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HTC Mozart and Windows Phone 7 Social Review

2010-12-10T11:56:40Z

For the last week I have had the pleasure of completing a Social Review for Telstra on the HTC Mozart and the Windows Phone 7 Operating System. I would say now that I would recommend anyone to give the two of them a try. I do know that in some cases the Phone and in others the Operating system may not be for everyone.

Hardware

I have found that I do like the phone and it’s little quirks have grown on me. In the beginning I did not think that I would be able to use the phone as it just didn’t feel right. First off the phone was a lot heavier than what I was used to, but this was because the HTC Mozart has a body that was made from a single piece of metal. The good thing with this is that it bounces… only joking, but yes it is a lot stronger than most.

One thing that I did point out on the first day, and again in one of my blog posts is that the Power Button to me wasn’t in the right place. For those who do not know the Power Button also allows you to wake up the phone. I can say that it did only take me a week to get used to it and now I do not have a second thought about turning the phone on. But I can say I do like the hardware button that is on the front of the Samsung Omnia, in cases it makes it easier to turn on the phone.

Camera

I have found myself falling into a habit of using my Phones camera more and more nowadays, and with the Mozart the pictures are of a really good quality. Most of the phones I have had the resolution of the cameras have always been second class and a bit behind the times. I find that the 8mb camera in the Mozart is of a high quality. The camera is by no way a replacement for a stand a lone camera but it does a good job for those quick shots. Just to give you an example there, over the last weekend we had a sporting event where the whole family went. After setting up and getting out the camera and freshly charged batteries ready to take the days shots I found that the batteries I had brought must have passed there used by date and they had not held the charge. Out came the phone camera, and we ended up with some really good shots for the day.

Sound and Audio

To get to and from work each day I spend a good couple of hours on the train, use I use the country train service which at least has a good set of seats for you compared to the Metro trains, but even still you need to find something to take you away from the various noises coming from sleeping passengers and such. To do this I spend a lot of time listening to various pod casts, a small collection of music files and some quality time to catch up on TV Shows that I either miss or we do not get down under.

For a while now I have been using my Microsoft Zune device to provide my needs, that was until the Windows Phone 7 came out, now this is the only device that I am going to use. For one it means that I do not have to carry around multiple devices anymore, the windows Phone 7 system uses that same functions and software that I have been using for a long time with the Zune. Because of this I find the functions on the phone easy to use and easy to manage the files for the media player.

Now in relation to the Hardware and the Mozart, the biggest fail on my part is the limited space, having only 8gb on this device for the storage of the files as well as the storage of the Installed applications, the operating system and it’s cache of data it needs to function for day to day activities is very limiting. I personally thing that it would have been nice to have an expansion card slot on the device where you could store your media files. That way you could have multiple cards with different libraries of media and swap them out as needed. I am sure that the operating system could have been developed to use a secondary device for the storage of multi media files.

Applications

Being a gamer at heart I spent a lot of my application time in the games hub. The thing I did like about the games hub was the choice you had with the launch titles, there is a lot of different titles to choose from that all integrated with the Xbox Live system. The disappointing thing from my side was the lack of quality games from the Independent developer, maybe as the system takes off we are going to see more games drop into the marketplace.

I do plan on doing more reviews on some of the applications that are around, but to get started here are some of the applications and thoughts on the main ones I used while on the review.

Twitter – Always a good start, but in the case of the Windows Phone 7 version of the application i was finding that it seemed to crash a couple of times a day. Most times I would find that the application would run, stop and then from that point on every time you started the application it would just stop without even showing the splash screen… From a Twitter side of things, hurry up MahTweets team and get the mobile version finished and certified.
Facebook – A simple interface and was almost like using the web application, still missed a lot of the applications, but it did it’s job. For those who just use Facebook for updates on what their friends are doing, the people hub on the Windows Phone 7 will do what you need.

Overall, In Summary

Yes I have been using the Windows Phone 7 Operating system for a while now, but it was good to take on the reviewer role for the HTC Mozart and the Windows Phone 7 as a complete unit. I found that over the review period I changed from being a real user and spent some time playing with the settings and the different ways of using the device. During the review period I went through a stage of trying the applications that I would not have even looked at if I was not on the program, one of those applications was Foursquare. The bad thing is that I am now using those applications more, and am actually enjoying using them. So for me the review program has taken me to an area I would not have gone normally gone to, and that means that the program has worked, thank you Telstra for the opportunity.

For those who are interested here are some links to my previous posts on the Mozart.

Disclaimer.

“I have been given a HTC Mozart with Windows 7 Phone by Telstra free of charge to review. The comments expressed by me reflect my own user experience and personal opinion and are not made on behalf of Telstra.”

The Telstra HTC Mozart WP7 Wind Up

2010-12-11T08:34:21Z

Wow, two weeks flew by. Will be nice to move back to one phone after carting two around with me. Whilst I spent most of the time venting my thoughts on Twitter and Whirlpool etc. I thought I’d post a bit of a wind up here to hopefully summarise my thoughts

The NextG Network:

I’ve been on Optus for the past 30 months, so getting a free chance to test out the Telstra network was appreciated. I found it to be more than satisfactory. While previously I’d have drop-outs, or my phone wouldn’t ring or I wouldn’t have coverage I found using the HTC Mozart/Telstra combination I didn’t have to think about coverage and didn’t once curse a dropped call. Awesome.

I’ll be swapping to Telstra Prepaid now the trial is over, just wish their plans were a bit more clear in what you get for your dollar.

Windows Phone 7:

Making Calls: Was quite phone like, no noticeable echo or distortion. The loud-speaker is great, along with the ability to flip it over to get to turn the loud-speaker on! very useful when driving, just answer and flip.

SMS: Not a huge fan of the way the SMS appear on the screen as a bar up the top of the phone, prefer the iPhone method. The picture below shows how the number counts up and a bar appears up top with the sender’s name and half the message.

e-mails: I like the way it shows new emails in the lock screen, means you can quickly look without unlocking. Didn’t like the way the number on the Live Tile didn’t represent the number of unread e-mails. Entering and exiting the application caused this number to reset. Sending an e-mail on the device however is very easy and it multiple cases used it over a sms.

calendar: The calendar is great, very easy to use, lots of options and the ability to send invites. Shared my Gmail calendar well and having the next appointment on the live tile was handy. I mostly used agenda view, though month was useful for seeing what days had appointments on them.

camera: I took lots of photos, but i’m not a photographer. For a point’n'shooter I found it delivered decent quality. when its low light it was quite difficult to get a good picture though and also if the flash when off to close to people’s faces it made people glow. It’s really easy to upload them to Facebook or email the photos direct. Video quality was perhaps as good as you could expect from a phone, but no way to upload or email which was frustrating!

Office Integration: I thought Microsoft would have nailed this. The ability to sync documents between the computer, phone and sky drive wasn’t present. Basically useless if you don’t have a sharepoint server. Poor as.

Zune: AAAAAAAAARRGGGHHHH! why could a product that looks so great not be available in Australia. The lack of Music Marketplace is crazy! Zune software is miles ahead of iTunes, the marketplace for videos and apps is quick and responsive yet we can’t buy music. Other countries have a product called Zune Pass which gives them 10 downloaded songs a month, plus unlimited streaming for around $150 US Per Year. My other gripe with the Zune Marketplace is that you are forced to use Xbox points to buy/rent media. Meaning you need to log in, use a credit card to buy points then use points to buy media. It’s the same on Xbox Arcade, cut the middle man Microsoft. If you let me strap my credit card to my windows live account you’ll get heaps more drunk purchases off me (like the time I bought Herman and the Hermits greatest hits off iTunes).

Bing: WTF is a bing? This search engine is terrible, which I had the option to switch the default search to Google. I did like the universal use of a search button though. Press to Search marketplace, or emails etc while in those screens.

RingTones: I wish I could set the vibrate mode to be on when the phone volume is on and off when I’ve got the phone off. Sometimes you want to leave your phone off and have it dead quiet.

The HTC Mozart

I had two main issues with the device while using it. First was the small non expandable storage. 8gb isn’t good enough, not sure what genius at HTC thought it would be, but I filled it up quickly. Price? well the difference between an 8gb and 32gb microSD card is around $80. That would be $80 well spent. It really will end up being the deal breaker with this phone for many people. Luckily there are better WP7 phones out their and lovers of the Platform aren’t stuck with it. Second was the touch buttons down the bottom of the phone, the amount of times I pressed them by accident, it drove me batty.

On the positives, the form factor was great. Feels nice in your hand, the camera and flash was good for a portable device. The speaker is great too, and a lot louder than I found the iPhone.

There are loads better WP7 hand sets out there, the Samsung Focus would be the main one I’d look at.

Final Thoughts

Well, it was a step up from my iPhone 3G, but mainly due to apple crippling it with the 4.x software. I’ll be using it from now on as my main phone, but if someone offered me a iPhone 4.0 instead I’d probably swap. Its obvious the device was only released this year as the applications and features are clearly first gen. Hope that Microsoft stick with it as I think they are on to some winning features.

NB: I have been given a HTC Mozart with Windows 7 Phone by Telstra free of charge to review. The comments expressed by me reflect my own user experience and personal opinion and are not made on behalf of Telstra.

Final thoughts and review – HTC’s Mozart, Microsoft’s WP7, and the Telstra network

2010-12-10T04:17:31Z

I’ve spent the last week wracking my brain trying to think of an HTC Mozart recap; after all, two weeks isn’t a huge period of time. I’ve found my first impressions mostly match my feelings today.

Let’s get into this, shall we?

The network

I have to admit that I didn’t notice any improvements in speed or signal strength in Melbourne or Perth as compared to my Vodafone-powered handset. I’m not complaining; I didn’t have any problems placing calls or accessing data…it’s just that service seemed to be equal to what I was used to with Vodafone.

I’ve heard a lot about Telstra being better in remote areas, but I never leave the city. Moot point.

The only complaint I was going to voice about Telstra and its network was the Mozart’s battery life, however this was seemingly corrected yesterday. Since the fix, I’ve noticed a vast improvement on power retention without the need to manually identify APNs. I’ll say that I would have appreciated a faster fix in order to properly test and confirm that this fix is all it claims to be.

The handset

Even with the massive scratch from my mishap outside the Telstra offices on day one, the handset is still sexy. The one-piece aluminium body — coupled with Microsoft’s gorgeous WP7 UI — makes the phone an instant conversation-starter; I pulled my handset out during a Christmas Party and ended up having a two-hour conversation about it with party-goers. Button placement is ideal, the phone has a great weight to it, its specifications are impressive, and the camera is truly a powerhouse.

On the downside, I question HTC’s decision to place the handset’s speaker on the back of the phone. If you use the speaker for podcast playback or for speakerphone in a call, you either have to place the handset with the screen facing down, which means you can’t use the phone for anything else, or screen up, muffling the sound.

Whilst the camera is very powerful, I’m finding myself taking blurry shot after blurry shot; I don’t know if this is HTC’s fault, or Microsoft’s. I understand that I need to press the camera button half-way to focus, and then all the way to take the shot; I’m unsure if I’m using the button wrong or if I’m simply too shaky when taking pictures. I’m curious to know if anyone else had the same problems with photos that I do.

The OS and applications

There’s a lot good, and a lot. My comments about Microsoft’s global billing problems stand, and those difficulties hinder quite a lot of functionality on the device. I’ll repeat that Microsoft needs to acknowledge the fact that its customers will move from country to country; asking them to abandon one Windows Live ID and create a new one based on their new country is unacceptable. If you make Live IDs the driving force of your OS, you can’t expect us to dump our contact and calendar data, Xbox achievements and gamerscore, and so much more – aka, a person’s digital life — into one account and then simply give it up for a new one down the track.

Off my soapbox now…the UI, called Metro, is unbelievably sexy. Having less space on your Start screen to anchor apps takes some getting used to, but I’ve actually found it forces you to simplify how you use the phone – and this is a good thing.

You don’t need to have a tile to access Facebook because it’s in the People Hub; I’m assuming Twitter will soon work in the same way. I had most of my Xbox Live games on the Start screen as separate tiles, but ended up deleting them in favour of the core Xbox app just because it was easier than swiping up and down the Start screen looking for stuff. I had World Clock on my Start screen, and Calculator, and Settings…and then realised this was so purely because that’s how it worked on my iPhone. As soon as I made that connection, I deleted unnecessary tiles from the Start screen and swiped right to go to my full app list when needed. (I’ve barely needed to, by the way.)

The comparison between an iPhone and Windows Phone 7? Completely necessary. The problem? They’re two very different beasts and they’ve been developed to work in two extremely different ways. Apple wants you to know that “there’s an app for that,” while Microsoft’s ads proclaim the phone will “get you in and out and back to life” due to its hubs. Both are valid claims; to me, Microsoft’s is better. Quite simply put, I’m spending less time in WP7 whilst accomplishing the same amount of work.

You can’t have everything. I’m fine with Microsoft subtly changing the way I work; I gained time! I’m DESPISING them though because they’re forcing me to also use MY contacts and MY calendars in a way I hadn’t before…and don’t want to. I’ve explained my predicament here. Microsoft, I don’t use my Windows Live ID as an email client, address book, or calendar. I don’t want years-old information automatically syncing to my phone because you have decided it should. Give me the option to choose to which data to sync from the Live ID you’ve made me enter to start the phone up. Give me the option to sync calendar and contact information from Outlook on my PC without needing ActiveSync. Better yet, let me sync Outlook data from my PC without ActiveSync and instead using the same wireless sync Zune employs.

The one contradiction I can think of to the “get you in and out and back to life” mindset of the phone is that your mail accounts can’t be tied to one interface. I have a tile for my personal IMAP account, one for my business-related Gmail, and another for a POP3 belonging to my hockey team. That’s a lot of real estate on my Start screen that could have been merged into one tile. My iPhone can keep track of mail from different accounts and apply the proper signatures when replying…why can’t WP7?

My Xbox Live love affair still stands. I think I’ve covered everything I want to say in its dedicated post.

All I want to come out of the rumoured February 2011 update is core Twitter integration and copy-paste functionality. I expect that NOW; it was foolish of Microsoft to release the OS without copy-paste. They need to win supporters immediately, and huge gaps in functionality — especially something as simple as copying and pasting — are deal-breakers.

Lastly, I’m happy with the amount of WP7 applications available, considering how long the handset has been on the market. I know some of my old favourites are already confirmed to be on the way (yay for Amazon Kindle!), so I know the future is bright – I feel sorry for those of you hoping for something decent to come through the BlackBerry App World. I encourage developers to get STRAIGHT to work on WP7 versions of their applications – I’m looking at you, South Freo (Quota), and Ricochet Labs (Qrank)! Just think what your work would look like coupled with the Metro UI. Application-y sex, right there.

The verdict

Short and sweet: I’m using the HTC Mozart as my primary phone. I’ve given up my iPhone 4 cold turkey – hell, I’ve already gifted it to my boyfriend (he even got the Xbox Microsoft was so kind to comp to me at the start of this Social Review – full disclosure). I’ll admit that I came to WP7 because of Xbox Live and achievements, but I’ve stayed for Metro and its gorgeous simplicity.

Despite its teething problems, I know the phone is solid. I’ve used other HTC handsets and older versions of Windows Ph..I mean, Windows Mobile. I hated them. My previous HTC handsets were chunky, awkward, and non-responsive. Windows Mobile was all kinds of disgusting, and I’m extremely glad Microsoft did away with the notion that your phone has to behave like your PC does. In the Mozart with WP7, Microsoft, HTC, and Telstra all have something to be very proud of. Just don’t get too happy, guys – go fix the things I don’t like. From other reviews, I know it’s not just me.

Note: I have been given a HTC Mozart with Windows 7 Phone by Telstra free of charge to review. The comments expressed by me reflect my own user experience and personal opinion and are not made on behalf of Telstra.

Overview of the Windows Phone 7 Games Hub

2010-12-01T00:04:04Z

Author: Ashley Jenkins (Jinx) Hi Guys I’m Jinx and I work for Xbox Australia and in my role I’m lucky enough that I’ve been able to fully explore the Games Hub on Windows Phone 7. One of my earliest impressions was being impressed by the range of games available for all of the different gamer tastes, from the hardcore to people who want to be entertained with easy games and immersive experiences.

Gaming on Windows Phone 7

2010-12-02T10:33:08Z

One of the attractive parts of Windows Phone 7 was the ability to use xbox live and have access to my gamer tag. I’ve downloaded quite a few games since I got my Windows Phone 7 so I can play games while Lucy sleeps on me or on the train on the way to work. The amount of quality games already available on the Marketplace is quite impressive and extensive compared to other application categories its obvious that Micrsoft see this as one of the main selling points for WP7.

I’ll just give a review of a couple of games that have got my most attention

Max and the Magic Marker: This handy little platformer revolves around getting a little guy through a series of levels and challenges using the magic marker. Situations arise that will involve you drawing in some of the landscape or other objects to either pass tricky terrain, kill monsters or climb up to objects. The puzzles are challenging and you can collect special black marble like objects for completing harder objectives (such as bouncing a ball into a basketball ring). This is probably my favourite game as it lends itself well to the WP7 design and you can get creative with what you draw.

Tetris: I’m a hardcore tetris fan, my main issue with this version is that I can’t exit the game and comeback to it. If you half decent at tetris this means you need to set aside heaps of time to play it. Apart from that the controls are very similar to the iPhone and work well till you get up to the higher levels than it becomes a lot trickier then its keyboard counterpart.

Flight Control: Land planes, same as iPhone but just as good.

Flowerz: great little puzzle game that you can enter and exit quick so its good for trains and waiting and bus stops. You have to align three flowers of the same colour so they disappear. gets quite challenging the longer you go. Love that it has a scoreboard with your xbox live friends.

Guitar Hero 5: Not really a fan, if you love the series you may enjoy it, but doesn’t have the same impact of the big fake guitar you play with on the consoles.

The Sims 3: I like logging in and randomly playing, but really don’t get addicted to it, not surprising as I wasn’t a huge fan of the main game and the hand-held version could benefit from a keyboard and mouse.

Need for Speed Undercover: Great little game, it assumes you want to accelerate unless you touch the screen and you steer by moving the phone left and right, works really well and gets quite addictive. Can’t play it in moving vehicles without some issues though.

de Blob: Another great puzzle game, get the blob through a room while freeing the little guys along the way, you just can’t cross back over your own stream of ink you leave behind. It works really well with the touch screen and the scoring system for unlocks etc makes it very replayable. I found myself trying to get through levels faster and faster.

They are the may games I’ve had the opportunity to play so far in a little over a week of using the device. The ones that work best for me seem to be smaller puzzle games. While the achievement structure is quite good and I like the fact my score goes up for playing games on the train, and also that I can read the achievements and try to unlock the quirker ones. I can also see myself changing my avatars clothing more now as I can do it via the Windows Phone 7. In fact I’ve changed the clothes more often this week then I have since I’ve owned a xbox.

It would be cool if you could see some stats from some of your first person shooters (BFBC2/COD:BO etc.) but thats more about those developers releasing apps like Halo Waypoint for their games. Also I hope all the games don’t restrict interaction to just with xbox users, I’d love to see a cross-platform word with friends etc.

Anyway, if your out playing on your windows phone – add me DamoRev and I’ll let you beat me.

Games on the #TelstraWP7

2010-12-09T09:39:45Z

I have never really ever played “computer games”. I get very motion sick even looking at shoot-em-up or racing games, and don’t like the idea of playing violent games anyway. So, again for the completeness of the review, I got stuck in and created my Xbox live profile and avatar (that was fun) and then downloaded some games. The first game I downloaded was James Patterson’s Womens Murder Club. Gee I liked that game, part puzzle, part story. I got so stuck into it and finished it in under 2 hours. Cool, I thought, lets go again - try the next story… but alas, there is only one story - only one game! I know it’s only $4.00 but I did expect more for my (sorry, Telstra’s) money. (Disclaimer: we are allowed to buy games and apps for the phone and charge it to the Telstra sim card we were provided with). Now that I have finished that game, what is the point of even having it there? Other games that I have loved and become a bit addicted to are Uno, Solitarie, Bejewled and Backgammon. Stupid pointless games have been Butterfly, Flowerz and More Brain Exercises. I did download Tetris but I find that boring (maybe because I’m a bit crap at it). I have seen in some of the screen shots that you can do turn based games with friends on Xbox live. I have not worked out how to do that. I think this would be a great experience if you were an avid Xbox user already. I enjoyed it but I’m just not that into Gaming to get the most out of it. It will be interesting to see if a) I continue to use this phone as a gaming phone or b) if I install any games on my Android. Whichever I do, I will not be installing Angry Birds on either phone :).

Mini game review – Assassin’s Creed (WP7)

2010-12-09T05:18:55Z

Windows Phone 7 Xbox Live games are miniature-sized, so they get miniature-sized reviews. Say goodbye to ‘meh’ – features are either cool or shite. The next game to get the mini treatment is Assassin’s Creed by Ubisoft.

The cool: If you like the Assassin’s Creed series, you’ll most likely enjoy this HD-enhanced iPhone port. The story itself is actually quite good and is a major improvement over the series first instalment. While this game isn’t essential to understand the series, it is a good side-story.

The shite: Some games just shouldn’t be made for a mobile; this is one of them. You control Altair (from AC1) via a left-hand thumbstick for movement and right-hand buttons for jumping and attacking.

If your control scheme means you’ve constantly got two hands blocking the screen in order to control your character, you’re doing something wrong. This phone has a touch screen and accelerometers; they should have be used in an innovative way; the developer should not be trying to transform your phone into a traditional controller.

The most annoying thing about this game BY FAR is that whenever you start to play it, you’re forced to watch a 45 second introduction video before the game even starts to load. You can’t skip it. You can’t avoid it. Why?

Overall, only die-hard Assassin’s Creed fans or achievement hunters should pick up this title. Anyone else will find it hard to control, frustrating to launch, and a general waste of time.

My HTC Mozart experience

2010-12-09T14:30:00Z

It's been good and bad. Tears and laughter and happiness.

My Mozart experience has been surprising. Windows Phone 7 as an OS is by far nowhere near as bad as the memories of Windows Mobile x.x - but it's no iOS. That's likely an unfair comparison though, as Apple have had 4 years to get their OS to this stage and this is Microsoft's first iteration of WP7. Sure, there are some rough edges, but over the past two weeks it grew on me.

I couldn't abide the onscreen keyboard. My fat thumbs struggled to type on it accurately, and while the autocorrect built into WP7 is very slick... re-editing a tweet or e-mail afterwards is not what I want to have to do. I prefer it to be right first time 99% of the time. A friend suggested I should just type fast and it will catch up - and it did, mostly. I still found it hard to be looking at the keyboard and having letters next to the letter I want show up in words when I didn't want them to. Oh, teh lulz.

The gaming component of this WP7 device was pretty cool. Lots of great games, lots of cool gamer points to collect. An absolutely productivity killer. But the cost... $4? $6.50? $9?!?! Sure, some of the games were great, but not that great. Being able to stick them as tiles on the main screen was a wonderful distraction, and made them easy to access.

Interacting with the device worked exactly as you'd expect it to. All the normal gestures are accounted for, and scrolling is very smooth and precise. It took me a little while to adapt from just up/down scrolling to including side-to-side scrolling once you're in the app. It does allow for some pretty compelling content to be displayed, & while the Telstra One app starts to hint at that there's a lot more that could be taken advantage of as apps develop.

The battery life sucked - no other way to say it. Advice from the Telstra team yesterday that a fix had been made to the Telstra network meant that we've only had 24 hours at best to really see if the change made a difference (and it needed to - with medium use I was getting, at best, 4-5 hours out of the handset - far from ideal). There has been a temporary fix, but that cruelled your ability to purchase apps from the Marketplace. If the battery/flipping APN issue can be resolved then this device will absolutely benefit. As will the owners of the device.

I saw nothing but goodness from Telstra's NextG network. Solid data bandwidth, no call dropouts, access everywhere. I didn't travel much out of either Brisbane or Sydney during the trial though during this time I didn't have a problem.

As a phone the Mozart works well. Clear call quality, easy enough to use phone component although frustrating when you open the phone part it didn't default to the keypad option, instead going to recent calls. Importantly it worked every time someone called me and I called them.

Overall it's a win. It's no iPhone, but it's a win. I've had some frustrations with apps, but that's not the device's fault. Everything you'd expect a smartphone to do, it does. If I hadn't bought an iPhone I likely would have picked up the HTC Mozart and used it. For the record, I have my quibbles with my iPhone & iOS, not unlike WP7. Given time, WP7 will be an absolutely competitive smartphone OS with a deep and rich app marketplace supporting it. Soon.

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I have been given a HTC Mozart with Windows 7 Phone by Telstra free of charge to review. The comments expressed by me reflect my own user experience and personal opinion and are not made on behalf of Telstra. Or Microsoft. Or AuTechHeads. Or my wife, even.

HTC Mozart a Week in with Windows Phone 7

2010-12-06T02:01:52Z

Over this last week I have been using the HTC Mozart as my main phone, but have also been carrying around a Samsung Omnia 7, both are running the Windows Phone 7 Operating System.

Hardware

With having both phones it is giving me a good change to see them running side by side. In doing this I have the same accounts set up as well as the same sync for email. Overall in that since I find them both about the same. In the case of the battery I haven't had a problem with it, yes the do only last just over a day and sometimes into the second day before I give them a good charge, But with that I like to keep the phones charged and if they drop too low I plug them in, I will say that I have never let any of them drop low enough to give me an alert or notification.

As I said at the initial briefing I do not really like the positions of the hardware buttons on the phone. I like to be able to hold the phone in one hand and be able to turn it on and use what I need. With the HTC I have to move the phone around to press the unlock button. And then there are the touch buttons on the front of the device, Sometimes I wish you could just turn them off. I find that I seem to hit the search button a lot.

Software

Over this last week I have spent a bit of time downloading and playing some games, as well as exploring the applications that are on offer. What I have found is that some of the more popular applications seem to be crashing a lot with no updates from the developers. For example for several days I had to manually turn off the phone and restart it because twitter had crashed. The first time it was the loading transition screen, and others have been during the update of screens and the timeline. The Facebook application has just been stopping while the application is loading.

The last frustrating this I have at the moment is trying to purchase 2 games. The first is Assassins Creed, and the other is Max and the magic marker. When trying to purchase these apps I get through the billing screens and after the final press of the buy button I get a message saying “Can’t get this information at the moment.” but I exit select another application and I am able to purchase it… so why does it happen with only these two applications.

Disclaimer.

Mini game review – Guitar Hero 5 (WP7)

2010-12-08T03:41:01Z

The cool: I’m a fan of the Guitar Hero series and I have to admit that a mobile version seemed cool (hence the download). If you’re used to the game on consoles, you’ll be very comfortable with the mobile version. The 5 notes of the console versions have been downgraded to just 3; touching the bottom of your WP7 screen when a note comes screaming down the track is how you play. While I had problems with the touch interface during menus, the interface works perfectly in-game.

The music on offer is fairly mixed, from David Bowie’s Fame to A-Punk by Vampire Weekend. With 32 songs total, there will be something that caters to all musical tastes. Can you tell I’m already scraping the bottom of the ‘cool’ barrel here?

The shite: There’s good song variety, yes, but it doesn’t change the fact that the songs aren’t nearly the .mp3 quality that is advertised.

On top of that, the touch screen seemingly becomes useless when you’re not playing a song; using the menu is a nightmare. Pressing on any option in the menu to works about 5% of the time. If you’re going for the ‘OK’ button in the bottom-left of screen, and you’re a fraction too high, nothing happens. If you’re a fraction too low, and still nowhere near the WP7 physical ‘Back’ button, you’ll go Back anyways.

Even MORE frustrating is that pressing any of the physical WP7 buttons will destroy your game and history. If you’re going for achievements that require you to play a certain number of games, hitting Back, the Windows key, or Search will throw you out of the game and somehow cause it to reset your history. It’s a mobile phone and a mobile game – surely GLU could have figured out a way to retain data in an environment where users will accidentally hit a key or be forced to multitask quickly.

Worse yet is that if a WP7 phone notification pops up mid-game, the game pauses and forces you to replay the song. There is NO option to resume. It’s a complete and utter fail.

At $7 US (cause I can’t use the Aussie Marketplace), this game is utter shite and simply not worth a purchase. If you like Guitar Hero, don’t tarnish your memories of the series with this. If you’re not a fan, avoid it anyways and pick up a title better suited for a mobile phone.

Mini game review – Flowerz (WP7)

2010-12-07T23:38:29Z

Windows Phone 7 Xbox Live games are miniature-sized, so they get miniature-sized reviews. Say goodbye to ‘meh’ – features are either cool or shite. First up: Flowerz by Carbonated Games.

The cool: Like many other games on WP7, Flowerz is a port from another source – in this case, the game had a previous life as an MSN Games title in 2008. The big difference between this game and other ports is that Flowerz doesn’t feel like a port – it’s really suited to a touch interface, thankfully.

The gameplay itself is super-addictive. Like in Bejewelled, your goal is to take a coloured flower and place it on the board to make a horizontal or vertical line of at least three same-coloured flowers. The catch is that the flowers can sometimes have a different-coloured centre; when you match up three flowers of the same colour, they will dissolve and be replaced by a new flower with the colour of the original flower’s centre. To assist in your endeavours, you’re also given shovels to dig up and re-plant flowers, and butterflies which can be used to change the colour of a flower to the one the butterfly has. You lose the game when you run out of spaces to place flowers. These features add a whole new level of complexity to a formula that’s tried, true…and let’s face it, getting old.

Flowerz has the standard WP7 Xbox Live fare — achievements and leaderboards. Its main selling point is that it’s FREE!

The shite: Absolutely nothing; I can’t think of a single bad thing to comment on.

Even if you end up hating Flowerz, you haven’t wasted any of your hard earned cash on a purchase. You seriously have no excuse; go and download it!

WP7 Apps & the Marketplace

2010-12-01T10:25:00Z

The Apple implementation of their App Store has ruined me. So much choice, so many apps, such cheap prices… But what of the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace? Does it work? Is it slick? Who'll think of the children?! Won't SOMEBODY think of the CHILDREN??!!

The Marketplace implementation on Windows Phone 7 is actually pretty good – the apps are categorised in the first instance and also listed by in other formats (new, top, etc). The background changes to promote specific apps from visit to visit too, with the same ‘peek’ navigation style as employed with other WP7 natively designed apps. And there are some cracking apps too.

I’ve download a few apps, and a bunch of games(!). While I’ve had my share of hassles in downloading them – either through the app not wanting to download at all or not being able to purchase the app – that’s seemingly been atmospheric. Wait a few minutes and start again. Similar to the AAS (Apple App Store) the Marketplace will not allow you to download a massive app when you’re not on WiFi, with the aim being to minimise your telco data usage. This is necessary as some games are decidedly sizable and you could easily eat up your monthly data allowance by downloading a couple of larger apps (e.g. games).

The apps in the Marketplace are, on the whole, VERY expensive. There are a number of free apps – some of which are quite good – but on the whole the starting price is $1.30 per app, an upwards from there to some of the better games retailing at $9! On a smartphone this struck me as pretty steep, but I guess these prices may mature and reduce as more apps become available & the quality across the board lifts with the competition. Still - $9! That when purchasing apps there are a couple too many “are you sure” steps is annoying, but not impossible to put up with.

When purchasing an app you have two options for payment: Charge back to your phone bill or use the credit card you have setup with yoru XBOX Live account. The former method could lead to some very significant bill shock for post-paid accounts; not sure how it would work for pre-paid accounts (may not be possible). Using the credit card option seems safest and in line with the AAS. I can’t speak to the complaints of people who are being hit with an additional conversion charge when purchasing apps with their credit card as I’ve not seen that on my two purchases to date.

The real win for the WP7 Marketplace is app trial mode. Essentially, developers can build into their app what is and isn’t included when someone wants to check it out. This could be as simple as only 1 level available, or disable achievement unlocking, or alter your ability to save/publish the outcome of your work. It also saves a bunch of hassle in having duplicate apps (one free trial, one fully paid) that you’d need to download and install, and taking up valuable space in your Marketplace. I’ve downloaded a couple of trial apps & games, and in a couple of instances it prompted me to purchase or uninstall straight away based on what was available in trial mode.

While the apps – particularly the games – are expensive, there are some crackers to get immediately. Games have featured highly on my list to see how this affected my GamerScore and also to see the turn-based play implementation… but I’ve found it very hard to turn two of them off - Star Wars:Battle for Hoth and Max & the Magic Marker. SW:BFH is a pretty cool tower defence game using Star Wars characters & weapons taken from the scenes on Hoth during The Empire Strikes Back. It’s simple, addictive, and STAR WARS! M&TMM is a physics-based drawing game in the same vein as Doodle Jump, however the overall style is what has sucked me in (download the trial and see what I mean). Tough for those with fat finger syndrome such as myself, but still a whole bunch of hour-killing fun.

As a delivery mechanism for apps for a Windows Phone 7 device, it’s pretty good. In comparison to the AAS it’a step up in style, but a step down in content. It looks pretty nice. It’s not like you can use the app store from the other on the platform, so you are kinda stuck with it. Excuse me, but I have to go play Max & the Magic Marker again now…

WP7 Apps and the Marketplace

2010-12-01T10:25:00Z

Fix Your Telstra HTC Mozart Battery Issues

2010-11-28T12:52:01Z

Disclaimer: I was lucky enough to be selected to participate in the Telstra Windows Phone 7 HTC Mozart Social Review program. The opinions below are mine and mine only, and do not reflect those of Telstra. I recieved my HTC Mozart completely free of charge

I’ve been using my (amazing) HTC Mozart for nearly 3 days now, and the only major issue I have with it is the short living battery. Well my life is complete, because with a simple settings change you can improve your battery life by up to 200%. Yes you read right, 200%.

The root of the issue is caused by how the HTC Mozart is designed to work on Telstra’s Next G network. To fix this issue simply navigate to the “mobile network” configuration screen and enter in “telstra.iph” as the APN (Access Point Name). The only negative to this is that the “My Bill” section of the Telstra Hub wont work, however you can revert back to the old APN to access this, or use Telstra’s website.

Telstra confirmed a fix was coming for the battery issues next week when they tweak their phone network. Make sure to follow me on Twitter (@DrjftGaming) and Facebook throughout my two week experience as a Windows Phone 7 Telstra Social Reviewer.

Telstra Windows Phone 7 – First Impressions

2010-11-27T02:10:52Z

Disclaimer: I was lucky enough to be selected to participate in the Telstra Windows Phone 7 HTC Mozart Social Review program. The opinions below are mine and mine only, and do not reflect those of Telstra or HTC (or RipTen). I recieved my HTC Mozart completely free of charge.

About a week ago I was lucky enough to actually have some hands on time with the HTC Mozart at the local Telstra store; however I didn’t think I’d ever be able to purchase one. I went back home and looked at going on the $49 Monthly Cap but luckily enough I saw the Social Review, signed up, and got accepted.

After having the device for just less than 24 hours, I am blown away. From the sleek responsive interface, to the amazing functionality and even just the small things like the Facebook app, it’s all culminated to make an amazing device.

Hardware

After using the Nokia E63 for the larger part of a year, the HTC Mozart is a big hardware leap for me. First and foremost, the 800×480 multitouch display is amazing. Responsive, bright and crisp to the eye, it’s something I just love playing with. There’s 8GB of inbuilt storage, however it is non-upgradable. This isn’t a big deal to me, but it might be to some consumers who have large music databases or heaps of video content. Something that negates the low inbuilt memory is the ability to upload all your images to Skydrive, then you can just download them whenever you want.

There’s an inbuilt 8MP Camera with a Xenon flash (Essentially makes colours look more lifelike instead of washed out like LED). Something myself and a number of other reviewers love is that the Camera button actually works all the time. So no longer will you miss that happy snap of your mate throwing up in the garden after a bender!

Below the touch screen is three touch sensitive buttons – Back, Windows and Bing. All of these are pretty self explanatory, and I love just being able to hit a button and instantly search the internet through Bing, plus the cute backgrounds are always good! My only gripe with these buttons is the location. I have accidentally hit the Windows button and back buttons a number of times. A functionality lock would be good, so that you could disable perhaps the Windows button when in a full screen app.

The onboard keyboard is responsive and great to use, and I’m already texting and typing like a 90 word per second secretary! I prefer using it in a landscape fashion as opposed to portrait, as it frees up a tiny bit of extra key space. There’s no landscape support for Facebook though, which I really didn’t like. For all you twitheads out there, you’ll be happy to know that the Twitter app does support landscape typing.

With all this functionality and awesomeness, I am a bit disappointed with the battery life. I’ve had to charge the device twice within the 19 hours I’ve had it, however I thrashed it with constant Facebook, SMS’ing, phone calls, Twitter and even a session of Rocket Riot.

Software

The Windows Phone 7 user interface is amazing – almost perfect in fact. I’ve used iPhones in the past and I hate the “simple” interface, and I didn’t really like the app-centric approach that Apple has essentially taken with their devices. Microsoft has cut through all of that and completely shook up the general interface and it’s paid off big time. Microsoft and HTC has billed this as “your phone”, and it really is. You can move tiles around, delete tiles, just do whatever you want to give yourself the best experience possible.

Everything revolves around a number of “hubs”, the main one being the People Hub. From here all your Facebook and Windows LIVE contacts are culminated into a one stop location for social networking. Comment, upload, like, you can do it all from here. I’ve been mainly using the Facebook app, but if you’re on the run and you want to check your friends in a quick and easy manner, well the People Hub is definitely the way to go.

The People Hub might sound complicated, but that’s the Windows Phone 7 experience – it isn’t. Everything is simple, straight up, it’s honestly the easiest to use system I’ve seen on a mobile. Setting up the People Hub is as simple as entering your Windows LIVE ID and it’s done. No more entering in 300 accounts, then finding some don’t work. Unfortunately the People Hub lacks Twitter support, however it could be introduced during the January 2011 update (fingers crossed). I was disappointed to see no MSN Messenger application, which is surprising considering the huge social network involvement of the Mozart.

The app market is fairly stark at the moment, but I heard during the Telstra conference that there’s currently 15,000 developers, so I wouldn’t expect that bare market to be bare for much longer. I like the official social networking apps, specially Facebook, however the Twitter one seems to be slow at times. The biggest feature of the Windows Phone 7 apps is Xbox LIVE. Microsoft has done an amazing job of incorporating Xbox LIVE into the device, and it works flawlessly. Want to pimp your avatar with new clothes? Go ahead and do it on your way to work. Check your messages, brad to friends, it’s all possible on your Mozart and any Windows Phone 7 device.

Not all of the games include Xbox functionality, however all the Microsoft ones do and they’re amazing. I literally can’t wait to see what happens with this, and best of all, the games are decently priced which has surprised me – no offense Microsoft.

All in all, the phone is amazing. After a few more days I will be doing some in-depth tips and tricks, and including some of my favorite features. I will say this though, Microsoft is back and in a big way.

Make sure to follow the talk of all the social reviewers via the hashtag; “#TelstraWP7″. All the guys and girls in the program are awesome and will be happy to answer any questions or queries you may have. Check me out on Twitter: @DrjftGaming and FaceBook.

HTC Mozart and Windows Phone 7 first Impressions

2010-11-28T01:28:50Z

On Friday I was announced as one of the 25 Telstra Social Reviews for the new HTC and Windows Phone 7 systems, it was a great experience to see a room full of people trying the phones for the first time. In the group we had some mac users, android and iPhone users, and seeing the faces and hearing the comments as they turned on the phones was good. For the last few months I have been to several presentations as well as given a few of them on the functionality of the Windows Phone 7, but all of this has been from the point of a General Developer or a Game Developer, never really from an end user of the Operating System.

Well after the first few days I am impressed with the phone and the supporting applications, one thing I did notice is that the HTC comes with a heap of additional applications that enhance the use of the HTC Phone.

Included HTC Applications on the Windows Phone 7

HTC Hub – Central Place for you HTC Applications and more, includes a nice 3D Weather Application and Clock. It would be nice to get the clock and weather page integrated into the lock screen image and have it active.
Sound Enhancer – An application that will allow you to turn on the enhanced functions of the HTC Mozart Sound System, Going to play more with that this week.
Notes – A Simple note system like the paper based Post It Notes, and again something I have not played with yet.
Photo Enhancer – A application that will allow you to add effects to you photos.
Stocks – A stock viewing application… Sorry doesn't interest me.
Calculator – As the name says a Calculator, there are several of these on the market place, but I am going to hand it over to my wife to rip apart as she is always complaining that most calculators do not follow the basic mathematics rules and none of them are scientific based.
Lists – An application to create lists, Still to play with.
Love – Simple application that simulates the plucking of flower petals… No Interest.
Attentive Phone – An application to turn on some additional functions for the phone, things like flip in call to turn on loud speaker and flip out of call to silence the ringer. I have downloaded this and am still testing.
Converter – As the name suggests it is a unit converter, and again there are heaps of these starting to appear on the marketplace.
Connection Setup – A wizard application to assist you in setting up the phone to work with your carrier.

Ease of Use

One of the things that I like with the mobile phones is how easy they are to use, both in software and hardware. With the Mozart I am still out, as for the operating system, I can say that I find it easy to use and navigate around. There are some things that you need to get used to and understand when first starting the phone, one of those is that it needs a live ID to start-up, and once that live ID has been entered into the phone you can not change it without a hard reset of the phone. Also as the system is designed to use the Exchange Active Sync for your outlook and Exchange mail accounts you need to make sure that you system is using a fully certified and payed for certificate, or you have to load and install your own, and with that there is also a small gotcha that you need to do to get it working.

But once up and running the system is easy to use. Just to set the story, I have an Autistic son of nine years old, he is fairly heavy on the spectrum and can not talk. Every Saturday we make the effort no matter where we are to go down the street for a morning Coffee and some Donuts for the Kids. We have found that over the years keeping this routine has helped us cope with the weekend adventures.

Now back to the story, this week end we were out with the family and Michael was getting a little jumpy while we were waiting for the meal, to keep him entertained I was going to give him a game, but he just took the phone. In a matter of minutes he was creating meeting appointments and removing the ones I had already added. Then he proceeded to the Photos and started to share the photos I had taken with my SkyDrive. So with that I can say that a disabled child could navigate the OS and use it’s core functions, over this week I will have to see what else he can get into.

Battery Issue

On the first night I did notice that the unit seemed to use a lot of power, the I remembered that this was an issue with the device from Day one. What I have found out with the assistance of @jorus is that for the first use of the device you should perform a hardware reset on the device, on Saturday morning I did this. Now with out changing any settings I charged both my Samsung Omnia and the HTC to a full charge. What I did then was leave the Omnia set up as it is with the live Id Account (Set to update every 30 min) and my Exchange Mail Sync (Set to Update each Hour), and just set the HTC to use the Live Id with the same sync settings. Now after 24 hours both Phones are still running and I have used both the same. I started this test at 10:00 am on Saturday with a full charge on both phones and now at 12:30 on Sunday I Still have half charge on HTC and just under half on Omnia.

The next step will be to set up the exchange sync and give that a try on both devices.

Well that's it for me in this post, I am going to start getting the next one ready.

Disclaimer.

Review – WP7 Xbox Live and Xbox Live Extras

2010-11-30T03:23:05Z

As my 100,000+ gamerscore can attest, I’m a fairly hardcore Xbox Live gamer. Imagine my delight when I was told I got to test out the Windows Phone 7, in-built with Live integration! I won’t lie to you; I made a weird, excited — and mostly squeaky — noise.

I’ve said in the past that I’m reviewing the HTC Mozart by comparing it to my iPhone 4. I’ve also noted that Xbox Live integration might just be the feature that gets the Mozart over the line first. So, has it lived up to my expectations?Xbox Live

Before getting into the games side of things (that’s a whole other series of posts!), we must first look at the Xbox Live application itself. Conveniently located as a Start screen tile, the Xbox client immediately loads the Windows Live ID that was entered as the WP7 device’s primary account upon first use.

Here’s where HUGE problems popped up.

On my HTC Mozart, I’ve entered my USA-based Windows Live ID of ‘Stevivor’ as the phone’s primary ID; this then gives me access to my primary Xbox gamertag. This has screwed up my billing on the WP7 Marketplace, as I’m in Australia and using a North American account — I don’t have the option to charge applications to my Telstra SIM like others can. Moreover, it’s a good thing I somehow snuck on my Australian-based AMEX card to that Live ID, or I wouldn’t be able to purchase a single game – or any application for that matter. If I instead entered by Australian-based Live ID to use here in the country and on the phone, I’d instantly lose access to my primary gamertag – and what fun would that be, unlocking achievements and earning gamerscore on a gamertag I care nothing about? You’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.

To me, the allure of WP7 was Xbox Live functionality. Once again, Microsoft’s rigid, country-based ID structure has severely damaged what should have been an extremely enjoyable experience. If you’re not having the same billing problems like I am, what if you use more than one Windows Live ID? If you use a business-based ID to keep track of your contacts, email, and calendar, and another for Xbox, you’re going to have problems.

In short: why isn’t there the option to change the Xbox Live gamertag that’s associated with your phone? Or, why doesn’t everyone have access to the Xbox Account Migration tool that some countries do (for more information, see here: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/Press/archive/2010/1012-AcctMigrationFaq)?

That aside, the application itself is fairly attractive. You begin on the ‘Collection’ screen of the hub, where you have instant access to games you’ve already purchased, plus the ability to buy more through the Marketplace. The problem I continually have is that I can’t seem to buy games from the Xbox Live app itself – I always encounter a generic purchasing error. This is easily overcome by purchasing directly from the Marketplace hub, but I’m left to wonder why that is. Games can also be touched-and-held to allow for the option to pin them to your WP7 Start screen, which makes it a lot faster to access your favourite games.

The next screen along the hub is ‘Spotlight’, which I detest. Microsoft, you’ve already peddled your wares using the ‘Collection’ screen — get me to my OWN content, and on the double!

Moving along, you actually get to your own gamertag and avatar with the ‘Xbox Live’ screen. This shows a static image of your Live avatar (with your gold or silver hue, depending on your level of Xbox Live subscription), plus your gamertag, real name, gamerscore, and most recent unlocked achievement. This is literally the information I used to bookmark on my iPhone to get easy access to using Safari. The upside of the app is that it’s a much faster way to get to your information, and looks a lot better than content on a mobile browser screen.

The last screen along is ‘Requests’, which shows you if you have any Live friend requests or game requests to action. The sore point here is that the requests seem to be quite delayed – I had friend requests that I could access on my Xbox console or Xbox.com that didn’t show up in WP7 for quite a long time. The other thing is that when you click on a request to accept it, you’re taken to a mobile browser page to actually accept. There goes the full integration.

Additionally, there doesn’t appear to be turn-based functionality in games yet meaning the WP7 Xbox Live experience isn’t nearly as full as it is on a console (this is based on a lack of support inside Hexic Rush). I’m assuming that the feature will be supported in future games or via updates.

Xbox Live Extras

Bluntly, if you use Xbox Live on your WP7 handset, you should download Xbox Live Extras before doing anything else. In fact, the two applications are so perfect together that I don’t understand why they didn’t come bundled; or better yet, why they didn’t make up just one app.

Launched as a game from inside Xbox Live, the Extras app makes use of Silverlight to animate your avatar. Poking your little dude or dudette on the ‘Profile’ screen will activate several animations, good and bad. When you scroll to the ‘Achievements’ screen, your avatar will also react to achievement descriptions depending on whether or not you have earned them. It’s quite cute, doesn’t take long to load up, and it adds to the rich Xbox Live experience that you may be used to from a console.

Above: The Xbox Live application avatar (left), and the Xbox Live extras version (right).

Next, you can access your fellow gamers via the ‘Friends’ screen. Selecting a friend also shows their animated avatar; a nice touch indeed. The search function is amazing here, especially if you’re close to hitting the 100 friend limit on Live as I am.

You can either swipe to the ‘Messages’ screen or access it via a link from the ‘Profile’ screen. It shows all text-based messages you’ve received via console, Xbox.com, or that other gamers have sent you using the same interface on their WP7 handsets. The downside is that friend requests do not appear on this interface and have to be accessed from the root Xbox Live application (and therefore, a mobile browser window).

Summary

The long and short of it is that the Xbox Live integration inside WP7 is close to perfect. Ideally, Microsoft should use the interface of Xbox Live Extras and add an extra screen called ‘Games’ – that way, we’d have the sleek, animated interface of Extras with the ability to launch and buy games. In that scenario, Microsoft could easily do away with the base Xbox Live application and just use Extras as the primary one.

As to whether or not Xbox Live is the deciding factor in my decision to switch to the HTC Mozart, I’d have to say no. This is largely due to the fact that I suffer from the same country-based billing issues on the WP7 operating system that I do with all other Microsoft platforms. It’s a complete and utter disgrace. Microsoft desperately needs to realise that its users move from country to country; simply abandoning one Live ID for another is not a viable solution.

Billing problems aside (or if you don’t have them), the application is great – so get into it!

UPDATE: Here’s a quick linkdump if you’re in the same billing nightmare as I am:

Stevivor.com selected as a Telstra WP7 Social Review site!

2010-11-25T23:28:15Z

FINALLY! Now that the announcement’s been made official (see here), I am proud to say I’ve been selected as a Telstra Windows Phone 7 Mozart Social Reviewer. The review period starts today and lasts until 10 December 2010.

First thing’s first! Full disclosure: I have been given a HTC Mozart with Windows 7 Phone by Telstra free of charge to review. The comments expressed by me reflect my own user experience and personal opinion and are not made on behalf of Telstra.

Now, that’s what Telstra told me to say. What I’d like to preface that with is that I’ll be 100% honest in my assessment of the HTC 7 Mozart; just because Telstra’s been kind enough to provide me with the device doesn’t mean I’m going to automatically be singing its praises.

At the moment, I can’t live without my iPhone – I’m a heavy data user, constantly using email and apps for media streaming, social networking, and remote access. I’ve literally found “an app for that”…plus anything else that’s just plain ol’ cool.

In my reviews, I’ll be looking to see if the HTC 7 Mozart handset and the Windows Phone 7 operating system, plus available apps, can prove to be equal to or better than the iPhone when weighed against my needs.

As you may expect, the Xbox fanatic in me is SUPER excited about Live functionality (and achievements!) inside WP7; you’ll see a lot of coverage on this blog (with easy access via the WP7 Social Review category) and on my twitter feed (again, with easy access provided by the #TelstraWP7 hashtag) about that. Who knows? if executed well, Xbox Live on WP7 could very well be the deciding factor in the iPhone vs WP7 battle.

Hello to my 24 other reviewers — I look forward to discussing pros and cons of the handset and the OS with you. Let the review begin!

HTC 7 Mozart Telstra Social Review linkdump

Windows Phone 7 App Marketplace — is there an app for that?

2010-11-26T00:59:31Z

I don’t have my HTC 7 Mozart yet, but I’ve already started thinking about apps I desperately need…or at least, equivalent apps to take their place. I bet other WP7 Social Reviewers are in the same boat, so let’s try to help each other out.

Feel free to comment and help me fill this in!

Equivalent apps - iPhone 4 and WP7:

iPhone 4	WP7
Facebook	Facebook
Twitter	Twitter
SoundHound	Shazam
TweetDeck	Seesmic
NewsRack	Headliner, G:RSS, FeedReader, gReadie, Flux
IMDB	IMDB
YouTube	YouTube
Kindle	Kindle
Dropbox	WP7Box, CloudFiles
Australia Post	Australia Post
iDrinkulator	Alcohol Meter
Weather	Weatherbug
eBay	eBay
World Clock	World Clock
Flight Control	Flight Control

Apps I’m excited about trying on WP7:

Microsoft Translater
Torrent Remote
Media Control
Mouse Pad
Halo Waypoint
Assassins’ Creed
Guitar Hero 5
Bejewelled
Adobe Reader
Iheartradio
myPlayer

iPhone 4 apps I can’t find an equivalent for in WP7:

Comixology
Citrix receiver
LogMeIn
Epicurious
WordPress
Skype
AirVideo
Qrank
Quota
NAB
NHL GameCentre
Metlink
TramTracker

HTC Mozart & WP7 – first impressions

2010-11-28T15:46:50Z

–

Now, If you’ve been checking out #TelstraWP7 on Twitter, you’ve seen a lot of comments from each of the 25 Social Media Reviewers (and others – thanks, all!); some good, mostly bad. I expected that…it’s a new OS (to most of us), and I know I was hampered by some initial teething problems setting up the device. My biggest problem so far? Not HTC’s, Microsoft’s, nor Telstra’s…but my own. I stacked it RIGHT outside the Telstra building (luckily no one was watching, it felt like a spectacular fall) and ended up making a HUGE scratch alongside the left-side of the phone. The screen’s fine, and a case will cover up my blunder…but still, I am a moron.

My setup

Let’s first summarise what I bring to a smartphone:

My primary Windows Live ID is ‘Stevivor’ – a USA-based ID, initially setup in 1999 (or so) for MSN Messenger, but now used primarily for Xbox Live. This ID has an AMEX attached to it.
I use an IMAP mail account for Stevivor.com.
Because my workplace only allows emails through provided BlackBerry handsets, I synchronise my calendar and contacts between Outlook and Gmail/Google Calendar.
I have a second Windows Live ID (‘Stevivor360’) to make credit card purchases via an Australian VISA card, and also just to have an AUS account.
I have a Facebook account under ‘Stevivor’ and two Twitter accounts – ‘Stevivor’ for most tweets, and ‘StevivorGaming’ for gaming news.
I have a 60GB music collection and subscribe to about 10 different podcasts; I enjoy synchronising that content to my phone for use on public transport and at the gym.

With that in mind, let’s move on to what worked with my setup, and what didn’t.

What worked

Xbox Live. Seriously, you knew it was going to be the first thing I talked about! It lived up to all of my expectations and then some; hearing the familiar achievement noise in-game excited me more that I thought possible. I’m in love. So much so, I’ll be preparing a separate post for Live functionality, games, and general awesomeness. Stay tuned, and pick up Flowerz (for free!), The Oregon Trail, and Uno to tide you over until then.

I can easily see why the ‘People’ hub inside WP7 is so loved…when I eventually got my Outlook contacts synched to Google, and therefore the HTC Mozart. And plugged in my Facebook details. After about two hours.

That aside, once setup, most contacts in Google linked to their Facebook counterparts straight away. It’s a real treat to see their contact info alongside recent status updates and the like. Once you understand how it works, you find yourself avoiding the Facebook app and instead using the ‘What’s New’ inside ‘People’, or going one step further, pinning favourite friends to your Start screen for quick access.

One of my biggest fears when switching from my iPhone was that I wouldn’t have access to apps I depended on. I was mostly wrong. My favourite find so far is the CBC Hockey Night in Canada app which gives me all my NHL scores, effectively replacing NHL GameCentre (for now). While I don’t accept “it’s a new OS; give it time and more will happen” for some flaws in WP7, I do understand that the Marketplace app library is constantly growing and I’m sure I’ll see more iPhone favourites on this platform.

I started using Zune on my PC about a week ago and fell in love with the interface, and I found myself doing the same thing with its counterpart in WP7. Basically, that whole Zune UI structure (called ‘Metro’) is what makes WP7 what it is, and it’s a visual smorgasbord. This phone is PRETTY, and using it makes you feel pretty.

As for the phone itself, HTC has made a gorgeous handset; I’ve an extreme appreciation for the one-piece metallic body of the Mozart after my fall (I really, REALLY did hit the ground hard). I’ve found the touchscreen to be responsive and easily viewable in some fairly intensive direct sunlight too. The placement of the three Windows buttons (Back, Start, and Search) and volume control is ideal.

What didn’t work

While I feel that my gripes are continually being addressed and my experience is getting better, it’s hard to ignore the fact that I had a very hard time setting this phone up. Microsoft needs to be aware that we all don’t have their ideal setup when using email. Microsoft also needs to consider that I don’t WANT to synchronise all of my primary Windows Live ID content – email, calendar, contacts, and photos – onto the phone without question.

My Live ID was started when I was 19 — a time where I was literally just coming out of the closet and was discovering the wonders of the internet. Let’s just say that until I logged into MSN Messenger and deleted every contact therein, my ‘People’ Hub was basically screenshot after screenshot of bare male torsos, making my phone look VERY professional and making me feel VERY sleazy. I haven’t used Windows Live Spaces to manage my contacts or my calendar for about 12 years, and I don’t have the desire to start now. Nor do I want to post a status update to Windows Live Spaces; Facebook and Twitter will do, thanks.

My workplace doesn’t let me use ActiveSync and instead would prefer it if I used a work-supplied BlackBerry. They’re gross, so instead I’ve been using a USB cable with my iPhone to sync calendar and contact details with my work PC. Windows Phone 7 doesn’t allow this functionality, preferring OTA solutions that I am not able to access. While I have managed to find programs that will sync my Outlook calendar and contacts with Gmail and Google Calendar, and therefore the Google Sync on WP7, I have a workaround…but it’s not very convenient.

The bottom line? I don’t appreciate Microsoft telling me how I SHOULD be operating rather than allowing multiple, customisable avenues for the handset and OS to gather my vital data.

Moreover, I’m aware that WP7 is a new operating system, and in time will continue to grow and evolve into something better…but REALLY. Copy-and-paste functionality is a must-have. Integration with Facebook and not Twitter? Short-sightedness. The pictures you see in this post were taken using my iPhone as there isn’t screenshot functionality within the OS yet; ironic, don’t you think?

What I’m trying to say is that Microsoft is aware they’re falling FAR behind in the phone market when compared to Apple, and they really needed to get this OS right straight off the line. They were close, but failed. At times the OS feels like form over function, and while I do love how it looks, I’d rather more time was spent getting the phone to make me more productive instead of looking good while suffering along.

The battery issue is also I needing to be addressed; I was literally getting 4 hours of battery life out of the unit in my first few days. I’ve implemented the workaround of going into Settings > Mobile Network > Edit APN and adding the APN of telstra.iph, and this has worked exceptionally well. As I’m aware that Telstra is taking steps to officially improve battery life, I think that’s all I really need to say here.

I’ve been kind to app support, but I do want to say that I want apps straight away to access Amazon Kindle, LogMeIn, Citrix, NHL GameCentre, NAB and Dropbox, as well as WP7 equivalents to AirVideo (a media streaming app), Quota (a data usage tracker for banks, ISPs, public transport, etc) and QRANK (the best darn quiz game ever).

The summary so far

To be honest, I’m not quite sure where I sit with this phone yet. After struggling to get Mozart working how I wanted to — and for the record, I’m still not 100% there — I’m finding I am starting to like WP7 more with each passing minute. As for whether or not the Mozart will replace my iPhone, only time will tell – if what doesn’t work for me now gets fixed soon, I’d be inclined to say yes.

The question I might have to start asking myself is if I can be patient enough to wait for those changes; it’ll be hard with the temptation of my iPhone and what I know works now constantly lurking.