There's a lovely little anecdotal piece here by Pocket Gamer as its staff spill out onto the streets of Manchester, looking for a change in the way Windows Phone is perceived in the UK High Street, compared to a year ago. It's fair to say that the difference is dramatic, thanks mainly to the Nokia Lumia 800, but also the HTC Titan to a smaller degree, though the clues are there for confirming the continued misinformation and lack of technical knowledge of some phone store staff. A good read.

From the piece:

It's an odd move given that the rest of its competitors are now mad for Nokia's latest handset.

Leading the line is Phones 4U. Not only are there huge, dedicated TV screens both in shop windows and in-store pushing Lumia, but also demo units prominently displayed and – most importantly of all – staff keen to sell the phone.

Indeed, in Manchester's main Phones 4U store – one of three we visited – I was positively leapt upon. The handset was "selling very well", I was told, with someone buying one in store at that very moment.

It was in this very branch a year ago that the first of many attendants attempted to drop an Android in our hands. Now, not only was the assistant fully clued up about all the platform's features, but he was also pushing it as the store's big new thing.

Yes, even ahead of iPhone 4S. Both in terms of Phones 4U and - as a close second, Orange - Nokia's new handset had more in-store promo behind it than Apple's latest – arguably a sign both of the effortless presence iPhone already has, but also the renewed faith Lumia 800 has given retail in Windows Phone.