Category Archives: Windows

Nokia Lumia 925 – Review part 2

Reviews, Tech News, Windows,

Yesterday, I covered the hardware specifications and my very first initial impressions. Click here to recap.

Today, I am going to cover the software included with the Lumia 925, and it really is an impressive suite, providing a whole new phone experience. I received a software update the other night. It was a smooth process, and I now should have a more improved phone.

On the productivity side you get the following apps – Calculator, Clock, Calendar, Phonebook, Alarm clock, Reminders, To-do list, Social networks in Phonebook, OneNote, Wallet, Family Room, Kid’s Corner.

Business apps which are optional downloads include Adobe acrobat reader and Lync (Corporate IM). Software included are SkyDrive storage for documents and notes, Microsoft Office apps Excel, Word, Powerpoint, OneNote, with syncronization to Exchange ActiveSync. There is also an excellent Mac companion app and Windows 8 companion app. As you would expect you can sync your Calendar, Video, Pictures, Music and Contacts.
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The Email clients are comprehensive and include Yahoo! Mail, Outlook Mobile, Gmail, Office 365, Nokia Mail, Windows Live / Hotmail / Outlook.com and MS Exchange Active Sync. The protocols supported are SMTP, IMAP4, POP3. In addition to the standard viewing and editing or email attachments, there is a text to speech message reader, conversational view option on email, multiple combined inbox view, inbox filtering, HTML viewer too.

The social side is covered with Google Talk, Twitter, Windows Live Messenger, WhatsApp, Yahoo! Messenger, Skype IM and Facebook. The Messaging features Integrated text messaging and chat, Instant messaging, Concatenated SMS for long messages, Multiple SMS deletion, List of recently used numbers, Audio messaging, Text-to-speech message reader, Text messaging, Number screening for messaging, Unified MMS/SMS editor, Automatic resizing of images for MMS, Distribution lists for messaging, Multimedia messaging, Conversational chat style SMS, Unified inbox for SMS and MMS.
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One thing Nokia does well is call quality, so it comes as no surprise that the phone includes the following – Voice Commands, Call waiting, Voice mail, Integrated hands-free speakers, Call forwarding, Call logs for dialled, received and missed, HD audio, Call history, Voice dial, Conference call, Skype voice call
Video call features: Skype video call. Noise cancellation is handled by 2 microphone uplink noise cancellation.

On the security front Enterprise users get Remote security policy enforcement. General security features include Remote device locking via Internet, Secure NFC, Track and Protect via internet, Firmware update, Remote wipe of user data via Internet, Device lock, Device passcode, PIN code, Firmware and OS integrity check, Secure device start-up, Application sandboxing and integrity check, Lost device tracking, Browser integrated anti-phishing and User data encryption for device.

Other software includes Internet Explorer 10, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, DLNA, SkyDrive, PhotoBeamer, Foursquare,Wi-Fi hotspot, Nokia HERE Maps, HERE Transit, HERE City Lens, HERE Drive+. The Mapping software provided by Nokia is excellent. It is gives you the options to download the entire map of the UK so you do not use as much data when using it. It also provides full turn by turn navigation. Obviously, if you lived in another country you could download the appropriate app. The location technologies included in the Lumia 925 are Magnetometer, A-GPS and A-GLONASS.

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The camera is one of the key features of the Lumia 925. The rear camera is a 8.7 MP PureView with auto focus and a two-stage capture key, 4 x digital zoom, Carl Zeiss optics, 1/3 inch sensor for excellent low light photos and a f/2.0 aperture speed for fast action shots. I intend to take lots of photos too. The phone camera also includes backside illumination and optical image stabilisation. The camera module is made up of 6 lenses. The digital camera extras include Nokia Smart Camera, Cinemagraph lens, Panorama lens and Bing vision. The front camera is 1280 x 960 pixel, f/2.4 ,HD 1.2 MP wide angle. Video is filmed at 1080p on the rear camera at 30fps. 4 x video zoom is possible. Video playback codecs supported are VC-1, Windows video, H.264/AVC, H.263 and MPEG-4. Video playback file formats supported MP4, WMV, AVI, 3GP, 3G2, M4V and MOV.
Video recording formats are MP4/H.264. The front camera records video at 720p.

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On the music and audio front, Nokia impresses once again. The Lumia 925 includes Nokia Music (live streaming of music), Internet Radio, FM Radio, Music Player, Dolby Headphone support, graphic equaliser. Codecs supported are MP3, AMR-NB, WMA 10 Pro, GSM FR, WMA 9, AAC LC, AAC+/HEAAC, eAAC+/HEAACv2. Audio playback file formats supported ASF, MP4, AAC, AMR, MP3, M4A, WMA, 3GP and 3G2.

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Finally, if you like gaming, the Lumia 925 includes DirectX 11, Touch UI and XBox-Live Hub. The X-Box games that you can purchase or trial are excellent too. More of that in the next part of my review.

Latest update by Nokia allows blocking of calls and sms messages

Tech News, Windows

Nokia has started rolling out an update to its Lumia Windows Phones that enables the blocking of calls and SMS messages.

The setting is now an update to the Extra + Info application. Nokia has added an additional settings area in Windows Phone so that you can block specific numbers from calling or sending you text messages. This app also integrates into the phone section of Windows Phone, where you can simply tap and hold on a number to add it to the block list.

Nokia Lumia 925 – Review and First Impressions – Part 1

Reviews, Tech News, Windows,

Yesterday, I received in the post the Nokia Lumia 925. Removing the Lumia 925 out of the box reminded me of when I had the Lumia 620, except now I was holding a slimmer and more capable Lumia. Before I continue, just a quick thanks to Nokia for sending the Lumia 925 for review.

Opening the box and removing the Lumia 925, its beauty and quality finish are very apparent.
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Turning it over and looking at the back, you get to see the Carl Zeiss Camera optics.
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On the right hand side the Lumia 925 has the on/off button, volume keys and dedicated camera button.
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The left side has no buttons, as well as the bottom of the device. At the top you have the sim tray, headphone socket and micro usb port.
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Photo of box and contents. Contents include micro sim ejector tool, guide, usb lead, headset and UK adapter as well as the Lumia 925.
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The official official hardware specifications of the Lumia 925 are –

Dimensions – 129 mm x 70.6 mm x 8.5 mm, Weight: 139 g

Screen – 4.5 inch, WXGA (1280 x 768) with PureMotion HD+, ClearBlack, Brightness control, Orientation sensor, High brightness mode, Refresh rate 60 Hz, Corning® Gorilla® Glass 2, Sculpted glass, Easy to clean, Lumia Color profile, Wide viewing angle, Sunlight readability enhancements
Display colours -TrueColor (24-bit/16M)
Aspect ratio – 15:9
Pixel density – 334 ppi
Display technology – AMOLED
Touch screen technology – Super sensitive touch

Sensors – Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Proximity sensor, Magnetometer

Operating keys – Volume keys, Camera key, Power/Lock key

SIM card type – Micro SIM
Charging connectors – Micro-USB
AV connectors – 3.5 mm audio connector
System connectors – Micro-USB-B

Connectivity – USB – USB 2.0, Bluetooth – Bluetooth 3.0
Bluetooth profiles – Object Push profile (OPP) 1.1, Hands-free profile (HFP) 1.5, Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) 1.2, Audio/Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP) 1.4, Phone Book Access Profile (PBAP) 1.1
Wi-Fi – WLAN IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n
WLAN Security – WPA2 (AES/TKIP), WPA, WPA-Personal, WEP, WPA2-Personal, WPA-Enterprise, WPA2-Enterprise, PEAP-MSCHAPv2, EAP-SIM, EAP-AKA
NFC – Secure NFC for payment, Sharing, Pairing, Tagging
Other wireless connectivity – Wi-Fi Channel bonding

Data Network – LTE network bands3, 1, 3, 7, 8, 20, LTE max data speed DL 100 Mbps
LTE max data speed UL 50 Mbps
WCDMA network: 900 MHz, 2100 MHz, 1900 MHz, 850 MHz
WCDMA max data speed DL: HSDPA – 42.2 Mbps
WCDMA max data speed UL: HSUPA – 5.76 Mbps
GSM network: 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 1900 MHz
GSM max data speed DL: EGPRS 236.8 kbps
GSM max data speed UL: EGPRS 236.8 kbps

Power – Battery BL-4YW , Battery capacity: 2000 mAh
Battery voltage 4.2 V,Removable battery: No
Maximum standby time 18 days,Talk time (2G), 18.3 h,Standby time (3G) 440 h
Talk time (3G) 12.8 h, Maximum cellular network browsing time 6 h
Music playback time 55 h,Video playback time 6.6 h
Maximum Wi-Fi network browsing time 7.2 h
Wireless charging with accessory cover

Processor – Qualcomm Snapdragon™ S4, Dual-core 1.5 GHz Dual-core 1.5 GHz
User data storage, In device, SkyDrive cloud storage
RAM 1 GB ,Mass memory5, 16 GB or 32 GB, Free cloud storage: 7 GB

In part 2 of my first impressions, I will cover the software included as standard with this phone. And it is like an army of extra software that Nokia include with their Windows Phone devices.

So I turned the Lumia 925 on for the first time (after inserting my micro sim card) and then sat back admiring the gorgeous screen. It is not the highest ppi but at 334ppi on a 4.5 inch screen, with Nokia’s Puremotion HD+ and ClearBlack technology, it is simply stunning. The other aspect that is noticeable is the comfort when holding the Lumia 925. With the gentle curve of the back it is a joy to hold. It reminded me of the solid and comfortable feeling when holding my Lumia 620. In addition the Windows Phone experience of oversizing menus etc is simple, clever and effective. It makes reading and using the device so much easier. The on screen keyboard is probably the best I’ve used on any device.

The other interesting part of the Lumia 925 is the wireless charging. With the official protective back cover, this also allows the Lumia 925 to be charged wirelessly. I wish more phones provided this functionality out of the box.

Anyway, I have to now explore the software suite Nokia include and the special camera optics. More tomorrow, with a closer look at the software included.

Saturday Reading – a highlight of reviews on my blog

Android, Apple, Historical Reviews, Reviews, RIM, Tech News, Windows

It is often difficult to find the reviews of devices and accessories I have written about, so below is a quick way to find all the articles for the key reviews. Or use the top right search box to search for anything on my blog.

HTC One

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom Review

Sony Xperia Z Tablet

Samsung Note 2 review

Nokia Lumia 620

Audio Technica ATH-AD900x Headphone review

Fiio E12 Headphone Amplifier

Olloclip 3 in 1 Lens review for iPhone 5

Trident iPhone 5 case review

Bluetooth iPad Mini case review

Glif+ for iPhone 5 review

USB Fridge Review

USB Rollup Drum Kit

The Nokia Lumia 1020 is a stunning camera phone BUT

Tech News, Windows

Yesterday I remarked how the HTC One might end up with a photo that the Nokia Lumia 1020 wouldn’t have captured. This was due to primarily the HTC One’s speed of use versus the Lumia 1020 being slightly slower to fire up for the first time and its time to save shots.

However, more and more photo samples of the Nokia Lumia 1020 have appeared yesterday, and this convinced me this phone was worth the sacrifice and switch from the top 2 operating system and use the Windows Phone 8 instead. As a prefix, I have used the Lumia 620 and found most apps or a suitable replacement. However, an app that is available on both the Google Play store and Apple’s Appstore appeared at first glance to also be available on the Windows Marketplace. However, it had scathing reviews and people complained it was a dumbed down version too. And sadly it is dreadful and crashes. This one app is really important, and could kill the Lumia 1020 off my shopping list.

So, if you are looking at this superb Nokia Lumia 1020, search on the Windows Marketplace to make sure there are the apps you need.

For me, it looks like I am tied to either an android phone or the next iPhone. Unless anyone has any bright ideas.

Apple’s iOS is still top for ad revenue

Android, Apple, RIM, Tech News, Windows,

Despite Apple losing the crown for the world’s top phone manufacturer to Samsung, it still retains the undisputed crown for what really counts and that is mobile ad revenue.

The Next Web reported that Opera’s latest figures show that iOS devices generate almost half of all mobile ad revenue across its network,  Android devices 28% , BlackBerry generates 5.4%, Symbian 1.6% and behind Symbian Windows Phone generates a 0.3% of revenues. The iPad is  dominant in the mobile advertising, but when removed from the figures, the iPhone still generates 36.5% of all mobile ad revenues, which is more than Android’s total market share for both phones and tablets.

Impressive stats.

Why the HTC One is a better camera than the Nokia Lumia 1020

Android, Tech News, Windows,

The Nokia Lumia 1020 has just become available in the US. It won’t arrive in the UK until September. However, the reviews are up and I’ve read most of them and watched the YouTube videos too.

This was going to be my next phone, but at the moment I believe my HTC One is a better choice as a camera. I know what you are thinking. The HTC One is a 4mp vs The 1020 at 41mp.

Well, sadly Nokia may have engineered the best damn piece of hardware ever, but it is sitting on windows phone 8 that cannot cope with it prowess. Often the key to taken a good photo, is to be able to quickly capture that magic moment.

The HTC One from removing out of your pocket, and then firing the camera up, to taking the photo can be over in a second. In fact, you could have taken a Zoe or even 20 burst photos in three seconds and put the phone back in your pocket. Smile captured, animal snapped before it ran off and so on. And this is why it’s a better camera than the 1020. The 1020 needs 3-5 seconds to take the first shot, and up to 3 seconds between shots to save the photo. WTF. So even though the 1020 is capable of capturing far better quality shots than any other camera on a phone, it takes too long.

The 1020 uses a snapdragon s4 pro processor (this has nothing to do with the Samsung S4) when in fact it could do with the snapdragon 800 which is designed to work with lenses up to 55mp. The S4 pro had to have special drivers developed by Nokia to work around this processors weaknesses.

And the other issue with the 1020 is there are 3 camera apps loaded on the phone. One is the default window phone camera app, then smartcam and the the pro app. Why on earth didn’t Nokia remove the default windows phone camera app. Then to create a panorama or burst mode you have to exit the pro app and switch to the smartcam app. WTF. Too long a process and unnecessary. I believe changing apps to get different options has to be done, as this was the only way Nokia could get windows phone 8 to work.

Now the next problem with the 1020. It’s only got 32gb but takes shots at 41mp. The HTC One has the same amount of memory but as its a 4mp shooter needs considerably less space. In addition the 1020 can take two photos at once. The full sized 41mp (actually 38mp) and creates a 5mp so you can share it easily with social networks and email. The 5mp gets uploaded to Skydrive but not the 41mp version. This has to be manually copied via USB to a computer. So in essence you are in danger of running out of memory on the 1020, but once again you won’t get that issue on the HTC One.

Nokia clearly delivered the hardware, but Microsoft haven’t matched on the software front. The HTC One wins on speed and concept of its ultra pixels. Just to make sure everyone is clear, the Nokia Lumia 1020 is by far the better quality camera in reality. If the camera is already fired up, then the shot will be captured beautifully. You will just have to learn to work around the 1020 speed of initial camera start up time, and time between shots to save photos.

Nokia launches a big screened 620, called the Lumia 625

Tech News, Windows

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Nokia has launched the Lumia 625, a budget large 4.7-inch super-sensitive LCD screen and 4G Internet access for high-speed entertainment. It comes in 5 brightly coloured changeable shells for personalisation, Integrated camera applications like Nokia Smart Camera and Nokia Cinemagraph so you can take the perfect picture, Access to more than 165,000 apps including Vimeo, Temple Run and WhatsApp plus safer surfing with Internet Explorer 10

It should cost an estimated retail price of £200, the Nokia Lumia 625 is planned to begin selling in the UK in Q3 at launch in the UK, the Nokia from Vodafone, O2, EE, Carphone Warehouse and Phones4u.

Some many question the logic of this lower resolution large screen phone from Nokia, but I think they have the market buying trends towards lower priced devices fairly nailed. Similar to what Samsung is offering in every price segment.

The Nokia Lumia 1020 vs Google nightmare

Android, Tech News, Windows,

Unless you’ve been travelling in the Amazon jungle, absent of any Internet signal, you would have heard or read about Nokia’s new Lumia 1020 smartphone complete with its 41mp camera, and snap on camera grip which includes a further battery too.

And as soon as I watched the Nokia announcement, I decided the Lumia 1020 was an ideal choice of phone for me. Except one issue. It runs on windows phone 8. Now windows phone 8 is excellent. I really like the user interface and general operation. The app situation isn’t a problem either for me.

But then my nightmare problem dawned on me. At present I use the HTC One running Google’s android operating system. With this operating system I use Google Music, Maps, Navigation and Google Now regularly. These services really help make the phone so much better. And because the Lumia 1020 is a windows phone 8, none of these options are available.

I really don’t know what to do… So help me out with your thoughts.

Phone Brands – observations in the Big Smoke

Android, Apple, RIM, Tech News, Windows

About a year and a half ago I had the pleasure of travelling away from rural Devon to London.

I was sat on a underground train in London and observed iPhone after iPhone after iPhone.

Move forward to today and once again I’m in the Big Smoke. Compared to Dartmoor, Devon , London is noisy, congested and filthy.

This time phone brands observed are different. Apple still features a lot, but very noticeable was a plethora of Samsung phones. BlackBerry seemed to feature in small numbers too . I seemed to be the only person, using a HTC One, or any HTC .

Samsung not only had a strong presence but it was the size of these phones. S3 and S4 but plenty of Samsung Galaxy Notes. Despite the size of the Note , whenever I observed one, it was a female owner.

Back to my HTC One, it clearly shows what an uphill battle HTC has to gain market penetration. The same for windows phone.

There is hope for windows phone though. I took my daughter into Carphone Warehouse. She currently has a £50 pay as you go Samsung android phone. It’s rubbish but actually for £50 it’s amazing. Does everything a £500 phone does but with dreadful performance and feature sets. Anyway, I asked my daughter to go and look at all the phones and pick one she liked the style of, ignoring price. I also reminded her I wasn’t buying anything! So this was just a pure selection on style. The winner was the Nokia Lumia 925.

And then we get on to tablets. People were using these in small numbers. I even witnessed photographs been taken with tablets!

So there we have it. Samsung have clearly moved into Apple’s space and big screens as a daily driver are even more usual.