Coming from a long time Symbian user and Maemo user (N900), having used Nokia for more than a decade their struggle over the past few years in the high end has been interesting.
Nokia has always been the best hardware manufacturer, making stellar cameras, unique designs (N93 and N95) which usually surprised and displayed their innovation.
Their latest announcement last month about their Merger with Microsoft was not a huge surprise given their high end challenges. I blogged about my thoughts here.
Given the announcement, I thought (unlike many other people that incessantly ranted) that I would give Windows Phone 7 a chance. It will not be the same OS that ships with Nokia devices, however, we can assume that what is on the market today will be the skeleton. So I purchased the HTC Hd7.
After using the HTC HD7 for a week I’ve concluded that Windows Phone is an extremely slick experience. Much more than Android, which I believe is nice but is a complete mess in terms of experience on different devices.
The iphone is slick but dumb, Android is quite smart but just messy all over. Symbian is excellent given my familiarity but it has a long way to go before being touch friendly. Nobody comes close to Symbians features.
The things I like about Windows is the cohesive experience, much like the iphone, it is very intuitive and simple to use. But more importantly different is far smarter. The inclusion of live tiles, which show the sms’s, emails, etc. present without intruding is great. The notification system (pops up on top for sms’s) is less intrusive (similar to Android). IOS has no live tiles/widgets, while Android does but having 7 screens is great and all, but it can get things complicated fast. There is a place for something in between.
Windows Phone 7 is a good midway; however, they need to evolve the tiles to show more useful information. Syncing with all Windows services are a breeze, sharing pictures etc. are done seamlessly. Applications in the marketplace are growing, small in comparison (around 8000), but almost every application I wanted was present bar a few. AP, Flixster, Shazam, Picasa viewer, Twitter, etc. made present, and each of these had a unique slick appearance not just the same version that Android and the iPhone share.
The interface in general is fun to use, with some small enhancements showing that they put some thought into it. For example when you dial voicemail, it automatically keeps the number pad open. During normal calls that is not the case. There are a tonne of other small touches that show they put some thought into it. This showed that what they did, they did well. However, coming from a Symbian/Maemo user there were many things I missed. Setting custom ring tones, being able to transfer contacts via memory card, sending Bluetooth transfers were some of them. The feature that are must haves for me, that are not present, are multi-tasking and full IM integration much like the N900. The latter 2 are deal breakers for me, since switching between applications is a requirement for all Nokia users, instead of waiting for 5 seconds for a game to load up again, because you hit the windows key again. Regarding IM, having a 3rd party application is always a pain, but having it fully integrated like Maemo 5 seems the best option. Multi-tasking seems to be on the way, which is great. However, I hope it is full multi-tasking with the ability to close applications unlike Android and not just in a frozen state.
Anoer minor annoyance is how WP does not alert you for new email. Does not allow have copy/paste. Both these will be fixed in the Mango update.
Besides these quirks, performance is smoother than the iPhone. The picture viewer is awesome, the phone is blazingly fast and fun to use something Android lacks. You enjoy using the interface, can see the consistency between applications and the UI. I love how holding down the camera button for a few seconds unlocks the phone. In addition, the lock screen displays the missed calls, sms’s, emails etc, AND calendar alerts while displaying a picture of your choice.
The things that Microsoft (and now Nokia) need to ensure they add Ovi Maps, ability to chose the default Nokia ringtone/sms alert tone etc. Currently, the ringtones, sms tones, etc all sound too alike. I understand there is an option to set custom ring tones, but that requires some tinkering.
All in all, over the past 2 weeks I’ve enjoyed this new experience. Web browsing is awesome (better than Android in my opinion), management of tabs is excellent, and the web browser will improve further in a few months. If Nokiasoft make the changes above in terms of software, and add HDMI, USB-OTG, a stellar camera, options for IM from different services, and the option to upload media to different services (e.g. Picasa), then I believe Windows Phone will be a runaway hit. Nokia fans in growing markets will understand the limitation of Symbian as time passes, as they are exposed to the competitors ecosystems.
This partnership, as in matures, will ensure that they have an option, and it is a very compelling option which in my opinion will create a 3rd, very powerful ecosystem.
The Nokia Ecosystem 