Hurdles in switching to WP7 the I want to overcome

[switchthreesixty]

I badly want to switch to WP7 by means of the "oh-so-sexy" Lumia 900.
I've had the iphone 3g and now the 4.

Last night I asked myself;
What do I use most on the iphone?
Can WP7, in some form or fashion, do the same?
I am here to see if anyone can help me figure out solutions.

1.
Car audio. I currently can plug my iphone into my Pioneer's USB and control the audio from my iphone.
This includes: ESPN radio, Spotify, Pandora, and Google Music.
The USB provides crisp audio quality.
A FM transmitter or using the 3.5mm jack just doesn't cut it.
I briefly tried plugging in the stores Lumia to no avail.
Is there a way to get it to work?
To use Zune Pass through the usb and control it from the Lumia?

2.
Top apps I use on a daily basis (that WP7 market doesn't seem to have an answer for):
A. ESPN Radio App
B. Box.com (I have access to 50 gigs to use for my small business)
C. Zynga games (Words w/ Friends)
D. Google Music player
E. Remotes for itunes or music on my comp. (comp stereo plugged into stereo across the room)
F. MyWi

Any ideas on figuring out work arounds for these hurdles?
Can I use the browser to do these things while waiting for apps to come out?

 

[inteller]

stick with your iPhone, your usage scenarios are too proprietary to iOS.

 

[cba191]

It's not iOS. There are going to be some thngs that you aren't currently able to do. They may come up with those things in the future, but I was able to find alternatives for most of the things I needed, and found that I didn't actually need some of the things that I thought I did.

 

[mase123987]

As far as number 2 goes:

A. While not as direct, TuneIn Radio allows you to listen to many stations from around the US. You can also search for a certain program and see if it is playing on any station currently and listen to it. While it def. isn't a perfect match, I would think it would cover most of your needs. Check it out and see if it has the stations/programs you need.
B. Never used Box.com. If you don't mind changing services, Skydrive works well but I'm not sure exactly what your looking for.
C. Not happening. There are alternatives that work very well but if your friends will only play Words with Friends, there isn't anything you can do.
D.Gooroovster plays all your music from the google cloud that google music does. When I switched from Android, this app saved me from having to switch services.
E. Don't need this but I doubt there is anything that can work with iTunes. I personally hate itunes so I run from anything that is meant for it.
F. I am assuming that tethering is available on the 900 but I don't know. It is part of the newest WP7 OS.

 

[mprice86]

In short; no.

There may be some work around apps, but certainly there is no way to play audio through USB. I imagine that since you're asking about this specifically you have a sound system in your car that is good enough to be able to tell the difference; because honestly I use the 3.5mm jack and it sounds fine to me

Sorry I can't be more helpful, but you could be waiting a long time for official versions of apps and even longer for hardware stuff like that. Far better that you get honest answers and remain happy with your current system, rather than buying into a new system that is not going to meet your needs.

 

[bear_lx]

there are alternatives to most of those needs... if anything try it out for a week and if you dont like it, return the phone. i came from iphone 4 and i dont miss a thing. in fact my wife still has it, and we play words by post all the time. it is also on ios and android so you can play with all your friends. i use my 3.5 and it works flawlessly. there are a number of apps to replace pandora. some of which are way better. iheart radio, slacker, tunein radio, metro radio, spotify, the list goes on... honestly i think even with making a few sacrifices, you wont miss that iphone... and its not going to be long before developers are flocking to this beautiful OS to build their apps... appolo is going to be a game changer!!! so i say try it out

 

[inteller]

its neat and all that some of you want to figure out other's new workflows, but really if a person wants to change bad enough they will wean themselves off of their old proprietary workflows and onto new alternative ones. It is a given when switching to any platform. I even had to alter my old workflows going from WM6.1 to WP7. I never read this malarky about going from 'roid to ios or vice versa.

 

[Tyresian]

I would say figure out a way to use the headphone jack and not have bad quality OR figure out a way to utilize the bluetooth.

Even Android doesn't work on USB on MOST car and audio system. Everything is made for iOS, which really stinks. I do wish my car could work better with my phone.

However, my car does have bluetooth and I can control the play/pause/skip functions with my car, which is awesome. And depending on the phone bluetooth audio can be very good. With the Lumia 900 it works amazingly well with my car. Much better than previous phones.

 

[abbller]

I would say figure out a way to use the headphone jack and not have bad quality OR figure out a way to utilize the bluetooth.

Even Android doesn't work on USB on MOST car and audio system. Everything is made for iOS, which really stinks. I do wish my car could work better with my phone.

However, my car does have bluetooth and I can control the play/pause/skip functions with my car, which is awesome. And depending on the phone bluetooth audio can be very good. With the Lumia 900 it works amazingly well with my car. Much better than previous phones.

There are going to be some thngs that you aren't currently able to do.

 

[ubizmo]

There's an app called "Boxfiles for box.net" that gives you access to your box.net files (and skydrive), but WP is very restrictive in what you can upload from the device.

 

[Sasquatch76]

I'm hoping there's a good police scanner app. The iPhone one is pretty nice.

 

[smapor]

This is why I want to break free of IOS. Everything you do must be IOS including its overpriced accessories.

 

[ggabriele3]

1. Car audio.

Griffin Bluetrip Aux works for me.

 

[inteller]

If you can still find one the Anycom FIPO attaches to the end of any stupid iPod accessory plug any translates commands from your A2DP bluetooth device to iPod commands. I have one for my stupid car stereo that is iPod connector only.

 

[viveeel]

While Lumia and HTC are great devices but i certainly can't shake off the feeling WP 7.5 is currently incomplete OS and Windows 8 will redefine it all over again, the limitation will be lifted and all companies will launch there best possible devices when its out be it mobile or tablet, till then no one is really that interested in lauching a device for the OS which we know will outdate itself in 6 months, Though what windows is trying to do a environment for Win 8 to launch and making sure there is excitement about it. they are succeding too. but Not everyone lives in a country where you can get mobile for cheap amount like 100$s in so called 3rd world nation where buying a mobile is like shelling out aroun 600$ to say the least and most people don have luxury to buy new phone every year (pointing to myself) i am not sure i wanna invest even though i love windows initiative but can't bring myself to buy it just yet though and I am in need of mobile.
I certainly wish MS releases the WP8 soon so companies can come up with the new products and people have real choice in buying stuff, I also hope HTC take 3rd world seriously for Windows Phone too not just android... and lauch the damn titan and titan 2 quickly...

 

[Major]

My Titan pairs with my truck's stereo via Bluetooth. I also have my Zune HD connected to my truck's stereo via USB. Finally, I have Sirius radio. I'm never left wanting for music.

 

[Gungzwei]

For E:
Windows Media Center is DLNA compliant. You can use apps from your WP7 to control access to your media library. My Trophy has HTC's "Connected Media" app that I use for that very purpose.

The other manufacturers have their own versions of the app and there are also 3rd party apps available.