Windows Phone 8

[MartinT]

When I upgraded from WinMo 6.5 to WP7, it was a complete revelation. By far the best, most integrated and focussed phone OS I'd ever seen. An interim upgrade to WP7.5 just enhanced what was a very efficient core OS with its 'people first' centric view of the world. I particularly like the way social networking integrates with my own Exchange/Outlook contacts to show in one place everything about a person, their photo albums etc. Not that I'm a great social networker, but once you see things this way, other platforms like iOS and Android seem like a real mish-mash of info spread across different areas. Microsoft Account holds it all together (as it does with Windows 8) and ensures that your preferences are retained across devices. SkyDrive integration gives you built-in cloudy storage, which I love for my photo albums and important documents. The final killer reason for buying WP7/8 is the built-in Office with Outlook, Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

The big change with WP8 is that the core OS has finally been rewritten from WinCE (a very old platform) to WinNT (which originally stood for 'New Technology'). It supports multi-core processors - not that WP7 ever suffered with single core CPUs as it is smooth and responsive.

So... looking at what's available, there are three candidates for replacing my trusty HTC Titan with its wonderful big 4.7" screen: Nokia Lumia 920, HTC 8X and Samsung Ativ S. The Nokia is a big and heavy phone and just looks too bulky for me. Their custom apps like street navigation and music services don't interest me as I find Bing maps and Spotify work well anyway. The HTC 8X looks absolutely gorgeous, the most stylish of the three, but it features only a 4.3" screen so would be a downwards step from the Titan. That leaves the Samsung with its 4.8" screen, dual-core CPU, microSD slot, Super AMOLED screen and nice styling.

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2012/08/samsung-ativ-s-leak.jpg

So the Samsung it is, which I've ordered. Amazon has just updated its estimated delivery to 22nd November so not long to wait now.

Anyone else going for a WP8, or currently using a WP7?

[slate]

A year ago I imported a Lumia 800 from Germany and it is still going strong. The new bunch all have their temptations, but as I mostly just use my mobile for talk and SMS I will attempt to sit this one out...
At Work we will get 1-2 of them for testing so I will get a chance to play with them.

With my usage pattern I normally disable 3G and rely on WiFi for data. That gives me almost a week of battery time. I off cause have an app to switch on 3G when needed.

[MartinT]

That's interesting, Jan. We all have our own needs from a phone.
To get an example of what yours could do, see here:

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=21674

:)

[slate]

Yeah Soundhound and SqueezeRemote was among the first Things that I downloaded.
And SlingPlayer... but only because the phone came with a 50€ voucher for the app store

[MartinT]

So the Samsung it is, which I've ordered.

Damn - now delayed to December. Ah well, my trusty HTC Titan remains excellent, so there's no hurry.

[MartinT]

And finally, Amazon has despatched the ATIV S today for delivery tomorrow. Yee-har!

[MartinT]

It's arrived! Despite the larger screen (4.8" versus the 4.7" of the HTC), I'm very pleased that the overall package is only slightly taller. Hardly any time to play with it right now, so it's on charge and looking lovely.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8492/8302676163_8e545caba0_b.jpg
HTC Titan (Windows Phone 7) left, Samsung ATIV S (Windows Phone 8) right.