[vivekiny2k]

There is no WM7 or WP6. WP7 is a totally new platform from WM6.xx.

Edit, I have recently found out that cyberon voice command works very well on WM6.5. together with mortscript, I am doing most of my work with voice commands now, which call the scripts in question.

MS Voice Command is a pain because you have to use menu system like voice prompts in customer service. Its good for announcing calls and messages though.

[Raja]

Has anyone got a WP7 phone? Your experiences?
Two phones that have caught my attention are the Samsung Omnia W and Nokia Lumia 800

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by Raja

Has anyone got a WP7 phone? Your experiences?
Two phones that have caught my attention are the Samsung Omnia W and Nokia Lumia 800

I have a HTC HD7 which now runs on Mango (WP 7.5). I find it a brilliant phone; the whole Tile look, the layout of menus which is so diff. from all the conventional phones, the integrated Microsoft Office etc. It is actually a very good phone.

A couple of let-downs :

1) Bluetooth works only with the dongle (BT headset)
2) no free turn-by-turn navigation available on Marketplace yet

I feel WP has quite the potential to challenge Android now.

[satish_appasani]

I am using a Samsung Focus. I bought it unlocked on eBay USA for Rs.14,000/-. My friend later bought it in Indian eBay (AT&T unlocked) for Rs.12,500/- only. It is not used. The proces were cheap because next version of WP7 were expected at that time and ATT were giving away at $50 with a plan.

This is very good phone (Has H/W specs equivalent of Samsung Galaxy S) with Super AMOLED screen. I upgraded it to Mango.

MS recently opened Market place for India and the experience is too good. I am bound to WP7 for life.

I completely use MS eco systems (Hotmail, calendar, Online docs, OneNote etc.

[radek]

I jut bought Lumia 800. It is expensive at 30000.00, so far my most expensive gadget. But it is cheaper compared to other two releases I was looking at Moto Razr and Iphone 4S.

I am so long user of Qwerty keyboard phones, this is my first Touch phone. So it is bit frustrating to type on touch keyboard. But overall phone looks and feels premium. The well advertised People Hub feature is really amazing. It is a simple idea, but has shown great results. AMOLED display is really good. So you can expect Glalaxy S like colors.

There are few frustrating points also. You can not access the memory as mass storage device from your PC. Everything has to go through Zune. You can not assign any MP3/WMA file as ringtone, no Bluetooth file transfer etc

I am still exploring the phone, so will post later in details.

[h@r$h@l]

I bought Black Lumia 710 for my dad last week. he is really happy with the phone and the display. His previous phone was a Nokia E72 and this is his first full touch screen phone. The phone is really handy and for him the 2 screen interface is perfect. I have configured all his imp apps / emails etc on his main screen and rest all in Alphabetical order on screen 2.

I somehow liked the over all user experience of the same. The biggest issue apart from the ones mentioned by @radek was syncing data from outlook. There is no way to sync outlook data onto this. So i had to download the Outlook Connector and then add all his contacts there and take it from there on.

Anyone buying a windows phone i would advise to first create a temp hotmail / msn / live id and get used to the sync thing b4 giving in your imp hotmail id. What happened with us was the moment dad entered his id all his fb / outlook / hotmail contacts were merged and the same was reflected in all 3 adress books. I know some would like it that way, but for him he was very keen on keeping his outlook contacts seperate from the ones in Hotmail Contacts like / messenger.

After spending some time with the phone i would say its a total VFM. Dad liked the 800 but 30k was on the higher side and 710 is more than enough for him at 20k. Anyone in market looking for the same, i would also advise to look at the new Samsung Omnia W. I feel the built quality on the Samsung is relatively better than Nokia Lumia 710.

With 3G & 5 email accounts and ~1-1.5 hrs of calling the battery lasts him 1 day. Since 3G is just for trial purposes only, he shall get it de activated and go back to 2G from next month and i assume there shall be a little improvement in his battery life.

[vikram_d]

Originally Posted by radek

There are few frustrating points also. You can not access the memory as mass storage device from your PC. Everything has to go through Zune. You can not assign any MP3/WMA file as ringtone, no Bluetooth file transfer etc

You can use MP3 or WMA files for ringtones, but there are some limitations to keep in mind.
The limitations are as follows

In MP3 or WMA format.
Less than 40 seconds.
Less than 1 MB.
Not protected with digital rights management (DRM).

The procedure to make a custom ringtone is rather simple. Right click on the file that you want to make a ringtone and select Properties. In the Details tab set the Genre as Ringtone. Now sync this file through Zune and it will appear in your Ringtone + Sounds menu as a custom ringtone.

As far as the file access of SD card is concerned, there is a way to enable that through the registry but you cannot do much from there as all the files are organized by the OS in a specific way and even if you were to copy any file to the SD card the OS will not read them as it does not have a reference for them.

Yes, bluetooth transfer is a serious bother as of now. but even that will be sorted in the next update. Or at least I hope it will be.

Originally Posted by h@r$h@l

Anyone buying a windows phone i would advise to first create a temp hotmail / msn / live id and get used to the sync thing b4 giving in your imp hotmail id. What happened with us was the moment dad entered his id all his fb / outlook / hotmail contacts were merged and the same was reflected in all 3 adress books. I know some would like it that way, but for him he was very keen on keeping his outlook contacts seperate from the ones in Hotmail Contacts like / messenger.

You can keep Facebook contacts out of the People Hub in the phone.

Go to the People hub > Settings > Filter My Contact List. In the screen that comes up you can select what contacts you want to shown in the People Hub.

Have been running WP7.5 on my HTC HD2 for quiet a while now and I have to say I am mightily impressed with the simplicity of the usage experience and the way it integrates everything so well (facebook, twitter, linked in with the People & Pictures hub) and Skydrive with the Office hub.

Was planning to go in for a Lumia 800 on launch but sadly that phone does not have a front facing camera.

Now waiting for the HTC Titan or the Samsung Focus S whichever comes to India earlier.

@Libranof1987 - Nokia Drive is available on the big bad web. Search for it. It has excellent maps and works offline for navigation. Only hitch is it needs to be online to find the destination. Once done it works well offline. Oh and remember to install Nokia Drive on your HD7, you will need to Root/Unlock your phone. Will not work otherwise.

Some good Tips for new WP7 users.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinio...-7-tips-part-1

http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinio...-7-tips-part-2

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by vikram_d

@Libranof1987 - Nokia Drive is available on the big bad web. Search for it. It has excellent maps and works offline for navigation. Only hitch is it needs to be online to find the destination. Once done it works well offline. Oh and remember to install Nokia Drive on your HD7, you will need to Root/Unlock your phone. Will not work otherwise.

Thanks!

Is it available on Marketplace; and is it free?

No problem with it having to go Online to search; I've a 2 GB GPRS pack so my phone is connected thru' out.

What do you mean by I'd have to root/unlock my phone? I thought the whole lock/unlock concept isn't there on Indian phones.

For now I'm using gmaps which just have GPS + search on maps. So, basically no turn-by-turn navigation.

[vikram_d]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Thanks!

Is it available on Marketplace; and is it free?

No problem with it having to go Online to search; I've a 2 GB GPRS pack so my phone is connected thru' out.

What do you mean by I'd have to root/unlock my phone? I thought the whole lock/unlock concept isn't there on Indian phones.

For now I'm using gmaps which just have GPS + search on maps. So, basically no turn-by-turn navigation.

Available on the Marketplace only on Nokia devices and is free for Nokia devices.

By unlocking I mean you have to unlock it to be able to install apps from your pc directly and not through the Marketplace. Without unlocking you cannot install homebrew (non-marketplace) apps.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by vikram_d

Available on the Marketplace only on Nokia devices and is free for Nokia devices.

By unlocking I mean you have to unlock it to be able to install apps from your pc directly and not through the Marketplace. Without unlocking you cannot install homebrew (non-marketplace) apps.

Mine's a HTC HD7; so in effect, I'll have to pay for it. :( Not cool!

Anywho, how do I unlock the phone?

[vikram_d]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Mine's a HTC HD7; so in effect, I'll have to pay for it. :( Not cool!

Anywho, how do I unlock the phone?

It will not even show up in your Marketplace app as your phone will identify itself as a HD7.

For unlocking xda-developers forum is your best friend. You will find everything you need there.

HTC HD7 - xda-developers

PS: If you are the adventurous kind then there is a very nice guide on XDA to upgrade your phone's storage to 32Gb.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by vikram_d

It will not even show up in your Marketplace app as your phone will identify itself as a HD7.

For unlocking xda-developers forum is your best friend. You will find everything you need there.

HTC HD7 - xda-developers

Potential disadvantages/drawbacks of unlocking?

[vikram_d]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Potential disadvantages/drawbacks of unlocking?

Absolutely none. This is not like any Operator kind of lock. This is just a developer unlock.

This unlock will give you the ability to install any app on the phone even if it is not available on the Marketplace. But you will have to be sure of what you are installing. There is no malware for WP7 as of now, but you never know when it comes up. So before installing any Non-Marketplace app do complete research about that app and only then install it.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by vikram_d

Absolutely none. This is not like any Operator kind of lock. This is just a developer unlock.

This unlock will give you the ability to install any app on the phone even if it is not available on the Marketplace. But you will have to be sure of what you are installing. There is no malware for WP7 as of now, but you never know when it comes up. So before installing any Non-Marketplace app do complete research about that app and only then install it.

Roger that.

But, unlocking is rather expensive from what I gather on xda developers.

How'd you do it or you didn't have to do it since you've Nokia?

[vikram_d]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Roger that.

But, unlocking is rather expensive from what I gather on xda developers.

How'd you do it or you didn't have to do it since you've Nokia?

No I don't have a Nokia. I am running WP7.5 on my HD2. I found the xap(installer) file on the net.

You can install one or the many unlocked ROM's from XDA. A couple of useful links.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=783

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1295068