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!

The Windows Phone Challenge, 5 days in.

One week down and I can say I really like this phone.  The thing I have noticed the most about it is the fact that it is different from pretty much any other phone out there.  I also get a lot of comments from people about how much better they can hear me on this phone as compared to my iPhone.  Now that part kind of surprised me and it kind of didn't.  For all the awesomeness of Apple phones their call quality and ability to hear well isn't ranked all that highly.  I can also say that so far I do not miss my iphone at all.

Day one of using this phone took a little bit of time getting used to.  The phones operating system does have a few different mechanics as compared to iOS and Android.  But after I got used to them I actually started to like them.  Case in point if you are on your apps list or your contacts page.  Simply click on a letter and it will bring up the alphabet, tap the letter that the contact or app starts with and it will take you immediately to that section.

 This takes the one grip I had with the UI out of the equation, the fact that your apps are listed in order in one single file line.

Now to answer your burning question.  Does the lack of apps bother me.  This answer for me so far is no, but let me explain further.  First off, I have an iPad so any app I had on my iPhone I have a version of it on my iPad.  As far as games go most of the bigger games I liked to play on iOS I enjoyed playing on my iPad and not my iPhone anyway.  Next as far as the apps available to me.  Spotify, facebook, Netflix, twitter, Nokia's turn by turn navigation, Angry Birds, and Evernote are the apps I use a lot during the day especially at work.  They are all on the Windows Phone and so that is no problem for me there.  Also it was just announced that all the time waster games from Zynga will be coming to Windows Phone in a couple of months so there is that non issue.  Starting tomorrow, I will be back at work, and then we will have the true test of whether I will miss having some apps at my fingertips while at work.  

The things I like most about the UI:  Live tiles hands down are the best and most useful UI element in any mobile operating system.  They are beautiful and so informative.  They change to update you on relevant information pertaining to that app so that you don't even have to open an app to see what is going on with it or have a nasty annoying widget to tell you the weather.

The next aspect I really like is the people HUB.  Here you have your phone book, twitter feed, and Facebook feed all together in one streamlined interface.  So you technically do not even need to have a facebook or twitter app on the phone because all the info you need on the go is integrated into the phone.  It is a nice feature that was really thought out for a true integration.  You can also add your live account, and linked in account to the people hub as well.

If you look at the above picture of the people hub you will notice the contrast of the screen and how the apps are in general set up to be clean and informative to your needs.  To access other parts of the app you simply swipe left or right.  In this case if you swiped left you would see your recent section, which shows all the people you have recently contacted.  Another swipe will take you to your contact page where there is a list of all your contacts.

A side note that you may notice on the above picture, the resolution is not Retina Display but this is a limitation of the current version of Windows 7.5.   Coming from the iPhone it was noticeable at first but I can say I don't notice it much anymore unless I am loading a webpage with small writing in Internet Explorer.  This of course will be fixed in Windows 8 so any newer phones will have much better resolutions on their screens.  The bright AMOLED screen is beautiful though.  It makes the colors on the phone pop and makes it easier to see in bright light.

The next thing I was pleasantly surprised to find was the really great voice command service offered inside of Windows.  It isn't as "fancy" as SIRI and give you quirky comments and such but it can launch apps read your text messages, allow you to voice dial, speak your text messages and send them, ask sports scores, and search the web for you.  All of which Siri does as well (or will do, after iOS 6.0.)  I found this really handy while driving and having my phone hooked up to the bluetooth in my car.  The phone would tell me I received a new text message and who it was from.  I had the phone read it to me and I replied back to that person without ever touching my phone.  I really enjoy that feature.

All in all so far I have had a great experience with the Nokia Lumia 900.  It is a great phone and a cool UI.  The Appstore maybe lacking in exact copies of certain iOS apps.   But for what they don't have their a lot of other apps that do basically the same exact thing or that app will be available soon.  Once this app problem is fixed with Windows Phone it will be a great competitor for Android and iOS.  The UI is such a fresh take and welcomed from the stale never really changing face of iOS and Android.  I will give another update 15 days into using the phone to let you all know how it is still holding up.  I do consider myself to be a power smartphone user so I am interested to see how this app thing holds up during my everyday work  environment.

So far I would highly recommend this phone to anyone because it simply is a nice phone.  If you want the latest and greatest I would hold off on getting a Windows Phone until Windows 8 comes out in the fall.  If you are simply needing a phone that works well and can do most of the apps I have mentioned above then this phone is a definite buy.