2 weeks later these are my gripes, and features I would want added and a wishlist. Please read on to view my longest post yet.
Here is a list of things:
- No profiles whatsoever can only set it to ‘ring’ or ‘vibrate’. Thing to note, the way you change it is extremely easy (hit volume button) and one tap.
- No profiles means no timed profiles
- No Joikuspot so no way of sharing internet between devices. This is something I would desperately want; I do not plan on paying extra for ‘hot spot’ sharing coming from Maemo and Symbian that just sounds alien.
- Cannot send contact cards. This is an unbelievable feature lacking especially in this day and age. I am using the business Dell Venue Pro and it is a glaring omission.
- No Bluetooth file transfers, again a big deal. We take advantage of sending all files from songs, to notes by Bluetooth. With this cannot send anything whatsoever. I have had trouble connecting and using Bluetooth headsets as well.
- Relies on Zune software, which is a nice, but I prefer using it and transferring documents as a USB drive. Much like Ovi Store and current Nokia devices. There is a hack which enables that makes it bearable. An option of using Zune would be nice, instead of forcing it.
- No access to file system
- Opening applications takes a long time. If I lock the screen, everything has to reload, and not all applications run behind locked screen.
- When receiving a call, first you slide to unlock. Then you tap answer.
Very simplified interface. It looks like they did all they could and left it incomplete. The home screen with tiles, while elegant and easy to use should be more customizable. Much like the Symbian 3 tiles, there is only so much information that can be displayed. Weather, number of sms, email etc. but nothing much else. To illustrate, look at the below concept shown at mynokiablog:
The above image, which is a concept, is gorgeous. Had the WP designers perhaps had more time we would have wallpapers, be able to categorize applications when swiping instead of a long list of applications which unbelievably you cannot change the order ! It is listed alphabetically and that’s it!
I would also have 1 or 2 screen for widgets, maybe the default screen are the tiles, swipe left to see free form widgets and then right to see applications. But one beef with this would be as your applications grow it gets inefficient scrolling down a list.
Anyway other gripes:
- No landscape keyboard in IE
- Cannot group contacts
- No mp3 ring tones
- Cannot assign ring tones to contacts
- Cannot transfer contacts to memory card
- Only Bing search (been informed that this will change i.e. there will be other options according to tips)
- I personally like how Symbian handles call lists and history. Where incoming, outgoing, and missed calls are different lists. But I can live without them separate. With WP though, all incoming, outgoing calls are listed in one list. So even if your Dad calls you up 10 times in a row, there will be 10 different entries in a list. In Symbian it is just one entry, with the last missed call time stamp. What this ultimately means is that the list gets really long, with many, many duplicate entries.
- When making calls the ‘speaker’ phone option is not visible.
- Cannot delete individual sms’s. Deletes entire thread.
My other gripe is the lack of IM integration. This being a Windows phone should have, at the very least, Windows Live Messenger much like Android does with Google. Windows Messenger is very popular and so is Hotmail/Live worldwide, and not having that just seems like an opportunity missed for Microsoft. Having Windows Live IM as an option, would be welcome, so would having Google Talk etc. much like Nokia chat.
Multitasking is another thing. Music player can and so can some other applications. But man does this get to me sometimes. I have this app called Flory installed, it gives me push notifications when signed into Google talk etc. so when somebody chats I get a notification on the top regardless of what app I am in. That is the good. But to respond, I tap the notification (like the N900), Flory loads for about 5-10 seconds, then the conversations loads. It gets annoying each time I have to wait for it to open since I either keep it open or if I continue writing an email, and I get another IM I wait another 5-10 seconds. It is very disruptive.
Email is great. Very simple, fast, get emails as they arrive. Only issue is I wish there was a separate button for ‘reply’ and ‘forward’. Having the same button means tapping twice.
These are my current issues. There might be some that I missed but will update this as time goes by and as Microsoft releases updates. Awaiting the ‘mango’ update, I wish there was a dedicated button like in Maemo for multitasking. I do not like the Symbian way of holding the menu button and waiting. Anything that requires a long press with the user waiting, for me personally is a complete waste of time. Unless really required or appropriate, for example moving widgets I do not see the use. If they can have a dedicated button for multitasking, great. If not, they should use the Windows Button itself, which should world like Maemo.
Another idea I had would be having the Windows button touch sensitive BUT also having it click. This allows for different actions with the same button. For instance, a gentle touch would multitask, and then a full click would bring up the home screen. I personally think that would be awesome.
The Nokia Ecosystem 
