HWZBB

The only BlackBerry community you will want to be in Singapore. Singapore BlackBerry users, unite!

HWZBB - The only BlackBerry community you will want to be in Singapore. Singapore BlackBerry users, unite!

The Competition: Windows Phone

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Contrary to popular beliefs, BlackBerry users are not oblivious to what is out there. We hear and read all the doom and gloom forecast from the internet all the time. We also know that there are plenty of other smartphones out there in the market. We know that there are now quad-core monsters out there in the field, carrying their 4.8 inches high resolution displays, just waiting to slay BlackBerry devices with their infinity blade. I know, because I have been out there in the wild, learning about all these beasts. The menacing robot, the forbidden fruit, and the comeback kid. But today, I will be talking about my experiences with Microsoft’s comeback kid, Windows Phone 7.5. Including all good, the bad, and the ugly. Well perhaps not ugly, since the device I used was the Nokia Lumia 800.

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But of course, this comparison is more in terms of software than hardware. I will try to keep it short, talking about overall experience rather than in depth review and comparison. If not I could probably just go on and on.

BlackBerry has been known to be a social oriented device, with communications as its focus. Which should make Windows Phone a good competitor seeing that Windows Phone (WP) has undoubtedly one of the best social integration I have seen on any current platform.

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My overall experience after using a WP as my daily driver for a few weeks was a good one. Social integration was just fantastically done by Microsoft. The Metro UI was simple and easy to use, while being very pretty to look at. Messaging and email capabilities are great too, since I use predominantly Gmail services, emails arrives pretty instantly as well. Email management are pretty simple and straightforward too.

Social integrations are top of the class. Other than the ones we already know and love on BBOS and PlayBook OS 2.0, WP took it a step further. In the native messaging application, Facebook chat and Windows Live (MSN) are both integrated. In the native picture gallery application, your own photo albums will be available for viewing right within it. It will load a thumbnail of the photos, and when you view it, it will then download the higher resolution version for viewing. Even “likes” and “comments” will be there as well. Further more, you can browse your friends’ photo albums as well, even comment or like it.

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The virtual keyboard, text editing, text selecting was nicely done as well. I could type faster on it than any BlackBerry device in the market right now, but with the catch being you have to have eyes on the keyboard most of the time. Though over time, after getting used to roughly where each keys are in relation to the device, i was able to type by just taking glances at the keyboard, sometimes even when taking my eyes off the keyboard to look at something else (a pretty lady walking by for example), i was still able to continue typing to relatively good accuracy. Place a bit of faith in the auto-correct and you’ll find yourself pumping in massive amount of text in good time. I will not go into how well the text edit/select implementation is as you could probably find that in video reviews, but I will say that it has been very nicely implemented.

In terms of apps, the amount is of course not as obscene as what iOS and Android has to offer, but still it has plenty amount of good quality apps available. The quality of apps compared to current BBOS devices is definitely better.

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I also love the little touches that Microsoft have added for WP. For example on Internet Explorer, the URL bar is on the bottom, and just above the keyboard when you are typing. I find that to be a more convenient location for the URL bar to be on a mobile device. The way they have a bar at the bottom for icons, and when you tap on it, it slides up and reveal a text describing the function of the icon at the bottom, along with more menu options.

But of course there were bad points too as well that could be improved with Windows Phone 8. But still, it is a pretty solid OS that should be taken more seriously. In fact I am a little surprised that WP is not that popular yet.

Despite only wanting to give this phone a try as to how well it would perform as a BlackBerry user’s daily driver, for a moment I actually felt that this could be a phone that I can use until BB10 eventually reaches our shores. It has good communication features, nice looking UI, great to use, some useful apps that are not available on BBOS yet, etc.

BUT, eventually after the excitement of a new device wear down, and I have stopped scouring the WP marketplace for new and interesting apps, I realized that, what I need on the phone, I have on my BlackBerry. And my BlackBerry does it ever so slightly faster, and more efficiently. I started remembering why I love BlackBerry devices in the first place, I started to miss my BlackBerry.

Then one day, the battery ran out on me while I was out. I was just using it as I would my BB, except with a little more browsing. Despite lasting from 9:00am to 3:00am, a decent time in current smartphones term, it is still not as good as any BBOS 7 devices I had. And mind you, I had to switch off location services, switch to 2G mode, switch to manually pull emails, and be mindful of my usage throughout the day for it to last that long. On my BB with 3G, instant notifications (thanks to BIS), location services always on, and just using it as often as I wish, It would last that amount of time easily with enough to spare.

And, that was the final straw for me. I realised that there are a combination of features, and factors as to what makes a smartphone a BlackBerry, and that is precisely why I prefer them in the first place.

So needless to say, I am now back on my trusty BlackBerry once again, patiently waiting for BlackBerry 10.

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