I have to say the phone is beautiful, and incredibly well made, yet light and sleek. It fits well in the hand for its size, and the touted features, Blinkfeed, HTC Zoe and BoomSound especially, are really impressive.
The Ultrapixel camera does produce really great shots, and low light and night shots are something to behold. Overall speed and power whilst in use is noticeable, considering the last time I used Android. But first, What’s in the box?
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There’s an old saying that goes “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence!”, meaning that whatever you have there is always something better that you are coveting.
So being an early adopter of Windows Phone, and not having used Android since Froyo, having run it on the HTC HD2, and then having a HTC Desire for a little over a month before jumping on the HTC Mozart, I really haven’t grown with Google’s OS, and it has evolved a lot.
So when @HTC offered me the new ONE to have a look at [obviously I’m a big HTC fan], I’m going to have a look. The changes in the OS are stellar though, from version 2 [froyo] to Ice Cream Sandwich [4.1.2] on the One, and hardware that is, well, hard to compare to devices of two years ago, it is going to be a challenge. On build and specs alone the One is exemplary
Quad core Snapdragon 600 Quad Core 1.7 Ghz processor, 2 Gb DDR3 Ram, 32 Gb storage, 4.7 inch, Full HD 1080p, 468 PPI resolution. The challenge will be for me to use the One from unboxing, through setup, to daily driver for the next month, without bias. I’m approaching this exactly like I just got a new phone,[Oh I did], finding the best way to make it work for me.
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Remember the Windows Phone “Reinvented Around You” videos, it all seems so long ago now. The idea that Windows Phone is personal, and that you tailor it to your own needs. In it’s latest video, Microsoft features the Lumia 521, and a well known celebrity stylist, Robert Verdi, pulling people off the street and giving them a digital makeover.
A bit far fetched know, and a twist on some of the videos featuring Ben Rudolph, it continues the line though, that Windows Phone adds ease, streamlines your daily grind, and lets you have fun doing it. Now the 521, [520 in other countries] may be a budget phone, but the ad really says it is not cheap chic!
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It was a pretty big week of Lumia news, the 928 for Verizon, the 925 for everyone else, and do not forget a new push on Nokias Asha range of phones. There’s no real way to get a real comparison between the 920, and the 925/928 if you cannot get all three together, and put all the specs side by side. Luckily that’s where the internets come in handy.
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It’s been a tense wait, and while we knew it was coming, there has been no firm date for availability of the Surface Pro in Australia! Well till yesterday that is. The announcement was made rather quietly on the Windows Australia Blog, and it looks like you will be able to get your Surface Pro on the 30th of May.
In Australia, Surface Pro will be available in two configurations: a 64GB standalone version for $999 RRP* and a 128GB standalone version priced at $1,099 RRP*. A range of accessories are available with the Surface family, including the Type Cover at $149.99 RRP*and Touch Cover for $139.99 RRP
It doesn’t seem like there is any bundled package at the moment, so if you want a Touch or Type cover, that will cost you extra.
Of course they will be available online via the Microsoft store, and from JB-Hifi and Harvey Norman.
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So the Lumia 925 might have been the big news yesterday, and of course on the Windows Phone Blog they went into some detail about the phone and it’s features as well. The most important details were hidden at the end of the blog post, and pertinent to all WP8 owners. Some vague dates and features that will be included in the next update for Windows Phone 8.
The key information is that, like the Portico [GDR1] update, there are key features that users want to see, as well as a lot of tune ups for performance that may not be that obvious.
There are a couple of things that really stand out for me,
Data Sense feature of Windows Phone 8 available for more carriers to offer
Which carriers it doesn’t mention, so a bit of a turkey shoot, but it would have to be the feature that users most want!
easier to select, download, and pin tunes in Xbox Music and improves the accuracy of song info and other metadata—something I know music fans will appreciate. Support for FM radio. The update also ensures Windows Phone continues to work with Google services by adding support for the company’s newest sync protocols—CalDAV and CardDAV.
While a lot of users have moved away from Google, keeping those accounts alive on the phone for a lot of us is vital. The time line is tagged as later this summer, which most would assume to be late June, July or later. This is really good news and see Microsoft keeping to a schedule of larger updates that appears to be quarterly.
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At todays Nokia event in London, the Lumia 925 was announced. What are the big changes? Firstly a aluminium chassis with metal detailing around the edge of the phone, a 4.5 inch, edge to edge AMOLED touch screen, and a slimming down.
At only 8.5 millimetres in depth, it is the thinnest Lumia so far. [not quite sure if the 8.5 actually takes into account the bulge for the camera lens. Visually the phone is definitely a stunner, and that aluminium trim is actually the antenna, the focus of the announcement though was more on what new features and software were on the way!
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The Lumia 920 has been lauded for its quality camera and OIS, and is fast becoming the go to tool of the pocket film maker. I know there have been plenty of examples posted on the web of its performance since its release.This is the first time though that I have seen a short from the phone that, won a prestigious award, and highlights a particular part of Australian culture, that seems a world away from the big cities down south.
It’s pure Sundance gold from the Terrigal based pocket filmmaker who won first prize at Sundance London Film and Music Festival (Nokia Music category) with one of the most amazing short films ever shot on a smartphone.
Jason van Genderen’s winning film ‘RED EARTH HIP HOP’ was shot entirely on a Nokia Lumia 920 smartphone. Featuring stunning images from remote far north Queensland, audiences have been mesmerised with its beauty and amazed it was filmed on a mobile.
Van Genderen’s film explores how hip hop, a music culture seeded in the Bronx, has reached indigenous communities in regional/remote Australia and is helping indigenous youth reconnect with language, elders and story time through this new form of music.“Filming on a smartphone is such an unobtrusive way to capture a story. People find they open up a lot more in a documentary sense, talking to a device that they are used to seeing everyday as opposed to a big film crew and everyone starting to clam up and being more guarded with their story,” said Jason.
It’s amazing to think that a film of this quality was made with a device that can fit in your pocket, to be shown, and win, on the big screen at the Sundance Film Festival London. It is also incredibly important, in that it shows a part of Australian culture that is little known in other parts of the world.
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