Four weeks ago, Anthony Fear penned his initial review of the latest Windows 10 Mobile flagship, the Alcatel IDOL 4S from Canada, one of the few countries for which this smartphone is available (so far). Now he's back, with more thoughts and a long term verdict after using the device day in, day out, for a month.
It's that time of year, when the sun starts making regular appearances in the sky and when I start to think about walks, camping and the great outdoors. Which means smartphone accessories that - ideally - prove really useful, doing multiple jobs with minimal bulk. In this case, a USB power bank that you can leave facing the sun to charge itself from empty, and which doubles as a powerful flashlight or tent lantern.
Although a UWP application for Windows 10 (and thus 'Mobile' as well), anyone with Windows Phone 8.1 shouldn't switch off, since GeoPhoto has existed (and been updated) for 8.1 for years - heck, Rafe featured it here back in 2013! Today sees yet another big update to the UWP version though, and it's thus ripe for review.
You know that thing that Ed Sheeran does at gigs, where he records something into a loop pedal and then plays something else on top of it? And then plays something else on top of that? You can do this now on your Windows 10 Mobile phone with Music Stack, a new UWP app (via). I should point out that, while it works really rather well, it's also something of a 'version 1', there are obvious things missing and it's unstable like you wouldn't believe. But hey, this is rock'n'roll, eh?
From the developer of SpotBright and Diarium comes WorkingHours, yet another quality UWP app for Windows 10 of all varieties. This one's an implementation of the classic 'log your time spent on various projects/clients' and it's very slickly done indeed, with multiple views, a ton of integration and backup options, and full adaptability to different screens and sizes. Top notch.
It's telling that with the arrival of Spring (in the Northern Hemisphere) and some better weather, companies are pushing outdoor smartphone accessories again. Two such just arrived at AAWP Towers - both are fully weatherproof and neither will break the bank. The HiHill Lantern, in particular, is something I'd never seen before - strip light and smartphone recharging power!
There are 'old' Windows Phone 8.1 apps and then there are UWP apps for Windows 10, working on all screen sizes and displays. And then there are UWP applications where the developer has crossed every 't' and dotted every 'i', which just work faultlessly and comprehensively, optimised for whatever you run them on. Project Studio UWP is, quite simply, amazing, though its purpose in life is probably beyond the mundane activities of you or I!
In a change from my periodic look at ultimate accessories, such as the Lumsing Glory P2 Plus, with 45W output(!), I had a different aim over the last few weeks - to find a genuinely pocketable way to carry around USB Type C high current output. I found a capable - and novel - solution in the AUKEY 'Halo'.
Guest reviewer Anthony Fear brings us our first full review of the Alcatel IDOL 4S in Windows 10 Mobile guise, released at first as a T-Mobile exclusive in the USA and then SIM-free for North America. There's still no official release of a 'world' version, but MWC is just around the corner. In the meantime, here's Anthony's assessment of this latest premium Windows 10 Mobile smartphone.
Yes, this is Google Drive and Google Photos - except it's not programmed by Google, but by a Windows 10 third party developer instead. GDrive.NET has in fact been around as a WP8.1 application in various forms for a few years and functionality was always a bit hit and miss, but the last few months have seen both a full UWP version and lots of bug/API fixes. It's now ready to be reviewed, giving you some of the best of Google as well as can be expected on a rival (and different) platform.
