Most desirable Windows 8 smartphones

Joe Average said:
Exactly, terminology is vital - there is no Windows 8 Smartphone (yet.)

I have seen some of your WP8 apps on the market place and must say I am impressed !

Hint : There exist a huge demand for Afrikaans based apps for toddlers (pre-schoolers and even primary school), i.e. learning to count, spell, etc. in Afrikaans. You will be surprised how big the market is in SA for Afrikaans educational mobile applications. If you looking for the best XAML skills south of the equator, give me a buzz.
Click to expand...

If you have a HTC HD2 you can load Windows 8 RT on it :)

http://www.xda-developers.com/windows-mobile/htc-hd2-refuses-to-die-now-runs-windows-rt/
 
Joe Average said:
The correct name for the phone is : WP8 - Windows Phone 8

I agree to the fact that it is a smartphone, but it is not named the "Windows 8 Smartphone" by Microsoft. The reason is that it does not use the same OS as the Desktop Windows 8 OS. But then, the discussion could get very technical.

Jannie, do you use a WP8 ? What do you think of it ?

:)
Click to expand...

OK, so you're talking about naming conventions and not terminology per se. Agree then. :)

Yes, I do use a Smartphone running WP8, the Lumia 920.

Right now it gets my top billing over the S3 and iPhone 5 as well as a couple of other phones in my bag.

But it's a first-gen OS, a number of issues will hopefully be fixed in the first service pack.
 
jannievanzyl said:
OK, so you're talking about naming conventions and not terminology per se. Agree then. :)

Yes, I do use a Smartphone running WP8, the Lumia 920.

Right now it gets my top billing over the S3 and iPhone 5 as well as a couple of other phones in my bag.

But it's a first-gen OS, a number of issues will hopefully be fixed in the first service pack.
Click to expand...


That's great news. I agree, and must admit, it is extremely "easy" to develop for the Windows Marketplace. Do you perhaps know if Vodacom has any plans on the Surface Pro tablet in SA (being released by the end of Jan 2013 in the US) ?

XAML development (which is what the Modern UI is based on) can easily be ported between the different form factors for WP8 and Win 8 RT. Being from a engineering background you should know the advandtage of a vector based rendering GUI compared to traditional pixel-based HTML (even in HTML5) - although MS has also opened up JS/HTML/CSS3 development platform for the Modern UI on Win8 RT as well (covering all bases for technologies to use).
 
Last edited:
Joe Average said:
That's great news. I agree, and must admit, it is extremely "easy" to develop for the Windows Marketplace. Do you perhaps know if Vodacom has any plans on the Surface Pro tablet in SA (being released by the end of Jan 2013 in the US) ?
Click to expand...
I'll check but aside from something completely beyond our control (i.e. if they start exhibiting fruit tendencies), I cannot see it not coming out. My order is in as I suspect it's going to relegate my iPads to TV remote control status. ;)
 
Last edited:
jannievanzyl said:
OK, so you're talking about naming conventions and not terminology per se. Agree then. :)

Yes, I do use a Smartphone running WP8, the Lumia 920.

Right now it gets my top billing over the S3 and iPhone 5 as well as a couple of other phones in my bag.

But it's a first-gen OS, a number of issues will hopefully be fixed in the first service pack.
Click to expand...

Jannie, I'm curious to know what you find better than the S3?
 
Electron1 said:
Jannie, I'm curious to know what you find better than the S3?
Click to expand...

I know a short answer will probably not suffice, but I find Android to be more 'disjointed' and just 'older' than WP8. Android's origins come through in how it's just not as integrated, slick and uniform as some of the other OS's. A lot is down to app development coming from so many sources. IOS is more integrated and unifirm in look and feel but its age is also beginning to show.

In terms of hardware, there's little to choose between the S3 and the 920 so it comes down to personal choice. I prefer the slick look and feel of the 920 over the S3. And the fact that it feels more solid in the hand. (Just to get Bevonk's back up ;))

So, for me, the (920 + WP8) combo is more attractive than an (Android + S3) setup.

Having said that, even though I have a Nexus phone and tablet on 4.2, I'd still recommend the S3 if you're an Android man. It's still the ultimate 'fiddle' phone.
 
Thanks for the answer.
I have to wait a while before upgrading, keen to see the smart phone sales in the first few half of this year, also wonder how Blackberry 10 will feature after the launch at the end of the month.
 
Electron1 said:
Thanks for the answer.
I have to wait a while before upgrading, keen to see the smart phone sales in the first few half of this year, also wonder how Blackberry 10 will feature after the launch at the end of the month.
Click to expand...

We're actually spoilt for choice at the moment with top kit in each OS camp. Devices like the S3, 920, iP5, BB10, etc. make it not an easy choice.
 
jannievanzyl said:
I know a short answer will probably not suffice, but I find Android to be more 'disjointed' and just 'older' than WP8. Android's origins come through in how it's just not as integrated, slick and uniform as some of the other OS's. A lot is down to app development coming from so many sources. IOS is more integrated and unifirm in look and feel but its age is also beginning to show.
Click to expand...

bull_zpscdcaa8e3.jpg
 
jannievanzyl said:
I know a short answer will probably not suffice, but I find Android to be more 'disjointed' and just 'older' than WP8. Android's origins come through in how it's just not as integrated, slick and uniform as some of the other OS's. A lot is down to app development coming from so many sources. IOS is more integrated and unifirm in look and feel but its age is also beginning to show.
Click to expand...

It's funny you say that. The first thing I thought when I saw this Ubuntu Mobile was also a "why would they build the interface the old way?". My 920 is my first WP and honestly the UI just makes sense, you have an infinite amount of space as it scrolls horizontally and there aren't any tab bars that become clogged.

Also having developed for all 3, WP development is by a very long stretch the most cost effective and by far the easiest. Android being dead last on both counts, but you can do a lot more on it.

I do still like Android, but WP has won my love :love:
 
dabbler said:
So where does the Nexus 4 fit amongst this lot?
Click to expand...

Nowhere.

Last time I checked, it was running pure Android 4.2, soon to be 5.

It is most definitely not the most desirable Windows Phone 8 device. :)
 
elvis_presley said:
Yes ... 10 years ago - if you keep up to date you'll see that MS has learned the hard way they have had to support open standards to stay in the game. There's a reason everyone used EAS - it was simply better. Google has moved to the [-]inferior[/-] open IMap/CalDAV/CardDAV purely as a result of politics, and only the users lose.

It's true that MS prefer using their own home-grown standards over open ones a lot, and many times that's because they're simply better or offer more functionality. I have no problem with that, so long as they don't actively shut out the open option - which they don't (anymore).
Click to expand...
Actually, MS are "actively shut out the open option" - WP8 does not support [-]inferior[/-] open IMap/CalDAV/CardDAV they are locking you into a MS licensed closed technology.
EAS is a closed technology with licenses and fees.
MS prefer their own home-grown patent encumbered standards because they can charge for using the proprietary MS standard, they can lock out competitors and change the standard as they see fit.

There is a cost to Google to license EAS, if MS wanted, they could open source and remove license restrictions on EAS, then Google would consider using it.

Q. What makes [-]simply better[/-] proprietary EAS better than [-]inferior[/-] open iMap/CalDAV/CardDAV? - AFAIK nothing.
 
jannievanzyl said:
I know a short answer will probably not suffice, but I find Android to be more 'disjointed' and just 'older' than WP8. Android's origins come through in how it's just not as integrated, slick and uniform as some of the other OS's. A lot is down to app development coming from so many sources. IOS is more integrated and unifirm in look and feel but its age is also beginning to show.

In terms of hardware, there's little to choose between the S3 and the 920 so it comes down to personal choice. I prefer the slick look and feel of the 920 over the S3. And the fact that it feels more solid in the hand. (Just to get Bevonk's back up ;))

So, for me, the (920 + WP8) combo is more attractive than an (Android + S3) setup.

Having said that, even though I have a Nexus phone and tablet on 4.2, I'd still recommend the S3 if you're an Android man. It's still the ultimate 'fiddle' phone.
Click to expand...

I actually agree with Jannie here. Over the last few years I've used the iPhone 3G, HTC Desire HD and Windows Phone 7 and 7.5 on Samsung Omnia 7. After I read the reviews of the different brands I felt that the Lumia 920 was downplayed against the competition. On Friday I decided to go to Vodaworld to get a feel of all the handsets before making the upgrade decision.

Working on the iPhone5 took me back 3.5 years. It did not feel forward moving or innovative like the iPhone 3G did.

Working on the Galaxy S3 felt oddly out of place and even though the screen on the S3 is quite amazing the icons and like Jannie said "disjoined" nature of the Android phone just felt out of place and uncomfortable.

Working on the Lumia 920 felt so smooth and elegant. WP8 is really a great operating system and I know it will be a great work/social phone. I don't have time to waist on tinkering anymore. While speaking to my server admin he immediately went with the S3 as can be expected as the thought of conformance will drive him crazy!

For the business I will recommend any WP8 device but especially the Nokia Lumia 920!

Jannie, why is the price of the 920 so high compared to the other devices? That premium will hurt its adoption.

Regards
 
nictron said:
I actually agree with Jannie here. Over the last few years I've used the iPhone 3G, HTC Desire HD and Windows Phone 7 and 7.5 on Samsung Omnia 7. After I read the reviews of the different brands I felt that the Lumia 920 was downplayed against the competition. On Friday I decided to go to Vodaworld to get a feel of all the handsets before making the upgrade decision.

Working on the iPhone5 took me back 3.5 years. It did not feel forward moving or innovative like the iPhone 3G did.

Working on the Galaxy S3 felt oddly out of place and even though the screen on the S3 is quite amazing the icons and like Jannie said "disjoined" nature of the Android phone just felt out of place and uncomfortable.

Working on the Lumia 920 felt so smooth and elegant. WP8 is really a great operating system and I know it will be a great work/social phone. I don't have time to waist on tinkering anymore. While speaking to my server admin he immediately went with the S3 as can be expected as the thought of conformance will drive him crazy!

For the business I will recommend any WP8 device but especially the Nokia Lumia 920!

Jannie, why is the price of the 920 so high compared to the other devices? That premium will hurt its adoption.

Regards
Click to expand...

What makes the 920 a better business device than the S3?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X