Microsoft's Windows Mobile

Microsoft is one of the largest tech company in the world who dominate the personal computer market. Either you like it or not, you will mostly be using Windows OS compare to others as it is still the cheapest solution for computing. Mobile phone are still far from able to replace it in coming years.

One of the bizarre regarding the company is that they unable to create better consumer level products. Most of their consumer product either way way ahead of its time or far far behind from their competitors. They created the first tablet way before iPad is announced. They are the pioneer of smart devices, way before iPhone exist. They have the largest developer ground that will write any software for their OS.

Windows Mobile is the mobile OS that I had a chance to use it. One of the craziest stuff that I encounter is once your device is out of battery or power, it will delete all the installed software. The UI is in a very very small screen and you need to use a stylus to click the screen or type. It is a very popular mobile devices and dominate the smart devices along with Blackberry. The screen is resistance which mean you need stylus to operate it. The benefit of this is screen is durable.

Then Apple launch the iPhone with iOS. How they solve the stylus? By creating a large button to allow user to click it using finger as they use capacity screen that is a creation of Nokia. The world go nuts when Apple provide the simple solution for user to operate a small device. It is the Columbus Egg of IT world.

The rest is history. Apple then launch App store that storm the developers to create apps for the devices. After a few years since Windows Mobile is disappear in the consumer world, left in industry level as Apple didn't involved in that area.

Microsoft tried to fight back the market with its belated Windows Phone but that is another epic decision disaster that finally kill of Nokia.

Lumia 535 - A Microsoft Oddysey

Lumia 535 is the latest device by Microsoft after they buy Nokia mobile division. The device is still carry on the signature Lumia design which is not bad. This device has its own selling point which is 5x5x5 - 5" Screen with 5MP Front and Rear camera.

Inside the device is a lower power CPU, snapdragon 200, with generous 1Gb ram and 8Gb of internal storage. 

One dead spot of the device is it has a touch issues which Microsoft already working hard to fix it. But with the latest update, the device is still felt a bit lag compare to others Lumia device. What a shame to Microsoft.

I get a chance to do a quick hand on. Since all the Windows Phone OS is the same, so I focus on the hardware built up. Summary is it offer more that the price tag. 

The battery life is great since the screen resolution and CPU is not so power consumption. Even thought the resolution is not HD in big screen, you can still have a decent screen image.

 

Nokia Lumia 525: The Most affordable WP8 Phone

Nokia finally come out an entry level phone: Nokia Lumia 525 which I think it is selling at RM499.
People might said that the spec is so so only but they forget its price has overcome its spec.
Try find a decent similar spec for Android phone with this price range. It is impossible.

I haven't get a hand on experience on the device yet but just hoping that it would not be too bad on the built quality.

Lumia 525 spec:(source)

GENERAL	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - RM-998
	3G Network	HSDPA 900 / 2100 - RM-998
	SIM	Micro-SIM
	Announced	2013, November
	Status	Coming soon

BODY	Dimensions	119.9 x 64 x 9.9 mm, 75.7 cc (4.72 x 2.52 x 0.39 in)
	Weight	124 g (4.37 oz)

DISPLAY	Type	IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	480 x 800 pixels, 4.0 inches (~233 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes
	Protection	Scratch-resistant glass

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes

MEMORY	Card slot	microSD, up to 64 GB
	Internal	8 GB, 1 GB RAM

DATA	GPRS	Class B
	EDGE	Up to 236.8 kbps
	Speed	HSDPA, 21.1 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot
	Bluetooth	Yes, v4.0 with A2DP, LE
	USB	Yes, microUSB v2.0

CAMERA	Primary	5 MP, 2592х1936 pixels, autofocus
	Features	1/4'' sensor size, geo-tagging
	Video	Yes, 720p@30fps
	Secondary	No

FEATURES	OS	Microsoft Windows Phone 8 Black
	Chipset	Qualcomm MSM8227
	CPU	Dual-core 1 GHz
	GPU	Adreno 305
	Sensors	Accelerometer, proximity
	Messaging	SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM
	Browser	HTML5
	Radio	FM Radio
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support and GLONASS
	Java	No
	Colors	Black, White, Yellow, Red
		- SNS integration - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - MP3/WAV/eAAC+/WMA player - MP4/H.264/H.263/WMV player - 7GB free SkyDrive storage - Document viewer - Video/photo editor - Voice memo/dial/commands - Predictive text input

BATTERY		Li-Ion 1430 mAh battery (BL-5J)
	Stand-by	Up to 336 h (2G) / Up to 336 h (3G)
	Talk time	Up to 17 h (2G) / Up to 10 h 40 min (3G)
	Music play	Up to 48 h