Hi everyone, first post here I'm Mikey_T over on Crackberry. I'm a fairly longtime Blackberry user currently running a 9900.
I've been pretty excited about Windows Phone since it came out but stayed with Blackberry last year because of an app I need for work which was only available on that platform. They have since updated to a web-mobile app I can access from any device so I'm once again looking at WP as an upgrade this year.
I haven't spent a lot of time on this forum but so far from what I can tell there are two issues that would still hold me back from purchasing a Windows Phone handset. Please let me know if I'm wrong on either of these points.
1) No local sync with Microsoft Outlook. It seems absurd that a phone OS by Microsoft would not be able to talk to Microsoft Outlook but that seems to be the case. Much like how RIM has implemented the Playbook PIM; My understanding is that Outlook users who wish to port their contacts, calendar, etc from the program into their Windows Phone have to route that data through a Hotmail/Live account or similar service such as Gmail. No local syncing with your PC Outlook.
Apple and RIM (at least on phones) both sync to Outlook, a necessity for me.
2) No iTunes sync. I have had a hard time finding specific info on this; but from what I can tell apparently mac users can purchase software that will sync iTunes libraries and playlists to Windows Phone, but PC users are out of luck. You can manually transfer non-DRM music into Zune, but it means re-building all your playlists, etc from scratch and maintaining it seperate from your iTunes library.
Apple (obviously) and RIM both support iTunes music sync, including playlists.
I sort of understand the logic; the way things are going you can't just buy a phone, the company wants you to live in their ecosystem on your handset, PC and in the Cloud; but I hate the trend towards denying access to competitors services.
As to no local Outlook sync; I guess they just really want you to keep all that personal info in their servers and use their online services, but it's a dealbreaker for me.
Anyway you guys are the experts; please let me know if I've got this wrong or if changes are expected in upcoming OS builds.
Thanks!
-Mike T.
I've been pretty excited about Windows Phone since it came out but stayed with Blackberry last year because of an app I need for work which was only available on that platform. They have since updated to a web-mobile app I can access from any device so I'm once again looking at WP as an upgrade this year.
I haven't spent a lot of time on this forum but so far from what I can tell there are two issues that would still hold me back from purchasing a Windows Phone handset. Please let me know if I'm wrong on either of these points.
1) No local sync with Microsoft Outlook. It seems absurd that a phone OS by Microsoft would not be able to talk to Microsoft Outlook but that seems to be the case. Much like how RIM has implemented the Playbook PIM; My understanding is that Outlook users who wish to port their contacts, calendar, etc from the program into their Windows Phone have to route that data through a Hotmail/Live account or similar service such as Gmail. No local syncing with your PC Outlook.
Apple and RIM (at least on phones) both sync to Outlook, a necessity for me.
2) No iTunes sync. I have had a hard time finding specific info on this; but from what I can tell apparently mac users can purchase software that will sync iTunes libraries and playlists to Windows Phone, but PC users are out of luck. You can manually transfer non-DRM music into Zune, but it means re-building all your playlists, etc from scratch and maintaining it seperate from your iTunes library.
Apple (obviously) and RIM both support iTunes music sync, including playlists.
I sort of understand the logic; the way things are going you can't just buy a phone, the company wants you to live in their ecosystem on your handset, PC and in the Cloud; but I hate the trend towards denying access to competitors services.
As to no local Outlook sync; I guess they just really want you to keep all that personal info in their servers and use their online services, but it's a dealbreaker for me.
Anyway you guys are the experts; please let me know if I've got this wrong or if changes are expected in upcoming OS builds.
Thanks!
-Mike T.