Lumia GDR2 preview

[cckgz4]

I'm not going to turn this thread into a whole argument over a file manager. There's another thread doing that elsewhere. What I'm tired with is people saying what they feel other people don't need. You're forgetting a large percentage of the market that Nokia has is in India and it is there where WP could prosper if it suits the India market. At this point it doesn't cause they have a completely different way of using their phones. You just need to look at this forum and you'd understand that but you appear to be blind to that. If you want WP to succeed it needs to suit as many people as possible, especially in places where there is already a good market share to be had. People in India will pick up a WP simply because it's a Nokia but they won't buy it if it doesn't suit their needs, which is why cheap Android phones are starting to take over the market there instead and why Android is leading the market elsewhere. I'm talking about success of the platform, to me a compromise needs to be made for that to happen.

You can loath a file manager all you want but I see it as necessary. It doesn't have to like you envision though. There are other ways of doing things.

The general complaint I hear is a notification center and the lack of initial apps

 

[gab1972]

Well just seen iOS 7 the full feature video, have used and experienced Jellybean 4.1 & 2.. I have to say W8 is SERIOUSLY falling far behind on everything!!! If W8p want to stay in the market, MS really do need to wake-up! MS seem very slow and do seem not-so-bothered about W8phones from my experience on W8 phone. Its the only smartphone I know with no all-in-one Notification, no ability to put apps in Folders (come-on too many Tiles do get confusing that involve a memory test of remembering where you placed the app are on the Homescreen - eps when they only have the logo to go by and use lots of apps). With no quick access to your Bluetooth / Net / Wifi (take a look at android/iOS 7); this esp.annoying as you have to go back out the screen you where inn, then go into the Bluetooth/ Net / Wifi, the back again to where you where originally. For some strange reason MS seems to have no media Mute (No you can't press the volume-key and the screen to silence - this only silence phone calls, not media), and why is there no separate control for media and phone volume. What on earth are MS thinking!...Why oh why do you need the use of Net that costs you the user data and battery, a PC, the SkyDrive app, and a W8 Phone, simply to create Photo Albums! Is MS really being awkward just for the sake of it !! Yet MS still become more awkward by making Music Playlist a multitasking task - and yet once the Playlist is created on the phone, you can't add more tracks to it - Only W8/MS phones make you do this!...Its not just me, but others too, who start of liking the W8 phone then realize its vast limitations and features (expected smartphone features) missing from this so-called Smartphone! Oh MAPS/PLACES - hardly any reviews on places/shops/restaurants..etc, lack any reak info, many small shops/business missing, no real-time alternative route navigation, no alerts on road problems. The more you investigate W8phones - esp when coming from android/apple, you do see how far back MS phones are - no wonder they sit in the back of every shop! MS are to blame!

This is seriously unfair and it seems like you really haven't taken the time to get to know your phone. Let me explain...

1. "MS seem very slow and do seem not-so-bothered about W8phones..." Is this because you want updates every 6 months or because MS is not listening to your complaints and fixing them right away? Remember, this is a company with an OS...it's not an app. App developers are smaller scale and can push updates on the fly. An OS is a bit more complicated and it's not like MS (or Android or Apple) follow forums, make changes, and then push updates every month. And if you think MS is slow...good luck on Android. If you have anything older than a Galaxy Nexus, you are stuck on an older version of Android (Ice Cream Sandwich) and will NOT get updated unless you root it and are lucky enough to find a dev who will build a ROM. Apple? You wait once a year for a major update. Every 6 months or so for small bug fixes. So WP8 is not too far off. And at least WP doesn't suffer fragmentation to the point of Android.

2. "...no all-in-one notification..." Between the lock screen showing you new notifications for emails, texts, calendars, calls, etc and the live tiles, how many places do you need to tell you that you've got new stuff? Turn on your phone and look at your lock screen. Right there it gives you info. Now slide up your lock screen. See those live tiles that say "New Message", unread counts, new posts? THOSE are notifications. Why do you need yet ANOTHER slide out menu to give you this information? They make medication for OCD.

3. "...no ability to put apps in Folders..." So you're saying you want to take your apps, place them on the home screen, and then take those and place them in folders? Why? That's why WP is so awesome - simplicity. If I want all of my camera items readily available, I make the tiles small and group them. That way, I can see what I want instead of having to press a folder icon first. But to each his own I guess. However, this doesn't mean that WP is a shortfall simply because it doesn't have folders. And a Memory Game? Seriously? If you have too many tiles - remove some tiles! Then slide to the left and hit that handy little search button. I'd rather have live tiles that give me useful information than dozens of folders on the iScreen.

4. "...no quick access to your Bluetooth / Net / Wifi. Most battery apps have built-in short cuts. Or, there are short cut apps. So get a short cut app and put it on your home screen. Most allow you to pin a short cut specifically for certain things (say Wifi) to the home screen. Tap shortcut. Toggle off Wifi. Press the back button. What's so complicated and hard about that? Tap. Toggle. Tap. Sure, it's convenient to slide down a menu bar and toggle something; but again, is that really so much of a downfall? Apple's iOS7 is FINALLY getting this.

5. While a separate media/phone volume control would be handy, I still fail to see how this would be a downfall to WP. If you're listening to music: volume, pause. There's your mute. And if you're going to a meeting where you need your phone silent, do you really need notifications muted but phone ringer volume up? Or vice versa?

6. What apps REQUIRE the net that Android and Apple don't? Maps allow you to download separate maps for use offline. Music doesn't require you to be online. And you don't have to backup photos to SkyDrive. Apple has iCloud and Android has Google+. They are all guilty of the same things. If you don't sync to SkyDrive, you can still create a photo album. I don't see how this is relevant or a valid argument against WP.

7. Playlists are about the only thing I agree with...unless there's a different app that would circumvent this.

8. Maps/Places - ever hear of Bing? Or Maluuba? Or...how about Google? All three of those will allow you to search, get information, and even get directions and phone numbers. And I'm sorry, but the virtual overlay of Here City Lens is just awesome. If you don't like the reviews it gives, you have the freedom of searching the web. Neither Android nor Apple give you a real time alternative route. They suggest a route based on the amount of time it takes to get there (which Nokia maps does), you select the route and off you go. And to rebuttal your argument, if you use Here Drive and let it run when you drive even with no route selected, it'll learn your routes and suggest the quickest way. That's under Here Drive +, My Commute.

I came from 6 different Android phones and iPhone 4 and 4S. I've rooted, hacked, tweaked, and messed with ROMs on every phone I had. And here's what I've learned: there will NEVER be a one-stop shop phone. What you miss on Android you'll complain about with an Apple or WP. What you miss on Apple, you'll complain about on Android and WP. Etc, etc. To me, WP is fresh, easy, and it's growing. And once again people, if you're going to buy a new phone (whatever the OS), DO YOUR RESEARCH! I knew exactly what I was getting into with my L928 coming from an iPhone 4S. I watched videos, read articles, and went into the store to mess with it a few times. Don't look at the cover picture and think it's going to magically adapt to YOUR liking. iOS is JUST now getting pull down expanded notification toggles. How long did they have to wait for that? And just wait until Key Lime Pie comes out and you have to 6 months before Samsung and the phone carriers decide your Android phone is worthy of the latest OS...or if they want you to buy a new phone instead. It's all relative.

But please, don't say that WP is "falling far behind on everything", "very slow", etc simply because it doesn't have what Apple and Android have. It's like going into Burger King and b!tching because they don't have a Big Mac. It's like when I joined the Marine Corps when I was younger and didn't know what I was getting into. My Drill Instructor said, "You know what USMC stands for? U Signed the Mothereffing Contract. Quit b!tching." Point is - know what you're getting into before you start bashing.

/end rant

 

[cckgz4]

Co-sign

Sent from something UHMAYZING using Tapatalk

 

[standinginalley]

This is seriously unfair and it seems like you really haven't taken the time to get to know your phone. Let me explain...

1. "MS seem very slow and do seem not-so-bothered about W8phones..." Is this because you want updates every 6 months or because MS is not listening to your complaints and fixing them right away? Remember, this is a company with an OS...it's not an app. App developers are smaller scale and can push updates on the fly. An OS is a bit more complicated and it's not like MS (or Android or Apple) follow forums, make changes, and then push updates every month. And if you think MS is slow...good luck on Android. If you have anything older than a Galaxy Nexus, you are stuck on an older version of Android (Ice Cream Sandwich) and will NOT get updated unless you root it and are lucky enough to find a dev who will build a ROM. Apple? You wait once a year for a major update. Every 6 months or so for small bug fixes. So WP8 is not too far off. And at least WP doesn't suffer fragmentation to the point of Android.

2. "...no all-in-one notification..." Between the lock screen showing you new notifications for emails, texts, calendars, calls, etc and the live tiles, how many places do you need to tell you that you've got new stuff? Turn on your phone and look at your lock screen. Right there it gives you info. Now slide up your lock screen. See those live tiles that say "New Message", unread counts, new posts? THOSE are notifications. Why do you need yet ANOTHER slide out menu to give you this information? They make medication for OCD.

3. "...no ability to put apps in Folders..." So you're saying you want to take your apps, place them on the home screen, and then take those and place them in folders? Why? That's why WP is so awesome - simplicity. If I want all of my camera items readily available, I make the tiles small and group them. That way, I can see what I want instead of having to press a folder icon first. But to each his own I guess. However, this doesn't mean that WP is a shortfall simply because it doesn't have folders. And a Memory Game? Seriously? If you have too many tiles - remove some tiles! Then slide to the left and hit that handy little search button. I'd rather have live tiles that give me useful information than dozens of folders on the iScreen.

4. "...no quick access to your Bluetooth / Net / Wifi. Most battery apps have built-in short cuts. Or, there are short cut apps. So get a short cut app and put it on your home screen. Most allow you to pin a short cut specifically for certain things (say Wifi) to the home screen. Tap shortcut. Toggle off Wifi. Press the back button. What's so complicated and hard about that? Tap. Toggle. Tap. Sure, it's convenient to slide down a menu bar and toggle something; but again, is that really so much of a downfall? Apple's iOS7 is FINALLY getting this.

5. While a separate media/phone volume control would be handy, I still fail to see how this would be a downfall to WP. If you're listening to music: volume, pause. There's your mute. And if you're going to a meeting where you need your phone silent, do you really need notifications muted but phone ringer volume up? Or vice versa?

6. What apps REQUIRE the net that Android and Apple don't? Maps allow you to download separate maps for use offline. Music doesn't require you to be online. And you don't have to backup photos to SkyDrive. Apple has iCloud and Android has Google+. They are all guilty of the same things. If you don't sync to SkyDrive, you can still create a photo album. I don't see how this is relevant or a valid argument against WP.

7. Playlists are about the only thing I agree with...unless there's a different app that would circumvent this.

8. Maps/Places - ever hear of Bing? Or Maluuba? Or...how about Google? All three of those will allow you to search, get information, and even get directions and phone numbers. And I'm sorry, but the virtual overlay of Here City Lens is just awesome. If you don't like the reviews it gives, you have the freedom of searching the web. Neither Android nor Apple give you a real time alternative route. They suggest a route based on the amount of time it takes to get there (which Nokia maps does), you select the route and off you go. And to rebuttal your argument, if you use Here Drive and let it run when you drive even with no route selected, it'll learn your routes and suggest the quickest way. That's under Here Drive +, My Commute.

I came from 6 different Android phones and iPhone 4 and 4S. I've rooted, hacked, tweaked, and messed with ROMs on every phone I had. And here's what I've learned: there will NEVER be a one-stop shop phone. What you miss on Android you'll complain about with an Apple or WP. What you miss on Apple, you'll complain about on Android and WP. Etc, etc. To me, WP is fresh, easy, and it's growing. And once again people, if you're going to buy a new phone (whatever the OS), DO YOUR RESEARCH! I knew exactly what I was getting into with my L928 coming from an iPhone 4S. I watched videos, read articles, and went into the store to mess with it a few times. Don't look at the cover picture and think it's going to magically adapt to YOUR liking. iOS is JUST now getting pull down expanded notification toggles. How long did they have to wait for that? And just wait until Key Lime Pie comes out and you have to 6 months before Samsung and the phone carriers decide your Android phone is worthy of the latest OS...or if they want you to buy a new phone instead. It's all relative.

But please, don't say that WP is "falling far behind on everything", "very slow", etc simply because it doesn't have what Apple and Android have. It's like going into Burger King and b!tching because they don't have a Big Mac. It's like when I joined the Marine Corps when I was younger and didn't know what I was getting into. My Drill Instructor said, "You know what USMC stands for? U Signed the Mothereffing Contract. Quit b!tching." Point is - know what you're getting into before you start bashing.

/end rant

Lets go through your arguments bit by bit:

1. Yes its true that both Apple and Google release updates once a year [Major update] but lets face it, both the OS have all the 'basic features' that a consumer would require where as Windows Phone doesn't have so right now MS is playing catch up and let me be clear that its running quite slow. If MS wants to continue remaining at number 3 spot and never move ahead then it can well sit there with a single digit market share. When you are competing with giants like Android and iOS, i don't think the kind of attitude with which Microsoft has for Windows Phone will allow it to grow anymore. With GDR2 being a minor update and 'Blue' being major update which will only come out next year, i think their release cycle is super slow.

2. Notification system is required whether you like it or not. Not everyone likes to pin all their apps and games on the homescreen and then scrolling through 50+ tiles to see their notifications and not everyone would like to miss their notifications by not pinning the tile. Whether you like it or not, it is a basic feature and there is a reason why it keeps getting improved in iOS and Android.

3. Maybe not folders but definitely hub feature would be good except MS doesn't improve that too.

5. This is the worst feature in WP8. I need to control the volume of different apps separately. I listen to my music at a low volume but I don't want my phone to alert me on the low volume.

8. I agree with you on this. Here Maps is quite good and I have never had an issue with it. If you compare it to Google Maps then yes the latter keeps getting better with more feature. Here lens is useless imo. I don't find the need to use that crap.

 

[Jaskys]

Had to reset phone, then install 2 updates, just to found that apart of default camera app changing, a bit increased speed in OS, radio and abbility to delete storage, there isn't anything new.
Was expecting a bit more.

 

[tungha]

This is seriously unfair and it seems like you really haven't taken the time to get to know your phone. Let me explain...

/end rant

you're right at some points but actually we only need some basic-things, not the advanced one. Let's face it that although WP8 is new but MS should have learnt something from the old day of WP7 to improve it, it's quite late already since the iOS7 is about to be final

 

[gab1972]

No one person is ever going to be happy with one OS...unless you're a die-hard ****** or don't care what device you have. I know people that would still pay top dollar for an iPhone even if they made it out of Rhino dung...simply because it's Apple. And I know Android people that would buy the latest Android device even if it gave you ball cancer...simply because it's Android. But neither of them are 100% happy with their OS. That will always be. Apple fans cried a river when Instagram jumped ship and went to Android - even so far as to say they'll never use Instagram again because they betrayed their peeps. But look how long it took for them to release to Android. Android has been enjoying pull down notifications and toggle controls since as far back as 2008. iOS7 is JUST NOW including those features. But that didn't stop people from shelling out money for iPhones.

No company will ever please everybody. As soon as iPhone comes out with the next big feature, Android and WP users will start crying that they don't have that feature. We expect OS companies to jump through hoops for us because Brand X has this feature. Now, our OS sucks because we don't have what someone else came out with. It's called *brand*. And like it or not, companies have to tread lightly when adopting concepts from other OS's. Apple has been trying to get billions from Samsung simply because their home screen and shape of the phone resembled too much like the iPhone. Apple tried suing Amazon for the phrase "App Store". Now Android fans are crying copycat because iOS is getting pull down (rather pull up) notifications and toggle controls. If WP came out with an update tomorrow for pull down notifications or a retina display - you can bet someone is going to get a S&D letter or a lawsuit.

I'd be willing to bet that WP is working on something to keep up, but they have to tread lightly and make it their own. Apple hired Joney Ive to recreate their look because they wanted it to be unique and look how long it took for that.

Be patient. And if you can't wait...Craigslist has great deals on iPhones and Android phones. But simply stating WP sucks because it doesn't have feature x or y is unfair. I highly doubt WP is blind to all that's going on around them. I'm sure in everyone's eyes, they think Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates are sitting pool side drinking Mai Tai's as a bunch of naked women swim in a pool of money. Innovation takes time and tact. Let it evolve.

 

[qudahamohammad]

I do not care whether the phone has a notification center or not but if it gets a notification center, I hope Microsoft tries to be unique with it. swipe from up (or whatever is called) is adopted by iOS and Andriod, swift to left is taken by Blackberry in it's Blackberry10 OS.

All I need is to close the application from the multi-tasking screen, Whatsapp and XMS last seen are really annoying when you want to avoid someone.

I might be a shallow user, I'm not that kind of user who cares about RAM or ROM or whatever that is/means. I just came from the Symbian the WP8 industry for something simple and delivers what it promises to delivers, and here's my only problem with the current operating system:
MESSAGING ISN'T WORKING PROPERLY WITH FACEBOOK CHAT XKNMKDLGJ
/end cap rant.

 

[KrightonX]

I do not care whether the phone has a notification center or not but if it gets a notification center, I hope Microsoft tries to be unique with it. swipe from up (or whatever is called) is adopted by iOS and Andriod, swift to left is taken by Blackberry in it's Blackberry10 OS.

All I need is to close the application from the multi-tasking screen, Whatsapp and XMS last seen are really annoying when you want to avoid someone.

I might be a shallow user, I'm not that kind of user who cares about RAM or ROM or whatever that is/means. I just came from the Symbian the WP8 industry for something simple and delivers what it promises to delivers, and here's my only problem with the current operating system:
MESSAGING ISN'T WORKING PROPERLY WITH FACEBOOK CHAT XKNMKDLGJ
/end cap rant.

You should probably stick with an iPhone and use the Apple forums. This is way over your head. "RAM" or ROM" oh..my..god..

 

[WanderingTraveler]

You should probably stick with an iPhone and use the Apple forums. This is way over your head. "RAM" or ROM" oh..my..god..

Whoa there. Stop for a moment and look at what took him here.
Simplicity and the expectation that everything just works.

 

[qudahamohammad]

You should probably stick with an iPhone and use the Apple forums. This is way over your head. "RAM" or ROM" oh..my..god..

of course I know what RAM and ROM are but I only care if the phone is running fast and smooth. I bought 920 but I really didn't need more than 720.

Whoa there. Stop for a moment and look at what took him here.
Simplicity and the expectation that everything just works.

Simplicty, checked.
everything works, checked except messaging.

but really guys, for a social addict like me, all apps are there for me:
Twitter
Foursquare
Facebook but meh.
XMS
Whatsapp
E-mail
Vimeo
Vevo
Vine (third party)
Instagram (third party)

there's no need to cry on the number of applications that are in there, they are key applications and that's enough.

 

[Neeraj Mathur]

I see a lot of ppl online complaining that they did not get Data Sense even after installing GDR 2 and that it is a carrier dependent feature. My L820 "unlocked" ( running OS version 8.01.10211.20 and firmware rev 1232.5957.1308.0001) had it working out of the box. Even before putting a sim card and also works perfectly on Vodafone India network.