A second alternative

Posted by nkbish0p at 11:33 0

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If you are looking for a new smartphone, and are not interested by what I consider to be the best available android smartphone, or maybe want to try something new or stand out from the crowd then you may be interested in the HTC Mozart, running Windows Phone 7.

Of course, before even considering a phone running Windows you may want to read this article where I analyse the strengths and weaknesses of this platform against iOS.

Finished? On with the article!

HTC Mozart

The HTC Mozart is probably the closest phone to an iPhone that runs Windows Phone 7. It is a similar size to the iPhone (a feature that is not always common in Android/WP7 handsets) and has a similar feature set. Sim-Free, the handset can be purchased for under £400 making it around £100 less than the base model iPhone.

One feature the HTC Mozart lacks is the large internal storage offered by the iPhone. With only 8gb of internal storage, the Mozart has only half the capacity of the cheapest iPhone 4. In a similar manner to the iPhone, memory cannot be increased with the use of a memory card.

In terms of music, the Mozart, in my opinion falls second to the iPhone, relying on Microsofts "Zune" software as opposed to the iPhone's fantastic iPhone software. In terms of ease of use as a music player, the iPhone really is second to none and this is never more apparent than when you use a competing product. That said, the Zune software is far better than what is offered by some manufacturers (read: RIM/Blackberry). As a bonus the phone comes with "SRS WOW HD" which should help with sound quality.

As per usual, the build quality cannot match that of the iPhone and it is obvious that this is an area where money has been saved. However, the build quality and materials are on a par with, or better than most other competing products.

The camera offered by the Mozart contains an 8 megapixel sensor, so you should be able to print off good quality images at a large size. The camera also has a Xenon flash and this is an absolutely FANTASTIC addition to a phone if you intend to use it in any environment without ideal light conditions. The Mozart should be capable of taking FAR better photos than an iPhone 4 in low-light conditions and this feature alone sets this handset apart from the crowd if you are a keen mobile photographer. Fitting with it's imaging credentials, the Mozart can record HD Video too.

My main gripe with this handset is it's "non-mature" operating system. Over time I would expect WP7 to flourish and become a strong competitor in the mobile operating system market but it may be a gamble to back this system when far more mature systems exist. This article should give you some insight into mobile OS distribution. If you are looking for an imaging phone however, or want to experience the development of one of the finest operating systems first-hand, I would recommend this phone above any other.

Why Windows Phone 7 is (over) 2 years behind iOS

Posted by nkbish0p at 16:11 2

Tweet Having intended to do a comparison of the various mobile operating systems with the objective of finding which is best, upon starting my research it dawned on me that Windows Phone 7 (WP7) is very similar to an early iteration of iOS.

Having used WP7, it is clear that Microsoft have come up with a very strong product, but with many missing feature and the same could have been said in 2008 of Apple's iOS. Having realised this, I compiled the following table to illustrate the shortcomings of early iOS (2.0) and the current version of WP7.

Feature	Microsoft Windows Phone 7	Apple iOS 2.0	Apple iOS 4.0
Number of apps	8154 (16/02/2011)	15,000 (16/01/2009)	400,000+ (16/01/2011)
Cut/Copy/Paste	No	No	Yes
True Multitasking	No	No	Yes
Apps “freeze” when phone locked	No – app must be reloaded	Yes	Yes
Universal Search	No	No	Yes
Threaded email	No	No	Yes
Universal email inbox	No	No	Yes
Application sorting	Alphabetical only	User defined	User defined with folders
Home screens	1	9	11
Battery % indicator	No	No	Yes
OSX Syncing	Beta only	Yes	Yes
Public transport map directions	No	No (added in 2.2)	Yes

The first and biggest problem with WP7 that will likely keep it behind the competition is the lack of third party apps available for the device. It does not seem unreasonable to suggest that no matter how many adopters the platform gains, it seems realistic to expect there to be less than 100,000 apps available for the platform by the end of 2011 (I will enjoy looking back at this prediction at the end of the year!)

For a supposedly "business orientated" system, the lack of threaded email, unified email inbox and universal search seem to be a major oversight on the part of Microsoft. These features were all missing from iOS 2.0, but were added one year later with the release of i0S 3.0. Personally, I have rarely required the service of any of these three features, but considering the number of complaints about iOS whilst these features were not present, it seems these features must be important to a number of individuals.

The way Microsoft promotes the supposed "customisation" of it's software also seems to differ from what is offered in reality. Whilst it is a nice option to have widgets (a feature which iOS still lacks) in WP7 this feature comes at the expense of the ability to put the application on a phone into a chosen order, standard practice on iOS and Google Android, and the applications can only be viewed in alphabetical order. Also, WP7 offers only ONE customisable screen, when even iOS 2.0 offered NINE customisable screens.

I would class the "battery percentage indicator" as a minor annoyance rather than a missing feature really, but to me, it would be an inconvenience with the lack of battery time modern phones have. This should be a very simple update for WP7.

Another missing feature, OSX syncing is obviously only relevant for those using OSX which, by most estimation is around 10% of the market. This feature isn't really missing, but beta support could be buggy.

The lack of public transport directions on maps could be an annoyance to those wishing to use their phone as a transport timetable and was a great addition to iOS back in 2008. I feel that Microsofts insistence to using Bing maps rather than (in my opinion) the far superior Goolgle maps could be at fault here.

Although this post may come across as being non-objective, I feel it does highlight the fact that WP7 is not yet a mature operating system and the purpose of the post is also to highlight the development iOS has experienced since its inception. Personally I think that WP7 is a much better start for Microsoft than iOS 1.0 was for apple, but when they released iOS, Apple set the benchmark for future mobile operating systems and it seems unlikely that WP7 would be anything like it is if iOS had not come into existence.

It will be interesting to see what happens to WP7 as it develops. Personally I am hoping it will mature into a great OS, as the more competition iOS has, the better it will need to become.

If you enjoyed this post or have any suggestions for future posts please leave a comment below!

- @nkbish0p