Some great WP7 features...

[wpnewbie]

I am joining the smart phone bandwagon and I like the windows phone .. Will be at AT&T store on 8th Apr for Lumia 900

I would live to optimize the smart phone usage ... can you please help with some of the best aspects of WP7 ..... I do not like buying a smart phone and then use it for only Calls/Emails and some internet ... I can do that in office and at home ...

So far Nokia Apps look great .. drive & transport .. useful ...

Lync and sharepoint ?

can you please list all the useful stuff that I ... with WP7 ...

 

[HeyCori]

I do not like buying a smart phone and then use it for only Calls/Emails and some internet ... I can do that in office and at home ...

What would you like to use your phone for? Any particular hobbies that you think could be improved with apps?

 

[selfcreation]

-live tiles
-integration with Xbox
-Integration with facebook/twiter
- Innovative ( its different the Ios or Android )
- Skydrive fo quick sharing
- ZUNE! much better then Itunes .. or nothing on android.. lol
- LEGLESS and SMOOTH!


hmm the list goes on ,but in the end aside from that its like every other smartphones. its a multimedia center.

 

[willied]

A good app for keeping up with tv shows is Prime TV. To get the most out of it you need to buy it for $.99, which is easily worth it to me.

Gasbuddy helps you find the cheapest gas near you. Great app for saving money.

If you're looking for a new restaurant to try out you can use the built in Local Scout function. It also tells you things to see and do and where to shop depending on where you are.

Bing Vision is a built in feature that allows you to use the camera to look up a book or an item's UPC code and find the best price online.

There are a few good weather apps, I prefer the Weather Channel app, which isn't the prettiest, but it works the best for me.

Certain apps can be pinned to the start screen that update automatically so you don't always have to go into the app.

There is an app called Marketplace Deals that helps you find free apps or apps that have had their prices lowered.

I use an app called Parcel Tracker to track packages. It supports a large list of mail carriers and to get the full functionality you should buy it for $.99. It's worth it.

There's also the WPCentral app, of course. It's very nice.

Are there any hobbies or interests that you have that might help us suggest other apps for you?

Hopefully that helps a bit. If you have any specific questions please let us know.

 

[wpnewbie]

Cool ! Thank you for your inputs ... Very useful tips ..

So Far I figured these are useful for me ...

Nokia Drive
Nokia Transport (Maybe it will work in US? )
Skydrive
BAC App .. but missing chase ..
Zune -will try .. has good reviews . I like iPod but Itunes not to my liking.
Local Scout and Gasbuddy - Like it!
Bing Vision Very eager to try this one
Marketplace Deals should be helpful
Do we have Lync and Share point access ?

I checked out one of my friend using WP7 Phone ... Outlook email view great .. far far better than IOS and Android ...

Any Good News Streams ? Good to see quite a few available .. but any good suggestions on what i should subscribe to ?

any Movie look up apps to check the movies in a theater near you ..?

Any Travel and trip advise apps?

Yet to start on Xbox ... hopefully once i buy the phone .. will buy the Xbox

Thank you for your suggestions again ...

 

[selfcreation]

shop around for a deal, some place give WP +Xbox in bundles

 

[alex6272]

The Office hub has SharePoint access

 

[eric12341]

Cool ! Thank you for your inputs ... Very useful tips ..

So Far I figured these are useful for me ...

Nokia Drive
Nokia Transport (Maybe it will work in US? )
Skydrive
BAC App .. but missing chase ..
Zune -will try .. has good reviews . I like iPod but Itunes not to my liking.
Local Scout and Gasbuddy - Like it!
Bing Vision Very eager to try this one
Marketplace Deals should be helpful
Do we have Lync and Share point access ?

I checked out one of my friend using WP7 Phone ... Outlook email view great .. far far better than IOS and Android ...

Any Good News Streams ? Good to see quite a few available .. but any good suggestions on what i should subscribe to ?

any Movie look up apps to check the movies in a theater near you ..?

Any Travel and trip advise apps?

Yet to start on Xbox ... hopefully once i buy the phone .. will buy the Xbox

Thank you for your suggestions again ...

the built in bing search can check movies, u just type in movies in zip code or say it by pressing and holding start and it will take u to a list of movies and theaters and even give an option to buy the tickets. same thing with weather, say local weather and it will then goto a search that displays the weather info. all built in, really isnt a need for a weather app unless u want it on a tile.

 

[Mitlov]

Zune is fantastic. Probably the best Windows Phone exclusive feature in my opinion. Get a $9.99 per month or $99/year subscription and download all the albums you want for free. Play them on your phone (which you can plug into the "Aux In" jack on a car, or walk around with with headphones) or your computer (plugged into external speakers).

 

[pedenske]

Flickster is a great free movie app that includes rotten tomatoes scores

 

[richv77]

With the Zune pass, what happens when you stop your subscription? Do you still have any music to listen to? I would think not.

Thanks for any comments.

-Rich

Zune is fantastic. Probably the best Windows Phone exclusive feature in my opinion. Get a $9.99 per month or $99/year subscription and download all the albums you want for free. Play them on your phone (which you can plug into the "Aux In" jack on a car, or walk around with with headphones) or your computer (plugged into external speakers).

 

[dtboos]

With the Zune pass, what happens when you stop your subscription? Do you still have any music to listen to? I would think not.



Thanks for any comments.



-Rich

You are just no longer able to stream and download songs, and previously downloaded songs from subscription no longer work.

You can still preview market songs, and can play music you've synced to the phone all you want.

Sent from my SGH-i917 using Board Express

 

[willied]

Cool ! Thank you for your inputs ... Very useful tips ..

So Far I figured these are useful for me ...

Nokia Drive
Nokia Transport (Maybe it will work in US? )
Skydrive
BAC App .. but missing chase ..
Zune -will try .. has good reviews . I like iPod but Itunes not to my liking.
Local Scout and Gasbuddy - Like it!
Bing Vision Very eager to try this one
Marketplace Deals should be helpful
Do we have Lync and Share point access ?

I checked out one of my friend using WP7 Phone ... Outlook email view great .. far far better than IOS and Android ...

Any Good News Streams ? Good to see quite a few available .. but any good suggestions on what i should subscribe to ?

any Movie look up apps to check the movies in a theater near you ..?

Any Travel and trip advise apps?

Yet to start on Xbox ... hopefully once i buy the phone .. will buy the Xbox

Thank you for your suggestions again ...

For news there is Weave which has good reviews, Pulse is another but isn't as highly rated...I don't use either so I don't personally know how good either is.

You can search for movies and showtimes right on the device.

There's TripAdvisor for travel stuff.

There is a Lync app for Windows Phone.

 

[Mitlov]

With the Zune pass, what happens when you stop your subscription? Do you still have any music to listen to? I would think not.

Thanks for any comments.

-Rich

What dtboos said. You can only play downloaded Zune music while you have an active Zune subscription. Kind of like how you can only work out in a gym when you have an active gym membership.

The Zune subscription is a great deal if you continually pick up new music (if you get even one new album per month, Zune is cheaper than buying the music album-by-album). If you just want five albums to listen to over and over and over again, buy them instead of getting a Zune subscription.

You can still use the Zune software to manage and play music you've ripped from discs or purchased online (from the Zune store, iTunes store, Amazon.com music, etc) whether or not you have a Zune subscription.

 

[HeyCori]

the built in bing search can check movies, u just type in movies in zip code or say it by pressing and holding start and it will take u to a list of movies and theaters and even give an option to buy the tickets. same thing with weather, say local weather and it will then goto a search that displays the weather info. all built in, really isnt a need for a weather app unless u want it on a tile.

The MSN Movies app is really good for finding theater locations and show times. It also has reviews, trailers, photos, and a synopsis of the movie.

Bing Music is another great feature that can help identify a random song you might hear while you're out. It also integrates well with Zune. Find the song with Bing Music and then immediately download it using the Zune marketplace on your phone.

 

[Old_Cus]

If you don't already have one I would suggest a hotmail account. It works perfectly with microsoft live and the skydrive plus it syncs/backups your contacts so if you change or replace phones you don't have to re-enter them.

I would also suggest a screenlock app for if you misplace your phone the person who finds it (if they are honest) can tell who the phone belongs to. I use Metro Lockscreen Creator and I love it's look.

My guilty pleasure is a flashlight app that uses the phone flash as a light. I can't tell you how many times I use it.

Good luck with you search.

 

[wpnewbie]

Lots of good information! Thanks a lot guys ... keep posting .. will use up all the info i can ...

 

[HeyCori]

If you don't already have one I would suggest a hotmail account. It works perfectly with microsoft live and the skydrive plus it syncs/backups your contacts so if you change or replace phones you don't have to re-enter them.

I would also suggest a screenlock app for if you misplace your phone the person who finds it (if they are honest) can tell who the phone belongs to. I use Metro Lockscreen Creator and I love it's look.

Another benefit of having a hotmail account is being able to use the "Find Your Phone" and "Erase Your Phone" features from any internet browser. I don't know if those features are available for Gmail when you have a Windows Phone.

 

[mprice86]

Regarding the Nokia Transport App, currently supported US Cities are:

Atlanta, GA
Austin, TX
Baltimore, MD
Berkshire, MA
Boston, MA
Chicago, IL
Dallas, TX
Denver, CO
Honolulu, HI
Houston, TX
Las Vegas, NV
Miami-Dade County, FL
Minneapolis and Saint Paul, MN
New York City, NY
Philadelphia, PA
Sacramento, CA
San Fransisco Bay Area, CA
Seattle, WA
Southern California

If your city isn't on the list, they have said that it will be updated with new city support as the have it. In the mean time there are probably alternative apps that you can use

 

[Mitlov]

If you don't already have one I would suggest a hotmail account. It works perfectly with microsoft live and the skydrive plus it syncs/backups your contacts so if you change or replace phones you don't have to re-enter them.

Just as an FYI, you can also sync contacts to a gmail account. I've had a gmail account for a decade and didn't want to start a new email account (even though Google is increasinly becoming the Evil Empire), and I can sync all my contacts to that account.

My guilty pleasure is a flashlight app that uses the phone flash as a light. I can't tell you how many times I use it.

I've got this app too (HTC distributes it for free). Simple yet incredibly useful.