As Nokia's first Windows Phone device, it is no surprise that the Lumia 800 is attracting a great deal of attention. It marks a new chapter for the smartphone pioneer and, while it's not a make or break device, it will set the tone for conversations about Nokia for the rest of the year. So what's the device like? What are its key characteristics? In this first part of our in depth review, we look at the Nokia Lumia 800's hardware and, in detail, consider the story behind the device.
If you like to download podcasts over the air, then Windows Phone 7 might leave you a tad frustrated. Even though Mango can download podcast episodes under its own steam, you still have to add subscriptions from the Zune Desktop. If you want to be completely independent of using a PC, then third party applications are the way to go. One such option is "Podcasts! Pro" (including the awkward exclamation mark). Read on to find out how well this solution can work around the limitations of WP7.
Imagine if you could play Asteroids, but instead of a gun in a spaceship, you had to throw asteroids onto the playing field to break up the asteroids that were already there. That's (kind of) what you have to do in Orbital. What I am sure about is this, there's lots of neon, some great tactical choices to make, and this is one of the fastest arcade games you can play on Windows Phone. Is it worth the learning curve? Most definitely.
Although we've got a multi-part, definitive, text review of the Nokia Lumia 800 coming very soon here on All About Windows Phone, we also wanted to give you a quick look at the device via the expert eyes (and fingers) of Rafe Blandford. In this eighteen minute HD video, Rafe gets the unboxing out of the way in seconds and then goes into detail on the Lumia 800's hardware and software, before giving his initial review conclusion.
I'm still amazed at the number of weather applications that are out there on every smartphone platform. My recent trip to Florida provided me the chance to have a look over a few and pick out the one I've been using regularly... the free to download Smart Weather.
Collapse takes a game genre that's been around for a long time, grafts on a cute cartoon hero with a little quest for adventure, and hopes that's enough. It's not. Collapse might be value for money at 49p, but at £2.29 (in the UK marketplace, your country may vary) it's not got enough depth to justify the price.
One of the big stars of the Mango update to Windows Phone 7 is the mobile version of Internet Explorer. The ninth major iteration deserves a closer look, but the strength of the built in browser means that it's unlikely that you'll be looking for an alternative. Even if you did want to move, the biggest alternative, Opera, isn't yet available for Windows Phone. For long time Opera users though, you can get to something more important. Your bookmarks.
Here's a great idea - take the basic Bing Maps and hijack them for calculating taxi journeys and estimating that ever-present worry about what a taxi will cost from A to B. It's only for Great Britain and I did note a pretty big caveat, but the amounts calculated to seem reasonable, based on real world fares. TaxiRoute GB is produced with polish and is certainly worth a 'trial' download.
ilomilo is a 3D puzzle game featuring the game's two main characters, ilo and milo. The problem is that they always seem to get separated, and they don't like this, so your job is to help them. This involves puzzling your way around a 3D maze using on-screen and accelerometer controls.
There are a lot of sharing options inside Windows Phone, but what if you don't run your online stuff on Twitter or Facebook? Many people, including myself, have our own blogs running the WordPress software, so the addition of a WordPress client to Windows Phone is a no-brainer download for many. It just misses the mark to make it feel awkward, but does enough things right to ensure it stays on my smartphone.
