Category Archives: Windows Phone
Verizon Nokia Lumia 822 – Mini Review + Verizon 4G
The first stop on my Field Trip was the Verizon store and I was also glad to find out yesterday that I can now get 4G data, and speed tests show that I get 4-6MBs so not bad for wireless data, I did give it a try that first hour or two of it being on and did get a test of 25MBs but not now that people know about it doh!
There weren’t that many new devices to play with and there were a lot of people at this store so I kind of wanted to look at something I haven’t had much time with and that was a Windows Phone 8 device. So I saw the Nokia Lumia 822, its one of the flagship Windows Phone 8 devices and I wanted to see if there was anything special. Turns out there weren’t.
The screen and apps loaded smooth and looked nice, things like navigating messages and people worked well, but I kept feeling like a lot was missing. All of the core apps such as messages, email, contacts, and the like were showing up, but I didn’t see much in the way of other things the phone does. I didn’t spend a lot of time with it almost as much as most people would right before they ask someone “where is the iPhone or Galaxy SIII”, and nothing jumped out. It felt more like one of those “Smartphone Features like MySpace” phones with a good touch screen.
I may need to spend some more time with one of these devices to “Get how cool Windows is” but I don’t think it would change what I think of the OS, it also could be one of those things where the hardware could have been better with a different OS too.
Also the Windows 8 Tablet built into the display was interesting and even though they want you to stay in the Tile interface my son who was with me got it back to the normal desktop and he is only 3. Kind of shows how Microsoft is missing the game one what things are moving to and what people really want their devices to do.
Field Trip – iPad Mini, Mac Book Pro Retina, Kindle Fire HD, Nokia Lumia 822
Just took a Field Trip to the Verizon and Best Buy stores after lunch today, I’m going to call these posts Field Trips because I have to go out and play with new tech. Some of the main things I played with at the store were the iPad Mini, MacBook Pro with Retina display, Kindle Fire HD, and Nokia Lumia 822. I also played with some of the ASUS gaming laptops and a dead Samsung Chromebook.
While these aren’t the best settings for playing with them because I could not spend a lot of time playing and they were tethered to the display I did my best just playing with them. I also would like to get some of these in as review units or if some donations come in for a specific product I would review it also.
iPad Mini looks nice and would be a great smaller screen iPad if you don’t already have the newer full size iPad, I wouldn’t think you would need both. Check out the full mini review.
Mac Book Pro with Retina Display is a very powerful laptop computer, and with the higher resolution screen it looked nice but is it going to be worth the extra $500 or so for that nicer screen. I liked how it worked and had the older model side by side and couldn’t see much difference other than the Retina had more contrast, I’m sure more using it from the older model you may see a difference. Read the full mini review for more.
Kindle Fire HD is a good device for consuming Amazon content but it doesn’t seem as powerful as a Nexus 7 that I am use to. More in the mini review.
Nokia Lumia 822 is one of the flagship Windows Phone 8 devices while it has smooth operation and looked good, Windows Phone 8 seemed empty and just lacking in non-core apps even from a display model. See what I saw in the mini review.
Those are the big ones I played with but I did look over some other devices such as the ASUS gaming laptop that had good specs and all the keyboard was kind of clunky and seemed overpriced for what I could get a Mac Book for almost the same specs. I also don’t like Windows 8 all that much on a non-tablet or touch screen.
The Samsung Chromebook was set up kind of off to the side in an under equipped display that only had one left in a box that looked like it was taped closed after being opened at Best Buy I wanted to see it work but the system said click to start but I only got a spinning indicator and even after trying to power cycle it nothing came up so I left not knowing how things will work on that system. Too bad because I wanted to know how the system performed but bad displays will not sell these even with a low price tag.
Windows Phone 8 Launches October 29 in San Francisco
Microsoft sent out invitations to the Windows Phone 8 release event they are holding October 29th 2012 in San Francisco California. The news hasn’t hit any of Microsoft’s own websites yet but lots of sites are reporting getting invitations. This would mean that most of the new Windows Phone 8 powered devices will be coming this November. Such as the announcement that the Nokia Lumia 820 and 920 will be available this Holiday season on AT&T in the United States. We will be paying attrition to the announcements from this event to see if there is more news about Windows Phone 8.
Updated: Nokia Lumia 820 and 920 Windows Phone 8
Update: October 4 2012: AT&T announced that they will have the Nokia Lumia 820 and 920 on there network in the United States. AT&T also stated that they are the top seller of Windows Phone’s. While there are only them an T-Mobile who have phones that work on there network its not that unusual that they would be the top seller. No mention of price or release date were given, but invitations to the release of Windows Phone 8 will be announced on October 29th 2012.
Nokia release two new phones that will be running Windows Phone 8 that stand up to most of the new Android phones coming out. Both the Lumia 920 and 820 will be running Windows Phone 8 when it is release, have Snapdragon S4 1.5Ghz Dual-Core processors have great cameras, and have the ability to wireless charging. The phones also come in a bunch of bright colors and they have a bunch of color matching accessories such as a Bluetooth hands free unit, wireless charging plates, and speakers that charge wirelessly. Check out the specs list below.
| Nokia Lumia 820 | Nokia Lumia 920 |
|---|---|
| Dual-Core 1.5Ghz Snapdragon S4 Processor | Dual-Core 1.5Ghz Snapdragon S4 Processor |
| GSM with Micro SIM | GSM with Micro SIM |
| Qi Wireless Charging | Qi Wireless Charging |
| 4.3″ 800x480px Screen | 4.5″ 1280x768px Screen |
| 8MP Carl Zeiss Tessar Lens Camera | 8.7MP Nokia PureView Camera |
| 8GB w/ microSD up to 32GB + 7GB SkyDrive | 32GB + 7GB SkyDrive |
| 1000MB RAM | 1000MB RAM |
| NFC, Bluetooth 3.1, GPS, WiFi Direct | NFC, Bluetooth 3.1, GPS, WiFi Direct |
| 1650mAh battery, 330h standby, 8-14h talk | 2000mAh battery, 400h standby, 10-17h talk |
| Red, Yellow, White, Cyan, Purple, Gray, Black | Yellow, Red, White, Gray, Black |
The wireless charging has been around for a while yet not taken off because of the added cost. But it looks like they are making the charging something that they really want to push. With things like charging built into a JBL speaker that also color matches the phone, also they have the Bluetooth Handset that match the colors and can charge using the same wireless mats.
Nokia also made a point to talk about how good the camera is. This includes things such as stabilization built into the entire camera module, really good lenses, and being able to take more light in with the stabilization to take darker photos and have them look brighter.
In the software part of things this will have Windows Phone 8 that should have more apps since they change how the apps are built and can be built for Windows 8 and be easily ported to Windows Phone 8. The Nokia Maps has their own mapping data, directions, navigation, and offline maps. Also SkyDrive is integrated deeply into the OS to share photos, documents and other files.
This phone looks nice, but no details on the release date or price out yet. This is also the first Nokia Windows Phone 8 devices and seems to be a very polished device. More images in the gallery below.
Samsung ATIV S Windows Phone 8
If Android is not your style the new Windows Phone 8 phones (wow that is repetitive) are coming out and Samsung has their new Samsung ATIV S is not a bad looking device. One thing about Windows Phone is that the makers have to have a preset of specifications that each phone should have, this is to help make better devices. The phone that Samsung released at IFA is said to look like a Galaxy S III but running Windows Phone 8. Below are some specs…
- Windows Phone 8
- 4.8″ HD Super AMOLED
- 1.5 GHz dual-core processer
- 8 MP rear / 1.9 MP front camera
- HSPA+ / GSM
- 16/32GB storage with 1GB RAM and microSD (SDXC) card slot
- Bluetooth 3.0, NFC, GPS
Some people really like there Windows Phone phones, I think it’s an interesting interface but I like others are already invested in other systems like Android or iOS. Also Windows Phone has lots of apps but may not have as many of the big ones that you will find on other systems.
