Smartphones

Johnstantine

Skibbidy Boo Bop
IncantatioN said:
Aaaah, didn't know that.

Does anyone play Temple Run? My score is a feeble 2,713,620.

Yeah. My score is around 6,000,000 or so. I played it when my fiancee was in labor. Haven't touched it since.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
We should probably rename this thread to "smartphones", but to pick up on IncantatioN's comment from a few days ago, I was impressed by yesterday's Windows Phone 8 conference. As one of the few early WP7 adopters I'm pretty excited by Microsoft's efforts on the platform.
 
Yeah I read about it this morning, seems like Windows Phone 8 will benefit on both the gaming front and the basic functionality/ performance boost front because of it's structure versus the .NET framework for Windows Phone 7. I personally love the interface and I've been tempted to switch my theme to mirror the look and functionality of a Windows Phone.

Currently I'm using the Go Launcher which's pretty neat. Only hassle was that it scrapped out my wallpaper of Musashi and I had to re-do the sizing, etc. to fit my decals on the front =_='

EDIT: By the way, really positive reaction received towards the GSIII.
 
Just thought I'd add in my own two cents. I had an early WP7 that recently broke due to water related causes. I'm not on contract but I'm glad I waited a few weeks before purchasing the Lumia as a replacement.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Jaze1618 said:
Just thought I'd add in my own two cents. I had an early WP7 that recently broke due to water related causes. I'm not on contract but I'm glad I waited a few weeks before purchasing the Lumia as a replacement.

I bet! I've got an Omnia 7, which is a nicer looking version of the Samsung Focus that's available in the USA. It's based on the original Galaxy S architecture. It's served me well and still works great. I'm planning to keep it till the end of the year and by then it'll be over 2 years old so I'll likely sell it and get a WP8 replacement with a new contract.
 

Johnstantine

Skibbidy Boo Bop
I currently have an iPhone 4, but I'm looking to branch away from Apple products. I wouldn't mind having the Galaxy Note. Looks cool.
 
The Galaxy Note II is slated to come out before the end of fall. Spec wise the Galaxy Note and Galaxy S III are pretty much similar except the size of the screen and the front facing camera. I might wait on reviews of the Windows Phone 8 to see how it sync's with Microsoft Office - I would like to syn my Outlook with my phone, like I did with my BB's through the years.
 
IncantatioN said:
The Galaxy Note II is slated to come out before the end of fall. Spec wise the Galaxy Note and Galaxy S III are pretty much similar except the size of the screen and the front facing camera. I might wait on reviews of the Windows Phone 8 to see how it sync's with Microsoft Office - I would like to syn my Outlook with my phone, like I did with my BB's through the years.

Not sure exactly what you have in mind, but I am pretty sure this is something WP7 does today. I know for a fact that my outlook calendar and mail were synched perfectly to my phone before I broke it.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Jaze1618 said:
Not sure exactly what you have in mind, but I am pretty sure this is something WP7 does today. I know for a fact that my outlook calendar and mail were synched perfectly to my phone before I broke it.

With WP7.5 quite a lot of MS software syncs fine, but WP8 will be taking it to the next level. If you're an Office power user IncantatioN I'm honestly pretty sure it'll end up being the choice OS for you. MS is on a roll these days, seems they're eager to get back to the top after years of complacency.
 
I really hope they do, rooting for them. I use a lot of Word, PDF and PowerPoint when I'm on the go and it's a plus if I can sync my Outlook information with the phone. I don't like the idea of carrying 2 phones - for work and for personal. I'll wait for WP8 to come out and wait on reviews! I have a feeling it'll do well ^_^

Few of my office folk who think Apple invented everything and that the iPhone's godly (for years now) came to me asking me about my the GSII, Android as a system and what I thought of the GSIII. Witnessing how I moved things around with Go Launcher, they're curious and are thinking of making the switch.

I downloaded Flipboard when it came out for Android, it's pretty good. Under Tech news, it's filtering a lot of Sony and Apple news though, wondering if they're sponsors or there's a partnership.
 

Kompozinaut

Sylph Sword
I just made the jump from a basic phone (Env3) to smartphone. I settled with the Galaxy SIII and I don't know what I've gotten myself into, but I'm loving it thus far. I'm a little overwhelmed since I've never had my own. I've mostly only piddled around on friend's iPhones and what not and that was a few years ago.
 
Congrats on the move. The touchscreen will take a while to get used to but once you're in, you'll love it. Good luck!

Typing on a touchscreen was a major concern for me initially. Swype is pretty good when it comes to a keyboard app (you move your fingers across alphabets to make the word, no typing involved, a bit quicker in my experience), not sure if the SGIII comes with it pre-installed but the SGII had it. To find out if you have the feature - pull up the keyboard, see if you have this icon -

S1-2.jpg


The next iPhone's rumored to be released in September and there's a Samsung competing phone running Windows (!!) that's gonna come out in the last quarter - (dual-core MSM8960 chipset, support for HSPA+ 21Mbits & LTE, 4.65" Super AMOLED screen - HD res, 8 MP rear-facing camera with a 2MP front-facer, support for NFC).
 
$99 dollars for the Lumia 920 and free wireless charging pillow = done deal.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/6/3608488/att-lumia-920-820-htc-8x-pricing-release-date
 
For that price, it's a steal! Compared to my phone, it has a bigger screen, higher pixel density and radio. Plus Windows 8.

I was at the T-Mobile store on Tuesday to get hotspot devices for the office since we still don't have internet post Sandy and I have 9 months left on my 2 year contract and I've got $130 left to pay for my device which's spread out monthly. I could upgrade to a Galaxy SIII by paying $150 down or a Galaxy Note II by paying $250 down. Buuuuuut, I'll wait till next year.
 

turkitage

ターク
Jaze1618 said:
$99 dollars for the Lumia 920 and free wireless charging pillow = done deal.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/6/3608488/att-lumia-920-820-htc-8x-pricing-release-date

Damn, I saw that too. Honestly, I'm trying to device on two phones: Nokia Lumia 920 (att) or Samsung ativ s (don't know carrier yet).

I've had a windows 7 phone (HTC HD7) from t-mobile for 2 years now and love it so I definitely want to stick with windows. There are three flagship phones that are coming out (or already out), the two that I mentioned + an HTC 8X one, which is unimpressive to me.

On paper this samsung ativ s seems to beat Nokia (except camera) with it's 4.8 inch display, bigger battery (2300mAh), and slimmer so I was going to get that. And it's practically the same design and specs as the very popular Samsung Galaxy SIII, which has sold over 30 million devices of it. So, it's gotta be a pretty solid phone and the ATIV S is just slapped with windows 8 on it, right?

But I keep seeing so much marketing for that Lumia 920 and with all the fancy stuff it can do like wireless charging (which might be gimmicky and slow to charge), all the fancy colors, and I guess Nokia maps is pretty good from what I'm reading?

Anyone else getting a windows phone 8 in deciding on which one to get? I know Aaz has been stating he is likely to get the 920 as well but any specific reasons why that over the ativ s?

Here is a spec sheet comparing the three new windows phone 8:

http://www.phonearena.com/news/HTC-8X-vs-Nokia-Lumia-920-vs-Samsung-ATIV-S-specs-comparison_id34647
 
Lumia 920's camera is said to be 8 MP efective at 3264 x 2448 pixels so there's not a big difference, but it has double LED and PureHD display in comparison. Plus at that price, it's a damn good deal to get the Nokia! You'll have to rely on the 32 gigs it has (depending on what you use the phone for like music, etc.), no microSD card slot.

GSIII is the best selling smartphone globally. If you're with T-Mobile, there's a 2 day special sale coming up on the 16th and 17th.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Turkitage said:
On paper this samsung ativ s seems to beat Nokia (except camera) with it's 4.8 inch display, bigger battery (2300mAh), and slimmer so I was going to get that. And it's practically the same design and specs as the very popular Samsung Galaxy SIII, which has sold over 30 million devices of it. So, it's gotta be a pretty solid phone and the ATIV S is just slapped with windows 8 on it, right?

But I keep seeing so much marketing for that Lumia 920 and with all the fancy stuff it can do like wireless charging (which might be gimmicky and slow to charge), all the fancy colors, and I guess Nokia maps is pretty good from what I'm reading?

Anyone else getting a windows phone 8 in deciding on which one to get? I know Aaz has been stating he is likely to get the 920 as well but any specific reasons why that over the ativ s?

It's also a tough choice as far as I'm concerned (I even considered the 8X as I prefer its design to the others), but the determining factor for me is Nokia's apps and much more involved support for the platform. Samsung tends to release the phones and move on to the next model whereas Nokia has made the extra effort so far with their recent models. And aside from their own software (Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive+, Nokia Transport, etc.) they secure temporary exclusives from third parties regularly.

As far as the display is concerned of course the ATIV S' is bigger and has better blacks since it's an AMOLED, but the 920's is apparently pretty good on its own and tries to push the envelope as much as possible. I never wear gloves so the "Super Sensitive Touch" tech doesn't interest me, but their PureMotion HD+ (better response time than a standard IPS display) and enhanced contrast look very nice. The size difference itself doesn't really bother me as it's relatively small. I wish Nokia had stuck to AMOLED though...

That being said, it's worth noting that AMOLED displays can consume more power than LCD ones depending on the use, so the bigger battery on the ATIV S doesn't necessarily mean it'll always last longer than the 920 (haven't seen a comparison of the two unfortunately). The ATIV S has a removable battery whereas the 920 doesn't, that's another thing to consider. But I've had my Omnia 7 for over 2 years now and the battery's still good, so I don't expect to have problems with my next device as long as it's not too feeble. The 8X unfortunately didn't cut it in that regard.

One other difference: the 920 comes with 32GB of storage by default, versus 16GB for the ATIV S. But the 920 doesn't support MicroSD cards while the ATIV S does. To be honest I don't think I'll be needing more than 32GB, so that also pushes me towards the Lumia.

The camera is not a deal maker or breaker for me, but it's true that Nokia's been betting on it. What differentiates it is its physical OIS (Optimal Image Stabilization) that allows it to drastically reduce shake while making videos and to take very nice low-light pictures at night (without flash). That aside, the GSIII has a great camera itself so unless you're a photo enthusiast you won't be missing out regardless of which you pick. It should be noted that apparently the 920 also has the same enhanced audio recording technology that was featured on the 808 PureView, which is very good for filming concerts and the like.

Wireless charging is kind of a gimmick as far as I'm concerned (takes more time than normal charging), but it's true that I usually leave my phone on the same spot on my desk, so if it could charge without me having to plug it each time... Well, why not?

At the end of the day they're both great devices so I wouldn't fault you for getting one or the other.
 

turkitage

ターク
Aazealh said:
That being said, it's worth noting that AMOLED displays can consume more power than LCD ones depending on the use, so the bigger battery on the ATIV S doesn't necessarily mean it'll always last longer than the 920 (haven't seen a comparison of the two unfortunately). The ATIV S has a removable battery whereas the 920 doesn't, that's another thing to consider. But I've had my Omnia 7 for over 2 years now and the battery's still good, so I don't expect to have problems with my next device as long as it's not too feeble. The 8X unfortunately didn't cut it in that regard.

Ah, I didn't know that about the power consumption of amoled vs ips. I've read and watched a lot of review of the two so appreciate your feedback. I decided to go for it for and im standing in line to purchase the last lumia 920 this att store has at least.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Turkitage said:
Ah, I didn't know that about the power consumption of amoled vs ips.

Yeah there are all sorts of small differences between the technologies. To be more precise, AMOLED displays consume different amounts of energy depending on the colors shown, whereas LCD displays always consume the same amount. So the efficiency can vary significantly depending on what you're viewing (white being most draining on an AMOLED display).

Turkitage said:
I've read and watched a lot of review of the two so appreciate your feedback. I decided to go for it for and im standing in line to purchase the last lumia 920 this att store has at least.

Alright, well I'm looking forward to your impressions! We still don't have an official release date for it here at any of the big carriers (should come soon, but when?)... :puck:
 
My coworker picked one up Friday morning. I got to play with it a little, but I already told him I am looking forward to his review after he spends the weekend with it.

I didn't realize they were selling out so fast. I hope I can still get one before the free wireless charging offer expires.
 

turkitage

ターク
Okay, I'm really glad I decided to go for this Nokia Lumia 920, it's really slick. The matte black finish feels real nice and the device itself feels real solid. I have yet to play with all the options but I did play a bit with Nokia's apps that came loaded and so far I'm pretty impressed. If you've seen augmented reality things before Nokia City Lens will be very familiar; I've tested it a few places and so far this thing is right on the money with food, hotels, and shopping places just by moving my camera around. The wireless plate is pretty much soldout in all the stores around in this area but they stated ATT will ship one to me so I have to wait on that. I'm not much of an accessory whore (I've never had a phone cover or glass protector, etc) but I decided to see what Nokia had to offer as far as accessories. I checked their website and they got a decent bit of accessories - which is great! Maybe I didn't look hard enough but I could not find any specifically for the Samsung ativ s, but like Aaz said these guys seem to really put a lot of effort into this phone and really going all out.

My original concerns have been diminished as the screen is freakin gorgeous, the device is not as thick/heavy as I thought, and the battery seems to last pretty long (but haven't fully tested that yet). I tested the camera in daytime and nighttime and both were pretty solid, colors were good but I don't have much to compare it to as my other phones camera was horrible. I downloaded the map of georgia via Nokia Drive+ (Beta) and will explore the Nokia music soon enough to see what that's about. My last thoughts on this Nokia device itself is I love where the power button is located at, I can actually turn on my phone comfortably with one hand.

Windows 8 itself is really nice so far, I decided to go for the full experience and get a Microsoft live account and sync with their skydrive - which I set all their recommended settings like auto sync any picture I take to skydrive. I took a picture and by the time I went to skydrive it was already there! There are a ton of little things they've improved upon all through out this phone that I'm sure you can read thorough reviews about. But overall I'm pretty glad with this phone and OS.
 
That's awesome, glad you're enjoying it and thanks for the report, it sounds damn promising. Here's a meet Windows 8 video that features both the Lumia 920 and ATIV S - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SQZEkXCE_fY
 
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