With Microsoft announcing that they're not making any more smartphones in 2016, the field is seemingly wide open for another company to step in with a Windows 10 Mobile flagship. And, in some ways, the Elite X3 is just this (review coming). But, with the caveat that this is still early days in terms of firmware for the X3, imaging really isn't its strongpoint...
There still seems to be some confusion about what to expect from the mythical 'Surface Phone', rumoured to be coming in spring 2017 from Microsoft. I did note that we'd been talking about this beast for three years now (this from 2013), so I wouldn't hold my breath for it, if I were you. However, assuming that the stars align and that Microsoft does unleash a new, Surface-themed Windows 10 Mobile device on us, what would it look like and what would be inside it?
In a break from traditional content, here's something that the 361 team recorded a few days ago... It's AAS & AAWP editor/publisher/owner Rafe Blandford's 'origin' story. Packed with details that even I didn't know and with a few chuckles along the way, this is a must-listen hour of chat for anyone who reads the sites.
File this under data points of interest, but AAWP reader Andrew Elliott had taken the time to shoot the same subject every ten minutes or so through a UK summer evening, giving a chance to see how well the Lumia 950 does - OIS, 1/2.4" sensor, f/1.9 aperture, and so on. The results are subjective in that only the 950 was tested, but the chance to look at an interesting scene as the sun sets proved too tempting. It's a novel way to test low light performance from a camera phone and i thought you might be interested too.
Now, go with me on this. I'm contending that the current Microsoft Lumia 950 and the 2006 Nokia N95 have a lot in common - more than you might think. It's just that there was something about the 950 in my hand as my main smartphone that reminded me of a feeling I'd not had for a decade. Then it hit me. Ten years ago I'd had the ground-breaking N95....
In the last AAWP podcast, I wondered where occasional guest writer Ow Kah Leong had got to, suspecting that he'd been seduced by another mobile OS. I was largely right, though there are nuances below that need reading! In response to my mention of his name, Kah Leong has written in with his current thinking and details of his latest pre-order...
Now, take all this with a pinch of salt, since I wasn't there to supervise(!), but WindowsUnited (page is in German, note) managed to get hold of an Elite X3 and shoot some back to back photos with the champion Lumia 950. Best of all, they put up the full resolution photos online for people like me to analyse.
File this one under 'by popular demand' - every time I put up a feature delving into taking the ever popular Lumia 920/925/1020 into the brave new world of Windows 10 Mobile, I get requests for benchmarks and speed ratings. I'd already shown that Windows 10 Mobile was roughly 50% slower than Windows Phone 8.1 on the same hardware, but now we have a whole new OS branch to consider, thanks to a little gentle hacking. Is Redstone really smoother and faster than Threshold, i.e. on the older hardware? Even though it absolutely wasn't designed for it?
I've linked a few times to an ultra-geeky hack to get Windows 10 Mobile Redstone (a.k.a. Anniversary Update) onto older smartphones, those that Microsoft deemed unsuitable for the very latest code. After a few (abortive) attempts I've now made progress in upgrading one of my own Lumias, a 1020 and, while I still think that you need a degree in hackery and lots of patience to proceed, here's how I got on taking a 2013 Snapdragon S4-powered Lumia into uncharted Redstone territory and beyond....
Sometimes even the best-designed UIs can make simple operations harder to accomplish - Windows 10 Maps has made great strides in the last 12 months, but I found myself scratching my head over the utterly basic function of saving a location as a 'favourite'. Happily, you just need to know the trick - and it's as simple as dropping a pin!
