Great 920 review from Mashable

[filmgirl]

Thanks for the comments guys -- it was really fun to do this 12 day experiment and I have to say, I wound up really enjoying the platform more than I anticipated. As I said in my video, I'll keep the phone around as I want to follow the developer story. If you want to read my full post, it's up now http://mashable.com/2012/11/27/living-with-lumia-wrap-up/.

A couple of notes about Instagram:

The way I use it isn't for the filters -- it's because it's the best way I have to see what is happening in the lives of my friends and family. I've really become reliant on that ecosystem and for me and my circle, I find that Instagram is a much better way to get a glimpse into what's happening in the lives of my friends rather than going to Facebook or Twitter (which I can't use like a normal person anyway, just by the nature of what I do). I didn't expect it to be the most important app to me either -- but it's certainly up there.

I got my first smartphone my sophomore year of college, it was a Treo 270. Over the years I moved from Palm to Win Mo to BlackBerry before settling into iOS (after a brief respite with Android). What I loved about Windows Phone was that return to the glanceable nature of tasks on a home screen, as someone upthread mentioned. When I first reviewed Windows Phone in 2010, I liked a lot of the ideas but wasn't sold on the execution.

Last year, with Mango, we were closer, but still not there. What excites me most is that finally, finally, Windows Phone is ready to go on to the next level. The pieces are in place for really cool stuff to get developed.

 

[filmgirl]

i was in the same situation as her, coming from an iPhone and new to Windows Phone (just like a lot of other Lumia 920 owners in here) and i made a list of positives versus negatives as i adapted to the phone and my list of positives far outweighed the list of negatives. i really hope she's a tech writer though and not normally talking or on video. the way she spoke and how her mouth moved was really distracting and she had an INSANE amount of 'vocal fry' which i couldn't get over either.

i think when it comes down to it, it all depends on how you use your phone. for some people that rely on a lot of iOS or android exclusive apps it sadly just won't be an option for them at this moment.

Apologies for the video/audio quality. The point of the experiment was to do it candid/confessional style, but the florescent lighting of our office and the mic on my headphones didn't really work out well. I tend to get good feedback on my TV appearances but I'm always looking for feedback (good or bad) to improve. I'm glad you're enjoying Windows Phone!

 

[sabotagebx]

Question is why are major developers not coming or staying on WP?

Will Pundits Kill Windows Phone 8? | News & Opinion | PCMag.com this might explain some reasons.

MS really needs to step it up with the app situation

 

[pjs37]

Nice video review I enjoyed it she seems honest enough throughout it and I can see a lot of myself in her review (The whole 'It's sometimes nice to use something just different and that works' aspect she talks about a lot)

Instagram I think is the biggest shortfall there are a lot of people who use it for various reasons and there is no reason for it not to be on WP8 especially since Facebook owns them and MS has pull with Facebook. From what I hear on other blogs and podcasts though it sounds like MS has been working with them and its just a matter of timing thing. I expect they want it to be a very good app and MS shows they can get big names when they need to (aka Pandora)

I would like to see a revisit to the Lumia if/when the Instagram app comes out to see if with that added how much more likely you would be to switch (Or better yet do the same thing with the HTC 8X which is on Verizon)

 

[socialcarpet]

coming form having iOS for 3 years
i understand everything she is saying
but I have always preferred Windows to OSX
so i given WP8 a chance and I have not been disappointed
yeah the little hap-tic feedback is annoying sometimes, not having a stock battery percentage, a version of notification center, backgrounds other than light and dark, better task killer/manager, a way to organize apps by category and maybe swipe like keyboard... would make it perfect IMO

Apps will come be patient.

hopefully with Apollo + and w/e comes after it some of the minor issues above are "fixed"

I've been a life-long Mac user with one ill-fated move into Windows XP and a much happier experience with Windows 7 (I still use both Mac OS X and Windows 7)

I've never had an iPhone. Despite my preference for the Mac OS over the years, the iPhone never really grabbed me. I had a Blackberry, then an Android phone which I absolutely despised, then I went to Windows Phone. Windows Phone just seemed "right" to me from the beginning. In fact I almost got one before the Android "experiment" but I wasn't really excited by any of the phones offered back then and NoDo hadn't come out just yet so there was no copy/paste even, so I went with Android against my better judgement.

I agree with most of her review, it seems very fair and it's encouraging to me that even someone who is a pretty diehard iPhone fan can see that Windows Phone has something to offer and some important new thinking, especially when it comes to the home screen. I also appreciate her mild disdain for Android, because I personally think it's shyte.

 

[baseballbert]

Apologies for the video/audio quality. The point of the experiment was to do it candid/confessional style, but the florescent lighting of our office and the mic on my headphones didn't really work out well. I tend to get good feedback on my TV appearances but I'm always looking for feedback (good or bad) to improve. I'm glad you're enjoying Windows Phone!

FilmGirl on WPCentral walking amongst the people. Very cool.

Most journalists who write about WP don't have the hutzpah to venture into a potential lions den like this. How very Lois Lane of you!

I've got a journalism degree and I always read articles with a non existent tolerance for bad writing. Thanks for having the writing skills to back up your WP prose! It made reading the series that much more enjoyable.

 

[SteveISU]

Will Pundits Kill Windows Phone 8? | News & Opinion | PCMag.com this might explain some reasons.

MS really needs to step it up with the app situation

I figured it has something to do with perception. I'm no developer and don't know the first thing about it. Wasn't sure if WP is more difficult, time consuming, costly, ect. Don't know if approval in WP marketplace is more strict then iOS or what not. I'm sure as it stands right now the small ROI is keeping most away.

 

[erzhik]

Great review. Lack of quality apps is the only thing that stops people from adopting WP. I also hate the MSFT's argument that "if the original app is not available than there are alternatives"..Well, most of the time those alternatives are horrible. Improve the app situation, and WP can easily overtake iOS and Android. When I first used WP7.5, I couldn't go back to using Android anymore. The UI is horrible compared to WP. And now that I'm using WP8, there is no way I am touching iOS or Android again.

 

[crystal_planet]

Good review - lots of points positive and negative that I agree with, and fair - which is pretty refreshing. Most of it has been said already - lack of apps is definitely its Achilles heel.


Also, she's easy on the eyes - which never hurts.