Why I switched to Windows Phone 7
July 8, 2011 5 CommentsI wanted a fresh start, something innovative to keep me connected with my tight circle of friends. How do we stay in touch these days? Through our smart phone of course! I kid you not, I’ve had minor relationships with every mobile OS you can think of until I met…the one. In the dating world, “the one” is understood to be the partner you can’t see yourself living without, and quite simply put, I can’t imaging parting ways with my Samsung Focus by Microsoft Windows Phone 7.
Immediately my main priorities are addressed with a wp7 device. I want quick access to my entourage. There was no need to download any apps, social integration is baked right into the OS out of the box. The people hub integrated all my facebook buddies with my sim card contacts, beautiful. One simple swipe to the left in the people hub and I see the latest Facebook updates. From the people hub contact list I have the option to pin a contact to my home screen, or as Microsoft would call, the Start screen. The pinned contact features a live tile – oh yes those magical tiles. The live tile notifies me if the contact has messaged me which provides a quick at-glance update, a very nice detail that enhances a users experience. Having the option to pin contacts to my Start screen eliminates the need to drill deep into applications to access the information I want. This is pure joy from an end-users perspective. I can get the information I want in fewer steps just as Microsoft intended.
[smartads]
As silly as it sounds, I need to mention how darn good the virtual keyboard is for wp7. The majority of my communications are composed via messaging applications. I still have a soft spot for physical keyboards which BlackBerrys are well known for, but I must say the on screen keyboard for wp7 is the best touch screen keyboard I’ve used. The layout is efficient and feels very spacious and features impressive auto-correction capabilities allowing me to fire out messages without worrying about spelling accuracy. To anyone who still doubts they can crank out long-winded messages on a touch screen device, try a windows phone..I dare you.
Paying for hefty data plans I expect a high-end browsing experience from my phone. Internet Explorer Mobile is a pleasure to use. Quick rendering of pages, snappy double-tap/pinch to zoom, and smooth scrolling through web pages makes surfing the web on a wp7 device an enjoyable experience! At home I find myself refusing to use my desktop and instead pick up my Samsung Focus to consume content from my most visited sites.
The above points address what I consider to be the most important functions of a smart phone for my needs. Without question a user’s needs will differ across the board. Most importantly though, I feel like Microsoft has created a beast of a phone that combines the functionality everyone needs, while presenting an elegant user interface for users to gaze upon.
This is just the beginning, with the Mango update scheduled to be released this fall it can only keep building on its momentum. As for me, I will hang on and enjoy the ride.
News, Samsung Focus