How comfortable do you feel with the future of WP7?

[kalldrexx]

So the power button on my Android phone stopped working, and Verizon wants me to pay $89 to use insurance and get a refurb, or buy a new phone. I was hoping not to upgrade my phone until Q3, as by then it should be a lot clearer what the smartphone environment is like (especially with additional competition with the new WebOS stuff).

While I have a hack workaround right now (I can wake the device up by sliding open my keyboard, and I can turn the screen off by pressing a button on my home screen) I have a feeling this is going to get annoying real fast.

Therefore, I am considering my options for purchasing a new phone. I may switch to AT&T and enroll on my girlfriend's plan, so I'm not restricted to Verizon. I have been interested in WP7 since it launched but am aware that it is a version 1 product. As Android has been really getting on my nerves lately, and I am not really interested in the iPhone, WP7 seems like the next option.

However, I do not just want to pick up a WP7 phone without looking at the future of the OS as I don't want to be stuck with a phone for 2 years when I'm not happy with it. If WP7 looks to be in an iffy-state

So how comfortable do you feel about the current and future state of WP7? Are there a lot of little things that get to you, do you feel like it is very polished or needs a lot of work, and how much would you recommend it to geeky and non-geeky friends and colleagues? As someone who is looking at the real possibility of starting a (internet-based) business in the next year, would you recommend this phone to a business oriented person?

To give an idea of how I use my Android phone, 99% of my usage is web browsing, gmail (won't be switching to hotmail), texting, music, and some facebook status browsing if I'm *really* bored. I don't really use any third party apps except for weather and news apps.

 

[Luisraul924]

So the power button on my Android phone stopped working, and Verizon wants me to pay $89 to use insurance and get a refurb, or buy a new phone. I was hoping not to upgrade my phone until Q3, as by then it should be a lot clearer what the smartphone environment is like (especially with additional competition with the new WebOS stuff).

While I have a hack workaround right now (I can wake the device up by sliding open my keyboard, and I can turn the screen off by pressing a button on my home screen) I have a feeling this is going to get annoying real fast.

Therefore, I am considering my options for purchasing a new phone. I may switch to AT&T and enroll on my girlfriend's plan, so I'm not restricted to Verizon. I have been interested in WP7 since it launched but am aware that it is a version 1 product. As Android has been really getting on my nerves lately, and I am not really interested in the iPhone, WP7 seems like the next option.

However, I do not just want to pick up a WP7 phone without looking at the future of the OS as I don't want to be stuck with a phone for 2 years when I'm not happy with it. If WP7 looks to be in an iffy-state

So how comfortable do you feel about the current and future state of WP7? Are there a lot of little things that get to you, do you feel like it is very polished or needs a lot of work, and how much would you recommend it to geeky and non-geeky friends and colleagues? As someone who is looking at the real possibility of starting a (internet-based) business in the next year, would you recommend this phone to a business oriented person?

To give an idea of how I use my Android phone, 99% of my usage is web browsing, gmail (won't be switching to hotmail), texting, music, and some facebook status browsing if I'm *really* bored. I don't really use any third party apps except for weather and news apps.

you will be very accommodated as wp7 has native Gmail support, Zune music IMHO is better than iTunes and the sh?tty excuse of a music player that Android has. The texting is self explanatory in whatever phone you get, and for the explanation you gave on the amount of Facebook time you log I'm pretty sure the simple Facebook integration will more than suit your needs enough to where you might not even need the app. As for web browsing IE9 will be coming out soon for wp7 and i think it'll be the best mobile browser out there. The future of the platform is actually looking brighter and brighter every day. I also feel that it would make a better business phone than Android. I do believe I covered all your concerns?

 

[jtn05]

I think you will like WP7 a lot. like Luisraul924 said, it has native gmail support, Zune is a great music player(better than iTunes), web browsing is pretty good and will be a lot better once its updated to IE9, and Facebook is pretty top notch since its integrated into the phone. I think it could be a good buisness phone since it has office built in.

If Microsoft can speed up these updates then i feel pretty good about the future.

check these videos out for features that will be added in updates

YouTube - phonescoop's Channel

YouTube - phonescoop's Channel

YouTube - phonescoop's Channel

 

[cdook]

I don't think Microsoft would pull the rug out from under WP7. They need it to succeed. They see the desktop market dying from a consumer perspective as everyone stops upgrading desktops and laptops and gets a new phone every 2 years. If you decided to get a BlackBerry or a WebOS phone I'd be more concerned about those two products going away.

 

[kalldrexx]

Good points. I'm getting serious about thinking of switching the more I think about it, as I'll also save money by going to AT&T anyways it seems.

Does WP7 have turn by turn navigation or only maps?

 

[cdook]

Good points. I'm getting serious about thinking of switching the more I think about it, as I'll also save money by going to AT&T anyways it seems.

Does WP7 have turn by turn navigation or only maps?

Bing Maps doesn't have turn by turn. You can lookup directions and it'll show your current location and a list of all the turns, but you have to manually follow each step of the way. On the list of directions you can click on one of the directions and it'll zoom the map into that turn.

I came from the BlackBerry and I kind of liked the BlackBerry Traffic app. It didn't do turn by turn either, but it would keep the backlight on and let you know how many miles/ft you had for the next turn. Once you made the turn it'd remove it from the list.

 

[VernonEL]

Windows Live

All very good advice so far. I think just about everything was covered.

Windows Phone 7 compliments many Microsoft services. It could have easily been called ZunePhone, XBoxPhone, maybe even OfficePhone (poor marketing idea though), and lastly LivePhone. Instead of adding one of these services to a mobile device, they added them all. Hence Windows Phone.

I don't know from experience how well gmail integration works, but from the sound of it, it's pretty good. However, WP7 really deeply integrates Windows Live and Hotmail services. The more I use the services such as SkyDrive, OneNote, and the Calendar, I realize how great they are. Certainly not flashy, but legitimately useful, and in some ways ground-breaking. These services combined with WP7 add up to some very powerful potential. This is of course if they are learned and the full potential is used. That is probably the biggest drawback to Office. People just don't learn it, so they don't think there is any value in it.

If you make the jump to WP7, you should be ready to take the time to learn all the features to help make it the best "Business Phone" it can be.

Good luck on your continued research!!

 

[downhillrider]

If you can do it I would suggest doing what I did. Buy the phone outright with no contract. I like my HTC and have tolerated ATT for many years with the iPhone but I dont know if this "pre update" fiasco is a sign of things to come. I hope not because i really do enjoy the OS.

 

[Moshe22]

Here is a post from another forum with all the possible updates. Even Turn-by-Turn Navigation.

Windows Phone Future Updates - Page 2 - xda-developers

 

[kalldrexx]

Thanks for all the posts. I think I will get the focus, and hope I can get a good enough feel for the phone in the 30 days that I can gauge if I will like having it for the next 2 years.

I really wish AT&T had 1 year contracts, I would feel much safer betting on WP7, which in theory seems really good, but since I don't know anyone in real life who has one it's hard to gauge (no offense to any of you here )

 

[tuffluck]

yeah, let's keep it real for a second.

future updates planned, proposed, or just sought after are one thing. actual real-world changes are another thing. i wouldn't hold your horses about potential changes that may or may not happen. if you want the phone, buy it for what it is now, not what it might become.

that being said, i really like the initial interface of the phone. it is easy to use and has a pretty good grasp on what users want for fluid functionality. there are some shortcomings obviously that we only hope are addressed in the future.

THAT being said, heh, i think it's going to take a long time for windows to make everything the way we want it, and quite frankly i think they might even abandon the windows phone down the road before everything is fully updated the way users *think* MS will take care of it.

that's my 2 cents.

 

[sniffs]

You're going back to a walled garden? Wp7 is just like the iPhone 3G was 3 years ago, but today!

You can't side load apps. There's no tethering, there's no hotspot, there's no copy/paste, everything funnels through Zune, there's no customizations, there's no themeing(come on, REAL themes), there's no modding, theres no mounting your phone as a flash drive to copy stuff to/from the device, there's no REAL expandable memory that can be moved to a new device(you have to format your card if you upgrade to a new phone), there's no multi-tasking for non-ms apps.. unless Microsoft pulls it's head out of it's arse, they are going to fade away into oblivion, AGAIN.

 

[kalldrexx]

You're going back to a walled garden? Wp7 is just like the iPhone 3G was 3 years ago, but today!

You can't side load apps. There's no tethering, there's no hotspot, there's no copy/paste, everything funnels through Zune, there's no customizations, there's no themeing(come on, REAL themes), there's no modding, theres no mounting your phone as a flash drive to copy stuff to/from the device, there's no REAL expandable memory that can be moved to a new device(you have to format your card if you upgrade to a new phone), there's no multi-tasking for non-ms apps.. unless Microsoft pulls it's head out of it's arse, they are going to fade away into oblivion, AGAIN.

To each their own. The tethering apps never worked for me (even rooted), modding my android phone resulted in more annoying bugs than stock had, I don't even use the 8gb memory on my Droid, and multi-tasking is partly why my (and others I personally know) Android phone runs ridiculously slow after a while. I also have not once side-loaded an app on my phone as I have had no reason to.

The walled garden doesn't bother me too much either, and I find myself rarely looking in the Google market because every time I look I don't find any apps that interest me.

At this point I just want something smooth, stable and functional. I don't know if WP7 will fit that perfectly, but Android is heavily getting on my nerves as of late.

 

[NickA]

@sniffs is correct. We all love WP7 and want it to succeed but it's not looking like the carriers are going to coperate with Microsoft. Really, for what you want to use the phone phone for, any smartphone will do. So play with all the phones and pick what you like best.

If you are one that like to "play" on your phone when you get bored, then this phone is not for you.

FYI though - there is no "native" Gmail support like some posts have said. There is no Gmail app like Android has. While it works, some things will get annoying real quick; like when you delete an e-mail on your phone, it actually goes to All Mail and not to Trash like it's supposed to.

 

[sniffs]

Did you ever try any other android phones other than the original Droid?

If you're looking for speed, quickness, etc, the OG Droid isn't one to offer that.

I'm just sayin, if you're had a taste of what android offers and you're asking about Wp7.. try one.. use it for a week and tell me if you feel limited by what you can do.

 

[chnkfc]

I just deleted some mail from my Gmail and nothing went to All mail.

 

[kalldrexx]

Did you ever try any other android phones other than the original Droid?

If you're looking for speed, quickness, etc, the OG Droid isn't one to offer that.

I'm just sayin, if you're had a taste of what android offers and you're asking about Wp7.. try one.. use it for a week and tell me if you feel limited by what you can do.

Well I've had the OG Droid since it came out, so it's not like I am looking at the speed/quickness/etc.. compared to everything out today. That being said, I haven't been impressed by the speed of my coworker's Droid X and my other coworker's Droid 2 (Maybe Motorola just sucks, always a possibility ). Neither really felt smooth to me. The thing is though, even my OG Droid feels fast at first (though only if I use Launcher Pro, and not Google's launcher), its only after a few days of usage I see it slow down.

Another thing about the walled garden, it does have some advantages. Words with friends would have never passed through the walled-garden because it crashes in very reproducible ways. Also, push notifications seem to only spontaneously happen (with that and some other apps as well). It's actually kind of embarrassing.

We'll see. I'm lately finding myself less and less interested in customization lately and I think I'm playing around with my phone less and less as well. I think I am also slowly moving away from geekyness too.

I think I will do what you suggest. I'll get a focus and if I don't like it after a while I'll exchange it for an Atrix.

 

[sniffs]

If you do come back to Android, I would go with either the Atrix(If you're on AT&T) or the Droid Bionic(might be available when you come back)..

Both are Teg2 dual core 1ghz phones and simply astonishing how fast they are.

 

[smartpatrol]

I wouldn't be concerned about WP7's long-term future. MS have VERY deep pockets, and they know that smartphones/mobile computing is a market they simply cannot afford to lose. In other words, even if it takes a few years to catch on, even if it takes years to turn a profit, I belive MS will stick to Windows Phone.

Look at Xbox if you want to see what MS are capable of if they are really determined to break into a market. To put it bluntly, Xbox launched at a time when PS2 completely dominated the market already, and nobody was thinking "gee, I really wish MS would release their own console!" It took a while to catch on, and it lost BILLIONS of dollars, but Xbox actually beat Nintendo Gamecube in sales.

Now, Xbox 360 actually beat Playstation 3 in sales. 6-7 years ago, that would've seemed inconceivable. MS's games division is finally turning a profit. They have the best online gaming service, sold over 8 million Kinects at launch, and have even been outselling Nintendo Wii recently.

THAT is what MS is capable of when they have the money and willpower to step into an already super-competitive market, and see it through.

 

[Luisraul924]

I wouldn't be concerned about WP7's long-term future. MS have VERY deep pockets, and they know that smartphones/mobile computing is a market they simply cannot afford to lose. In other words, even if it takes a few years to catch on, even if it takes years to turn a profit, I belive MS will stick to Windows Phone.

Look at Xbox if you want to see what MS are capable of if they are really determined to break into a market. To put it bluntly, Xbox launched at a time when PS2 completely dominated the market already, and nobody was thinking "gee, I really wish MS would release their own console!" It took a while to catch on, and it lost BILLIONS of dollars, but Xbox actually beat Nintendo Gamecube in sales.

Now, Xbox 360 actually beat Playstation 3 in sales. 6-7 years ago, that would've seemed inconceivable. MS's games division is finally turning a profit. They have the best online gaming service, sold over 8 million Kinects at launch, and have even been outselling Nintendo Wii recently.

THAT is what MS is capable of when they have the money and willpower to step into an already super-competitive market, and see it through.

I could not have said it any better myself. I hope this shuts all those "I wanna see WP7 succeed but I'll still badmouth it" people up.