't worry I will be giving you a full review of this new phone later this week.  So far it is really nice though.  Let's see how long the I like this factor holds out after the newness factor wears off!

Week 3 of the Windows Phone challenge.

Well here we are three weeks into my challenge and with only a week left I have to say that I am missing my iPhone just a little bit.  Yes the app ecosystem and the maturity of iOS has me wanting it back, but there are still things I like about this Nokia Lumia 900.

First off let me say this is still a great phone with a lot of promise.  Sadly though this phone will not get to be upgraded with Windows Phone 8 so it's lifespan just got cut short by a whole lot.  Let me be clear, I totally understand why Microsoft is doing this, and I agree that it is necessary for the Windows phones to mature and seal their future.

The thing that I don't think I can part with on the Nokia Lumia is the Bluetooth text to speak.  When you have it hooked up to your cars Bluetooth (or a headset) the phone will announce you have a text message and who it is from.  You can then tell it to read it, reply to the text message by speaking and then you can send it all without having to look or touch the phone.  I am using this thing so much I absolutely love this feature.  I honestly do not think I can do without it now that I have been using it as much as I have been.

The other thing I love about the phone still is it's people app, that integrates your address book along with your news feeds for twitter, and Facebook.  I love not having to open a bunch of different apps to quickly glance in with these social feeds.  You can also create groups within the app to organize your info and information to send them.

So what makes me want the iPhone again.  The notifications.  I can say that I love the tiles and the updated info that they give me without having to just see little red 1's or 2's on the corner of the app.  It actually shows me the info that is on that app in the tile.  Problem with this right now is that if the app isn't on your home screen then you don't see any of those notifications.  Yes you will see them as the come in with a top down toast notification but after that nothing.  In iOS and android you can simply pull down from the top and it will show you all the apps that have sent you notifications.  I am kind of missing that.  Now I know with 7.8 update we will be able to make as many small, medium, or large icons on the start menu but I really don't want all those apps on my home-screen.  I like the clean feeling that it is now, not cluttered with information overload like an Android home-screen covered in widgets.

My next complaint on the phone is the freezing.  To be the first "non beta" phone, according to the Nokia commercials it sure does freeze a lot and I think this is just because of the maturity of the operating systems.  Windows Phone is behind several generations and has a lot to catch up on.  Now this phone isn't freezing every day or a lot but other than when my iPhone broke I couldn't tell you the last time that it froze on me.

So what is the final verdict?  Well, for now I will be keeping the Windows Phone, and I can tell you that the two main reasons for this are:  The text to speech for texting feature, and the fact that the iPhone 5 will be coming out in about two to three months.  So, I will update you guys again when that time comes around because also the first Windows 8 phones will be coming out by then as well.

You will be able to upgrade to Windows 8, on the cheap!

Microsoft yesterday, announced the pricing plans for current windows XP and Windows 7 pro users upgrades.  The pricing will be available online for $39.99 and in stores for $69.99.  This is much cheaper than previous upgrades in the past which were usually well over $100.  This new pricing is in edition to the current offering for anyone who buys a computer from now until Jan 31st 2013 will get the Windows 8 upgrade for only $14.99.

With this pricing Microsoft is being very aggressive with their attempt to bring as many PC's to the Windows 8 platform as possible.

Microsoft announces Windows Phone 8

Microsoft yesterday finally took the wraps off of it's upcoming Windows Phone 8 operating system.  While the future of the Windows Phone just got a lot interesting and promising, the current gen of phones are not getting as much love as they would like.

With the announcement yesterday, Microsoft said that the new Windows Phone 8 will be moving away from the CE core and moving to the NT core.  What does that mean exactly?  What it means is that it will share the same core as the actual Windows 8 operating system and the Windows RT tablet system. So you can in theory make an application for Windows 8 and with just a minor amount of tweaking make it compatible with all three platforms.  This is huge for developers and insures the strength and future of the mobile operating system.  This all comes at a price though as the current generation of Windows Phone 7.5's will not be getting the update to Windows Phone 8 simply because their hardware cannot support it.  But Microsoft isn't leaving you completely high and dry as they will be releasing an update for 7.5 to 7.8 which will give you some of the great features of Windows Phone 8.

Sadly other than the updated start screen there was not very much detail as to what exactly other features the current generation of Windows Phones will be getting.

As far as developers go any app that you have currently made for Windows phone 7.5 will work with Windows Phone 8 without anything needing to be done to them.

It is a bitter sweet move by Microsoft but it was one that had to be done.  If they want the Windows Phone to succeed they needed an updated and great core to their operating system that almost all developers know how to develop on.  With the Windows operating system being the largest and most used operating system in the world, they have insured that all these developers will already know how to make a great Windows Phone app simply by knowing how to make a program run in Windows.

Here is a quick rundown of some of the other features announced for Windows Phone 8:

*  With the addition of the NT core, this brings with it support for up to 64 cores of cpu power, SD card functionality and an increased resolution up to 720p.

* True NFC support in all phones.  Along with this they have made an app called Wallet where you can store all your coupons, credit cards, and giftcards and use the NFC technology to use them without having them handy.  This could mean a lot for NFC actually catching on and not just being a nice trick to have.

*  The updated start screen, where you can change the size of the tiles and add as many as 28 tiles on the start screen from one corner to the other if you wanted to do so, all while keeping the sleek clutter free design of the Windows Phone.

*  Full Skype and third part Voip support built into the operation system.

*  Nokia maps will be the main map application for all Windows Phones.  Currently the Nokia Lumia has a great advantage over most other phones because you get Nokia Maps free along with their outstanding turn by turn navigation app called Nokia Drive.  With Windows 8 all Windows Phone users will have access to these great maps.

As with their Surface announcement exact launch dates are not being discussed.  Only a "fall availability" has been announced.  This is a great and long over due leap for the Windows Phone Platform.  Hopefully with all these changes the Windows Phone app store will start seeing a lot more big name publishers moving in to take up residence. 

This platform is truly an original and stunning operating system that I hope truly catches on and truly compete with iOS and Android.  This operating system has a good chance at succeeding now and hopefully will not see the same fate as WebOS.

Microsoft is planning another conference about mobile phones for today!

Microsoft will hold a conference concerning its Windows phone 8 platform today at 12 Eastern time.  I will be bring you updates as I get them concerning everything announced today.  Looks like Microsoft is determined to make this their week for coolness.

Some of the rumored announcements for the Windows Phone 8 are:

* A move to the NT platform over from the current CE platform.

*Dual core support

*Higher screen resolution support

The thing I am hoping for most is the fact that they will hopefully announce tons more apps coming to their platform as well as my Nokia Lumia 900 getting the update as well.

A possible huge leaked document concerning the xbox

Looks like last week was Apples week and this week is turning out to be a good and bad week for Microsoft.  Rumors around the web for the last few days is that the image above was taken from a leaked document concerning the future of the next Xbox console.

Some of what is said is in the document fall in line with the current rumors of a release date set for the next Xbox for next year with a new version of kinnect, along with the just announced Xbox glass tablet apps.  It also mentions that by 2015 there will be an updated version of kinnect that will include glasses (as shown in the above picture.)  According to this document the Xbox is trying to be your complete living room device to include bumped up specs from the current 360, a DVR option, along with more integrated TV functionality.  All for the rumored price of $299.

One other very interesting thing mentioned in the document was Microsoft's plans to buy out the Onlive gaming service.  Who they deemed as a real threat to the console industry if they can get more mainstream.  Would this be to integrate it into the next Xbox or to simply just buy it out to keep it from being a competitor is not truly known from this document.

Whether this will be all true or not is left to be seen.  The original leaked document has been pulled from the website which it was on, but all in all there isn't too many things surprising from this document.  If it is just someones idea of an online prank it was a very elaborate one for sure.

Microsoft finally got their tablet PC right!

Holy Cow, Microsoft made something truly innovative!  This tablet is stunning.  Here is the back-story way back in the late 90's early 2000's good old father of Microsoft Bill Gates thought it would be a great idea to have a tablet PC.  Sadly, even though they  made software adjustments for touch, the OEM's just botched it up and it just didn't work well.  This tablet that was announced last night is basically what that original idea should of been, and I have to admit it looks stunning.  Microsoft just lite a fire under the OEM's to say hey this is what a Windows 8 tablet should be.  Now, go try to catch up to it.

Check out the announcement video below.

Now exactly how well will this go in the market against Apple and all the Google tablets out there?  Well here is the thing Microsoft for the most part is going a whole different route than Apple went with this tablet idea.  Apple believes that a computer and a tablet should be two different things for mostly different purposes.  So far this strategy has worked outstandingly well for them.  However, Microsoft is basically saying we think that the future of the PC is the tablet so their tablets will run Full Windows 8 mostly.  The reason I put the mostly at the end is that Microsoft is releasing two different versions one an ultra thin ARM based tablet will run Windows RT and the intel version will run Windows 8 Pro.  The difference is the ARM RT version will run Metro Apps only (similar to other tablet apps,)  but the fact that the intel version will run Windows 8 PRO means that not only will you have the great Metro style tiles for your tablet viewing but you will also have an actual PC under the hood.  Depending on the exact specs of these tablets (which hopefully we will now soon,)  you can do almost anything that you would do normally on Windows.

The design of this tablet is just great, very thin, very original design but what caught my eye the most is that cover keyboard.  Did you see it in the video above?  It is like Apple's smart cover but instead of just a felt lined inside to the cover you have an actual touch based keyboard built into the cover.  That is a great idea!  Apple please copy that for the iPad, stat!  haha.

Anyway back to the Surface Tablet,  We do not have exact specs, release dates, or price ranges yet, but hopefully we will have all that information soon enough.  (Update:)  We do know that the intel version will have in ivybridge processor and be similar in specs to all the Ultrabooks out there.  Both tablets have front and rear cameras, a full usb port, displayport, an SD card slot, and can come in a hard drive size up to 128 gigs.

Now, I have seen a lot of people talking about this online and saying great hardware but where are the apps!  Well, I do agree they should of spent a little bit more time explaining this concept but guys the apps are already out there (for the intel version.)  It's Windows, any windows app that will be compatible with Windows 8 will be compatible with this puppy.  I think they should of stated this a lot better in their presentation yesterday but the fact remains that this is a full fledged Windows Computer.  Now how will that all translate with the RT version?  I am not sure.  Simply translating Windows phone apps to the tablet may work but we have yet to find out exactly.   This may or not be worth it to the developers out there.  We will just have to wait and see. I for one do not understand why they wanted to make two tablets.  I feel like the true Tablet PC with intel will really take off but I am not sure about the RT version, with very little apps out there for the Mobile Windows platform I think it will be hard pressed to catch up with the iPad's and Android Tablet's out there.  But then again this true Tablet PC could really catch on and with this amazing design and innovation we can only assume it will sell like crazy!

This is a great showing from Microsoft.  How well will it compete will have to be seen, but keep in mind this is technically a whole different ball game when it comes to the tablet market or old ball game if you want to consider the original Windows Tablet PC's.  I am just excited to see Microsoft wake up and start really innovating here.  Finally someone other than Apple is making something really cool!

Microsoft Press Conference Scheduled for June 18th.

Microsoft yesterday sent out invites to a scheduled press conference on June 18th in Los Angeles.  It is rumored that they will be revealing there long talked about Windows 8 to ARM-based tablets.  Microsoft however is being silent on what exactly the press conference will be about.  

If this is what Microsoft has in store to be shown off it will be their first big push against the iPad and Android tablets.  They will have a lot of catching up to do, so hopefully they have a lot of coolness to convence people to switch from either of these platforms.  I will admit that the pictures of the Live Tiles look like they will be great and seem like they will be handy for using a tablet, which is the complete oposite of how it seems to work on an actual PC, (for the record I have tried it on an actual PC, the preview version, and it just seems to get in the way and you can't disable it.)  In my opinion Windows 8 is geared more toward a tablet so hopefully they will show how awesome it is at this press event.

Are Watch Dogs and Star Wars: 1313 next gen games in disguise?

I read an interesting post today over at kotaku.com, that I agree with completely.  They think that it is possible that these two games are really the first showings of the games that will be released for the next xbox and Playstation.  I myself while watching the videos couldn't believe that an xbox or a Playstation could handle these kind of amazing graphics.  So let's take a look at the gameplay videos first to show you exactly what they looked like.



The graphics here in Watchdog simply look amazing, now lets look at Star Wars: 1313 which arguably has even better looking gameplay than Watchdog has.



So here is the deal, many people tried asking them exactly when these games will be released.  LucasArts would only say when it is ready.  Ubisoft said possibly next year.  Then when asked which systems these games would be available on Lucasarts kind of side stepped the question while Ubisoft simply said all that we know right now is xbox and playstation.  Kind of makes you wonder a little now doesn't it?

Next point is these games were demoed on really, really high end pc's.  No console version was demoed at all, and since this was the case Sony, nor Microsoft mentioned them during their press conferences.  I mean, these games are pretty big deals but Sony wont allow any game demoed unless it is on a playstation and we can assume the same can be said of Microsoft.

When Kotuko asked Epic Games, the company that provides the UE3 to gaming studios to run their games on, the rep told them that the Engine used by Lucas Arts was a heavy modified new UE3 engine that requires some pretty high specs to operate on.  So this would seem to rule out both the Playstation 3 and the Xbox on this one.

If these games are released on the current gen xbox and playstation the graphics couldn't look as great as they do in these demos.  So, I would say it is a pretty safe bet that what we saw this year was a glimpse into the next gen of gaming.

Microsoft says Xbox 360 will be around for well over two years.

Phil Spencer, the guy in charge of Microsoft Studios, has been quoted as saying that the xbox 360 will be around for well over two years.  He goes on to say that this console is at it's peak and that it will still have "legs to stand on," for a few more years.  He feels that this is the time to see really great content for the 360 and that there will be more to come in the near future.  Now, is this him telling us that the next xbox is more than two years away?  I doubt it, I think what he is trying to say is that even after the launch of the next xbox the 360 will be around for a while.  Just remember when the playstation 3 came out, the playstation 2 still was selling like crazy and games were still being made for it as well as the new system.  I think this is what we can expect after the next xbox is released.  The 360 is probably one of the better selling consoles out there and it will be around as Phil says for a few more years to come.  So don't worry that next xbox is still probably coming next  year.

The Next Step in the Halo Universe!

  

  After an impressive showing at E3, the future of the Halo Universe looks to be in great hands with 343 Industries since Bungie passed the torch.  Now, I know that Kenny posted on this earlier, but I wanted to throw my two cents in...  First things first, someone give me an Xbox 360.  I'm not ready to roll over on my PS3, but man do I want to play this game.  The games in the Halo series have always been great as far as the single player is concerned, but the multiplayer has always been a step ahead in my book!  It was really one of my first forays into the online multiplayer experience and I want to get back there like a junkie chasing an old high! [Editor's note: I just started watch The Wire, so expect a lot of really outdated references.]

  While we all know to expect the standards, Team Deathmatch and whatnot, Halo Infinity opens up your complete Halo experience by tying it all back together!  As the debut trailer stated, the lines between campaign, co-op, and online multiplayer are erased.  Everything you do helps to further your Spartan career!  All that being said, I can't wait to see what the Spartan Ops have to offer as things progress.  Spartan Ops promises a series of 15 minute co-op missions, each one tying the story together, and opening up with a beautiful cinematic. But the great part is that, after the game launches, five new missions will release every week!  And even better..... ITS FREE!  I'm sure that's subject to change, but its free for now, and in this economy that's hard to beat!  All joking aside, while the gaming market is saturated with timed exclusive and platform exclusive DLC, its nice that the developers of a major game like this are taking extra profit out of their pockets to give back to their fans!  And if that wasn't enough....

  PRE-ORDERS GET FREE POSTERS!!!!  AAAAAAGGGGHHH! It'll look so good next to my Justin Bieber Tiger Beat Poster!  Master Chief and the Biebs.... Swoooooooon.  But seriously, until someone hooks me up with a free (working, I know your tricks!) Xbox 360, I'll have no reason to pre-order the game, and will forever have an empty space on my wall.

Xbox 360 250GB Console - Xbox 360 Consoles

The Microsoft E3 Press Conference in just 3 minutes.

Continuing on with the great short versions of the big press conferences we have Microsoft's quest to dominate your living room in just 3 minutes.  Enjoy.

For some browsers the above video doesn't show up, please click this link to watch the video.

Internet Explorer coming to your Xbox.

Microsoft also announced today that they will be adding Internet explorer to the xbox 360.  This as they say will add a full, fluid and fast internet experience to your living room.  You can control it from your kinnect with full voice commands or with their new SmartGlass apps from your smartphone or tablets.

Microsoft releasing a Spotify competitor?

Rumors abound today on the interwebs about the possibility of Microsoft announcing at E3 their own version of a Spotify service for their xbox platform.  It would be code named Woodstock.  Pretty clever name for a music service but I would have a feeling that if this is true it would be released for even more things than just the xbox such as the Windows phone and Windows in general.  It will be interesting to see if this comes to pass and exactly how Microsoft would plan to blow Spotify out of the water.