I got a Lumia 928 about 9 months ago. After three iPhones, it continues to be the best phone I've ever had.
Lumia Black update has a lot of great features (http://www.nokia.com/global/windows-phone-black-update/) and as a bonus it didn't brick my phone like when I upgraded my iPhone 3G to IOS 4 and my phone became so slow I couldn't even answer it before the call went to voicemail.
Anyway, nice to see Nokia continuing to add features to the phone.
That's great to hear, I was going to switch from Android to a Lumia Icon (929) this week. Any tools/tricks/apps you can suggest for a soon-to-be WinPhone user? Always been a long-time Nokia fan, but let's face it, they took awhile to get their hardware mojo back. WP8 is also looking pretty slick these days and that helped to seal the deal.
Not the OP you are replying to but as someone who has a windows phone, here is a fews tips:
* Download the offline maps for your region/country. It comes in real handy when travelling in an area without 4g and when your battery is running low.
* You can similarly download a offline radio mix for the your preferred genre.
* Enable Glance (Awesome feature and battery booster).
* Disable the super sensitivity touch screen if you don't use gloves. Those could be a battery drainer.
* Switch the default search on the browser to Google.
* Download Connectivity Shortcuts, Group Tiles and Custom Tile Maker
You'll pick it up easily after using any other smart phone. Make sure you take advantage of SkyDrive - it's seamless storage for your phone that doesn't take up actual phone storage space. You can copy an mp3 to your SkyDrive and play it instantly on your phone for instance.
If you have kids, set up the Kid Zone feature. You select certain apps they can run and that's all they can run. You get into Kid Zone at the lock screen by scrolling to the left. Once there, they can't access your email, Facebook, phone features or anything else without typing a password.
The Nokia Here Drive app is great. Shows you how fast you're going as well as the current speed limit on the road you're on. Supports overlays so you can put things like restaurants or gas stations (very helpful) on your map while you're doing turn-by-turn directions.
Call blocking is fantastic. Get a call from some telemarketer? Hit a button and they can never call or text you again. You can block up to 1,000 numbers.
If you don't use it now, look into OneNote. It works on all your devices including a Windows Phone.
You'll like it if you have a lot of email accounts. You can set group email accounts into multi-account inboxes. This is different than iPhone that has "All inboxes" or single inboxes. With mine, I can group 4 accounts into one inbox, 3 accounts into another, 1 into its own, etc.
Other than that, all the big apps are there - Facebook, Twitter, GasBuddy, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Skype, Spotify, WhatsApp, etc, etc. The app store being empty is old news at this point. The biggest remaining gaps are smaller banks that don't have native apps but that gap is closing as well.
For a while I tried Bikn, which worked pretty well but covered up the standard iPhone connector and replaced it with a Micro-USB. It also broke within a few months.
Then I tried the Cirago iAlertTag: http://www.amazon.com/Cirago-IAT1000-iAlertTag-iPhone-Black/..., but it's pretty flaky. You have to leave the app running in the background, so if you forget or reboot or whatnot it's basically useless. And then you have to replace the batteries, so ultimately, you end up having to keep track of more than you would have had you simply remembered the thing you got the tag for.
Generally speaking though, for the absent minded like myself, I really need a solid implementation of this idea. One that a) is difficult to accidentally trigger while in my pocket, b) has a long battery life, c) minimal setup/fiddling wrt the mobile device.
> left your wallet, or your phone, sitting on the kitchen table ...
> Measuring ... roughly the size of a match box
I'm meant fix a match-box sized tag into my wallet and for my phone I imagine I'm meant to clip a treasure tag to myself so it beeps when I leave my phone behind?
> one tag connected to your keys and another connected to your bag
Another match-box dangling from my keys. And I can't think of any bag that I universally need to take with me everywhere.
You pick 4 items that you plan to take out with you. You tag them. If you even remember to take any ONE of them, it would tell you that you are forgetting the other 3 and would help you find them.
>I imagine I'm meant to clip a treasure tag to myself so it beeps when I leave my phone behind?
If that's the only item you are planning to take out, then i suppose yes.
> You pick 4 items that you plan to take out with you. You tag them.
The phone doesn't need a tag, but I need to tag myself just in case I forget everything. So I have to find space in my pockets for four match-box sized tags in order to solve a problem I've had four ... maybe five times.
19 comments
[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 47.8 ms ] threadOr there's StickNFind [1], starting at $25 and compatible with Android or iOS.
Edit: Missed the part about Android/iOS compatibility.
[1] https://www.sticknfind.com/store.aspx
http://postscapes.com/wireless-key-locators
http://mashable.com/2013/07/18/find-keys-apps
Almost all are iOS compatible. Many are Android compatible. Cobra Tag is BlackBerry compatible. None are Windows compatible.
It is interesting to see alternatives, though.
(Summary: 14 out of 16 reviews are 1-star)
Lumia Black update has a lot of great features (http://www.nokia.com/global/windows-phone-black-update/) and as a bonus it didn't brick my phone like when I upgraded my iPhone 3G to IOS 4 and my phone became so slow I couldn't even answer it before the call went to voicemail.
Anyway, nice to see Nokia continuing to add features to the phone.
* Download the offline maps for your region/country. It comes in real handy when travelling in an area without 4g and when your battery is running low.
* You can similarly download a offline radio mix for the your preferred genre.
* Enable Glance (Awesome feature and battery booster).
* Disable the super sensitivity touch screen if you don't use gloves. Those could be a battery drainer.
* Switch the default search on the browser to Google.
* Download Connectivity Shortcuts, Group Tiles and Custom Tile Maker
If you have kids, set up the Kid Zone feature. You select certain apps they can run and that's all they can run. You get into Kid Zone at the lock screen by scrolling to the left. Once there, they can't access your email, Facebook, phone features or anything else without typing a password.
The Nokia Here Drive app is great. Shows you how fast you're going as well as the current speed limit on the road you're on. Supports overlays so you can put things like restaurants or gas stations (very helpful) on your map while you're doing turn-by-turn directions.
Call blocking is fantastic. Get a call from some telemarketer? Hit a button and they can never call or text you again. You can block up to 1,000 numbers.
If you don't use it now, look into OneNote. It works on all your devices including a Windows Phone.
You'll like it if you have a lot of email accounts. You can set group email accounts into multi-account inboxes. This is different than iPhone that has "All inboxes" or single inboxes. With mine, I can group 4 accounts into one inbox, 3 accounts into another, 1 into its own, etc.
Other than that, all the big apps are there - Facebook, Twitter, GasBuddy, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Skype, Spotify, WhatsApp, etc, etc. The app store being empty is old news at this point. The biggest remaining gaps are smaller banks that don't have native apps but that gap is closing as well.
[1] http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/03/us-nokia-microsoft...
Then I tried the Cirago iAlertTag: http://www.amazon.com/Cirago-IAT1000-iAlertTag-iPhone-Black/..., but it's pretty flaky. You have to leave the app running in the background, so if you forget or reboot or whatnot it's basically useless. And then you have to replace the batteries, so ultimately, you end up having to keep track of more than you would have had you simply remembered the thing you got the tag for.
Generally speaking though, for the absent minded like myself, I really need a solid implementation of this idea. One that a) is difficult to accidentally trigger while in my pocket, b) has a long battery life, c) minimal setup/fiddling wrt the mobile device.
> left your wallet, or your phone, sitting on the kitchen table ...
> Measuring ... roughly the size of a match box
I'm meant fix a match-box sized tag into my wallet and for my phone I imagine I'm meant to clip a treasure tag to myself so it beeps when I leave my phone behind?
> one tag connected to your keys and another connected to your bag
Another match-box dangling from my keys. And I can't think of any bag that I universally need to take with me everywhere.
>I imagine I'm meant to clip a treasure tag to myself so it beeps when I leave my phone behind?
If that's the only item you are planning to take out, then i suppose yes.
The phone doesn't need a tag, but I need to tag myself just in case I forget everything. So I have to find space in my pockets for four match-box sized tags in order to solve a problem I've had four ... maybe five times.