A Quick Look at Windows Phone 8.1

Microsoft has just released its Windows Phone 8.1 update to developers as a preview (to find out how to get the update, click here). I installed it a an hour or two earlier and I am already liking what I found on WP8.1 so far. So I thought I would share some of it here.


Tile Background/Theme & More tiles for all devices:

The first and most obvious would be the ability to select a custom background for the live tile screen, and the ability to show one more column of tile. What I love is the ability to give the Live tile screen a bit more colour and customisability, but the downside is of course the potential to make your home screen look extremely cluttered. Simple backgrounds like the wallpaper on the Nexus 5 looks extremely nice in my opinion. But do note that not all tiles support this background theme.

Cortana:

While Cortana is still being labeled as BETA, I found that it works pretty wonderfully. What I love is the ability to determine and customise what I want Cortana to know about me. It’s like a mix between Google Now and SIRI, but it isn’t necessarily better just yet. But I think it has the potential to be.

Notification/Control Centre:

Another long awaited feature finally makes its way to Windows Phone. The implementation is nothing new or special, but works well. But I would love the ability to put in more than just 4 settings option.

Individual Volume Control:

No, this isn’t a joke. Finally in April of the year 2014, Windows Phone finally has the ability to set different volume for the ringer and media. It used to be that if i turn down the volume while playing a game, it volume for the ringer goes down as well. Well, not anymore. To some it might seem like a small issue, but any little bit of small friction across the OS adds up.

Swipe to Type:

Normally I am not a huge fan of gesture typing, but I do know that a lot of people are. So it is nice to see this feature here. And to be fair it does work really really well, and is convenient for one hand typing.

Reading View in IE11:

I like catching up on news, reading articles on my phone while on the go, so have a reading view is a huge huge plus for me. Tap that book icon on the URL bar and it turns what you see above, into what you see below.

More Built-in Apps:

I was pleasantly surprise when I found a podcast app built into the 8.1 update. Frankly there isn’t a lack of good podcast apps in the Windows Phone app store, but having a built-in option is always nice.

Camera app:

The previous default camera app was pretty bare bones, but the new one is a whole other ball game altogether. The 5 icons at the top is now customisable. You can choose from a list of options like; camera roll, resolution, lens picker, front/rear camera, flash, scenes, ISO, exposure values, and white balance. You can set them in any order you want, or even remove a few if you want the app to be less cluttered. I love it.

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These are only the features that I found in the past hour or so, and I am sure there are lots of minor and major tweaks around OS. So far I am pretty impressed with what Microsoft has done to improve to OS. While there are still some parts of it I would love to see improved, there are a lot less friction when using the OS. Also the 8.1 update works really well and smooth even on low end devices like the Lumia 520 and 625 that I am using, so kudos to Microsoft to that. :)

The Case for BlackBerry Z3

 Back when I reviewed the BlackBerry Q5, my parting thoughts of the device was that it was still too expensive for what should be the cheapest BlackBerry 10 device. The argument was simple, BlackBerry needs a device that is cheap enough, and good enough. So is the BlackBerry Z3 that device?


Shortly before I reviewed the BlackBerry Q5, I reviewed the cheapest Windows Phone 8 device back then, the Lumia 520. The title of the post is, "Nokia Lumia 520: The Most Important Windows Phone?", and I still stand by my words back then. The case was simple, the Lumia 1020 was the device that attracted the attention of tech lovers, and fans of the platform. But the phone that was going to sell in large numbers is going to be the Lumia 520, and in mid-July last year, reports were coming in that the Lumia 520 has become the most popular Windows Phone.

Which brings me back to the points, “cheap enough”, and “good enough”. The Lumia 520 fulfilled both criteria. The phone was cheap enough to buy on impulse, cheap enough to buy just to test out WP8, cheap enough for a first smartphone, cheap enough to be free with a basic contract, cheap enough to buy simply as a spare device, cheap enough to… you get the idea. Then, the Lumia 520 was also good enough a phone to provide a good experience for users. It did not have the most cutting edge of specs, it simply had enough.

A similar strategy was then employed by Motorola with the Moto G. While there are certainly Android phones that are cheaper than the Moto G, but none of them had a good enough experience due to sub-par hardware. Motorola nailed “cheap enough”, and more importantly “good enough”. The result? The Moto G has been the most successful, highest-selling smartphone in Motorola’s history according to Motorola’s senior vice president of product management, Rick Osterloh.

So… this is my case for the BlackBerry Z3. It has the potential to be one of the most important device for BlackBerry, but it needs to be “cheap enough”, and “good enough”. It doesn’t matter who buys it and for what purpose, as long as there is a nice number (BB10 devices sold) for BlackBerry to tout to both developers and consumers alike. With more BB10 devices in the market, developers might be more willing to make apps for the platform. With more BB10 devices in the market, perhaps even the consumers’ view of BlackBerry might change for the better.

Even then there is no guarantee since the demand for BlackBerry 10 is so low. For Nokia, at least the Lumia 1020 provided a unique selling point which was its camera technology, that would at least entice people to want to give Windows Phone a try. As far as I can tell, BlackBerry lacks that draw. Security, and productivity isn’t really something that makes people excited.

Well, at least the BlackBerry Z3 is a start. Even if the device doesn’t sell well in the consumer space, at least the Z3 might be cheap enough that enterprise customers might be willing to adopt it.

Things I love About the Moto X

The Moto X is one of my favourite android device in the market right now. With the device said to coming to the shores of Singapore, I thought I would share with you guys, the things I love most   about the Moto X.




Design and Build:

First off, the design and build. The front is void of any branding, giving it a nice clean look. The back is curved, and has a soft touch coating which feels really good in the hand. The device is only slightly wider and taller than the iPhone 5S, which makes it really nice to use one handed. Despite being made out of mostly plastic, the phone still feels extremely solid and well built, even when compared to the iPhone 5S.

Active Display:

My next favourite feature, Active Display. The feature makes use of on board sensors to detect when to show users their notifications. The notifications fades in and out of the display, much like a notification LED. You swipe up to take action or view more, swipe down to unlock, and swipe to the left or right to dismiss the notifications.

With Active Display, your Moto X is always ready for you whenever you pick it up from your desk, or pull it out of your pocket.

Motorola Connect:

Another feature I love, is Motorola Connect. It is essentially a chrome extension that lets you send and receive text messages right on your desktop. This along with the Gmail and Hangouts extensions means that I almost never have to pick up my device to send a message. On top of that, Motorola Connect even notifies you of incoming calls right on your desktop.

Near Stock Android Experience:

In case you haven’t noticed by this point, the Moto X’s user interface is near stock Android, other than a few Motorola software additions. This means that the software is light, snappy, and with minimal bloat.

Another advantage would be fast OS updates. Motorola took everyone by surprise when they release the Android 4.4 Kit Kat update on the Verizon Moto X before even Google’s own Nexus 4. This was made possible due to the near stock Android OS, as well as Motorola having moved a lot of their own software enhancements on the Moto X into the Play Store.

Camera:

On the back of the device, there is a 10MP camera with LED flash. Motorola has built in a smart feature in which you can activate the camera by twisting your wrist twice, it works  even while the phone is asleep. In practice, the feature works really well and is one of the fastest way to launch a camera. The photos that the camera produce is actually pretty average at best, but where it shines is in its simple but intuitive camera interface. Drag the circle to where you want to focus, then tap anywhere to take a photo. To access settings, swipe right. To access gallery and previously taken photos, swipe left.

Touchless Control:

Which brings to me the last feature that I am going to talk about, Touchless Control. As the name suggests, it allows me to control the phone without the need to touch it. You activate the feature by simply using the phrase “Okay, Google Now”, follow by a command or question. It works even when the phone is asleep. Here are a examples.

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So there you have it, the main things I love most about the Moto X. There are a bunch of other nice features such as, trusted bluetooth, device, the awesome battery life, the ever changing awesome boot animations, the mini games, Motorola assist, so on and so forth. So much things that I couldn’t possibly cover all in 5 minutes. All in all, the Moto X is a device that values experience over everything else. Despite being more than 7 months old now, the Moto X still manages to surprise me every now and again. and I’m sure that if you have the chance to use the device, you’ll probably feel the same.