Develop Bugs

A WM/Android User's Take

1st off this is not intended to be a flaming / bashing thread. If you want to do that please go elsewhere; I'm sure the vibrant forums will welcome you. If a MOD feels this belongs somewhere else, please move it.
I have been a long time WM user and recently switched to android for the past year. I am offering my take on WP7 on the pros on cons.
Interface - Finally something completely new and wonderful. Microsoft really did hit a homerun on trying to make information at a glance approach. Mail and search apps look beautiful. I thing missing, being able to quickly jump to apps in the app menu.
Lack of Landscape Support- For as great as the UI is I am shocked at the lack of landscape support. The start menu, app menu, nor Zune have lanscape support. You can not even refresh a webpage or type in a website if you are in landscape mode. Calling this anything other than an epic "FAIL" by microsoft is sugar coating it. Especially when the HD7 and Surround beg to be in landscape mode with their kick stands.
Browser - As expected from an IE browser it is pretty good. I already mentioned the lack of landscape support which is really frustrating but there is something else that gets under my skin more. Web pages do not resize to fit the screen when you zoom in. This was/is almost a deal breaking for me honestly. I love the organization of having all the buttons at the bottom and the interface is stunning but you lose way to many options in landscape mode. You can't even access favorites without first going back to portrait. MS, this NEEDS to be addressed soon. The browser is the main feature of smartphones now.
Zune - Wonderful if you have a Zune Pass. Honestly it was one of the main reasons why I bought this phone. I expected it to be awesome and it didn't disappoint. That being said they need to add a Play Now option to the market songs. When I'm browsing the market sometimes I want to queue songs and the Add to Playlist option makes sense but how could you leave out Play now? Seriously?
Another thing I don't like is I can not fast forward to a certain spot in a movie. Video files can be hours long, why should I have to hold the fast forward button to get to the point I'd like. Let me hit the progress bar and then use the rewind / fast forward buttons for getting to the exact point.
USB Storage Device- glaring admission, but I can kind of see why. It helps stop piracy, but I loved being able to hook my fuze / tilt 2 / nexus 1 / vibrant to my car stereo and play the music I had downloaded on my phone. I know I could get an audio cable and do the same, but while driving it is so much easier to use the radio head unit to control music rather than your phone. I knew this when getting in bed with WP7, but that doesnt mean I still can't miss it.
Bluetooth- for music works just like it should. however it will not play the audio from video files threw bluetooth. It keeps coming out of my phone's main speakers and there is no way to get into the bluetooth profiles to see if something is wrong. VERY ANNOYING MS. get to fixing it.
People- Wonderful. Could anyone ask anymore? I gave it my facebook and gmail accounts and I didn't have to worry about any contacts not showing up. Love the Facebook updates also.
Dailer- No smart dialer? This used to even be in my old wizard by default. How it get left out is completely beyond me.
Announced fixes- Flash, Copy & Paste, Turn by Turn navigation can't come soon enough but I am glad microsoft acknowledged they needed them.
Local Outlook Support- I knew this before hand, but I am in the crowd that says MS needs to add this ability.
Overall- I bought my HD7 without a contract and I am pretty sure i will NOT be returning it. I love my HD7 and WP7, however this OS isn't entirely complete. That being said was iOS and Android complete when they came out? To even suggest that is laughable. I can not wait for microsoft to release all the fixes for this OS because when it does it will be a powerhouse.
I will not buy that this phone is for dumbsmart phone users. I probably done more with my phones than 95% of android users who will do nothing by bash WP7 and i honestly see this for ALL users. It helps bring the powerhouse experience in an easier way without being tied down as much as iOS.

Why not just post in one of the other 50 threads? Now people will be copy-pasting replies from those into this one.
I did notice the lack of landscape mode in IE. I think that was the only thing that made me go WTF when I used the HD7.
However, the keyboard is so good that I don't think it even mattered that much.
I guess with a 3.7-8" screen it can be a bit annoying, but on anything 4" or bigger it didn't strike me as a big deal beyond the initial shock of it not being there.
Also, lots of people dont' seem to know the difference between an Operating System and an Application.

N8ter said:
Why not just post in one of the other 50 threads? Now people will be copy-pasting replies from those into this one.
I did notice the lack of landscape mode in IE. I think that was the only thing that made me go WTF when I used the HD7.
However, the keyboard is so good that I don't think it even mattered that much.
I guess with a 3.7-8" screen it can be a bit annoying, but on anything 4" or bigger it didn't strike me as a big deal beyond the initial shock of it not being there.
Also, lots of people dont' seem to know the difference between an Operating System and an Application.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those threads became nothing but flaming / bashing threads. I thought it would be a good idea to try to get away from that.
Also a core application can be considered part of the OS. If you can not uninstall it, it is part of the OS.
I thought it was annoying not being able to get to the address bar with all that screen space.

I don't know about you guys but my Surround goes into landscape mode IE just fine...
The only thing I don't like is lack of landscape in marketplace and Zune...
also if you want a nice photo editor, Thumba photo editor for $.099 is awesome!
EDIT: Oh i see. I can't believe I have to switch to portrait to type a URL!! WTF microsoft!

jz9833 said:
Browser - As expected from an IE browser it is pretty good. I already mentioned the lack of landscape support which is really frustrating but there is something else that gets under my skin more. Web pages do not resize to fit the screen when you zoom in. This was/is almost a deal breaking for me honestly. I love the organization of having all the buttons at the bottom and the interface is stunning but you lose way to many options in landscape mode. You can't even access favorites without first going back to portrait. MS, this NEEDS to be addressed soon. The browser is the main feature of smartphones now.
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Click to collapse
Overall I agree with just about everything you said. Regarding the browser, I've noticed that certain areas of webpages are zoomed in more than others. For instance, on xda, the text of people's posts is HUGE compared to the buttons such as User CP, etc. at the top of the page. What I've found is a double tap in my area of interest on a page will zoom the page so that ONLY my area of interest is approriately sized. Then, when I want to switch to another part of the page, I double tap there and the page will resize, and so on. The text does not dynamically reflow a la Android, but I think it's a pretty usable system.
-R

jz9833 said:
Dailer- No smart dialer? This used to even be in my old wizard by default. How it get left out is completely beyond me.
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There is voice dialing in WP7 not sure what you mean by smart dialer???

rruffman said:
There is voice dialing in WP7 not sure what you mean by smart dialer???
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By going to the dailer and being able to spell "MOM" for example on the keys and it would automatically come up with the number for that contact.

jz9833 said:
Also a core application can be considered part of the OS. If you can not uninstall it, it is part of the OS.
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Click to collapse
Lol, what? No, it's not. It's a stock application distributed with the OS. It is not part of the OS.
By the Logic people can say "Android is buggy because the GMail client is buggy." or "Windows Mobile is buggy because the Opera Browser HTC bundled with the HD2 is buggy." or "Linux is full of bugs because the KDE in that distro is buggy as hell."
Every OS comes with a set of stock applications, but they are just that, and are usually updatable independent of installing a new kernel or driver stack on the device.
In any case, I've already said I agree that the lack of landscape mode is an issue.
I just wanted to make that distinction, because lots of people on this forum are incapable of doing it themselves.

N8ter said:
Lol, what? No, it's not. It's a stock application distributed with the OS. It is not part of the OS.
By the Logic people can say "Android is buggy because the GMail client is buggy." or "Windows Mobile is buggy because the Opera Browser HTC bundled with the HD2 is buggy." or "Linux is full of bugs because the KDE in that distro is buggy as hell."
Every OS comes with a set of stock applications, but they are just that, and are usually updatable independent of installing a new kernel or driver stack on the device.
In any case, I've already said I agree that the lack of landscape mode is an issue.
I just wanted to make that distinction, because lots of people on this forum are incapable of doing it themselves.
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I still completely disagree with you. Froyo for Android made plenty of browser updates so would you say that wasn't a OS update?
I like most people consider stock apps part of the OS

jz9833 said:
I still completely disagree with you. Froyo for Android made plenty of browser updates so would you say that wasn't a OS update?
I like most people consider stock apps part of the OS
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Click to collapse
Agree. Basically system is made of apps.
If email app built into it is buggy, we can say OS is buggy.

jz9833 said:
I still completely disagree with you. Froyo for Android made plenty of browser updates so would you say that wasn't a OS update?
I like most people consider stock apps part of the OS
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Click to collapse
Doesnt meam ur right and most people are ignorant in os design and the diff between an os and an app distributed with said os.
Obviously...
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

N8ter said:
Doesnt meam ur right and most people are ignorant in os design and the diff between an os and an app distributed with said os.
Obviously...
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
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then you are going to have to disagree with almost all people. This isn't a techy vs jock debate. These are apps which are built into the os and therefore part of the os.
But anyway this thread is meant for objective evaluation of WP7. If you want to continue this debate we should continue it somewhere else.

jz9833 said:
By going to the dailer and being able to spell "MOM" for example on the keys and it would automatically come up with the number for that contact.
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Click to collapse
You can use search in the people hub for something very similar. Admittedly not an exact substitute but it works well enough for me.

jz9833 said:
I have been a long time WM user and recently switched to android for the past year. I am offering my take on WP7 on the pros on cons.
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Click to collapse
Good post
jz9833 said:
USB Storage Device- glaring admission, but I can kind of see why. It helps stop piracy, but I loved being able to hook my fuze / tilt 2 / nexus 1 / vibrant to my car stereo and play the music I had downloaded on my phone.
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How does this increase piracy? If the files you buy on Zune are locked down they can still do this even if there is a common store of files accessible as usb mass storage. Either by drm or by using isolated storage for those files.
jz9833 said:
Local Outlook Support- I knew this before hand, but I am in the crowd that says MS needs to add this ability.
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If you do it this way, then you are working with two sets of data (email, calendar, tasks, contacts, etc.) neither of which is guaranteed to be up to date. I don't see why people think this is preferable to a server-based system.
jz9833 said:
I will not buy that this phone is for dumb smart phone users.
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Hopefully this will be true; I will keep my fingers crossed. Currently, as I see it, they are targeting people who don't understand what files are, and would be confused by files, and who believe that music consists of songs arranged by artists into albums. I.e. the dumb mass market.

CSMR said:
How does this increase piracy? If the files you buy on Zune are locked down they can still do this even if there is a common store of files accessible as usb mass storage. Either by drm or by using isolated storage for those files.
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The cintent u purchase in zune have no drm..... The piracy statement is legit.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

though given you just purchased for your zune account, you can then access it on zune desktop, and burn discs from there. so no necessarily correct.
however, what i think of a common storage area is a good idea. just have it so that the pictures, videos, music, documents are in a folder view for when you plug the phone into your PC. it would really only require a bit of mapping within the OS to make it look like a storage unit. Even if it was just more restricted down to just the documents section, that's still something. better than nothing imo as i don't have access to skydrive at work. but aye, i can live with it, it's not going to make me want to return the phone.

The Gate Keeper said:
though given you just purchased for your zune account, you can then access it on zune desktop, and burn discs from there. so no necessarily correct.
however, what i think of a common storage area is a good idea. just have it so that the pictures, videos, music, documents are in a folder view for when you plug the phone into your PC. it would really only require a bit of mapping within the OS to make it look like a storage unit. Even if it was just more restricted down to just the documents section, that's still something. better than nothing imo as i don't have access to skydrive at work. but aye, i can live with it, it's not going to make me want to return the phone.
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Click to collapse
Its 2001, people pirate with digital media. Cd piracy may still be hip in the third world, but I haven't operated a cd player in years (or used my computer to play one), much less bought or burned one.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

N8ter said:
Its 2001, people pirate with digital media. Cd piracy may still be hip in the third world, but I haven't operated a cd player in years (or used my computer to play one), much less bought or burned one.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
how about an MP3 cd? to play in your car? to lend to a friend? or your USB stick? as soon as it's available on zune desktop you have a copy of it... there is plenty ways around it. i'm not saying you should do it, i'm saying the possibilities are there.

N8ter said:
The cintent u purchase in zune have no drm..... The piracy statement is legit.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the files are not DRMed, and Microsoft wants to protect them, either it can DRM the files, or it can keep them in isolated storage. The existence of common storage doesn't exclude isolated storage.

Siri like API available

I found an interesting place that had developed an api for developers to use that allows them to access their voice UI system. I think this would be great if someone implemented it into an app of some sort, and with the increasing access for developers into the phone, I think a siri like app for wp7 could be very possible.
Here is the site: http://www.zypr.net/

uncled1023 said:
I think a siri like app for wp7 could be very possible. http://www.zypr.net/
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Click to collapse
Isn't Siri just a rip off of what Windows Phone 7 already does? I can do everything with my windows phone that the Siri commercials show and have been able to for some time.

Laquox said:
Isn't Siri just a rip off of what Windows Phone 7 already does? I can do everything with my windows phone that the Siri commercials show and have been able to for some time.
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Oh? So what happens when you say "When is my next appointment?"

LongZheng said:
Oh? So what happens when you say "When is my next appointment?"
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That is coming. I don't use appointments so my point still stands. I can ask weather, tell it to read text messages, etc which is what the commercials show.

Laquox said:
That is coming. I don't use appointments so my point still stands. I can ask weather, tell it to read text messages, etc which is what the commercials show.
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How do you ask the weather?

eried said:
How do you ask the weather?
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Click to collapse
Hold Windows button "Weather Whatever City"
Also usable is "Open Weather Channel" but if you going for Siri like usage just say "Weather Whatever City" add the state if it's not a well known city. =D

Laquox said:
Hold Windows button "Weather Whatever City"
Also usable is "Open Weather Channel" but if you going for Siri like usage just say "Weather Whatever City" add the state if it's not a well known city. =D
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not working in spanish

All that does on my phone is a search, just like any other unrecognized phrase.

GoodDayToDie said:
All that does on my phone is a search, just like any other unrecognized phrase.
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Laquox is obviously trolling or just severely misinformed.

Siri is just voice recognition hooking into the wolframalpha.com database. So it is just a bigger database than what MS has. That can change and likely will.

clfosk said:
Laquox is obviously trolling or just severely misinformed.
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If you set your browser and search region & language to US or UK English, you will see the top result as the weather of the city you're asking.
The result is pulled from MSN weather

clfosk said:
Laquox is obviously trolling or just severely misinformed.
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Click to collapse
Not trolling just stating that most of what they show Siri doing you can already do on a Windows Phone (in the US at least). Now in the future we will probably get features like appointments, more language support, etc
My main point is most of what they show off as "new and innovative" with Siri has been in windows phone 7 for a while. They just polished it. Give it time and the same features will be a part of Windows Phone 7 (in most languages)

Laquox said:
Isn't Siri just a rip off of what Windows Phone 7 already does? I can do everything with my windows phone that the Siri commercials show and have been able to for some time.
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Click to collapse
Are you sure? I keep hearing this on here and other WP7 sites, so I decided to check against the Siri Commerical:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNsrl86inpo
Here's a list of things that Siri does in the video, and next to it I check whether WP7 Voice Commands can do it:
Read out and reply to an SMS message - YES
Play a music playlist - NO
Find local traffic report - NO
"Text my wife I'm gonna be 30 minutes late" - YES (though you have to use her specific name and dictate full SMS)
Weather report for SF and Napa Valley - YES (though she uses more natural language and WP7 you have to do two searches via Bing)
Weight conversion - NO
Set timer - NO
Reply to SMS - YES
So out of the 8 functions shown on the commercial, WP7 can do 4, though 2 of them aren't as easy / functional.
Laquox said:
My main point is most of what they show off as "new and innovative" with Siri has been in windows phone 7 for a while. They just polished it. Give it time and the same features will be a part of Windows Phone 7 (in most languages)
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Click to collapse
Lol, this is another funny fanboy thing I always hear; that Apple just take features from other phones, and "add polish" then try and sell them as innovative. It misses the entire point; PEOPLE BUY IPHONES AND IPADS BECAUSE OF THIS "POLISH". Mp3 players were around before the ipod, ditto touch-screen smartphones, ditto tablets, and now ditto voice commands. The polish (i.e. making it work well and easy to use) is what makes all the difference, and is exactly why Apple products sell so well.

weijoon said:
If you set your browser and search region & language to US or UK English, you will see the top result as the weather of the city you're asking.
The result is pulled from MSN weather
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Click to collapse
I know how it works on WP7. After you say "weather blahblah" it responds with "searching weather blah blah" then it shows data in Bing. Now by the time my Windows Phone is repeating back to me what I said, you have this:
So let's not be delusional and think that our current implementation of voice commands is anywhere near what Siri offers. You can say ANYTHING you want to Siri and it will instantly read aloud a logical response in the same fashion a person would. It doesn't just bring up search results on a page, it's a conversation with your phone. I don't know about you but I have NOTHING of that sort on my two Windows Phones. If anyone needs a better understand of what Siri actually is, see here:

I'm afraid I have to agree with Aphasaic2002. Tellme can do half of what Siri has been shown to do. Just tried to go through that list & I've also checked Tellme's help. Siri also do text-to-speech for the result, which is the "cool" part. Tellme just display the result but doesn't stroke your ego. ;-)
However, it seems that Tellme has gotten better at foreign accent. I'm a Chinese living in Singapore & there're plenty of stuff that Bing don't do here. Point is, Tellme can catch my dictation 60% of the time now, compared to a year ago. So if someone took up that job offer to enhance Tellme, we can expect more from Tellme in the future.

clfosk said:
I don't know about you but I have NOTHING of that sort on my two Windows Phones.
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Click to collapse
Yes, Windows Phone does NOT do that, but I have never messed with Siri to that degree. I still say give it time and we will see the same functionality in windows phone. You have to remember Windows Phone 7 is still very much in the catch up phase of its life cycle. The features I always see demoed though were indeed on windows phone first (read text messages, text people via voice commands, check weather, etc)
I agree to a previous poster as well that is why Apple products do sell is because of that polish and shine. Personally, I think Apple is like the windows of 1985-1995 yes they are stealing the ideas of others, but they are creating them in a way that the average person can use, love, and let's not forget MARKETING! They are doing an awesome job at this, but to stay on topic Windows Phone 7 is still new and brought these innovative features to the table. So just give it time.

Laquox said:
Yes, Windows Phone does NOT do that, but I have never messed with Siri to that degree. I still say give it time and we will see the same functionality in windows phone. You have to remember Windows Phone 7 is still very much in the catch up phase of its life cycle. The features I always see demoed though were indeed on windows phone first (read text messages, text people via voice commands, check weather, etc)
I agree to a previous poster as well that is why Apple products do sell is because of that polish and shine. Personally, I think Apple is like the windows of 1985-1995 yes they are stealing the ideas of others, but they are creating them in a way that the average person can use, love, and let's not forget MARKETING! They are doing an awesome job at this, but to stay on topic Windows Phone 7 is still new and brought these innovative features to the table. So just give it time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree that windows phone will most likely bring their voice support up to par with siri, but im also suggesting that with these API's, we can have that functionality right now.

clfosk said:
I know how it works on WP7. After you say "weather blahblah" it responds with "searching weather blah blah" then it shows data in Bing. Now by the time my Windows Phone is repeating back to me what I said, you have this:
(YT Link removed to shortedn quote)
So let's not be delusional and think that our current implementation of voice commands is anywhere near what Siri offers. You can say ANYTHING you want to Siri and it will instantly read aloud a logical response in the same fashion a person would. It doesn't just bring up search results on a page, it's a conversation with your phone. I don't know about you but I have NOTHING of that sort on my two Windows Phones. If anyone needs a better understand of what Siri actually is, see here:
(YT Link removed to shortedn quote)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lolz, dude, I think you're overreacted. My post is only to clarify that weather search can be done in Bing search by using Voice Command, but NEVER saying that Siri is sux or Siri is a copy from MS TellMe.
Cheers~
---------- Post added at 12:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:41 PM ----------
Aphasaic2002 said:
Are you sure? I keep hearing this on here and other WP7 sites, so I decided to check against the Siri Commerical:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNsrl86inpo
Here's a list of things that Siri does in the video, and next to it I check whether WP7 Voice Commands can do it:
Read out and reply to an SMS message - YES
Play a music playlist - NO
Find local traffic report - NO
"Text my wife I'm gonna be 30 minutes late" - YES (though you have to use her specific name and dictate full SMS)
Weather report for SF and Napa Valley - YES (though she uses more natural language and WP7 you have to do two searches via Bing)
Weight conversion - NO
Set timer - NO
Reply to SMS - YES
So out of the 8 functions shown on the commercial, WP7 can do 4, though 2 of them aren't as easy / functional.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps you should also make a compare list with WM 6.5 Voice Command with Siri, then you will see both works similar but with Siri it is more natural language approach. TellMe IMO is only a half-baked function of Voice Command. Would like MS to implement TellMe with more functions...
Aphasaic2002 said:
Lol, this is another funny fanboy thing I always hear; that Apple just take features from other phones, and "add polish" then try and sell them as innovative. It misses the entire point; PEOPLE BUY IPHONES AND IPADS BECAUSE OF THIS "POLISH". Mp3 players were around before the ipod, ditto touch-screen smartphones, ditto tablets, and now ditto voice commands. The polish (i.e. making it work well and easy to use) is what makes all the difference, and is exactly why Apple products sell so well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed with you. The "Polish" and Marketing that Apple Inc have is somehow superb than their actual products. (sorry to make that statement because I always think that Apple's products are damn overpricing)

I've been a long time user of Windows Mobile (up to 6.5) until I changed to Windows Phone 7. I have also been using Windows Voice Command in Windows Mobile and was wondering why all the available functions were not ported to WP7. In WVC you can actually say an artist name and the media player will start playing songs in your phone from that artist. You can also ask the time which will be spoken back to you. I guess it takes some additional programming to add the same features to WP7.

e_t said:
I'm afraid I have to agree with Aphasaic2002. Tellme can do half of what Siri has been shown to do. Just tried to go through that list & I've also checked Tellme's help. Siri also do text-to-speech for the result, which is the "cool" part. Tellme just display the result but doesn't stroke your ego. ;-)
However, it seems that Tellme has gotten better at foreign accent. I'm a Chinese living in Singapore & there're plenty of stuff that Bing don't do here. Point is, Tellme can catch my dictation 60% of the time now, compared to a year ago. So if someone took up that job offer to enhance Tellme, we can expect more from Tellme in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm a chinese singaporean too, and guess what? i can ask my phone to text/call my friends too. thing is, it's able to capture and very accurately (90%) pull up the correct contact even when the subject's name is in hanyu pinyin (for you european folks, it's like our chinese names, but spelt out using the english alphabet).that's pretty amazing imo
at my recent university graduation, the organisers were using ms's text to speech, and they also accurately dictated out asian names, regardless of whether it's chinese, vietnamese, indonesian or malay names.
ms has the core of the voice command there already, which was already present in wm. they just need to polish it up, and hire apple's marketing team

Windows Phone 8 concept

I saw this on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZlMT3Z5v_s

Looks just like wp now, but more icons.... oops "tiles", more "tiles".
The concpet of keeping the ui devoid of a "sea of icons" can get misconstrued very quickly.
I'm waiting for the one big tile version that just says "START"

Seems pretty close to Windows 8 and a decent way to represent application grouping/folders

This would address several of the usability issues I have today with WP7. And it could easily be implemented in such a way that people who only want to see the current start screen only see that screen. Bring it on, I say.

wayy too complicated. why not 2 screens and then put the categories on the app list page.

Settings should not get it's own page, there's many more important things that could've gone there. Aside from that, it's enjoyable.

z33dev33l said:
Settings should not get it's own page, there's many more important things that could've gone there. Aside from that, it's enjoyable.
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Click to collapse
I agree. But don't worry as this was just a 'concept' phone. I'm sure with wp8, they will better the UI.

Looks nice but tiles looks boring after three or four days

Ok, so where's the list of all my apps in one screen?
There needs to be a different way of presenting the long list of apps you don't use on a regular basis. I don't want a huge tile for every app I use - only for my important ones that I use in and out everyday.
Using that interface would get frustrating very quickly - I'd be searching all over the place trying to find apps I don't use as often.

The idea isn't that all these groups exist. It was more to show that instead of creating folders as a tile, you can create groupings like in Windows 8. So you don't need to have a settings group if you don't organizer your life that way.
Personally I would rather have a gaming group that I can swipe too, instead of having to click the xBox Live tile all the time.
If I feel motivated I will continue fleshing out this idea, but love the fact that it has spurred some discussion.
---------- Post added at 10:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:21 PM ----------
tjramage said:
Ok, so where's the list of all my apps in one screen?
There needs to be a different way of presenting the long list of apps you don't use on a regular basis. I don't want a huge tile for every app I use - only for my important ones that I use in and out everyday.
Using that interface would get frustrating very quickly - I'd be searching all over the place trying to find apps I don't use as often.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just never got around to showing that. The concept was really just done to see how that kind of multi-page design would flow. I figured the long list of apps could still be there but I didn't think about how you could get to it.

Using WP beyond 6 months - Please comment here!

http://www.netbooknews.com/43643/why-i-left-windows-phone-7/
The reviewer here, left WP for Android after using it for 7 months.
Key issues that deterred here from using it beyond 7 months:
Lack of multitasking like Android where apps actually run in background
It did not connect to people as well as Android
Display resolution of 480 x 800
IE9 giving an error twice a month that - browser is out of date (new to me!)
Inability to share locations
You can't zoom in the maps (on pinned locations)
Can't share pics on Twitter (it's a **** experience -probably compared to iOS/Android?)
Now I for one know that I would disagree and can prove that those claims are wrong other than 3rd and 4th one as I've never had those issues. So they might be there waiting for me to discover it?
Anyone have similar issues after using the phone for more than a month or even better if you've used it over half a year!
Please don't troll.

drupad2drupad said:
Lack of multitasking like Android where apps actually run in background
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah he has a point there, although I think Microsoft's solution (toast notifications and Live Tiles) is better for the user and the battery life. However this limits the options of small developers.
drupad2drupad said:
It did not connect to people as well as Android
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
drupad2drupad said:
Display resolution of 480 x 800
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At least for WP7 every app runs on (almost) every device, the only thing that's missing from some devices in the front facing camera.
drupad2drupad said:
IE9 giving an error twice a month that - browser is out of date (new to me!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Newer happend to me either.
drupad2drupad said:
Inability to share locations
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can share locations on Facebook or using foursquare, WhatsApp etc.
drupad2drupad said:
You can't zoom in the maps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't really know what that means, in the maps app you can zoom in.
drupad2drupad said:
Can't share pics on Twitter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can, Twitter is built right in.
I have been using WP7 since April 2011.

slimshady322 said:
Yeah he has a point there, although I think Microsoft's solution (toast notifications and Live Tiles) is better for the user and the battery life. However this limits the options of small developers.
At least for WP7 every app runs on (almost) every device, the only thing that's missing from some devices in the front facing camera. You can share locations on Facebook or using foursquare, WhatsApp etc. I don't really know what that means, in the maps app you can zoom in. You can, Twitter is built right in. I have been using WP7 since April 2011.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you planning on moving away from WP anytime soon though?
A centralized notification area is definitely needed - probably within the 'ME' tile?

Never had any issues since Mango really, When I first started using WP7 on the HD7 early Jan 2011 I soon got bored with the lack of customisation as I had been using a HD2 and there was so much difference, I did go back to using my HD2 again but liked the new easy to use WP7 OS & after updating to mango I became more interested. I admit I don't fiddle with the phone as much any more but know it will do whatever I want when I want, Am happy with WP7 for now but eagerly await future updates to improve the few "lack of" features, I can't see me moving away just yet.

I personally do not agree with any of the issues listed and believe them to be false as far as useful experience. WP7 has been doing great for what I want and need since Mango and I actually have no plans to look at anything else. I use it for work as well and it fulfills it purpose and then some.
I have come from WM6 to Crackberry to this.
My family (4 of us) all have WP7 since VZW first released them and everyone is happy. I am the "IT" department for my family and we all came from RIMs and I have not had any "support" needs for the WP7 (same can not be said for RIM); it just works.

On a possessive note, as much as I grip and complain about WP 7; I have never had issues with IE 9 and find multitasking easy to use and don't see what people complain about. Twitter??? I personally don't use it on the phone nor the PC because it basically sucks. And about the display, well I see nothing wrong with it at all. There are so many other aspects of the phone that would have had made valid points for leaving WP which I will not bring up because I don't want to feed the troll/fanboys.

Been using it since Feb 2011. Am very happy with the platform and look forward to added functionality & features with Apollo.
I've not had any issues as he described. You can zoom in on maps. I've never seen that IE error. Sharing location is all over the place in WP and so is twitter sharing including pictures.
The resolution? Ok. Thats up to him if that is a platform killer. Can't argue with his preference on that.
Doesn't connect to people as well? Sorry I'm scratching my head here lol.
Apps running in background? Thats a preference as well, but I prefer the way MS has implemented it. When I was on Android it was a constant headache with stuff running my battery down when they shouldnt be running.

sinister1 said:
On a possessive note, as much as I grip and complain about WP 7; I have never had issues with IE 9 and find multitasking easy to use and don't see what people complain about. Twitter??? I personally don't use it on the phone nor the PC because it basically sucks. And about the display, well I see nothing wrong with it at all. There are so many other aspects of the phone that would have had made valid points for leaving WP which I will not bring up because I don't want to feed the troll/fanboys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THAT is such a change from your remaining posts through out the forum, thanks!

drupad2drupad said:
Are you planning on moving away from WP anytime soon though?
A centralized notification area is definitely needed - probably within the 'ME' tile?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I'll stay with my LG Optimus 7 for some time. At some point I will upgrade and I will probably again chose a WP7 device, but before I upgrade I would like MS to provide an option to backup my LG Optimus 7 and transfer all the data to another phone. Even though most stuff is in the cloud, I have tree stars in every Angry Birds level and I don't want to loose that
But I agree with you that the notifications should be stored somewhere.

slimshady322 said:
No I'll stay with my LG Optimus 7 for some time. At some point I will upgrade and I will probably again chose a WP7 device, but before I upgrade I would like MS to provide an option to backup my LG Optimus 7 and transfer all the data to another phone. Even though most stuff is in the cloud, I have tree stars in every Angry Birds level and I don't want to loose that
But I agree with you that the notifications should be stored somewhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think your wish will come true with Apollo as a 'total' back up is scheduled to be introduced. You will be able to back up 'everything' - unlike Android full back ups like Titanium where game scores are not backed up and neither are progresses!
Probably Apollo is where WP will stop 'catching up' and start adding things

That reviewer must be on some kind of crack or something. I have not had issues with anything that he has mentioned and I have used WP since march 2011 and used all the mango betas. Only issue I have is with the disappearing keyboard and that you can't upload from the browser. I would also want a backup solution,Skype and integrated public transit directions (already found a semi-integrated solution) to be 100% satisfied.

13 month user, I didn't like WP for a week, but never put my SIM back in my HD2..that's all I'll say about that ...
Sent from The ACSyndicate Tower using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

11 months Mozart user here, since changing to WP, i had lots of free time to do my reading due to i spent less (actually almost none) time on tinkering or flashing my phone...
IMHO, I prefer the way MS integrated the "FAKE" multitasking method which I found it very suit my taste, and I can have total control on which apps I gave permission on background task, feel like I had total control of the phone (don't flame me because I know that some others had a different definition on Full Control of their device)

I find all of his accusations false except maybe 9. I think he means auto sharing location. There is some app i've seen peeps complain about because windows phone will only report your location automatically if it is in the foreground. From a security standpoint though, i'd be glad it doesn't but if you like that kind of app i guess that would be an issue.
The rest is BS. I've been using Windows phone since i got my surround for 180.00 off ebay (wasn't sure if i would like windows phone and my contract was up soon so i didn't want to waste my upgrade in case i didn't like it.) I used my upgrade to get a titan and my wife uses the surround to play games and use facebook. (she has a flip phone and didn't want to pay for data even though i swear to her i can shut the data off... i just got a purple case coming in from ebay so i may sway her )

i dont have any problems of them maybe the problem is the girl who tested DD

I have been using WP for a year. I still have my Nexus One that I used to use while travelling for Wifi hotspot and Navigation reasons. Mango and Navigon have resolved these issues. I still miss the notification tray/center and I sincerely hope WP gets it soon. Those who have used Android will vouch for me about importance of a good notification system.
Having said that, WP is my daily driver. The one thing that WP offers, that Android lacks, is the peace of mind. With Android, it was flash a ROM every week. Most of these ROM upgreades were not for features but for stability or improving some feature that google didn't integrate properly. Android reminds me of my WM days. Powerful but not a stable, cohesive experience.
I plan to stay with WP at least till beyond Apollo. I am curious to see how they integrate Windows 8, Xbox and WP8.

ive admitted only had my windows phone a week but after a serious play over the weekend when ive not been working - videos, photos, borwsing, messages etc.. you name it.
my only gripe is the volume/vibrate with no optin for silent and no vibrate.
Tother than that - coming from my HD2 which had been modded, my Titan seems very polished and smooth.

The article is BS, the only valid point is the screen resolution one.

[
my only gripe is the volume/vibrate with no optin for silent and no vibrate.
.[/QUOTE]
go to settings/sounds and ringtone/ set vibration to off
then on home screen you can toggle between ring and "silent"

pakure said:
my only gripe is the volume/vibrate with no optin for silent and no vibrate..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
go to settings/sounds and ringtone/ set vibration to off
then on home screen you can toggle between ring and "silent"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is true, but it is a far from optimal workaround. Changing that setting doesn't just affect silent mode, it affects both ring and silent mode. I think what Symondo is asking for is a way to conveniently toggle between ring+vibrate, vibrate-only, and complete silence without resorting to opening the settings app.

[Q] iPhone users. What do you miss?

*****UPDATED 11/30/12*****
tl;dr -- It was the best freaking decision I've ever made in my cellular life.
Things we miss:
- iMessage (Use something like Kik as an alternative)
- iLife and iWork for iOS (Various replacements. I started using ePrint by HP for my wireless printing needs. Works almost as well)
- Game Selection (I work on my phone, so playing games doesn't affect me much, but a lot of the core games are still there)
Things you gain from the switch:
- Bigger screen for easier reading.
- Battery life is omg good.
- The cameras are just as good in my opinion. Low light shots are grainy.
- S Pen is really useful for taking notes in a pinch. Pull it out, jot the note, put it back, note autosaves.
- Other S Pen functionality is really nice. Things like previews in the calendar, cutting out parts of the screen to save in notes, etc.
- Performance is bar none better 10-fold perceptively. I never have a moment of hesitation on my phone.
- Tops out at 128GB (Eat that 16GB iPhone 5)
- Size doesn't really hurt your pocket that badly. Bigger screen catches the bosses attention. I have had more than one comment at work about how I take my job seriously being ready for anything like that.
************************************************
I have an iPhone 5 presently and have been debating for several days now whether of not I want to get the Note 2. I have watched Phonedogs comparison and read article after article and it feels like the phones pretty well break even. So I thought I'd ask some former iPhone users about their experience with their switch.
I have Apple TVs and Airport Expresses all over the place. I stream things almost exclusively while I'm at home. I also mirror my phone to the TV at night laying in bed (doing that now typing this). That being said, I know android has apps that support airplay but not necessarily a screen mirroring solution short of VNC that would require a PC hooked up to my TV and a whole lot more of an inconvenience to get fired up.
I don't know what android has that is directly on par with iWork for iOS. I love typing up documents, syncing them to my phone with iCloud, and being able to edit and print them from my phone wireless on practically any and all wireless printers regardless of brand. iWork for iOS works completely and with a full feature set that I don't ever remember finding in Documents To Go. Has this improved at all?
Not knowing much about the Android ecosystem, what kind of apps are equivalent to iMovie? I use that quite a bit and am curious what android solutions match that in ease of use and functionality. I can't stress enough that when I ask these comparison questions, I'm not trying to prove one better. I'm actually wanting to make the switch. I'm just looking to be more informed about what I'm loosing and what I'm gaining before doing so.
What have you iPhone users missed about your iPhone since you made the switch?

I miss iTunes and some of the apps from the appstore. However, it all makes up it when I remind myself that "can't do no work on a 4" screen"

I switched. No regrets
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

In my opinion, the only thing missing on Android is the robust game/app selection and consistency in layout/design. I have an iPad 3 anyway, so I have the best of both worlds regardless. The iPhone in both 3.5" and 4" alike simply isn't useful for my needs anymore.
PS: I have a WDTV Live that will allow the equivalent of "Airplay" without any hassle through the Note 2. In terms of exclusive apps (e.g. Garageband, Numbers, Pages, iMovie, etc.) there is no equal. If you are heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem, it may be somewhat difficult to switch.
I know the Note 2 comes with Polaris Office included in the stock ROM. Probably won't touch the iWork suite in terms of interface and usability, but give it a try on a demo model and see if it may work for you.

Nothing
Sent from the TermiNOTEr 2!

I miss this little simple function on ios. Say you are at the bottom of a very long Page or document you could double tap the top of status bar and it would move to the top instantly instead of having to scroll up. Nothing big but nice little feature
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app

ahjdmarchi said:
I miss this little simple function on ios. Say you are at the bottom of a very long Page or document you could double tap the top of status bar and it would move to the top instantly instead of having to scroll up. Nothing big but nice little feature
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought i was the only one who misses that little feature. Aside from that, I currently own both phones and theyre both fantastic but sadly I prefer my Gnote2 over my iph5. The big screen is a huge plus and the S-Pen is really neat. But I do like the apps more on the iphone.

Johncrist1988 said:
I have an iPhone 5 presently and have been debating for several days now whether of not I want to get the Note 2. I have watched Phonedogs comparison and read article after article and it feels like the phones pretty well break even. So I thought I'd ask some former iPhone users about their experience with their switch.
I have Apple TVs and Airport Expresses all over the place. I stream things almost exclusively while I'm at home. I also mirror my phone to the TV at night laying in bed (doing that now typing this). That being said, I know android has apps that support airplay but not necessarily a screen mirroring solution short of VNC that would require a PC hooked up to my TV and a whole lot more of an inconvenience to get fired up.
I don't know what android has that is directly on par with iWork for iOS. I love typing up documents, syncing them to my phone with iCloud, and being able to edit and print them from my phone wireless on practically any and all wireless printers regardless of brand. iWork for iOS works completely and with a full feature set that I don't ever remember finding in Documents To Go. Has this improved at all?
Not knowing much about the Android ecosystem, what kind of apps are equivalent to iMovie? I use that quite a bit and am curious what android solutions match that in ease of use and functionality. I can't stress enough that when I ask these comparison questions, I'm not trying to prove one better. I'm actually wanting to make the switch. I'm just looking to be more informed about what I'm loosing and what I'm gaining before doing so.
What have you iPhone users missed about your iPhone since you made the switch?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Iwork substitutes..
http://http://alternativeto.net/software/apple-iwork/?platform=android
Imovie substitute
http://https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.forscene.KestrelTest&hl=en
Mirroring...I don't think you can get as close yet outside of VNC...but for utilizing your Apple TV
http://http://doubletwist.com/help/question/how-do-i-stream-to-apple-tv-2nd-generation-from-my-android-device/
All in all...it's going to depend on how deep your into Apple's pockets..Phone for phone...there really is no comparison on the differences...all one has to do is to hold each and use each.
What do I miss the most about my Iphone...simple...all the money I lost making the switch back to my Note II...from all of my expensive apps and extra Icloud storage I can no longer use...but...IMHO...it's worth it...
Mac

I'm not so deep I can't get out. I can return the Airport and iPhone still and swap for the Gnote2. I need to google around more about DLNA devices because streaming is nice, and if there's a.... 'cleaner' product of method of doing it, it may be worth it.

This is available on the Note 2e
ahjdmarchi said:
I miss this little simple function on ios. Say you are at the bottom of a very long Page or document you could double tap the top of status bar and it would move to the top instantly instead of having to scroll up. Nothing big but nice little feature
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This can be done in 2 ways on the GN2. One wny is to switch on the feature in the settings under "Motion"/"Double Tap". Otherwise, assuming the long text is in a browser you can use Boat Browser (which is very customizable) and has this feature.
Regarding AirPlay and the other things mentioned in this thread, can you not simply keep you iphone as a Wifi only media player/streamer?
I use my old Galaxy SI as such with Spotify. Without a Sim card and a 3g data connection the battery can last almost three days also

borijess said:
Nothing
Sent from the TermiNOTEr 2!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1

The question is per user. I prefer the non-locked down system of Android. Watch a lot of movies and the iPhone has to be jailbroken to do anything other then basic usage. XBMC on my Note2 + MHL adaptor and no rooting. I love the customization.
Another reason I switched was because of iTunes. What a mess. I have a lot of mixes for music and iTunes splits it up. I prefer just being able to dump on my sd card.
Only thing I miss is the gaming apps. But not that much that I would switch back.
Sent from my SGH-I317M using xda premium

ahjdmarchi said:
I miss this little simple function on ios. Say you are at the bottom of a very long Page or document you could double tap the top of status bar and it would move to the top instantly instead of having to scroll up. Nothing big but nice little feature
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do know the GN2 has this feature right?
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

yellowman82 said:
You do know the GN2 has this feature right?
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it work for the browser? That's where I need it the most.

I've owned and used as my main device every iphone up to the iphone 5. I'm loving the Note 2, but there are a few things I miss:
- Overall simplicity. There was a lot of handholding in iOS that I didn't even necessarily realize was happening, which I miss. Biggest/most annoying example so far: sending videos via MMS or email. Unless you have the "limit size to MMS" or whatever checked when you record the video (which would mean a crappy source quality in the video, should you want to use it for anything other than an MMS), you can't MMS it to someone (and unless it's more than a few seconds long, it'll likely be too big to email as well). There are some apps out there for transcoding the video to a lower bitrate, resizing, etc, but this is a royal pain to have to do any time you want to send a quick video. iOS did it all automatically when you went to send the video.
- Better versions of apps. Some apps are just better/smoother on ios. Examples include facebook, Steam, The Weather Channel.
- Photo Stream. My wife is on an iPhone, and we have an old ipad that we use as a photo frame. I miss being able to easily have photos I take appear on both her phone and the iPad.
- iCloud. I miss stuff syncing with my mac desktop apps for things like notes, reminders, etc. I'm sure I could find something to get me by for the notes, and the others I mentioned would sync to a Google calendar, but still. I miss all that happening automatically.
Overall though, I'm very happy to have made the switch. There is no way I could go back to that tiny iPhone screen now.

Mirroring via VGA dongle.

ahjdmarchi said:
I miss this little simple function on ios. Say you are at the bottom of a very long Page or document you could double tap the top of status bar and it would move to the top instantly instead of having to scroll up. Nothing big but nice little feature
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go back to iphone..obviously u dont know how to work ir own phone ....maybe u need it simplified from apple sgn2 is better in all aspects

skochw said:
I've owned and used as my main device every iphone up to the iphone 5. I'm loving the Note 2, but there are a few things I miss:
- Overall simplicity. There was a lot of handholding in iOS that I didn't even necessarily realize was happening, which I miss. Biggest/most annoying example so far: sending videos via MMS or email. Unless you have the "limit size to MMS" or whatever checked when you record the video (which would mean a crappy source quality in the video, should you want to use it for anything other than an MMS), you can't MMS it to someone (and unless it's more than a few seconds long, it'll likely be too big to email as well). There are some apps out there for transcoding the video to a lower bitrate, resizing, etc, but this is a royal pain to have to do any time you want to send a quick video. iOS did it all automatically when you went to send the video.
- Better versions of apps. Some apps are just better/smoother on ios. Examples include facebook, Steam, The Weather Channel.
- Photo Stream. My wife is on an iPhone, and we have an old ipad that we use as a photo frame. I miss being able to easily have photos I take appear on both her phone and the iPad.
- iCloud. I miss stuff syncing with my mac desktop apps for things like notes, reminders, etc. I'm sure I could find something to get me by for the notes, and the others I mentioned would sync to a Google calendar, but still. I miss all that happening automatically.
Overall though, I'm very happy to have made the switch. There is no way I could go back to that tiny iPhone screen now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those are good points to know, thank you. Looking back I do remember video sending being a pain. I eventually ended up doing private Youtube uploads all the time and linking people to the videos. An extra step.
Not that I'm saying that's a deal breaker at all, but it's those little things. Does Android have a response to Photostream out of the box? If I recall, doesn't it automagically upload to Google+ or something of the sort?

twanskys204 said:
Go back to iphone..obviously u dont know how to work ir own phone ....maybe u need it simplified from apple sgn2 is better in all aspects
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Come on, if there's a way to do it and you know how, just tell the guy rather than being snarky for no good reason. This thread is obviously targeted towards people making the switch from iOS to Android, and there is a definite learning curve involved there.
Johncrist1988 said:
Those are good points to know, thank you. Looking back I do remember video sending being a pain. I eventually ended up doing private Youtube uploads all the time and linking people to the videos. An extra step.
Not that I'm saying that's a deal breaker at all, but it's those little things. Does Android have a response to Photostream out of the box? If I recall, doesn't it automagically upload to Google+ or something of the sort?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does upload to Google+, yes. I wound up turning that off, though, since I rarely use Google+. I did turn on automatic photo/video uploading for Dropbox, though, and I am absolutely loving that. I know there's photo/video upload in Dropbox for iOS, but this all happens via a service running in the background, so you don't have to have the actual Dropbox app open for it to happen.
Something else to note about the auto-upload for Dropbox (and Google+, for that matter): you can use that to share videos/images easily. Only issue is the person receiving it has to download/stream the full-res video or image, and you have to wait for it to upload before you can share itg. Still much easier than transcoding just to send a video, though.

I'm using both....Loving both