Twitter isn’t actually built-in. That was claimed at the first announcement earlier this year but Microsoft has since removed Twitter integration from Windows Live stuff like WP7 and the new Live Messenger. They say it’s due to some Twitter policy changes but were never really up-front about what those policy changes were.
YouTube has interesting integration, at least interesting compared to what I thought would be possible. I knew there was stuff 3rd-party applications could do with hubs, but the YouTube app is a plug-in for the web browser itself. Didn’t realize that people could make stuff like that.
AT&T’s phones launch on November 8th. I tried all 3 of the US models at a demo booth - the Samsung Focus is definitely the one to get. The AMOLED screen is awesome. The LG Quantum is pretty good too if you want a physical keyboard. The HTC has some slide out speaker abomination that should be destroyed.
Not sure about T-Mobile’s release dates. The CDMA phones for Verizon aren’t coming out til 2011.
Yeah, I’m playing around with the same phone right now and am more impressed than with any Android phone.
Won’t replace my iPhone because I have invested in too many apps between that and the iPad and still likes some things more, but definitely impressive.
Agree with your points above, except that Apple have never bothered working with other telcos to get Visual Voicemail working, so we never got that.
Of course Microsoft is making an even bigger mistake in regards to their European customers - no Xbox Live and no Zune for us.
Forcing myself to use the W7 phone as my main phone all day today (swapped my SIM). I already feel a bit uneasy about not being able to play my Carcassonne turns on the go, but otherwise I’m curious how this will work out in everyday usage.
I’ve read that there are some third-party visual voicemail applications for Android and other platforms. I wonder if it’s possible for AT&T or other carriers to develop such an app for Windows Phone 7? Don’t really see why not…
Observations after using the W7 Phone out and about today:
This phone picks up HSDPA signals (showing an H rather than 3G). I don’t know if this actually means it’s faster. Was surprised to see it, but I also saw 3G and E at points today.
I was in some crappy cell reception areas (in the depths of a department store), but it seemed like the W7 phone had crappier reception than my iPhone 4. However, maybe it’s just more “truthy”, unlike my iPhone which will still show a bar and refuse to actually do anything.
I was doing quite a bit of SMS today and I’m really enjoying the keyboard/autocompletion for this phone. Pop-over alerts at the top of the screen are a welcome change from the iPhone alert abominations.
I’m not able to send MMS messages. Since I had to manually configure this phone for AT&T (setting up an APN and voicemail-retrieval number), it’s possible that I’m missing a step to get this to work.
Phone calls (receiving/making) works great - no problems. Answering a call is a 2 step gesture, which some might find offputting. (Slide up to unlock, then click answer or ignore).
I’m really quite liking the mental shift of thinking of people before tasks. By that I mean: If I want to call my wife, I first go to her page in People, then pick “Call mobile.” This is a large shift from Phone/Contacts/Select person or Email/Contacts/Select person. I really am starting to like this concept of everything merged together in an address book.
While I like #6, I wish there were categories available in the contact list. It’s all one big list.
I’m really enjoying some of the game trials I’ve tried. Revenants is a game that is very similar to the old arcade game Quantum with a different theme. Glow Artisan is a cool little puzzle game. Only problem? They’re charging way more than I’m used to paying for iPhone games. $5+ for most games.
I wish I could start the phone unlock with the Windows button, but this is mostly my own problem from years of iPhone usage.
The voice search/commands works extremely well. Compared to iPhone’s ability to only understand specific commands, I’m really impressed. I can fire it up and say “Today’s football scores”, “Movie times”, “Call home”, “Start Glow Artisan”, or “Find nearby gas stations” and it knows exactly what to do. Very cool.
Swapping the SIM back to the iPhone for now, but I’ll play with this more throughout the week.
I’m really quite liking the mental shift of thinking of people before tasks. By that I mean: If I want to call my wife, I first go to her page in People, then pick “Call mobile.” This is a large shift from Phone/Contacts/Select person or Email/Contacts/Select person. I really am starting to like this concept of everything merged together in an address book.
Maybe I don’t understand you correctly but isn’t the same can be done on the iPhone by going Contacts/Select person/ and then selecting either Call or Email?
To some degree yes, but the addition of Facebook status updates in this page and linking accounts together on the phone makes it ‘feel’ more seamless. I must admit that some of this is that I don’t ever go to “Contacts” on my iPhone so this is a problem with my own phone use.
Android has been dabbling with that as well, with the contact buttons that appear over a person when you click their photo in the contacts view. The approach makes a lot of sense. I hope it gets picked up widely.
So who’s all considering buying one of these next week? I’m still really liking it, but the lack of IM client and a few other apps are preventing me from switching to mine full time.
Recently, I just discovered how nice the Zune software was compared to iTunes. I had never used it before and am quite impressed by the UI. The marketplace on the phone itself isn’t too shabby either.
Hmm, Engadget is reporting that Dell is offering a trade in program for its employee’s BlackBerries: trade in your current phone and get the Venue Pro for free.
Since the Venue Pro (which is only available in Microsoft stores and at Dell.com) seems to be hands-down the best US device option, nobody has any reason to be lining up. I am planning to jump from my 3GS with AT&T to T-Mobile and a Venue Pro, but not for another couple of weeks. I have never really been a phone guy, so I wouldn’t be there at 8:00 on day one, anyway, but still.
