- 12-16-2011, 02:08 AM #1
My first phone was a Nokia 3300. It had a monochrome display, plasticky keys and released so much radiation that it would probably be illegal according to SAR standards now. Back then, it was one of the coolest phones money could buy it had Snake, a mobile chat feature for SMS and a battery life so good that I charged it only occasionally.
Theres a lot more hype surrounding the Lumia 800 than the HTC and Samsung Windows Mango phones probably because the Lumia was supposed to be Nokias great comeback. Nokia has played its cards carefully with the Lumia, and the company supposedly worked very closely with Microsoft to bring the full Windows Mango experience to users. Ill be the first one to admit that the result is beautiful.
That was eleven years ago. Times have changed, and despite Nokia maintaining a strong foothold in Asian markets, it hasnt been able make the cut for picky smart cell phone buyers, yet. So when Nokia announced that it would be working with Microsoft to release a Windows phone, there were a lot of faithful fans, myself included, who wanted to see our old favourite come out with something that could blow away the competition. Luckily for us, it did.
The volume rocker switch and power button are on the side, as is a dedicated camera button which turns on the camera with a single press. The bottom has a speaker grille which also encases the microphone. Theres some fancy engineering on the top panel which houses the micro SIM and mini USB port. The USB port opens with a sort of lever mechanism which requires you to press down on one side of the panel to snap open the flap. Next to that is the SIM card slot, which you have to push sideways for it to pop open but you can only do this when the USB slot is open. Its fancy, but a bit too much effort for my liking. Its also quite flimsy when I accidentally dropped the phone the SIM card slot popped open. Theres no micro SD card slot for storage expansion you have to make do with the 16GB of internal storage you get.
The Lumia 800 is available in three colours Black, Fuschia and Cyan. While the Black unit looks a lot more professional, the Fushcia and Cyan units are younger and more playful. The body is encased in a polycarbonate shell, which is durable and not prone to scratches, unlike its metallic counterparts. The 3.7-inch glass display has a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass which makes it scratch-resistant, and Nokia has sucked all the air out between the display and the body, so theres no gap between the screen and the side it looks like one big, smooth unit. If you observe the phone from the sides, youll see that the glass curves towards the edges, and adds softness to the four sharp corners.
I really fell in love with the Lumia when I looked at the screen. The 480×800 pixel AMOLED display is stunning, and really brings Mangos colourful interface to life. Mango looks best with the dark theme, and the black background is really black Nokia calls this Clear Black and I could tell the difference. The live tiles literally jump out at you, and unlike other Windows phones, they look like theyre almost touching the surface.
Microsoft doesnt allow any customisation for its Windows mobile operating system, but there are a few touches which are distinctly Nokia. One of the first apps I used on the phone was Contacts Transfer, which imported all my contacts from another phone over Bluetooth. Its simple, but really convenient. Another Nokia-specific app is Nokia Drive, a turn-by-turn voice navigation system. Unlike Nokia Maps which uses your data plan to update the maps as you go, (which you also get) with Nokia Drive, you first download a map of the area youre going to be driving around.
Lovers of the N8 might be pacified by the f 2.2, 8-meg camera with Carl Zeiss optics which can record videos in HD, but it does come as a bit of a surprise that theres no front-facing camera on the phone. Microsoft was recently in the news for adopting Tango, the Voip service for video calls, and sadly Lumia users wont be able to avail of this feature. Future updates wont be able to help the problem, but I am hoping they will fix a couple of other issues. The first is that the Lumia has no notification light, so you have to keep checking your phone for alerts. The second is that theres no NFC, something that Nokias currently making a big deal about with its Symbian Belle devices.
Once thats done you can simply input your final destination, and youll get a voice guided navigation system that could beat some of the better car sat-navs out there. Maps are displayed in 2D and and are accurate and easy to use. Another addition is Mix Radio, a great little app that utilises your Wi-Fi or data connection to stream live content from a bunch of global radio stations. The app is neatly divided into categories and sub-categories, and the audio quality is pretty clear too.
› See More: Lumia 800 Is The First Windows Phone By Nokia
- 12-16-2011, 06:37 AM #2Phone Expert
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Re: Lumia 800 Is The First Windows Phone By Nokia
Reviews around the world have said that Nokia's Lumia 800 is the most desirable smartphone the company has produced in years.
As the Lumia 800 goes on sale today, what remains to be seen is whether the hi-tech touchscreen will sell.
It's an alliance between Nokia and Microsoft - the 4.5-inch touchscreen phone runs Microsoft's simple, good-looking Windows Phone 7 software.
Both companies are relying on Lumia to catapult them back into competition with rivals iPhone and Android.
So far, Microsoft's Windows software has failed to make an impact, and Nokia's market share has been steadily dwindling.
When current CEO Stephen Elop took over the company, he likened Nokia's situation to a man standing on a 'burning oil platform' - with the choices of staying and burning alive or leaping into the sea.
Lumia is the 'leap into the sea' - an alliance with Microsoft to propel Nokia's handsets back into the limelight.
Lumia is cheaper than iPhone, and simpler than Android.
It also works with Microsoft Office documents, and has Xbox games built in.
The design is pure high-end Nokia smartphone, with a moulded polycarbonate exterior and a Carl Zeiss lens that has already drawn admiring reviews from tech blogs.
It's going to be an uphill battle, though.
At present, Android phones control 52.5 per cent of the smartphone market, and Apple's iOS 15.6 per cent, according to analysts Gartner Dataquest.
The phone costs £364. The cheaper, lower specced Lumia 710 model will cost just £234.
The pricing in particular could be crucial in putting Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 back in competition with its smartphone rivals.
Read more: Nokia Lumia 800 review: First Windows phones hailed a success | Mail Online
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