Windows phone

Jakg

Bowling_4_Gold wrote: »

e.g I was out informally on Saturday, saw a potential supplier and needed to check the prices online. Couldn't get to a PC quick enough so rushed to Mc Donalds, whipped out my trusty trinity and got the prices up within a couple of mins on Mc Donalds' free WiFi... I could of probably connected to 3G, but I had the wrong SIM in

PDA's ftw - but sometimes I wish i'd kept my W810i for calls etc and then just used a PDA for "advanced computing".

Marty_J

Bowling_4_Gold wrote: »

Fair enough... If all you need is to call and text and perhaps the odd game/app then I would agree with you but if youre a Business user, like myself, I would say WM is the way to go!

I was always under the impression that Blackberry was "the way to go" for business types. That could be changing however.

Jakg

Marty_J wrote: »

I was always under the impression that Blackberry was "the way to go" for business types. That could be changing however.

You love your Apple gear :P

The iPhone could rock for business use IF it had push email (no, send & receive every x mins is NOT push) and if it would last a full day of heavy use - my friend's company were gonna kit their department out with iPhones, but the test unit just wouldn't go a full day of use, which meant their workers would end up with a useless device at the end of the day.

sillygoose

cmk1987 wrote: »

Where is the best pace to find out about Windows mobile applications? I'm considering updating my phone and would like to find out if the Windows system for phones is as good as the apple version on the iphone

Thanks in advance

Where to find out? hmm not an easy answer... as good as the Apple version on the iphone? Yes and no. In various ways each is largely superior tothe other (anyone who blindly argues one or the other is the only solution is a fool). Its more a question of what do you want to get out of it and how much do you want to spend?

There is a lot of focus on Windows Mobile but its just an operating system and you can expose yourself to as much or as little as you want with endless shells and schemes etc now. HTC especially add interfaces just as slick as any other phone now if thats what you want.

In my job which is a technical one, my WM phone is much more suitable because its smaller, less expensive to worry about getting scratched and damaged, can flick through a 250 page pdf manual easily, knock up a quick excel spreadsheet, run TomTom, decent camera, play DVD quality movies for when I am stuck waiting! and many other things I need perfectly. However if I were in out sales team and were more focused on managing contacts, email and calling customers, scheduling etc I would prefer an iphone.

Marty_J

Jakg wrote: »

You love your Apple gear :P

I can't help it. Sorry!

The iPhone could rock for business use IF it had push email (no, send & receive every x mins is NOT push) and if it would last a full day of heavy use - my friend's company were gonna kit their department out with iPhones, but the test unit just wouldn't go a full day of use, which meant their workers would end up with a useless device at the end of the day.

I think push notification is coming on the iPhone OS 3 that is to be released soon.

sillygoose wrote: »

Where to find out? hmm not an easy answer... as good as the Apple version on the iphone? Yes and no. In various ways each is largely superior tothe other (anyone who blindly argues one or the other is the only solution is a fool). Its more a question of what do you want to get out of it and how much do you want to spend?

Not really; Windows Mobile 6 was released in 2007, several months before the first iPhone came out. All users have had from Microsoft since then are pretty tame incremental updates. Apple will have gone through three major software revisions (it could easily be four if Microsoft don't pull their finger out) in the amount of time it has taken Microsoft to release just one. Symbian are setting a pretty rapid update schedule as well, with updates planned for every six months.

So if you want to compare the iPhone and Windows Mobile, at least wait until Windows Mobile 7 comes out (if it ever does) to give it a fighting chance. But let's not pretend that Microsoft's increasingly antiquated mobile OS is currently in any way "largely superior" to cutting edge ones from other manufacturers.

sillygoose

Marty_J wrote: »

But let's not pretend that Microsoft's increasingly antiquated mobile OS is currently in any way "largely superior" to cutting edge ones from other manufacturers.

Well your welcome to your opinion but actually Windows Mobile makes quite significant improvements. Even 6.0 to 6.1 (a long time coming) was monumental if you have experience of both. (The biggest change being stability going from needing a reboot every couple of days to never needing it!!!)

Its easy to be blinded by the 'impress you mates' slickness of the other OS's but you will just have to take my word for it non do all that I need (and yes all do some things better than WM no dispute from me) but non do all I need. And mine is a pretty good telephone too!

If it wasn't so late I could type a long list of things I need and there is nothing else that only costs £200 that can do it even at twice the price, you will just have to trust me as much as we all like to slag Microsoft, for many people WM is brilliant.

Marty_J

Well, you're of course entitled to your opinion, and if Windows Mobile works for you, I'm glad.

I don't have the patience to wait 6 months for my handset's manufacturer to release an update, or the money to buy a new phone if they decide not to. I also appreciate the App Store, which has a library of 25,000 applications. Citrix have just released Citrix receiver for the iPhone, which will be big news to many business users. You can sync your calendar and contacts to the iPhone, edit Excel spreadsheets, read PDF files, and TomTom are working on an app for the iPhone (the next release will have a digital compass). And I if was concerned about playing digital media, I'd almost certainly choose an iPhone, which aside from being a phone, is also the best iPod there is.

Bowling_4_Gold

Personally, I think WM is 'more convienient' than the Iphone. It uses a familiar UI and is easily synced with your Windows PC. The reason I did not get an Iphone was because of its lack of customization ability. It seems you need an app for almost anything- changing some kind of wallpaper etc and often they are not cheap. With WM there are hundreds of pages dedicated to free applications and ROMs which can change on a daily basis. The day an Iphone can be personalised and changed to the extent of WM, Ill buy 5.

[Deleted User]

sillygoose wrote: »

There is a lot of focus on Windows Mobile but its just an operating system and you can expose yourself to as much or as little as you want with endless shells and schemes etc now. HTC especially add interfaces just as slick as any other phone now if thats what you want.

Touch Flo 3D is probably the best thing to happen to Windows Mobile devices since the manufacturers realised they can't cut corners on the specs of the devices and still have a reliable product.

I've got two HTC Touch Pro devices, one for work and one for me and they do everything required well. Seemingly sync with Outlook, easily connect to a laptop to get internet access on the go, nice physical keyboard, respectable battery life for a device of it's class and there's an awful lot of applications available because developing for Windows Mobile is very easy, and not restricted in any way. Can't recall more than a handful of times that it's had to be reset when it's frozen either.

To summarise, it just works.

Marty_J

Bowling_4_Gold wrote: »

Personally, I think WM is 'more convienient' than the Iphone. It uses a familiar UI

That depends what you're familiar with.

Personally, I think the iPhone's UI is beautiful, streamlined and supremely easy to use, whereas Windows Mobile is just fuggly.

and is easily synced with your Windows PC.

Don't have a Windows PC.

And if I did, I could sync an iPhone with it.

The reason I did not get an Iphone was because of its lack of customization ability. It seems you need an app for almost anything- changing some kind of wallpaper etc and often they are not cheap. With WM there are hundreds of pages dedicated to free applications and ROMs which can change on a daily basis. The day an Iphone can be personalised and changed to the extent of WM, Ill buy 5.

There are thousands and thousands and thousands of free applications for the iPhone. The App Store was opened less than a year ago, and there are already 35,000 apps in it.